People of the Ditch

People of the Ditch (Arabic: اصحاب الاخدود) is a Quranic story that is mentioned in Surah Al-Burooj. This is a story about God-fearing men and women who were thrown into a ditch and set afire. According to the Quran the believers were burned in this way because of their faith in God. Those who disagreed with their belief in God purposely threw them into a fire, and then later relaxed around the fire. Those thrown into the ditch of fire had committed no sin but to believe in God. According to the Quran, the torturers will in the end themselves be burned in the fires of hell.[1]

Story in Al-Burooj Surah

The verses 4 to 7 are the story of a group of devout people, who were burned in a ditch. The main text and English translation of the verses are in the following table:

Verse Arabic text English translation
4 قُتِلَ أَصْحَابُ الْأُخْدُودِ Woe to the makers of the pit (of fire),
5 النَّارِ‌ ذَاتِ الْوَقُودِ Fire supplied (abundantly) with fuel:
6 إِذْ هُمْ عَلَيْهَا قُعُودٌ Behold! they sat over against the (fire),
7 وَهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَفْعَلُونَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ شُهُودٌ[2] And they witnessed (all) that they were doing against the Believers.[3]

Then the Quran adds that they were tortured in this way only because they believed in God and mentioned the fate of torturers in verses 8 to 10:

Verse Arabic text English translation
8 وَمَا نَقَمُوا مِنْهُمْ إِلَّا أَن يُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّـهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيدِ And they ill-treated them for no other reason than that they believed in Allah, Exalted in Power, Worthy of all Praise!
9 الَّذِي لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ Him to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth! And Allah is Witness to all things.
10 إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ الْحَرِ‌يقِ[2] Those who persecute (or draw into temptation) the Believers, men and women, and do not turn in repentance, will have the Penalty of Hell: They will have the Penalty of the Burning Fire.[3]

So some people threw a group of believers in a ditch full of fire while they sat behind the fire watching them with pleasure. Those who were consumed by fire had committed no sin but to believe in God. However the torturers will know the fire of hell.[1]

Meaning of Ukhdud

According Al-Mufradat fi Gharib al-Quran Ukhdud is basically derived from Khadd and means "wide and deep ditch spread on the land".[4] It is called this because they threw a group of believers in a ditch full of fire.[5]

Time and place of the event

Ukhdud is a historical place, located 5 km south of Najran city in Saudi Arabia. The story of Al-Ukhdud occurred in 520 or 523 A.D, in the time of Dhu Nuwas, the last Himyarite king.[5][6]

Story in other sources

There are different stories about the people of the Ditch. One of them is a hadith which talks about a king who lived in pre-Islamic times that had a magician. As the magician grew old and his lifetime was nearly over, he asked the king to choose a smart boy to learn magic from him. However, as the boy was training in magic, he met a monk everyday on the way to magic class, and finally became a true believer in God. As a result, he could save people and treat sick people in unusual ways. When the king learned of this, he commanded the boy to abandon his faith in God. The boy rejected the king’s command, so he was killed. The king also burned those who followed the boy’s religion in one or more ditches.[7][8][9]

Ibn Ishaq-Guillaume interpreted this passage to be an allusion to the killing of the Christians of Najran by order of the King Dhu Nuwas, who was the last Himyarite king. According to Christian sources, this event took place around 523 C.E. Dhu Nuwas converted to Judaism and chose Joseph as his new name. He went to Najran to force the Christian people there to convert to Judaism. When they refused, the king threw them alive into one or more ditches full of fire.[5]

There is also a hadith saying that God chose a prophet in Abyssinia, but the people of Abyssinia denied him. A battle began between the prophet and the Abyssinians. At last the prophet and his companion were defeated and burned in a ditch.[10]

It is reported that a companion of Daniel was burned in a ditch.[11] In another hadith from Sa'id ibn Jubayr is reported that the burned people were from Esfandehan and they were Majus.[12][13] Some say it happened several times in several places such as Yemen, Constantinople, Babylon, Iraq, and Levant; and that this story is not about just one such event.[14]

In media

The animated film, The Boy and the King, is a movie about people of the ditch.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "People of the Ditch".
  2. 1 2 "Quran (85:4–7)".
  3. 1 2 "English translation of 85th chapter".
  4. ↑ Sadr-Ameli, Sayyed Abbas. "85". An enlightening commentary into the light of the Quran 19. Imam Ali foundation.
  5. 1 2 3 Encyclopaedia Of The Quran, Jane Dammen McAuliffe, vol.2, pp.147–148
  6. ↑ "Ukhdud Najran the story is narrated by Quran and successive civilizations".
  7. ↑ Abdul Malik bin Hisham Ibn Hisham, Biography of the Prophet, Darol-Ma'refah Publication, Beirut, vol.1, pp.35–36, 1355 H.Sh.
  8. ↑ Muhammad Bal'ami, History of the Prophets and Kings, Sorosh Publication, Tehran, vol.2, pp.121–122, 1378 H.Sh.
  9. ↑ "The Story of the Boy and the King from Surah al-Buruj". Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  10. ↑ Barghi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad. Almahasen 1. p. 250.
  11. ↑ Tafsir al-Tabari 30. pp. 85–86.
  12. ↑ Al-Qurtubi. Tafsir al-Qurtubi 19. p. 191.
  13. ↑ Shaykh Tabarsi. Majma' al-Bayan 10. p. 706.
  14. ↑ al-Tha'labi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad. Ghesas al-Anbia 1. Beirut. pp. 438–439.
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