Ashab al-Rass (The People of the Rass)
Concerning them, in the surah al-Furqān, Allah the Exalted says:
"And We destroyed the peoples of ʿĀd, Thamūd, and the People of the Rass, and many generations between them. And for each We presented examples [as warnings], and each We destroyed with [total] destruction because they would not listen." (al-Furqān 25:38-39)
"Before them, the people of Noah denied [their prophet], and [so did] the People of the Rass, Thamūd, ʿĀd, Pharaoh, the brothers of Lot, the dwellers of the thicket, and the people of Tubbaʿ. All denied the messengers, so My threat was justly fulfilled against them." (Qāf 50:12-14)
This and the preceding verse express in unequivocal terms that the aforementioned peoples were utterly destroyed, meaning that they were annihilated. These Qur'anic statements indicate that the opinion of al-Ṭabarī, who preferred the view that the People of the Rass were the same as the "People of the Ditch" (ashāb al-ukhdūd) mentioned in Sūrat al-Burūj, is not correct. For, according to Ibn Isḥāq and some historians, the People of the Ditch were a people who lived after Jesus (peace be upon him). There is also disagreement regarding this view.
According to al-Ṭabarī's narration, Ibn ʿAbbās stated that the People of the Rass were the inhabitants of a town located among the towns where the people of Thamūd resided.
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir, in the beginning of his "Tārīkh," while discussing the founding of Damascus, relates from the histories of Abū'l-Qāsim b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Jurdād and other scholars that the People of the Rass lived in tranquility; Allah the Exalted sent them a prophet named Ḥanẓala b. Ṣafwān. However, they denied and killed this prophet. They were descendants of ʿĀd b. ʿAws b. Iram b. Sām b. Nūḥ and his son, and were among the People of the Rass. They settled in a region called al-Aḥqāf. Allah the Exalted destroyed the People of the Rass. They dispersed throughout Yemen and also spread across the earth. Eventually, Jabrūn b. Saʿd b. ʿĀd b. ʿAws b. Iram b. Sām b. Nūḥ came to the place where the city of Damascus is now located; he founded a city and named it Jabrūn. That city was the city of Iram with pillars. Nowhere else were there as many stone columns as in Damascus. Allah the Exalted sent them as a prophet Hūd b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ribāḥ b. Khālid b. Hulūd b. ʿĀd. However, they denied the prophet Hūd. Therefore, the Exalted God destroyed them.
These accounts show that the People of the Rass were a people who lived centuries before the people of ʿĀd. Allah knows best.
According to the narration of Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Ibn ʿAbbās said that the Rass was a well in Azerbaijan. According to the narration of al-Thawrī, Ikrima said that the Rass was a well, and that the people there buried their prophet in that well.
According to the narration of Ibn Jurayj, Ikrima said that the People of the Rass were the people of Yāsīn who lived in the town of Falaǧ, which was connected to Yamāma. If they were the people of Yāsīn, then they were subjected to a general calamity and destroyed. Indeed, regarding them, a verse says:
"It was but one blast, and at once they were extinguished." (Yāsīn 36:29)
Even if the People of the Rass were not the people of Yāsīn, they were still destroyed and annihilated. In any case, the truth contradicts what al-Ṭabarī has said.
Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-Naqqāsh said: The People of the Rass had a well. They drank from it and irrigated all their fields with its water. They had a just ruler of good conduct. When he died, they grieved greatly. After a few days, Satan appeared to them in the guise of their deceased ruler and said: "I did not die. I only disappeared from your sight to see what you would do." The people rejoiced at this. He ordered them to place a veil between him and themselves and told them that he would never die. Many believed his words, fell into temptation, and began to worship him. Allah sent them a prophet. The prophet told them that the one who appeared in the guise of the ruler was Satan and that he was addressing them from behind a veil. He commanded them to cease worshipping him and to worship only Allah, the One without partners. Suhaylī said: Revelation would come to that prophet, whose name was Ḥanẓala b. Ṣafwān, while he was asleep. The people attacked him, killed him, and threw him into the well. The water of the well dried up. Whereas before they drank abundantly, they were left thirsty; their trees withered, and their crops failed. Their homeland was ruined. Where once people thrived, no one was to be seen. They were driven to isolation. They were destroyed to the last person. In their homes, jinn and wild animals began to dwell. In their land, only the whispers of jinn, the roaring of lions, and the howling of hyenas could be heard.
Al-Ṭabarī, narrating from Muḥammad b. Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, said that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"On the Day of Resurrection, the first person to enter Paradise will be a black slave. For Allah the Exalted sent a prophet to the people of a town, and none believed in him except that black slave. Then the people of the town attacked the prophet, dug a well, threw him into it, and placed a heavy stone over him. That black slave would go, gather firewood, carry it on his back, sell it, and with the money buy food and drink. Then he would go to the well, and with Allah's help, lift the stone, lower the food and drink into the well, and then replace the stone. This continued for as long as Allah willed. One day, as usual, he went to gather firewood, tied it into a bundle, and was about to lift it onto his back when he felt a heaviness and lay down to sleep. Allah made his sleep deep, and he slept there for seven years. He awoke, stretched, turned to the other side, lay down, and slept again for another seven years. Then he awoke, got up, and took the bundle of firewood on his back. He thought he had only slept for about an hour during the day. He went to the village, sold his firewood, bought food and drink as usual, and went to the well. He searched for the prophet but could not find him. The people had changed their minds, taken the prophet out of the well, believed in him, and affirmed him."
This hadith is mursal (with a missing link in the chain of transmission). It is open to discussion. Al-Ṭabarī related this story based on the words of Muḥammad b. Kaʿb al-Quraẓī. Allah knows best. Al-Ṭabarī himself rejected this, saying: It is not correct to say that those described in this story are the People of the Rass mentioned in the Qur'an. For Allah the Exalted has stated that the People of the Rass were destroyed. In this hadith, the people later changed their minds, took their prophet out of the well, and believed in him. However, if, after their faithless ancestors were destroyed, they themselves encountered certain events and thus believed in their prophet, there is nothing to object to in that. Allah knows best. Then al-Ṭabarī preferred the view that they were the People of the Ditch (ashāb al-ukhdūd), but this is a weak opinion. For the People of the Ditch were threatened with punishment in the Hereafter if they did not repent; it is not explicitly stated that they were destroyed. However, it is clearly stated that the People of the Rass were destroyed. Allah knows best.