2019-01-07T11:22:00-08:00
As for the story of the People of the Cave in Islamic sources, they are almost never historical sources, but rather sources that deal with the subject from a religious aspect. Most of them are interpretations of religious texts, and they come from men who have a great position in the religious consciousness of Muslims, such as the Prophet or clerics from the ancestors. It is not difficult for anyone to realize that it was taken from Christian sources, but after it was matched with the Qur’anic text so that the period appears to be 300 years, the location of the cave, its descriptions, the number of boys, the building of a mosque… etc.
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The story of the People of the Cave in Shiite thought
The story of the Companions of the Cave as reported by the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him
In the year 106 after the birth of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, the Roman armies invaded Jordan, where the Nabataean Kingdom was rising.
The Roman Emperor Trajan was a fanatical pagan, so he began persecuting believers, especially the followers of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him.
Before this military campaign, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan enjoyed a kind of autonomy, and the capital, Rome, was satisfied with paying taxes from those countries. The reason for this is the small number of Roman forces there.
Thus, the military campaign came for the Romans to complete their military occupation of those regions and subject them to the direct rule of Rome.
In the year 112 AD, Emperor Trajan issued a decree stipulating that anyone who refused to worship the gods would be tried as a traitor to the state, and would expose himself to death.
Philadelphia
At that time, Amman was called “Philadelphia,” and it was a beautiful city, but the statues that decorated the city were not just for decoration, but rather they were worshiped as gods other than Allah Almighty.
There is a statue of “Athena,” the goddess of war. Where she holds a spear in her right hand and takes cover with a shield in her left hand. There is also a statue of “Taiki”, or the goddess of luck and guardian of the city! It is now in the Antiquities Museum in Amman!
To the east and south-east of Amman, “Philadelphia” was rising, and it had reached the height of its material civilization at that time. As for the believers, they were living in fear, especially after the Roman forces during the reign of Trajan occupied the country and imposed direct rule on it.
In the year 112 AD, Trajan issued a decree deeming all Al-Nasarah traitors to the state! The Christian had the choice between worshiping the gods or death!
The seven boys
Many were afraid and pretended to worship the Roman gods, and state committees began to investigate and inspect the beliefs of the people of the country, so the people lived in fear and anxiety, and in that city lived seven young men, whose names were mentioned in history as follows:
1- Max Melianus.
2 Amelechus.
3- Mutianus.
4- Danius.
5- Janius.
6- Aksa Kedtho Nyanus.
7- Antonius.
These young believers lived in confusion: What should they do? What will be their position?
There were only two paths before them: death or disbelief.
In those fateful moments, they made a fateful decision to flee the city, but how?
At dawn that day, while the inspection committees were chasing the believers, one of the guards saw seven men with a dog leaving the city.
The guard asked:
Where to?
Someone answered:
-We are going on a fishing trip.
The guard said:
– Okay, but you must return to participate in the official celebration.
To the cave
The seven boys – with their dog – headed east to a cave several kilometers away, near a village called Al-Raqim.
The boys arrived in the mountainous area, and began climbing the heights on their way to a cave they had chosen before.
The cave is located on the southern foot of the mountain. It was a unique cave in its location. It has a moderate climate due to the presence of two openings on its right and left sides, and its door faces the South Pole of the Earth. Inside the cave is a gap with an area of 5/7 metres, and it is the place that the boys decided to take advantage of in their hiding.
The boys’ idea was to isolate themselves from the people, hide in this place, and wait for Allah’s mercy.
There was no hope of victory over the pagan Romans.
They also strongly reject the worship of idols. Their belief is that Allah is the Allah of the heavens and the earth, and that worshiping those gods is a slander against the greatest truth in existence.
People at that time did not believe in the Day of Resurrection. They used to imagine that when a person’s soul dies, it moves to another person or becomes an animal!
Long sleep
The boys arrived at the cave… tired, and they were worried that the Roman soldiers would chase them and discover their hideout.
They were tired because they had not slept the night before; That’s why they felt drowsiness caressing their eyelids, so they fell asleep dreaming of a better tomorrow.
