Just read and really enjoyed Adam Silverstein's new article published in Der Islam, “Who are the Aṣḥāb al-Ukhdūd? Q 85:4‒10 in Near Eastern Context.”
doi.org/10.1515/islam-…
doi.org/10.1515/islam-…
His central argument is that the identification of “the Men of the Pit (aṣḥāb al-uḫdūd)” of Q. 85 with the Martyrs of Najran is wrong, even indefensible, when one takes a historical *and* eschatological reading of the qur'anic passage into account.
Rather, he argues, the aṣḥāb al-uḫdūd refers to Daniel 3 and the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar killed (qaṭṭil|קַטִּ֣ל; cf. qutila aṣḥābu 'l-uḫdūd in Q. 85:4) while throwing the three youths the flames of the fiery furnace after they refused to worship the king's idol.
As Silverstein notes, this was Abraham Geiger's view and one that, w/ many modifications of the biblical Daniel 3, appears in early Arabic literature as well. See, for instance, the entry on Nebuchadnezzar from Ibn ʿAsākir's history of Damascus
books.google.com/books?id=VwAsC…
books.google.com/books?id=VwAsC…
There's a lot more to article, including an interesting etymology of uḫdūd, but suffice it to say that I found it very convincing.
