The People of the Cave

• About this film: the film tells Quran 18:9-26 together with the reports that Ibn Kathir records in his commentary on the Quran. Some details are the film's own telling, not found in these sources: the young men dragged out one by one, tied up like criminals, with their hearts calm; the night chase up the mountain as the soldiers' torches came closer; the soldiers' captain raising his torch at the mouth of the cave and looking in; over the years, a shepherd with his goats and some travellers who come near the cave and run away; the sleepers turning grey, almost like stone, under cobwebs; the exact words of the seller (“This is the coin of a king… who died three hundred years ago!”: in Ibn Kathir's report the seller simply did not recognise the coin); the young man's reply “Three hundred years?! I left this place… yesterday!”; the chase through the market, over the stalls and from alley to alley; and the ruler staring at the coin for a long time. The film also gives no names to the king, the city, the dog or the young men, and shows seven young men. What is authentic is the verses of the Quran on this page and the reports that Ibn Kathir records, explained below.[1][3][8]
• Long ago there was a city whose people worshipped idols, ruled by a cruel, tyrant king who pushed everyone to do the same. Ibn Kathir, in his commentary on the Quran, records from many scholars before him that the young men of this story were sons of kings and noble families. Once a year the people gathered outside the city for a festival, where they worshipped their idols and offered sacrifices to them. Ibn Kathir notes that young people like them were "more accepting of the truth and more guided than the elders", who were set in their ways. He also says that Allah described the cave but did not tell us where it is, "because there is no benefit for us in knowing that".[3][4][6]
• On the day of the festival, each of the young men looked at what his people were doing and understood that bowing down and offering sacrifices belong only to Allah, who created the heavens and the earth. One by one, each slipped away from his people. Ibn Kathir records that the first one sat down in the shade of a tree, then another came and sat with him, then another, and so on; none of them knew the others, and each hid his belief out of fear. Then one of them said that only one thing could make them leave their people, so each of them should say what it was. Each one said the same: he worshipped Allah alone. They became brothers in faith and chose a place where they worshipped Allah together, until their people found out and told the king.[3][4]
• The king called them before him and asked about their religion. They told him the truth and called him to Allah. The Quran says that Allah made their hearts firm when they stood up and said: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth" (18:14). Ibn Kathir records that, it is said, the king refused and threatened them, had their fine clothes taken off them, "then he gave them some time to think about the situation", hoping they would go back to their old religion. Ibn Kathir explains: "This was a way that Allah showed kindness for them", because in those days they were able to escape.[1][3][5]
• So they decided to leave. In the Quran they say to one another that, now that they had left their people and what they worshipped besides Allah, they should take shelter in the cave: "Your Lord will spread out for you of His mercy" (18:16). Ibn Kathir records that they took some silver coins from their homes; "they had given some in charity and kept some". A dog went with them: it was said it was the hunting dog of one of them, and it lay at the entrance as if guarding them; "This is the benefit of accompanying good people", he says. In the cave they asked Allah for help: "Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy" (18:10), which Ibn Kathir explains as "give us Your mercy and conceal us from our people". It was said that the king searched for them but Allah hid them from him.[1][3][7]
• Then Allah made them sleep (18:11). Ibn Kathir explains: "We caused them to sleep when they entered the cave, and they slept for many years." The Quran describes how the sun, when it rose, turned away from their cave to the right, and when it set, passed them by on the left (18:17). Ibn Kathir explains, from Ibn Abbas, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), that "the sun entered the cave without touching them", because if it had touched them it would have burnt their bodies and clothes; this, he says, is one of the signs of Allah.[1][3]
• The Quran says: "you would think them awake, while they were asleep" (18:18). Some scholars said, as Ibn Kathir records, that their eyes stayed open. Allah turned them over from one side to the other; Ibn Abbas said that if they had not been turned over, the earth would have worn their bodies away. Their dog lay with its front legs stretched out at the entrance. And whoever looked at them would have run away in terror: Ibn Kathir explains that Allah gave them such an awe-inspiring look "that no one could look at them without being filled with terror", so that no one would come near them or touch them until the time Allah had set for them to wake up.[1][3][7]