Allah Almighty – in order to embody His ability to resurrect the dead, and in order for people to know His ability, and that He alone is the source of knowledge and power – cast upon them a heavy sleep.
How long were they asleep? Their sleep continued for long days… and the sun rose and set while they slept.
Detachments of soldiers were searching for them everywhere; but to no avail.
They became the talk of the country. The seven boys disappeared on a hunting trip and no one found them!
Thus, years pass after years, and no one knows what is happening in that cave.
The dog stretched out his arms at the door of the cave, succumbing to a long, heavy sleep.
The air was moderate inside the cave, because its door was facing the South Pole, and the presence of two openings on either side of it enabled sunlight to shed the morning rays inside the cave as well as at sunset.
They were asleep, not knowing what was going on.. Decades of years had passed while they were asleep.
If a shepherd were to find a cave or a traveler was to take shelter there when it was raining, he would flee while seeing a frightening sight. Why?
Because he will see men with open eyes staring into the void, and he will also see one of the hunting dogs, motionless like a statue!
They were immersed in a deep, dreamless sleep.
But…what is happening outside the cave? What is happening to the cities and villages in the country?
Trajan’s death
Emperor Trajan died, and other emperors came after him. Emperor Dikyanus, who ruled from 285 to 305 AD, also died.
During that period, “Palmyra” fell in the year 110 AD, then regained its prestige and fell permanently in the year 272 AD, when the Romans eliminated “Zenobia” after devastating wars.
The good king
In the year 408 AD, Emperor Theodosius ascended the throne of Rome. He was the emperor who converted to the Christian religion so that the Roman Empire became Christian.
In the year 412 AD, Allah wanted the truth to be revealed, and for His power to be revealed to people as a mercy from Him.
Three centuries had passed since the escape of the seven boys.
What happened inside the cave, I wonder?
The dog, Cotmeron, barked, and the boys woke up from the longest sleep in history.
One of them asked, thinking they had only slept a few hours:
– How long did you sleep?
They were still sleepy, and they saw that the sun had set, and its golden rays were bathing a small side on the wall of the cave.
That’s why some of them thought they had slept a whole day. They thought they had spent the whole night sleeping without feeling the sun setting, then rising, and now it is setting. So they said:
We slept for a day or part of a day!
Some of them said:
Your Allah knows best how long you stayed in the cave.
Only Allah knows how long you slept. Only Allah knows what is hidden from the soul. When a person sleeps, he is cut off from the world…from religion…
If we assume that a person slept in the early fall and then woke up and saw snow and trees without leaves, he would not discover that he slept for more than three months, why? Because the fall season has passed and now it is winter.
The seven boys woke up and saw the sun setting. They did not know whether they slept only a few hours or slept more… because they did not know whether the sun had set and then risen the next day and was setting again or not!
They were true believers, that’s why they said: Only Allah knows how much we slept. They thought they only slept for a day or part of a day!
The dangerous mission
The next morning they felt hungry. One of them said – and took out gold money:
– Let one of us go with this money and buy us good food… And be very careful, so that no one discovers his identity… If we fall into their grip, our fate will be death.
Another said:
– Indeed.. they imposed a sentence of stoning for anyone found guilty of rejecting the gods!
Another said:
They may force us to prostrate to the gods.
Another said:
What a miserable fate then.
In the market
One of the boys donated to go to the city and buy food from the market.
He left the cave and descended the mountain, thinking about how to enter the city and how he would answer if someone asked him, and what he would say to the Roman guards and soldiers?!
He did not pay attention to the changes brought about by rain, floods, and winds for three centuries.
He was afraid and worried, because he had not gone on a hunting trip or a picnic when he and his companions went to the cave. And now he is back to buy food. He still feels afraid.
He imagines that things are as they were yesterday.. He arrived in the city, and began to look at its walls and buildings. He walked, confused and wondering. Imagine that he arrived in another city!
No one objected to him when he entered the city, and he did not find any traces of statues of the gods. He saw himself as a stranger in the city!
