The People of the Trench
By Unknown Speaker | 2026-06-09T12:41:18.082609+00:00 | Topic: Trials
The People of the Trench
الحمد لله وحده والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعده نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم اللهم تسليماً كثيراً، واللهم لك الحمد حقاً حقاً ولك الحمد تعبداً ورقاً. لا إله إلا أنت سبحانك إني كنت من الظالمين. أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله. اللهم صل وسلم وبارك على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم اللهم تسليماً كثيراً. أما بعد.
All praise is due to Allah and His praise, and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, his family, his companions, and his followers until the Day of Judgment. I bear witness that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the only one worthy of worship and Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam his last and final messenger.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says — these verses in Surah al-Buruj tell us the story of the people of the trench.
The Story of the People of the Trench
Those who were tested so hard — so hard — by the king of their village. Those who were burned alive. A trench was dug, filled with fuel and branches, tree trunks, and it was lit up. Then they brought the believers and they started asking them to leave their religion, or they would be tortured to death in fire.
Men, women, elderly, children — all kinds of people. The only reason they were killed, the only reason they were burned, the only reason this genocide took place — it is because they believed in Allah al-Aziz al-Hameed.
That is an unbelievable type of torture. Just the scene — it is so disturbing. What a crime. When you take these innocent men and women, children and elderly, and you burn them alive — to the extent that a woman came with her child, an infant who was still living off her breast milk.
(Sahih Muslim, Book 55, Hadith 103 — the story of the People of the Trench and the infant who spoke)
When she saw the fire, تَكَاكَعَتْ — she kind of hesitated — and her child told her: يَا أُمَّهْ، اصْبِرِي فَإِنَّكِ عَلَى الْحَقِّ — "O my mother, be patient, stand fast — for you are upon the truth." Then she entered the fire and she refused to leave her religion.
مَشْهَدٌ مَرِيعٌ، جَرِيمَةٌ عَظِيمَةٌ، يَقُصُّ الْقُرْآنُ خَبَرَهَا وَيُنَبِّئُ بِنَبَئِهَا مَشْحُونَةً بِالْعِبَرِ.
There are so many lessons that can be derived from that story. But I want to pass all the great lessons and stories I can derive from these verses, to only pause and reflect and focus on one point.
أُعْرِضُ عَنْ هَذِهِ الْآيَاتِ وَالْعِبَرِ الْكَثِيرَةِ لِنَقِفَ عَلَى حَقِيقَةٍ عَظِيمَةٍ فِي هَذِهِ الْآيَاتِ.
وَهِيَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَمْ يَرِدْ فِي هَذِهِ الْآيَاتِ خَبَرُ نِهَايَةِ هَؤُلَاءِ الظَّالِمِينَ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ. لَمْ تَذْكُرِ الْآيَاتُ عُقُوبَةً دُنْيَوِيَّةً لَهُمْ، لَا خَسْفًا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا قَارِعَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ.
The Silence of the Qur'an About Their Earthly Punishment
It is amazing — the Qur'an did not mention any type of a hastened punishment or an instant punishment to those people who killed the innocent, who committed the crime. We do not see the verse telling us that they were swallowed by the earth, or that God sent a flood, or a rain of fire to destroy them. As a matter of fact, the story just continues all the way until it mentions how the believers were thrown into the fire — and does not mention what happened to the transgressors.
It told us what happened to the one who was abused — but not what happened to the abuser. Is that how it will end? Is that how those people will go free? Will they not be held accountable? No.
The reality is that this verse came to emphasize a fact that should be clear in the mind and the heart of every Muslim who sees injustice happening around the world today — in many different levels, in many different corners of the world, and especially in the heart of the Muslim lands today.
A fact comes and is declared by the surah in the most beautiful way. The verses express the truth in the most beautiful expression and with the best transparency. The One who owns the heavens and the earth. The One in whose hand is everything. The One who witnesses and knows everything happening in His kingdom.
So what happened to those people did not happen while Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was unaware or had no knowledge of it or was distracted from it. He was not distracted — nothing is hidden from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Rather, He is a witness to everything.
True Recompense Is in the Hereafter
The question still remains: how can they commit all this genocide, all this killing, and just go free like that? No — they did not escape punishment. Because punishment is not only in this earth. Because the punishment for the crime is not only in this life.
The true fact that we must always keep in mind is that the true recompense and the true judgment and the true punishment and the true reward is not in this life. It is not what happened in this life. It is what will happen next — after people return to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That is why the verse goes on to say:
The verse tells you: those who have tortured and burned the believing men and women, and did not repent to Allah — they will be burned in hellfire. They will be burned in the hellfire. When and where? In the hellfire, on the Day of Judgment.
What a big difference between this fire and that fire. How can you compare a fire made by humans versus a fire made by Allah? A fire that ends your life in a few minutes — but the fire of the akhirah is forever. This fire in the dunya led to the acceptance and to the mercy and to the reward of Allah. While the fire of the hellfire leads to His anger and to a continuous punishment — Allah knows how long.
The Worthlessness of This Dunya
It is so important to keep that in mind while you are looking at what is happening around you — that you never, ever, for a single second, forget that this dunya is temporary. That this dunya is worth nothing — not as a form of reward and not as a form of punishment. And no one will just escape Allah. No one will go without being held accountable for their actions.
This dunya — this whole life — is worth nothing in Allah's eyes. The Prophet ﷺ once passed by a dumpster area, a place where they dump their garbage.
