2019-01-10T15:02:00-08:00
According to the chronological age, the Holy Qur’an is considered the second historical source that mentions the story of the Companions of the Cave after the Syriac sources. There is an entire surah in the Qur’an called Al-Kahf, in which the story of the Companions of the Cave and Al-Raqim is mentioned in 17 verses, from verse 9 to verse 26, from the verse {Or did you think that the Companions of the Cave and Al-Raqim were among Our signs a wonder?}, and up to the verse {Say: Allah knows best what They remained for him the unseen of the heavens and the earth. He saw and heard through him. They had no guardian besides him, and he did not associate anyone with his rule.}
First, important questions must be asked.
How will we deal with the story of the Companions of the Cave in the Qur’an? Will we treat them as historical texts or as sacred religious texts?
Logically, we will treat it as a sacred religious text, a text that exists as such and cannot be added or decreased. It carries a strong faith authority that makes us take these aspects into account.
Can the Qur’an be considered one of the primary sources for the story?
Yes
Why?
If we deal with all the texts that mention the story of the Companions of the Cave, then the first basic source for the story of the Companions of the Cave is the Syriac sources, and after it comes the second main source, which is the Holy Qur’an, because the story of the Companions of the Cave in the Syriac sources has a specific form, while the story of the Companions of the Cave in the Qur’an has it. Completely different shape.
Before discussing the text, we must discuss the circumstances surrounding the Quranic text
Because when we try to understand the Quranic text, we are always faced with another interpretive text that imposes its authority on the Quranic text. In the previous article, we discussed the interpretive texts that talk about the story of the Companions of the Cave in the Islamic heritage. But we did not discuss another authority that imposes itself on the Qur’anic text, which is the reasons for the revelation.
Because the logical question is: What is the meaning of mentioning the story of the Companions of the Cave in the Holy Qur’an, and what is the benefit of mentioning it? Then we get the direct answer. There are books on the reasons for the revelation that give us the logical answer.
We will convey to you some of the reasons for revelation found in heritage books
■ The Quraysh were not satisfied with all of this, but rather they wanted to embarrass him, peace and blessings be upon him, with questions, so they sent Al-Nadr bin Al-Harith and Uqba bin Abi Muait to the Jewish rabbis in Medina and said to them, “Ask them about Muhammad and describe to them his character and tell them what he said, for they are the people of the first book and they have knowledge that we do not have of the knowledge of the prophets,” so they went out until they came forward. Medina, so they asked the Jewish rabbis about the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and they described to them his matter and told them some of what he said, and they said to them, “You are the people of the Torah, and we have come to you to tell us about this friend of ours.” The Jewish rabbis said to them: “Ask him about three things that we will command you about, and if he tells you about them, then he is a sent prophet, and if he does not do so, then the man is a hypocrite, so flee from him.” What is your opinion? Ask him about young men who went in the first era, what was their matter, for they had a strange story. Ask him about a man who traveled around the world and reached the east and west of the earth, what his prophecy was. Ask him about the spirit and what it is. If he tells you that, follow him, for he is a prophet, and if he does not do so, then he is an imaginative man. . So Al-Nadr bin Al-Harith and Uqba bin Abi Muait came until they came to Mecca against the Quraysh and said: O people of Quraysh, we have come to separate what is between you and Muhammad. The Jewish rabbis have ordered us to ask him about things, and if he tells you about them, then he is a prophet, and if he does not do so, then the man is a speaker, so express your opinion about him.
So they came to the Messenger of Allah and said: O Muhammad, tell us about young men who went in the first era who had a wondrous story, and about a man who traveled around the earth and reached the east and west of the earth, and tell us about the soul and what it is?
So the Messenger of Allah said to them: “I will tell you what you asked about tomorrow.” He made no exception, so they turned away from him. The Messenger of Allah stayed for fifteen nights without Allah speaking to him alive and without Jebril coming to him, until the people of Mecca shivered and said: Muhammad promised us tomorrow, and today we have spent fifteen nights without telling us anything. From what we asked him about, it was difficult for the Messenger to delay the revelation and what the people of Mecca would speak about, then Jebril brought him a surah of the Companions of the Cave in which he rebuked him for his sadness over them and told him what they had asked him about.
The commentators said: When the people asked the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about the three issues, he, peace be upon him, said: “I will answer you about them tomorrow.” He did not say, Allah willing, so the revelation was delayed for fifteen days, and then the Almighty’s saying was revealed: “And do not say of anything, ‘Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,’ unless Allah wills. And remember.” your Allah, when you forget, and say, “Perhaps my Allah will guide me.” (Al-Kahf: 23, 24) The reason why this saying must be mentioned – Allah willing – is that if a person says, “I will do such-and-such action tomorrow,” it is not unlikely that he will die before Tomorrow will come, and it is also not far-fetched that if he remains alive, some obstacle will hinder him from doing that act. If he does not say, Allah willing, he will be lying about that promise, and lying is repulsive, and that is not befitting of the prophets, peace be upon them.
