Under the Ottoman rule which began in the 16th century, a fort was built on Al-Hijr, from 1744 to 1757. It was part of a series of fortifications built to protect the pilgrimage route to Mecca.
Accounts from the Qur’an
According to the Qur’an, by the 3rd millennium BCE, the site of Mada'in Saleh had already been settled by the tribe of Thamud. It is said that the tribe fell to idol worshipping; tyranny and oppression became prevalent. The Prophet Saleh, to whom the site's name of Mada'in Saleh is often attributed, called the Thamudis to repent. The Thamudis disregarded the warning and instead commanded Prophet Saleh to summon a pregnant she-camel from the back of a mountain. And so, a pregnant she-camel was sent to the people from the back of the mountain by Allah, as proof of Saleh's divine mission. However, only a minority heeded his words. The non-believers killed the sacred camel instead of caring for it as they were told, and its calf ran back to the mountain where it had come from, screaming. The Thamudis were given three days before their punishment was to take place, since they disbelieved they did not heed the warning. The prophet and the believers left the city, but the Thamudis were punished by Allah —their souls leaving their lifeless bodies in the midst of an earthquake and lightning blasts.
From the 20th century onward
In the 19th century, there were accounts that the extant wells and oasis agriculture of Al-Hijr were being periodically used by settlers from the nearby village of Tayma. This continued until the 20th century, when a railway passing through the site was constructed (1901–08) on the orders of Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II to link Damascus and Jerusalem in the north-west with Medina and Mecca, hence facilitating the pilgrimage journey to the latter and to politically and economically consolidate the Ottoman administration of the centres of Islamic faith. A
