Askhab al-Uhdud ( Arabic: أصحاب الأخدود - people of the moat ) are supposedly Yemeni Jews led by Yusuf Asar , who in 523 burned in the moat of Christians in the town of Najran , specially excavated for this purpose, headed by the mayor Arefa . Mentioned in (85: 4-7) verses of the Qur'an , where Christians are mentioned as martyrs for faith.
 | May the destroyers [of the innocent] by the moat perish - the [destroyers], with whom [the fire was] prepared, the blazing fire, at the very moment when they gathered near it [v. e. a burning moat], rejoicing in what they do with the faithful. 85: 4-7 ( Osmanov ) |  |
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Najran Christians
Tales of Yemeni events were widespread in Arabia. According to legend, the Yemeni king Yusuf Asar , who accepted Judaism, worried about the growing influence of Ethiopia , besieged and took the city of Najran , in which many Yemeni Christians lived (the biographer of the prophet Muhammad Ibn Ishaq calls Najran the first place in South Arabia, where Christianity spread at the time). From the proposed choice between renouncing their faith and dying in the fire, the Nadzhrani preferred martyrdom and were burned.
In this passage from the Qur'an, one can see combinations of specific stories about the life and trials of believers who, in the context of trials that fell on the shoulders of the first Muslims, acquired a new sound.
In the tenth year of the hijrah of the Prophet Muhammad, a delegation of 14 suprajan Christians was visited, who were allowed to pray in the mosque. The outcome of the visit and religious dispute was an agreement between Muslims and Christians of Najran, supported by Mohammed and Abu Bakr . However, even under the second Islamic caliph Umar ibn Khattab, the remaining Christians in the city were expelled from Arabia.
The Story of the Prophet Daniel
Some commentators of the Qur'an interpret this passage as a reflection of the story of the prophet Daniel :
“Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and his face changed to Cedrach, Misach, and Avdenago, and he ordered to light the stove seven times more than usual, and he ordered the most powerful men from his army to bind Sedrach, Misach, and Avdenago and abandon them into a furnace heated by fire. Then these men were bound in their underwear and upper dress, in headbands and in their other clothes, and were thrown into a furnace heated by fire. And as the king’s command was strict, and the stove was extremely hot, the flames of fire killed those people who threw Sedrach, Misach, and Abednego. But these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell into a bound incandescent furnace. [And they walked in the midst of the flame, singing God and blessing the Lord. And becoming Azariah, he prayed and, opening his mouth in the midst of fire, exclaimed: “Blessed are you, Lord God of our fathers, thy name has been praised and glorified forever. For you are righteous in everything that you have done to us, and all your works are true and your ways are right, and all your judgments are true. You have made true judgments in everything that you brought Jerusalem to us and the holy city of our fathers, because in truth and in judgment you brought all this to us for our sins. ” ( Dan. 3: 19–28 ).
Literature
- Piotrovsky M. B. Askhab al-Ukhdud // Islam: Encyclopedic Dictionary / Otv. ed. S. M. Prozorov . - M .: Science ,GDVL , 1991 . - S. 25. - ISBN 5-02-016941-2 . ;
- Askhab Al-Ukhdud / Piotrovsky, M. B. // Myths of the world : Encycl. in 2 t / hl ed. S. A. Tokarev . - 2nd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1987. - T. 1: AK. - S. 119 .;
- M. B. Piotrovsky . South Arabia in the Early Middle Ages: The Formation of Medieval Society. M., 1985, - (S.164-365);
- A. G. Lundin . South Arabia in the VI century. - PS. 1961, - (8, S.31-45);
- AJ Wensinck . Ashab al-Ukhdud // Enzyklopaedie des Islam. 1-4. Leiden-Leipzig, (1908), 1913-1934. - (1 / 498-499);
- WM Watt . The Men of the Ukhdud // The Muslim East. Budapest, 1974;
- R. Paret . Ashab al-Ukhdud // The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New ed. Leiden-London. - (1/692);
- H. Speyer . Die Biblischen Erzahlungen im Qoran. Grafenhainichen, 1931. - (424-425);
- A. Moberg . The Book of the Himyarites. L., 1924.
Links
- Owners of the Moat / Gov.Cap.Ru