This account was supported by the Israeli Dr. Wolfensohn, a teacher of Semitic languages at the Egyptian University and Dar Al-Ulum, who said in his thesis (The History of the Al-Yahoud in the Arab Lands), page 98, the following:
“Some orientalists deny the veracity of this dangerous story without providing evidence that we can be reassured about. The truth is that it is difficult to deny a historical narration that was the reason for the revelation of Surah Al-Kahf and the verses related to the Spirit and Dhul-Qarnayn. We have evidence that leads us to believe that this narration is likely to be realistic, which is that in The Talmud is a famous story similar to the story of the People of the Cave, and from this story the Jewish rabbis took the questions they addressed to the Messenger through the Quraysh delegation. This story is supported by what we have said that there were no Al-Yahoud in Mecca. If any of them were found in Mecca, the Quraish would not have sent a delegation to Medina to ask the Jewish rabbis about the affairs of the Prophet, and if any of them were found, he must be unknowing.
■ On the authority of Uqba bin Aamir, he said: One day I was serving the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and I left him, and a group of people from the People of the Book met me, and they said: We want to ask the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, so he asked permission for us to do so, so I entered and informed him, and he said He said: “My money and their money. I have no knowledge except what Allah has taught me.” Then he said: “Pour water for me.” So he performed ablution and prayed. He said: He had not finished until I saw happiness in his face. Then he said: “Bring them in to me, and whoever I see of my companions.” So they entered and stood up. In his hands, he said: “If you wish, you may ask, and I will tell you what you find written in your book, and if you wish, I will tell you.” They said: Yes, tell us. He said: “You came to ask me about Dhul-Qarnayn, and what you find in your book: He was a young man from the Romans, and he came and built the Egyptian city of Alexandria. When he finished, an angel came to him and took him to heaven, etc.
■ There are those who say that those who came to the Messenger to ask him about the young men who had been absent for a while were polytheists from the Quraish, and some of them say that they are the People of the Book, and some say that they are the Al-Yahoud.
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In a previous article, we talked about an important topic related to the Qur’an and it discusses the idea of whether the Qur’an was revealed all at once or as an astrologer? .. In it, we talked about the basis of this idea, its causes, and its problems, and what is the definitive Qur’anic answer to this question, and we said that the Qur’an speaks clearly that the Qur’an was revealed all at once, citing many verses as evidence.
Here is the link to the article
Was the Holy Qur’an revealed all at once or as an astrologer?
This result will perhaps spare us the need to discuss the reasons for the revelation of Surah Al-Kahf that we mentioned above and which are found in the books of interpretations. But this does not prevent us from discussing it to highlight points that we found important in these interpretations so that the picture becomes clearer more broadly.
■ Read the first explanation
The questioner were the polytheists of Quraish, and they wanted to embarrass the Prophet, so they decided to go to Medina and met with the Jewish rabbis and asked them questions because they were the people of the Torah to embarrass Muhammad. So the Al-Yahoud gave them questions, and if he answered them, then he was a sent prophet, and if he did not answer them, then he was told and they had to decide on his matter. Among these questions: About young men who went away in the first era, what was their situation, for they had a strange story. The polytheists returned to Mecca to preach to the people that they had obtained the questions that would confirm whether Muhammad was a prophet or a pretender.
According to the heritage and history that divided the time of the Qur’an into Meccan and Medinan, the verse is Meccan. This will raise the question: How could polytheists ask Muhammad about a religious story, when they were supposed to ask him about topics such as the Creator, resurrection, etc.
But the writer of the plot found a way for it, that the polytheists only communicated the questions, as they did not know anything about the boys, but there were those who gave them the questions so that they would reveal the matter of Muhammad.
Who will be the person who gave them those questions? ..Because Mecca is devoid of adherents of other religions, then it is necessary to make a trip to the city, because according to what was stated in the biography, the city was the dwellings of the Al-Yahoud and then return to Mecca.
the question :
Why do polytheists go to the Al-Yahoud to ask the Prophet? Is it because they know in advance that the role that Muhammad claims is similar to what the Al-Yahoud have? Is it because Muhammad came with a religion and a Qur’an similar to what the Al-Yahoud have of the Torah, and then the Al-Yahoud will be the ones who will be able to embarrass Muhammad?
So the Al-Yahoud asked the polytheists of Quraish a question about the boys.
Here we ask a question:
How do the Al-Yahoud present a question about the Companions of the Cave, when the Companions of the Cave were followers of the religion of Issa, and the story of the Companions of the Cave was not mentioned in the Jewish books?
