The People of Tubba' are mentioned twice in the Qur'an, in Surah Ad-Dukhan and Surah Qaf. They are known in history as the Himyarites. They lived in ancient Yemen and Arabia. The Tubba' mentioned in here is not a single person, rather, Tubba' was what the Himyarites called their rulers. It means “the one who follows the sun like a shadow.” The Tubba' being mentioned here is the Tubba' al-Awsat, or the Middle Tubba', whose real name was Abu Karib Asad al-Kamil. He was the longest reigning Tubba' out of all the rulers of Saba and Himyar, ruling for at least fifty to sixty years.
Tubba' Abu Karib's hobby was conquest. He conquered many nations, even reaching Samarkand, which is now located in modern-day Uzbekistan. But there was one incident where he had intended to conquer Madinah. At first, there was not much resistance, the people of Madinah welcomed him. But later, a conflict arose when one of the people attacked a companion of the Tubba' (some say it was his son). This angered the Tubba' and he laid siege to the city, and even cut down the city's palm trees which the residents earned their income from. The residents of Madinah were scared, and so they adopted a strange attitude; they would defend themselves in the day and would entertain his requests in the night. This went on for a few days, and eventually Tubba' Abu Karib felt so embarrassed, so he decided to leave Madinah alone. But as he was about to leave, two Jewish elders from Banu Qurayza confronted him. They warned him to stop his attacks, and they told him that Madinah would be the final place of migration of an upcoming Prophet of Allah.
The Tubba' was interested, and the two Jews told him more about their religion. Surprisingly, the Jews were firm believers in Allah. They encouraged the Tubba' to reject paganism and embrace the original religion of monotheism, the religion of Prophet Musa, peace and blessings be upon Him. The Tubba' was convinced enough, and he converted to the religion. He began to reject the polytheistic ways of the pagan Himyarite religion. Tubba' Abu Karib Asad also visited Makkah, where he gave the Ka'bah its first covering, a fine Yemeni cloth which had a striped pattern on it. He also forbade people from approaching the Ka'bah with sacrifices and animal blood.
His army also converted to Islam, and the Tubba' brought the two Jews with him back to Yemen. There, they worked together on spreading Islam. Not everyone in Himyar converted to Islam, however. There were a certain minority who believed in the religion. The Tubba' was met with resistance from most of his people, and eventually, a large crowd of people took him to trial in front of a large fire. This fire was known to burn those who lied, and ignore those who were telling the truth. The people then brought their idols, and asked the Tubba' to testify he was right.
Allah, may He be Exalted, sent down his divine wrath on the Himyarites who disbelieved. After the Tubba' had testified, the fire grew so large, it swept through the crowd of disbelievers and burned them and their idols. They all screamed and tried to escape. But eventually, all the polytheists perished in the fire, alongside their idols. The only ones saved from the fire were the Tubba', his two new Jewish companions, and those Himyarites who believed.
It is mentioned in the Qur'an; “The Companions of the Wood, and the People of Tubba', each one of them rejected the messengers, and My warning was duly fulfilled in them.” Many, many years later, the Messenger or Allah ﷺ told his people not to revile Tubba' as Tubba' had embraced Islam. But Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not know whether the Tubba' had been a Prophet or not.
Source:
Al-Bidayah wan Nihayah by Imam Ibn Kathir, volume 3, page 122
Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Surah Ad-Dukhan
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