Download PDF: Oppression of Ahsaab Al-Ukhdood (Quranic Story)

The Mufassireen have difference of opinions regarding Ashaab Al-Ukhdood and their story.

The narration of Hazrat Suhaib – may Allah be pleased with Him – in this regard is that it was a king in one of the former Ummahs who claimed to be God and he had a magician who was very close to him.  One day, the magician said to the king, “I have become very old therefore you should send a boy by me, so that I may teach him my magical skills.”

The king sent a bright boy to the magician.  The boy went and learned by him every day but there was a sincere monk on his way.  When he sat by him one day, the boy took a liking to him in his conversations, hence, the boy would stop by every day while going, on his way to the magician and upon return as well.  One day, the boy saw a gigantic and fierce animal blocking people’s pathway and would not move.  He thought to himself to try as to whether the magician is better or the monk.

He took a stone in his hand and made Du’a to Allah Almighty, “If the religion is more powerful in Your court then cause the animal to die with one strike of this stone.”  He threw the stone on the animal which resulted in its death and the pathway was cleared for people.

The boy narrated the whole incident and he said, “Son, your status has been elevated in the court of Allah Almighty, therefore soon, you will go through a test.  Do not let anyone find out about my place and be patient at the time of test.”

After that, the boy was turned into a miraculous being and he would cure the blind with his Du’as.  When the news reached the king’s ears, a person who was very close to the king had gone blind and he approached the boy with a great amount of gifts and money.  The boy said to him, “If you bring Imaan in Allah I will cure you.”  Hence, he embraced Imaan and he cured him with his Du’a.

When he came to the king, he asked, “How did you regain your eyesight suddenly?”  He replied, “My Lord has returned my eyesight.”  The king became upset and said, “Is there anyone else your lord besides me?”  He replied, “Yes, Allah Almighty is my Lord and yours too.”

The king punished him in various ways and then asked, “Who has told you this?”  He mentioned the name of the boy.  The king also captured the boy and tortured him to the extent that he disclosed the name of the monk.  The king captured the monk and reprimanded him to leave his religion but the monk plainly refused and stated adamantly that he will be firm on his faith till his last breath.  Hearing this, the king went red with anger and he had the body of the monk and also the body of the man who used to be dear to him, sliced into two pieces.

He gave the boy into the custody of his soldiers and summoned them to take them at the peak of the mountain and push them of it.  The boy climbed the mountain and made a Du’a which caused an earthquake which killed the king’s soldiers in the mountains and the boy came down and stood in front of the king.  The king summoned his soldiers to put him in a boat and throw him into the middle of the ocean to drown.  When they took him in the ocean, the boy again made Du’a and all the soldiers drowned but he came back safe and sound, and again he was standing in front of the king.  The king looked at him in disbelief.  The boy told the king, “If you want to kill me then there is only one way.  You should hang me and shoot the arrows at me reciting:

بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ رَبِّ الْغُلَامِ

In the name of Allah Lord of the boy

When they applied this strategy the boy was finally martyred.

When people saw this, thousands of them began to loudly say, “We have faith in the Lord of the boy.”  The king lost his senses in anger and summoned to dig a trench and set fire in it.  When the flame of the fire was high and at its peak he started to throw the believers one after the other into it, and in this manner, he put 70 believers into the fire.  In the end, a woman who was a believer was brought with her child in her arms.  When the king summoned to throw her into the fire her infant spoke, “O mother, be patient.  You are on Haqq.”  Hearing her child say that, the mother was at peace and then the unjust king threw her along with her child into the fire.

The king and his allies were witnessing the scene of burning bodies of the believers from the edge of the trench on their chairs and laughed about it, and the next moment, Allah’s punishment captured those oppressors and they too were caught by the flames of the fire burning in the trench and they all were burnt to ashes.  The rest of the believers were saved by Allah Almighty from the oppression of the king and his allies.

(Saawi Vol. 6, p. 2339-2340)

 

This incident is recorded in the holy Quran in the following words:

قُتِلَ اَصْحٰبُ الْاُخْدُوۡدِ ۙ﴿۴﴾

Cursed be the fellows of the ditch,
النَّارِ ذَاتِ الْوَقُوۡدِ ۙ﴿۵﴾

Of the blazed fire,
اِذْ ہُمْ عَلَیۡہَا قُعُوۡدٌ ۙ﴿۶﴾

When they sat by them;
وَّ ہُمْ عَلٰی مَا یَفْعَلُوۡنَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِیۡنَ شُہُوۡدٌ ؕ﴿۷﴾

And they were themselves witnesses to what they were doing with muslims.

(Al-Burooj 85, Verse 4-7)

 

Lesson:

  • We learned from this incident that there are tests from Allah Almighty and the key to success for the believers is to remain patient and steadfast upon the calamities and hardships.

 

  • We also learned that it’s the sign of the perfect Imaan to not lose hope when faced with troubles and calamities in the path of Allah Almighty but a believer is always to hold onto patience and steadfastness irrespective of whether he is gifted with the necklace of flowers or under the shining sword, drowning in the ocean or burning in the flame.

 

It is a very high degree of blessing that when one achieves it one becomes very close and beloved to Allah Almighty and the angels on the sky sing praises of their high excellence.

(Ajaibul Quran p. 215-218)