• How many were they? The Quran does not settle it. It mentions three things people would say: three, five or seven, each with their dog, and calls the first two "guessing at the unseen", and then tells the Prophet (peace be upon him) to say: "My Lord is most knowing of their number." (18:22). Ibn Kathir notes that the third view is left without that comment, and records that Ibn Abbas said: "I am one of the few, and they were seven." The film shows seven. Ibn Kathir also doubts the names that some reports give the young men and their dog, which is why the film gives no names.[1][3][9]
• How long did they sleep? The Quran says they stayed in their cave three hundred years, and nine more (18:25). Ibn Kathir explains that this is "three hundred plus nine years in lunar years, which is three hundred years in solar years": a year counted by the moon is a little shorter than a year counted by the sun, so three hundred years by the sun are about three hundred and nine years by the moon. The next verse adds: "Allāh is most knowing of how long they remained." (18:26).[1][3][10]
• Then Allah woke them up, and they asked one another how long they had slept. They said: "We have remained a day or part of a day." (18:19). Ibn Kathir explains that they had gone into the cave at the beginning of a day and woke up at the end of a day. Hungry, they sent one of them to the city with their silver coins, telling him to be careful so that no one would find them (18:19-20). Ibn Kathir records that in the city he recognised nothing and no one, and wondered if he was dreaming. He gave a food seller his coins; the man did not recognise them, passed them to his neighbour, and people began to say: "Maybe this man found some treasure." They took him to the city's ruler, who questioned him until he told his story.[1][3][8]
• Why did Allah let people find them? The Quran says: so that they would know "that the promise of Allāh is truth and that of the Hour there is no doubt" (18:21), the Hour being the Day of Judgement. Ibn Kathir records that "the people of that time were skeptical about the Resurrection": Ikrima, an early scholar, said that some of them believed souls would be brought back but not bodies, so "Allah resurrected the people of the Cave as a sign and proof of resurrection." By that time the city had changed: in Ibn Kathir's report its ruler, it is said, was a believer. The ruler and the people went up to the cave with the young man, and he asked to go in first to tell his companions.[1][3][8]
• What happened to them then? Ibn Kathir gives two reports. In one, the people did not know how he went back in, and Allah hid from them what happened to him. In the other, the ruler went in, greeted them and embraced them; they were glad, said goodbye, went back to where they had slept, "then Allah caused them to die. And Allah knows best." This is why the film says only: it is said that Allah took their souls there, and Allah knows best. The Quran then tells that the people argued about them; those who won the argument said they would build a place of prayer over them (18:21). Ibn Kathir says it is debated whether they were right to do so, because the Prophet (peace be upon him) warned against turning the graves of prophets and righteous people into places of worship.[3][8][1]
• The lesson of the story: the One who woke them after three hundred years can bring the dead back to life on the Day of Resurrection (18:21, as Ibn Kathir explains above). And whoever turns to Allah, as they did, finds a way out: they left their people for Allah's sake, and He spread His mercy over them (18:16). Elsewhere the Quran says: "And whoever fears Allāh - He will make for him a way out" and "will provide for him from where he does not expect" (65:2-3). In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (no. 23074), a man from the desert who had met the Prophet (peace be upon him) said he heard him say: «إنك لن تدع شيئا لله إلا بدلك الله به ما هو خير لك منه», that is, you will never give up something for the sake of Allah without Allah giving you something better in its place. The scholar Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut, in his checking of the Musnad (as shown on dorar.net), graded its chain of narrators «إسناده صحيح», sound.[1][2][3][11]

• Faith has no age: young men stood up for the truth before a tyrant king, and Allah made their hearts firm and gave them more guidance.[1][3]
• Whoever gives something up for Allah is given something better: they left a life of comfort, and Allah covered them with His mercy and protected them.[11][1][3]
• When every way seems closed, turn to Allah: they asked Him for mercy in a dark cave, and He gave them a way out.[1][2]
• Good company matters: they found one another through their faith, and even the dog that stayed with them was blessed by their company.[3]
• The One who woke them after three hundred years can bring every person back to life: the Day of Judgement is true.[1][3]

These questions are written by Qabas Anime to help you reflect. They are not part of the Quran or its tafsir.

1. The young men were alone, and each thought no one else shared his belief. Have you ever felt alone in doing what is right?
2. What would you find hardest to leave behind for something you believe in?
3. Why do you think Allah let people find the young men after three hundred years, instead of letting them sleep forever?
4. Is there something you could give up for Allah's sake this week, trusting that He will give you something better?