The story of the People of the Cave is one of the most important Qur’anic stories that reveals many lessons about the mercifulness of Allah, The Almighty, on people of faith and strong believe. Allah, The Almighty, protected few youth who were weak and powerless in the face of a cruel and unjust king. From scholars perspective this story is also a strong evidence for resurrection, as it proofs that Allah, The Almighty, Who was able to give the life back to those youth after putting them into sleep for 309 years, has the power to restore people’s lives hundreds or even thousands of years later after their death.
Allah, The Almighty, honoured People of the Cave by recounting their story in the Holy Qur’an through Surat Al Kahf, to keep the memory of this group of faithful youth, who escaped a cruel king called ‘Diqnaios’ who was the ruler of the city of ‘Afsos”. This unjust king used to call upon his people to worship idols (statues) and to disbelief in God. He also punched tortured and to killed believers for their faith, as an intimidation tactic.
The young men, whom scholars believe that they were following the religion of prophet Essa, Peace be Upon Him, believed in Allah, and refused their king’s call to worship idols, in turn Allah, showered them with guidance, piety, faith and obedience to the true doctrine. He allowed them to distiguish the differences between the right and the wrong, so they refused the money, power and authority offered to them by their king to disbelief in Allah. The young men, however, weren’t driven by fear and they didn’t hesitate even when they were threatened by their king, who invited them to his palace to watch the bodies of other believers being hung on the palace’s yard, after they were tortured and killed for believing in Allah.
The unjust ruler threatened to punishing the young men, who belonged to rich families, because he believed they were still young and unaware of the repercussions of their rejection to obey his orders. The young men took the chance and left their town to escape this horrifying destiny at the hands of the cruel king. They searched for long time to find a place where they can be protected from their king, deserts’ predators and insects, and from the sun. They found a cave to hid in, where they sought peace and safety in. A place that is usually full of dangerous snakes and poisonous scorpions, but they entered it peacefully as it was chosen by Allah, The Almighty, to protect them for hundreds of years to come.
Divine miracles surrounded the young men in the cave after they asked God to guide, help, and protect them. They entered the peaceful cave, while their dog lay down at the cave’s mouth. Miracles kept happening in that cave as scientist discovered later that this cave was like no other in its surrounding area. The cave’s ceiling had holes to allow fresh air to enter the cave so the bodies of the youth won’t be decay by the lack of the air inside the cave. In addition, there were hole that allowed the sun to illuminate the cave from the south- west side. When scientists tried to stand in front of this hole, they found out that the sun moves to the right during the afternoon times, just like as Allah, the Almighty, had proclaimed the Holy Qur’an.
Allah, The Almighty, wanted those youth to be evidence for their people of his absolute power in creating and giving life or death according to His will, and that He is the only one who can bring people back from their graves, when he deems it.
Another divine miracle pertained to protecting and keeping the bodies of the People of the Cave, as they were moved from one side to another to stimulate their blood circulation and prevent their bodies from ruin due to their long sleep on the ground. The dog, who also slept for 309 years, was laying on his stomach in front of the cave, with his arms stretched in front of him. Scientists found that dogs has special feature in their bodies that prevents it from ulceration when they sleep for long periods on the ground. Another miracle took place in that cave, when the young men woke up from their long sleep, asking each other about how long have they slept, but failed to know the answer. They felt hungry, so they decided to send one of them to buy some food. When he tried to pay for the food people noticed that he is carrying an old currency from hundreds of years ago,. That’s how they knew that he was one of the People of the Cave.
The revelation of Surat Al Kahf to the Prophet Mohammad, Peace be Upon Him, reveals many lessons and homiletics. It were made apparent to Prophet Mohammad’ before the Migration from Mecca to Abyssinia. Scholars say that Allah, The Almighty, chose this time to reveal this story to calm the new Muslims who were suffering from different kinds of torture at the hands of the disbelievers from the tripe of Quraysh, and grant them strength to hold on to their new faith. Surat Al Kahf was also revealed to Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) as an answer to some questions. The disbelievers from the tribe of Quraysh wanted to have a proof that Mohammad is a prophet, so they requested Jewish scholars to give them some questions that only a true prophet would be able to answers. Those scholars told them to ask the Prophet about the People of the Cave, Thu Al Qarnien and about Al Rooh (The Saul). When the disbelievers asked Prophet Mohammad about the stories, he told them that he will inform them tomorrow but he forgot to say Insha’Allah. For that Jibreel (Gabriel) Alyeh Al Salam, stopped reveling the Prophet with inspiration for 15 nights, after which he revealed Surat Al Kahf to him, in which he found the answers of the disbelievers’ questions.
