People of Rass: Difference between revisions

:"The people of Noah denied before them, and [so did] the people of Rass and Thamud," ([[Qur'an 50]]:12)  

According to the Qur'an, the People of Rass refused to worship God and were afflicted by His [[reward and punishment|punishment]]. Some exegetic references related the story of the People of Rass with the verse 45 of [[Qur'an 22]] and "Bi'r Mu'attala" (the Abandoned Wells).

"Rass" is a Semitic word and in Aramaic and Hebrew, it means "to split and to break". In Arabic too, it means "to penetrate" and "to dig" and "well". It is said that in the Qur'an it means "well" and the People of Rass were the people who threw their prophet into a well.

Also, "Rass" is mentioned as a name for a region, mountain, river and people.

'''The First Report'''

In a [[hadith]] from [[Imam Ali (a)]], the People of Rass are introduced as people who lived after [[Prophet Solomon (a)]] and worshiped a poplar tree. It is said that it was planted by Japheth b. Noah (a) beside a river called "Roshab" and no one was allowed to drink or use that water. Every year, they gathered there during Eid times and tied different pieces of cloth to that tree and then began supplicating and made [[sacrifice]]s. Then, [[Satan]] went and shook the branches of the tree and expressed happiness for their actions. The People of Rass engaged in pleasure-seeking actions including lesbian sex. God sent the grandson of Judah, the son of [[Prophet Jacob (a)]] to guide them, but they did not believe in him and began harassing him. After the [[supplication]] of their prophet, that tree became dry and the People of Rass considered him guilty for it and threw him in a well. It incurred the wrath of God upon them; so, God sent them clouds and winds and made the earth for them hot like fire and they were melted like iron.

'''The Second Report'''

In a number of hadiths, the place the People of Rass lived was mentioned Hadramaut in [[Yemen]] and their prophet was mentioned Hanzala b. Safwan. It is also mentioned that they committed lesbian sex. Hanzala tried to stop them from doing such actions, but they began harassing him and threw him in a well; so, God sent 'Aram flood to them. It is said that a note was found in the grave of Hanzala on which he wrote that he was the prophet of God and was chosen from Yemen to guide Himyar, 'Arib and 'Aziz, but they killed him. In some of these hadiths, a woman called Dilhath, the daughter of [[Iblis]] is mentioned who taught women lesbian sex and urged them to commit those acts.

'''Third Report'''

Based on a hadith from the [[Prophet (s)]], Muhammad b. Ka'b b. Qarzi transmitted it, God sent a prophet for people who rejected him. They threw him into a well and put a big rock on the well. In their land, a slave lived who gathered firewood and sold for living. He had believed in that prophet and every day brought him water and food. One day, he had gone to collect firewood, but he went to sleep and by the will of God, he slept for 14 years. When he woke up, he thought that he slept for one hour; so, he prepared some food and went to the well, but there was no sign of the prophet. Based on this hadith, while he was in sleep, God had afflicted those people with punishment; so, they [[repentance|repented]] from their deeds and had released that prophet.

Some [[exegete]]s considered the people of Rass to be actually the [[people of Ukhdud]] and considered Rass as Ukhdud. It is said that some people including [[Ka'b al-Ahbar]] and Maqatil considered Rass, the name of a well in Antioch where people of Mu'min Al Yasin killed [[Habib Najjar]] and [[Mu'min Al Yasin]] and threw them into the well.

People of Rass have also been considered a branch of [[Thamud tribe]] and Bedouins of Hadura tribe whose prophet was Shu'ayb b. Dhi Mahra'. In some hadiths, the people of Rass have been introduced as nomads and stockbreeders whose prophet was [[Shu'ayb (a)]].

Different places have been mentioned as the place the people of Rass lived. The region of Aras river, Hadramaut in Yemen and Yamama. It is said that [[Dhu l-Qarnayn]] was the first person who visited their city.

The time of the people of Rass is considered an era after [[Prophet Noah (a)]], Prophet Solomon (a), or between the prophethood of [[Jesus (a)]] and [[Prophet Muhammad (s)]] or even at the time of [[Khalid b. Sanan]]. The Qur'an used the word "qurūn" to refer to the period between the people of Rass and other nations in the verse,  

Exegetes interpreted the word "qarn" (century), a period equal to 40, 70 or 120 years. [[al-'Allama al-Majlisi]] compared different reports and the time period suggested by writers previous to him for the people of Rass.

In some hadiths from the [[Ahl al-Bayt (a)]], the people of Rass and their actions are mentioned. In a hadith from [[Imam al-Sadiq (a)]], sinful women of the people of Rass are mentioned the people of the [[hell]] and their wrong action is described as bad as [[adultery]]. A part of sermon 182 of [[Nahj al-balagha]] is about them, in which the people of Mada'in Rass are considered as the people who killed their prophet.

Part 16 of ''[['Uyun akhbar al-Rida (a)]]'' and also a part of the second volume of ''[[Hayat al-qulub]]'' is about the story of the people of Rass.

*The material for this article is mainly taken from {{ia|[[:fa:اصحاب رس|اصحاب رس]]}} Farsi WikiShia.

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