(Sahih Muslim, Book 55, Hadith 7)
A skin of a sheep — the meat of it eaten by vultures or dissolved by the earth. It is stinky. It is bad. And the Prophet ﷺ picked it up from its ear — what was left from it — and held it up. And you can imagine the flies around it and the worms. It is disgusting.
"If this were alive, nobody would even pay a dirham for it — it is in such a state. Even if it were alive — who would buy anything like this?" And the Prophet ﷺ kept making this mock auction over it — and no one would buy it.
"You see how you look at this — worth nothing? That is how Allah looks at this life. It is worth nothing."
Let it fall to the ground — so that you can see the dunya also falling from your eyes, falling from your heart. It is not worth it. Nothing in this dunya is worth it.
That is why Allah might let some people go away with their crimes. Might let you go away with your injustice. Let you go away with your lies. Let you go away with your cheating. Let you go away with so many wrong things you have done. Let you go away with so many acts of disobedience to Allah. Because this dunya is not necessarily the place to reward or to punish. It might happen — but Allah knows that our iman is not strong enough to take it.
If it were left to Allah, He would not give the believers anything from this worldly life — He would give it all to the disbelievers and keep the reward entirely for the believers in the akhirah. But Allah did not do that because it is hard for us.
If Allah wanted, He would have given every disbeliever everything they could imagine in this life — all this luxury. Even their homes built from gold and silver. But all of this is very little compared to the akhirah.
Do Not Be Tempted by Their Power
That is why Allah always reminds us — when we see those who are arrogant, when we see the disbelievers, the wrongdoers, those who do not care about Allah, those who give no thought to the hereafter — do not be tempted by their status. Do not be angry because they are in such power. Because it is just a temporary time.
Always keep in your mind the akhirah and what Allah has prepared — and you will know there is no real gain here.
Do not be tempted by how powerful they are in this dunya. It is a temporary joy, temporary power. Enjoy your disbelief, enjoy your disobedience, enjoy your haram — you are ending up in hellfire. How long will it last? 70, 80, 100 years — then you end up in the akhirah. Compare that amount of years to a life that has no end to it.
When they compare the amount of days they lived in this dunya compared to the akhirah — this dunya for them is like a day. They say: "Not even a day — half a day." That is what people will say on the Day of Judgment. It is a very small amount of time, if you truly know.
That is why the believers always keep in mind what Allah says in the Qur'an. Sometimes Allah might let you see the punishment, see the reward — and sometimes, many times, He would not. That is why in the same surah, at the end, Allah said:
He does what He wishes according to His infinite wisdom, subhanAllah. Then He followed that by alluding to the story of Fir'aun and Thamud. And those two nations Allah destroyed in this life. So sometimes He does that and makes you see it and witness it — and sometimes He does not. But I know for certain that in the akhirah nobody will just pass. Nobody will be given a free pass.
Let them live, let them enjoy, let them laugh — until the day when they come out of their graves and are held accountable for their actions.
This dunya is a place to act, to do. Not necessarily to get rewarded or punished. But the akhirah is the place where you will be rewarded and punished — and there will be no actions at that time. You cannot offer anything then.
The Respite Is a Test, Not a Favor
May Allah make us among those to whom He gives the best of this dunya and the best of the akhirah. Allah says:
We did not give them a break, give them time, or hold back the punishment because We like you — because We favor you, because you are close to Allah, because you are on the side of the right. No. It is a fitna. It is a test and trial from Allah.
Some people said: "Ya Allah, give me money and I will show You what I will do." When Allah gave them — what did they do? They became stingy. They turned away.
Did Allah tell us what happened to this person? Did He tell us that He burned their wealth? Destroyed their gardens? That the earth swallowed them? No. What was the punishment? And just to open your horizon — the punishment was that Allah filled their hearts with hypocrisy. So they met Allah with no tawbah, with no repentance, with no good deeds.
Allah sealed their hearts because of their disbelief. Allah gave the wrongdoer that break, that time — not because He is pleased with him, not because He cannot destroy him and stop him — no. Because He wants him on the Day of Judgment to be punished in the most severe way.
A Message to Every Muslim Witnessing Injustice
I am saying this because sometimes some of my dear brothers and sisters, when they see this kind of injustice happening in the world, they start searching: what happened to them? How will Allah destroy them? How will Allah end the life of such and such person? You know, habibi — do not worry about that.
Allah knows and Allah has His plan for them. You might not witness anything in this dunya. They might go away with it. But they will never go away with it afterwards. That is something to keep in mind.
You as a husband — you might go away with abusing your wife, because you have more money. You as a husband — you might go away in a divorce case because you have a better lawyer. You as an employer — you might go away because you have more powerful lawyers and the corporation on your side. You as a police officer — you might go away because the law is on your side, or because you can bend the law. You as a politician, as a country — you might go away with it because you think: "I am backed by the western world or the eastern world," or by your numbers, or by your tanks and power.
You will not go away with it in the akhirah. All that you rely on in this dunya will not benefit you in anything in the akhirah. You will ask for their help and they will free themselves from you. They will say: "I do not know you. I run away from you." They will run away from you.
As this makes us patient, it should also make us — at the same time — care to do good and not necessarily expect the reward for it in the dunya. Not to be noticed and praised for it in the dunya. Because you know that the akhirah is خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى — better and more lasting.