Cave story
Many stories are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, which carry lessons within them, so that the believers can benefit from them and prove the hesitant ones. ( [Yusuf: 3]
And it came in the Holy Qur’an
If the story stabilizes the heart of our master Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, then it is necessary for those who are below him, and these stories draw the benefit from the believer and an example of patience
In our story, we will tell you a great story from the Qur’an, which is mentioned in Surat Al-Kahf
The reason for the revelation of Surat Al-Kahf
Surah Al-Kahf is one of the evidences that came to ratify the prophecy of our master Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and it was revealed at a time when the people of Makkah suffered from injustice and oppression
It has also been stated that one of the reasons for the revelation of Surat Al-Kahf is that the polytheists sent two Jewish men to the rabbis to ask them about their opinion on the call of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace
So God Almighty revealed Gabriel in Surat Al-Kahf, including the answer to their question about the matter of the boys and Dhul-Qarnayn. As for the matter of the soul, it was revealed in Surat Al-Isra.
The story of the people of the cave
It is the story of a group of righteous young men, as God Almighty said in His book: “We will relate to you their news of the truth. Indeed, they were young men who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance.” [Al-Kahf: 13]
These boys grew up in a city ruled by an immoral king, and its people are immoral people who worship idols that do not benefit them or harm them
The boys fled from this city with their religion from the king and his people, and they went to a cave outside it, and the narrations agree that the boys were on the religion of our master Jesus, peace be upon him, and that the king was called Daqios and the city that is ruled by Ephesus, and from it the boys left out of fear of the king for their religion and themselves
The number of young men was seven (and God knows best), as the commentators have suggested. The Most High said:) They will say three, the fourth of them is their dog, and they will say five, and the sixth of them is their dog, guessing in the unseen, and they will say seven, and the eighth of them is their dog Q. My Lord knows their number, only a few know them.” [Al-Kahf: 22]
In the language, it was said that the denial of the first and second censuses appeared by following them by (stoning unseen), meaning that this number was said about him without proof or evidence, and then the census was resumed to clarify the real number of them, i.e. they were seven and the eighth of them was their dog, and God knows best
But the number of young men does not realize any importance from knowing it, and for that God Almighty said
The boys take refuge in the cave
The youths were, as it was said, among the sons of the nobles of the city and among the sons of the kings in it, and that they were young in age, and that the king was circumambulating the city, leaving no one who did not worship idols without killing him. The gods that he worships and forces his people to worship him do not benefit or harm, and that there are those among his entourage who disobey his command and despise his gods, so the king gathered the boys and ordered them to follow his gods and sacrifice to them, then he threatened them with killing after he saw from them steadfastness on their religion and determination from them to cling to it and defend it, then he saw that He makes a date for them to seek their return to him and his gods, and he would not delay their reckoning except to consider their young age and ignorance of what might be done to them of killing and bloodshed and hanging their body parts at the gates of the city as he does to those who are not of his religion. People and flee to a cave in a mountain on the outskirts of the city, and that is when they knew that they could not show their faith to their people, and they asked God to facilitate their matter, as stated in the Holy Qur’an: hard [Al-Kahf: 10]
The boys took refuge in a cave that God made very easy, wide gap, its door towards the north, the sun does not enter it, neither at its rising nor at its setting, so they slept in their cave with God’s protection and care for three hundred years and increased by nine, and God struck them with a scope of terror because of their proximity to the city of their people. Then, in the cave, he took charge of preserving them, saying: {And you think that they are awake while they are sleeping, and we turn them to the right and to the left, and their dog spread out his arms with the prey. If you had seen them, you would have turned away from them. You would have filled them with fear.” [Al-Kahf: 18] This is so that the earth will not consume their bodies
And after three hundred and nine years, when they awoke from their sleep, their saying was: So send one of you with this coin of yours to the city, and let him see which food is purer, and let him bring you provision from it, and let him be kind and not make you feel bad. (Al-Kahf: 19) They did not know the reality of their situation nor the time in which they are
So they sent one of them with the dirhams that were with them to buy some food from the city in which they were, while he was careful not to draw the attention of anyone around him. So that they do not seduce them from their religion, but God Almighty wanted people to know about them so that the argument would be established against them and they know that God’s command is true