People look at him and wonder: He is wearing an old uniform that no one wears today!
People here wear new uniforms, and he did not see soldiers oppressing people or holding them accountable for their faith!
People here live in peace, work and farm, and do not appear afraid or anxious.
And the boy went to the market.. He asked someone about him and he directed him to him. The boy was amazed at the way he spoke! People’s dialect has changed a lot.. They speak a new dialect!!
interesting !!
The boy asked himself:
Did I make a mistake and arrive in another city?
The big truth
He paid attention to himself, and thought about performing his mission, which was to buy food and return to the hideout in the mountain.
That’s why he pretended to behave in a normal way, as if he were one of the city’s residents.
The people thought he was a strange man who came from a distant village in the middle of the mountains.
The boy searched for a good man who was selling food, but he did not find him and found many sellers with kind faces.
The boy chose some of the food on offer, and the seller reviewed the price. And here what was expected happened!
When the seller received the money, he looked at it in amazement! It is money dating back to the time of Emperor Trajan, and it has been minted for three centuries!
The seller looked at the boy in amazement and thought he had found a treasure, so he said to him:
-Did you find a treasure?!
-What do you mean?!
– I mean these gold coins, they go back decades ago.
– It’s my money, and I came to buy myself food.
The seller said as he showed him the currency in circulation:
– Look! We deal with this money!
The boy looked at the minted coin. He had never seen it before. He said to himself:
Oh my Allah, what happened?!
The seller said:
-If you share the treasure with me, I will not tell anyone.
What treasure?! I only have this coin!
-Then I will tell the police!
The seller’s voice rose as he touched the boy’s clothes.
People gathered around them, and the boy said while looking around:
Please.. leave me.. They will kill me if they catch me.. Trajan’s soldiers have no mercy on anyone.
– Trajan?!
People said astonished. A man laughed and said:
– Trajan died hundreds of years ago. Are you crazy, boy?!
The boy asked:
-And who rules now?
Theodius.. He is a good emperor, and he converted to the religion of Christ two or three years ago.
The boy asked:
-You mean they no longer kill the Issawis?!
– What are you saying?! People have believed in the religion of Allah. The time of injustice and torment has passed.
An old man said while rubbing his forehead:
-Oh my Allah! When I was a child, my grandmother used to tell me about young men who feared for their religion from the emperor, so they fled and no one found them?!
The boy became dizzy and almost fell to the ground from the horror of what he heard. Is it possible that they slept all these years, and is it possible for a person to sleep for three centuries?!
He doesn’t remember anything.. Imagine that he slept yesterday and woke up today.
The boy started rubbing his eyes… he imagined himself in a dream…
But no…no, what he sees is a reality…but it is a major reality!
the end
The exciting news reached the governor of the city. He was a man of faith, so he ordered him to be brought. The governor discovered that he was faced with a major truth, and that Allah Almighty wanted to show them a sign indicating his ability to resurrect the dead, the reality of resurrection, and the Day of Resurrection, the day when people will rise up before the Allah of the Worlds.
The ruler asked the boy to guide them to the cave, and so the boy walked, followed by the faithful ruler and his soldiers.
The boys in the cave were afraid and living in a state of anxiety. Their brother was late.
Someone said:
He might have been arrested!
Another said:
– Perhaps he was late in entering the city. You know the severity of the guards.
And in those exciting moments; Someone left the cave and started climbing the mountain to the top. From there, he watched the road leading to the city, and saw with his own eyes what he feared!
Here are the Roman soldiers coming from afar..
He quickly returned to inform his companions. He said to them:
-I saw soldiers coming towards us; He was arrested and led them to us!
Another said:
– I don’t think so; Let’s wait… Maybe the soldiers are going somewhere else.
The moments passed quickly and excitingly. Suddenly their friend, the boy, entered the cave and told them the great truth.. They had not slept for a day or part of a day. Their sleep had extended for three centuries, and that Allah had made them a sign of His power, and that He revives the dead and returns souls to their bodies again!!