The author of this plot made a mistake, and perhaps he was forced to make the question come from the Al-Yahoud because there are no Al-Nasarah in the environment of Medina and Mecca.
The author of this plot makes the Al-Yahoud the final say. In proving the truth of Muhammad from his lies.
What was Muhammad’s response to the polytheists’ question?
Muhammad’s response was to give them only Surat Al-Kahf, 17 verses, and this is an answer to the polytheists of Quraysh.
That means 17 verses from Surah Al-Kahf were the answer Muhammad received from Jebril.
Did it increase or decrease?
no
So…what is the reason for interpreting Surat Al-Kahf according to those books of interpretation, as long as the reason for the revelation was that, and Muhammad’s response was with verses from the Qur’an only and did not add or subtract, and he did not talk about Dakyanus or the city of Ephesus?
And the most important question
What is the continuation of the story? Meaning, did Muhammad answer correctly and did the polytheists return to Medina to present the answer to the Al-Yahoud so that they could be sure that his answer was true or false?!
Because the story requires a second trip to Medina, in order to present Muhammad’s answer to the Al-Yahoud, because the polytheists cannot give an evaluation of the answer, as they are polytheists who do not understand the answer, while the Al-Yahoud can do this.
There is no continuation….the story is enough for this.
The story achieved two things. The first thing was that they were only able to embarrass Muhammad, because the revelation was delayed for 15 days. The second thing was that it did not give us a detailed answer about the Companions of the Cave. Who are these boys and when were they? She was satisfied that the Qur’an was revealed with those verses only as an answer to that incident only.
So, to sum up the story, the polytheists were able to embarrass Muhammad by delaying the revelation, and they no longer cared whether the answer was right or wrong.
I deliberately presented a comment by a Jewish orientalist on the subject because of its importance, and this comment by the orientalist has become an appendix that you can find in books of modern interpretations.
Read what the orientalist said
The orientalist is very interested in the issue of interpreting the verse, and describes it as a dangerous story, and he is surprised by what the orientalists say about their denial of this story because they do not provide evidence so that he and the people can be reassured.
Serious story? ……Why is it dangerous and what is its importance, and who are these orientalists?!, and did they provide a standard and reference for creating reassurance for people?
المستشرق يحاول ان يعالج الاخطاء في القصة، بل يحاول تاكيدها لسبب نجهله و قد يعلمه هو و يعلمه كاتب القصة هذه ، لما لا .
It addresses the error in the question being asked by the Al-Yahoud, because Al-Nasarah are supposed to be the owners of intellectual property. Rather, the Orientalist tries to base it in the Talmud and not in the Old Testament, because he knows that the story was not mentioned in the Old Testament.
Rather, the orientalist addresses the logic of the first idea of the story, that Mecca is empty of Al-Yahoud while Medina is full of Al-Yahoud. Is it possible that there is not even a Jew in Mecca for the polytheists of Quraish to make the journey?
How did the Orientalist know this?
Because the story that was presented to the Muslim is understood by anyone that Mecca is the only land in the world that was devoid of all religions, all of them are idols and polytheism, and there are no one in it except polytheists, while Mecca is Al-Yahoud.
Let’s go to the second reason for going down
The second reason for the revelation is almost another treatment for the previous error about the Al-Yahoud, as it assumes that the questioner is People of the Book and does not specify their type, People of the Book only, in general, so that the previous error does not occur.
The People of the Book asked him about the youth and about Dhul-Qarnayn, and now the Prophet gives them an answer about Dhul-Qarnayn, but what is strange is that the Prophet did not answer with the Qur’an, but rather answered with the answer found in history. He began to speak like us and his words were no longer Qur’an… Dhul-Qarnayn was Alexander, who built the city of In Misr, etc.
If we search all the books that are called heritage books about the reasons for the revelation of Surah Al-Kahf, we will find that they are all in dispute about the identity of the questioner, between polytheists and Al-Yahoud, and some of them are People of the Book, and some say Al-Yahoud without the existence of polytheists, and some of them are pure polytheists without the presence of Al-Yahoud or People of the book.
Why ?
I’ll tell you why
We are faced with an initial founding reference text that carries supreme authority… and there are those who wanted to tamper with it so that the meaning would not reach the people.
how ?
When we deal with the Qur’an, we will deal with it as a sacred religious text, that is, a text that exists as such, and cannot be added or subtracted. A primary reference from which other texts emerged.
So how will we deal with this text and how will we understand it?
I will tell you how, but I will make it the last part.
Now we have to go to discuss all the questions that were raised and revolve around the story of the Companions of the Cave, and all the questions related to it, including its truth and the nature of its sources, etc., and then we go to Turkey and Jordan to inspect those caves.
But in the next part
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