In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
The story of a Prophet named Hanzala ibn Safwan — said to be the messenger sent to the People of the Well (As-hab ar-Rass), whom Allah mentions in the Qur’an in His words:
“And [We destroyed] ‘Aad and Thamud and the people of the Well (ar-Rass) and many generations between them.” (Al-Furqan 38)
“The people of Noah denied before them, and [so did] the companions of the Well (ar-Rass) and Thamud.” (Qaf 12)
This account is reported by Ibn Asakir without an established chain of narration. He quoted al-Razi, who said that Abu al-Qasim Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Khurdadhbah stated in Kitab at-Tarikh — and he in turn cited others — that the People of the Well were in Hudur (a village in Zabid, Yemen). Allah sent to them a Prophet named Hanzala ibn Safwan, but they denied him and killed him. (Tarikh Dimashq, 1/12)
Imam as-Suhayli also mentioned this in ar-Rawd al-Unuf without an authenticated chain, saying:
“Likewise, the people of Aden killed a Prophet sent to them named Hanzala ibn Safwan, and Allah’s punishment befell the Arabs for that. We seek refuge with Allah from His anger and painful punishment.” (ar-Rawd al-Unuf, 1/73)
Among the Qur’an commentators who mentioned this are ath-Tha’labi in his Tafsir (vols. 18/382; 19/413) and al-Baghawi (5/391; 6/84). It is also found in Mawsu’at at-Tafsir bil-Ma’thur (15/176; 16/96).
According to Ibn Kathir in Qasas al-Anbiya, Hanzala ibn Safwan is said to be the Prophet sent to the People of the Well. However, neither the Qur’an nor the authentic Sunnah explicitly names him. This report is instead transmitted from the great scholar Abu al-Qasim Ibn Asakir, who relayed it when mentioning the early history of Damascus, quoting from Abu al-Qasim Abdullah ibn Abdullah ibn Jardad and others. It says that the People of the Well were in Hudur, that Allah sent Hanzala ibn Safwan to them, and they denied him and killed him. Then, according to this narration, ‘Ad ibn Aws ibn Iram ibn Sam ibn Nuh (Noah) migrated with his people from ar-Rass to settle in al-Ahqaf, where Allah later sent Prophet Hud. The narration includes that Allah destroyed the People of the Well, and that their descendants spread across Yemen and beyond.
However, as scholars have noted, this alone is insufficient to confirm the authenticity of the story, due to the lack of a reliable chain.
About Their Deviation:
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hasan an-Naqqash reported that the People of the Well had a well that provided for their entire land. They had a righteous king; when he died, the devil appeared to them in his form, claiming he had not died but had hidden to test them. They rejoiced, believing he was immortal, and began to worship him behind a curtain. Allah sent them a Prophet to expose this deception and call them to worship Allah alone, without partners, likenesses, or form like His creation. But they killed him, throwing him into the well; its water dried up, their trees withered, crops failed, their homes were ruined, and they vanished, leaving only the howls of jinn and beasts in their abandoned land. (As narrated by as-Suhayli.)
Related Story of the Righteous Slave:
Ibn Jarir at-Tabari reported from Muhammad ibn Humayd, from Salamah, from Ibn Ishaq, from Muhammad ibn Ka’b al-Qurazi, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The first of people to enter Paradise on the Day of Judgment will be the black slave…” because Allah sent a Prophet to a village, but none among them believed except that slave. They threw the Prophet into a well and sealed it with a rock. The slave would bring him food in secret until he was caught and slept for many years — then woke and found the Prophet gone. When the people saw the sign, they believed and accepted the message. This report is mentioned, but Ibn Jarir himself rejected attributing it specifically to the People of the Well because the Qur’an states that they were destroyed, yet these people later believed — so it does not perfectly match.
Therefore, some scholars preferred to interpret that story as referring instead to Ashab al-Ukhdud (the People of the Ditch) but noted this view is weak since the Qur’an describes their punishment differently.
✅ Scholarly Caution
Respected scholars such as Ibn Jarir himself noted: the identity of Ashab ar-Rass and whether Hanzala ibn Safwan was truly sent to them remains unverified due to a lack of authentic chains. This does not contradict the verses but means the details cannot be firmly confirmed.
Thus, we share this story with respect for its place in traditional sources — yet we remind readers that its authenticity is not definitively established by the Qur’an or rigorously authentic Hadith.
May Allah increase us in knowledge and protect us from misguidance.
And Allah knows best and is Most Wise.
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