People of the Ditch (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: أصحاب الأخدود) is a story mentioned in

Surah A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah ('' Al-K ...

Al-Burooj Al-Burūj ( ar, البروج, "The Great Star") is the eighty-fifth chapter (''surah'') of the Quran, with 22 '' ayat'' or verses. The word "Al-Burooj" in the first verse is usually translated as 'stars', or more specifically, 'great stars'. T ...

of the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

. It is about people who were thrown into a ditch and set afire, due to their belief in

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

Story in ''Suratul-Buruj''

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: Then the Qur'an adds that they were killed in this way only because they believed in

. Then it mentioned the fate of torturers in verses 8 to 10:

Meaning of 'Ukhdud'

According to the

Al-Mufradat fi Gharib al-Quran ''Al-Mufradat fi Gharib al-Quran'' ( ar, المفردات في غريب القرآن) is a dictionary of Qur'anic terms by 11th-century Sunni Islamic scholar Al-Raghib al-Isfahani. It is widely considered by Shia Muslims to hold the first plac ...

, "''Ukhdud''" ( ar, أخـدود) is basically derived from "''Khadd''" ( ar, خـد), and it means "wide and deep ditch spread on the land." It is called this because it is believed to be where the burning took place.

Time and place of the event

Al-Ukhdud is a historical place located south of

Najran Najran ( ar, نجران '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated as a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom; its population has risen fr ...

city in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. The event of Al-Ukhdud occurred in 520 or 523 ACE, in the time of

Dhu Nuwas Dhū Nuwās, ( ar, ذُو نُوَاس), real name "Yūsuf Asʾar Yathʾar" ( Musnad: 𐩺𐩥𐩪𐩰 𐩱𐩪𐩱𐩧 𐩺𐩻𐩱𐩧, ''Yws¹f ʾs¹ʾr Yṯʾr''), "Yosef Nu'as" ( he, יוסף נואס), or "Yūsuf ibn Sharhabīl" ( ar, يُ� ...

, the last

Himyarite The Himyarite Kingdom ( ar, مملكة حِمْيَر, Mamlakat Ḥimyar, he, ממלכת חִמְיָר), or Himyar ( ar, حِمْيَر, ''Ḥimyar'', / 𐩹𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬) ( fl. 110 BCE–520s CE), historically referred to as the Homerit ...

King.

Story in other sources

There are different stories about the people of the Ditch. One of them is a ''

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

'' ( ar, حَـدِيـث, 'account', 'narration' or 'report') about a ''Malik'' ( ar, مَـلِـك,

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

) that had a ''sahir'' ( ar, سَـاحِـر, magician) in the days before

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

. As the magician grew old and his lifetime was nearly over, he asked the King to choose a smart boy to learn ''sihr'' ( ar, سِـحْـر, magic) from him. However, as the boy was training in magic, he met a monk everyday on the way to the magic class, and finally became a true believer in

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

. 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 ''deen'' ( ar, ديـن, religion), in one or more ditches.Abdul Malik bin Hisham Ibn Hisham, Biography of the Prophet, Darol-Ma'refah Publication, Beirut, vol.1, pp.35–36, 1355 H.Sh.Muhammad Bal'ami, History of the Prophets and Kings, Sorosh Publication, Tehran, vol.2, pp.121–122, 1378 H.Sh. Ibn Ishaq-Guillaume interpreted this passage to be an allusion to the killing of the

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

of Najran by order of the King Dhu Nuwas. According to Christian sources, this event took place around 523 C.E. Dhu Nuwas converted to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

and chose

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

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 burning ditches.Encyclopaedia Of The Quran, Jane Dammen McAuliffe, vol.2, pp.147–148 There is also a hadith that God chose a ''

Nabi Nabi may refer to: People * Adil Nabi (born 1994), English footballer *Heiki Nabi (born 1985), Estonian wrestler *Isadore Nabi, satirical pseudonym of Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin, scientists in the 1960s *Mohammad Nabi (born 1985), Afghan ...

'' ( ar, نَـبِي,

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

) in

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

, but the people of Abyssinia denied him. At last the prophet and his companions ( ar, أصـحـاب) were burned in a ditch. It is reported that companions of Daniyal (Daniel) were burned in a ditch Some say it happened several times in several places such as

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, and

Al-Sham Syria (Hieroglyphic Luwian: 𔒂𔒠 ''Sura/i''; gr, Συρία) or Sham ( ar, ٱلشَّام, ash-Shām) is the name of a historical region located east of the Mediterranean Sea in Western Asia, broadly synonymous with the Levant. Other s ...

; and that this story is not about just one such event.

In media

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

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Quranic verses