In that time, there were those who said: When the soul leaves the body, it does not return to it, but resides in another body.
As for the believers, they believed that Allah is capable of everything, and He is the one who created man, and He is the one who takes his soul and then returns it to him on the Day of Resurrection.
The boy had asked the governor to go alone, because his friends were afraid of injustice and they did not know what had happened to them.
When the boys discovered this truth, they cried out of fear and longing for Allah, and begged Him to take their souls, because they belonged to a bygone time… to three centuries ago.
Allah answered their prayers, made them sleep, and their souls flew away to a world full of goodness and peace.
The ruler was waiting, but in vain; That’s why he decided to go himself to the cave. When he entered, with his men, he saw a strange sight!!
They were seven boys and their dog. They had died moments ago. Their bodies were still warm.
The ruler prostrated to Allah Almighty, and the believers prostrated with him.
At that time, people were arguing about the soul. Some of them said that it returns to the body again on the Day of Resurrection, and some of them said that it resides in another body.
But when they saw with their own eyes the Companions of the Cave, and how the spirit returned to them, they became certain of Allah’s power.
As for the polytheists, they were in doubt, which is why they said:
Build a structure over them.. Their Allah knows best about them!
But the believers said:
– Let us make a mosque over them… and seek blessing from this place in which Allah has demonstrated His power.
The believers were victorious, and they built a mosque in that place where Allah alone was worshiped.
And they increased by nine
Today, when a person visits Amman, the capital of Jordan, he can head to the southeast of it, at a distance of eight kilometers between the villages of Al-Raqim and Abu Alanda, where the Cave of the Companions of the Cave is located. He will see several graves in the form of Byzantine sarcophagi, which number seven sarcophagi in addition to a naw. Wass Small, perhaps the burial ground of the cave’s owners’ dog.
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The story of the People of the Cave in Sunni thought
The Holy Qur’an described the Companions of the Cave with endearing descriptions that reflect the values held by the characters and heroes of the story that represent the requirement of faith in Allah alone. The Almighty said: (We narrate to you their report in truth. Indeed, they They believed in their Allah, and We increased them in guidance.) [3] And in the report of the Companions of the Cave, they fled with their religion from a king. He appeared in their city and worshiped idols and worshiped his people, so these young men fled from him to a cave outside the city, fleeing with their religion. The narrations agree that the young men followed the religion of Issa, son of Maryam, peace and blessings be upon him, and that the name of the infidel king was Dikyus or Diqnios, and the name of the city ruled by him was Ephesus, or it is said, Tarsus, and from there the young men left for fear of the king over their religion and themselves, and their number was seven, as the commentators suggested, citing what Mentioned in the Noble Qur’an, Allah Almighty said: (They will say: There are three, the fourth of whom is their dog, and they will say: There are five, the sixth of whom is their dog, by stoning of the unseen. And they will say: Seven and the eighth of them. Their dog. Say, “My Allah knows best their number. Only a few know them. So do not dispute among them except openly dissent, and do not ask a question concerning them with any of them.”[4] And in It was said that the negation of the first and second enumerations appeared by following them with the sentence (as a result of the unseen); Meaning slandering the unseen without proof or evidence, then he resumed the enumeration to reveal the real number, so they were seven and their dog was the eighth of them, and Allah knows best.
The boys go out to the cave
It was said about the conditions of the young men that they were sons of the nobles or sons of kings, and that they were young in age, and that King Daqnius was touring the Roman cities and did not leave anyone in them following the religion of Issa, son of Maryam, peace and blessings be upon him, except to kill him, and the young men had denied what King Daqnius was upon. And his people worshiped idols and disdained their situation, so they mentioned to Daqnius that among the members of your entourage are those who disobey your command and disdain your gods. So Daqnius gathered the young men and ordered them to follow his gods and sacrifice to them, then he threatened to kill them after he saw among them the steadfastness of their religion and their determination to cling to it and defend it, then he decided to make They had a date in which he would seek their return to him and his gods, and he would not delay their account except to take into account their young age and their ignorance of what might be done to them of killing, bloodshed, and hanging their remains at the gates of the city, as is done to those who are not of a religion. And Diqnius went outside the city to seek something, so the young men gathered to isolate themselves from the people. And fleeing to a cave in a mountain on the outskirts of the city called Benjalous, so they started worshiping Allah and occupied all their time with supplication and remembrance, and they put one of them on their food and his name was Yamlikha, so if he wanted to go out to the city market, he would put off his clothes by which he was known for his honor and lineage, and he would wear torn clothes to hide himself from them. The people of his city, so he returns to his friends with food and sustenance without anyone realizing it.
