Surah Al-Burooj (85) — Ayah 4

(Ayah 4) ➊ {قُتِلَ اَصْحٰبُ الْاُخْدُوْدِ: ’’خَدَّ يَخُدُّ خَدًّا ‘‘ (ن) ’’ اَلْأَرْضَ وَ فِي الْأَرْضِ‘‘} To dig a long trench in the earth. {’’ الْاُخْدُوْدِ ‘‘} A long trench. Ditch, moat. Its plural is {’’أَخَادِيْدُ‘‘}. That is, the magnificent sky with great towers, the Day of Resurrection, the people present at any place, and any occasion in which people are present—if all these things exist, and surely there is no doubt in their existence, then also consider it certain that those people who had great trenches dug and filled them with fire, and then threw into that fire the believers who remained steadfast in their faith and did not apostatize, watching them burn, they (the oppressors) were destroyed, because the Mighty Being who holds up the sky with towers, who has appointed the Day of Resurrection for justice, and from whose sight neither any present person at any place nor any occasion of presence is hidden, He will surely punish these hard-hearted oppressors for their oppression, and they will neither be able to hide from His sight nor escape the punishment.

➋ There have been many such incidents in the world in which believers were burned in fire by digging trenches; in terms of chain of narration, the most Sahih is the lengthy incident of a disbelieving king, which Suhaib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in Sahih Muslim. The hadith is long; at its end it is mentioned that when the subjects of this disbelieving king became Muslim, he had trenches dug at the edges of the streets and lit fires in them, and ordered that whoever does not leave Islam should be thrown into the fire. Thus, the believers were thrown into those trenches. For the detailed incident, see Sahih Muslim in {’’بَابُ قِصَّةِ أَصْحَابِ الْأُخْدُوْدِ (۳۰۰۵)۔‘‘}. In Tafsir Ibn Kathir, there are also more incidents of believers being burned in fire.