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I heard it from my father during childhood. I need the reference, especially the name of the nation and the reference in Islamic books. The incident is

A nation had reached with the highest state of inhumanity, so Almighty Allah ordered to destroy the nation. But the angels replied, "Oh Almighty, there's a man who lives there who is always praising you." Allah replied, "then throw the city on his head because his praising does not inspire others to follow my instruction."

Can you help me find the reference?

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  • There's indeed a hadith quoting a concversation as you quoted (between Allah and his Angels). Unfortunately i have no time to search for it, but maybe somebody could give you with the reference. I don't recall that a nation or location was mentioned in there.
    – Medi1Saif ♦
    Mar 24, 2018 at 20:07
  • I don't think that the name of the nation (or village, rather) is known. The hadith did not mention it.
    – III-AK-III
    Mar 24, 2018 at 23:07

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The hadith you are inquiring about is most likely the one documented in Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, but the name of the place is not mentioned in the hadith:

عن عبيد بن إسحاق العطار حدثنا عمار بن سيف، عن الأعمش، عن أبي سفيان، عن جابر رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: أوحى الله إلى ملك من الملائكة أن اقلب مدينة كذا وكذا على أهلها. قال: إن فيه عبدك فلانا لم يعصك طرفة عين. قال: اقلبها عليه وعليهم فإن وجهه لم يتمعر لي ساعة قط

— NOTE: My own translation, so treat with care:

Narrated through 'Ubaid ibn Is'hāq al-'Attār through 'Ammār ibn Saif through Al-A'mash through Abu Sufyān through Jābir that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Allah revealed to an angel among the angels to destroy so-and-so city with all of its people. He [the angel] said: "Therein is Your Servant. He never disobeyed You, not even for a blink of an eye." He [Allah] said: "Turn it over on him and them, for his face never showed signs of displeasure for My Sake."

— Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, Vol. 7, pp. 336, Hadith 7661

The name of the place was also not specified in the narration in Ihyā' 'Ulum ad-Dīn 2/310 by Al-Ghazāli, nor in Jam' al-Fawā'id 4/326/7908 by Mohammad ibn Sulaiman al-Maghribi, nor in Mishkāt al-Masābīh 4/1426/5152 by Abu 'Abdullah At-Tabrīzi, nor in Mu'jam Ibn Al-A'rābi 3/948/2016 by Abu Sa'īd Ibn Al-A'rābi, nor in Sho'ab al-Imān 11/74/7189 by Al-Bayhaqi.

All of them had the same narration chain. The hadith is graded as da'īf jiddan (very weak) by Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani. However, the concept is correct as demonstrated in other hadiths (see Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3057 — "When the people see the wrongdoer, and they do not stop him from doing wrong, then it is soon that Allah shall envelop them in a punishment from Him.").

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