The return of the king
When King Daqnius returned to the city, he asked for the boys to be allowed to wait for their term, which he had delayed for them. The people mentioned to him what had happened to them, so he gathered his soldiers and then went to the cave and built on it so that they could die inside it, as if Allah had struck their ears, and in their sleep there was a loss of hearing, which is the most affected of the senses. During sleep. Then Allah sent a king to follow the religion of Issa, son of Maryam, peace and blessings be upon him, and it was during his reign that Allah gave permission for the cave to be opened by the hand of a shepherd who went to the cave to protect his sheep from the rain. So Allah sent the owners of the cave, but they disagreed about the length of their sleep, then they sent Imlikha, who was in charge of their food, to buy for them, and it happened whenever it passed. With a teacher he denied it, until when he reached the market and showed his dirhams, the people denied him and gathered to ask about his matter, then they brought his matter to the king, who told him the stories, so the king and his people followed him to the cave to witness the departure of his companions, and when they arrived, Yamlkha preceded them to his companions, so Allah struck them and they died, so the king slowed him down, so he entered with his people. They found them in their condition and hastened their affairs, so they established a church and a mosque in which prayers were to be performed.
Suitability of the story of the People of the Cave in the Holy Quran
Surat Al-Kahf was revealed to confirm the Messenger of Allah, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and to confirm his message. This is because the infidels of the Quraish sent Al-Nadr ibn Al-Harith and Uqba ibn Abi Muayt to the Jewish rabbis to ask them for a fatwa about the Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. So Al-Nadr and Uqbah returned to their families carrying three questions from the Al-Yahoud: The first is the matter of the young men of the People of the Cave, the second is the man circumambulating, and the third is the spirit. So the revelation was delayed to the Messenger of Allah for five days, then he came to him with Surah Al-Kahf, and the news of the Companions of the Cave, and Dhul-Qarnayn, and the verse was revealed: (And they ask you about the spirit).
References ↑ “The Story in the Holy Qur’an,” Islam Web. ↑ Sheikh Ahmed Al-Sharbasi (9-9-2012), “One of the Characteristics of the Story in the Holy Qur’an,” Al-Alukah Al-Shariah. Adapted. ↑ Surah Al-Kahf, verse: 13. ↑ Surah Al-Kahf, verse: 22. ↑ Al-Tabari, Tafsir Al-Tabari, page 296. ↑ Muhammad Al-Qurtubi, Al-Jami’ li Ahkam Al-Qur’an, page 359, part 10. ↑ Abu Al-Hasan Ibn Al-Atheer, Al-Kamil in History , page 325. ↑ Muhammad Al-Qurtubi, Tafsir Al-Qurtubi, page 360, part 10. ↑ Abu Al-Fida Al-Basri, The Beginning and the End, page 135. ↑ Muhammad Al-Tabari, The History of the Messengers and Kings, page 7, part 2. ↑ Muhammad Al-Tabari, Jami’ Al-Bayan fi Interpretation The Qur’an, page 605, part 17. ↑ Muhyi al-Sunnah al-Baghawi, Signs of Revelation in the Interpretation of the Qur’an, page 141-241. ↑ Yasser Burhami, Qur’anic Stories, page 1-10. ↑ Surah Al-Isra, verse: 85. ↑ “Hadith 2/70 “, Al-Durar Al-Sunniyyah – the Hadith Encyclopedia.