Story of the People of the Cave (Surah Al-Kahf)

Story of the People of the Cave (Surah Al-Kahf)

Opening and Call to Prayer

Dear believers, when you are called to prayer on the day of Jumu'ah, then hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave the selling. That is better for you, if you only knew. All praise is due to Allah, the Creator of existence from non-existence.

The Significance of Their Standing Up

Why is the word (فَمَا أَهْمِيَّةٌ كَلِمَةِ قَامُوا؟ - famaa 'ahmiyyatun kalimati qaamuu?) even mentioned? They stood up, they rose, they stood up to challenge the king and the authorities that be, and said, no, we don't accept the religion of the state or whatever else, of the governance, we have our own faith, we believe in the master of the skies and the earth, they declared it openly, and this was considered an act of treason, so they were supposed to be executed for their crime, and these young guys, these young friends, so they got scared, and they asked Allah for help, and Allah put in their heart that they should go back into a cave, a cave that they were familiar with, but I won't tell you how they're familiar with that, that's for another time inshallah ta'ala.

The Sleep and Awakening

So they go into this cave, into hiding, and Allah covers their ears, they go to sleep, and they don't even realize that 309 some years have passed by and they wake up, and then the story continues that they come out, they send one of theirs to go get some food, obviously he goes out to get food and he's wearing clothes from 300 years ago, fashion might have changed just a little bit, and your currency might not exactly be the same, if somebody spoke English from 300 years ago, you'd be like, is it Halloween already, what's going on, he wouldn't fit in, so the guy goes to do some shopping and he's pulling out like 300 year old currency, so obviously he gets attention, he's trying to not get attention.

whoever goes among you should really watch his step, and don't let anybody realize that what's going on with you, but the guy, how is he gonna hide if he's wearing 309 year old clothes, and he's got ancient currency in his hands, obviously he's gonna be the center of attention, so now people find out about what's going on and they get discovered, that's the gist of it.

The Futile Arguments About Numbers

But then Allah decided, and I told you the stories in the Quran are brief, but Allah decided to dedicate a very long set of words to this discussion, and this discussion is.

They say there were three, or they will say rather, that there were three, and the fourth one was their dog, because they had a dog that was at the mouth of the cave, that people would just see its paws and they'd

and then they're also gonna say that there were five actually, there were five guys, and the sixth one was their dog,

in a bit, throwing stones in the dark, literally what that means is throwing stones in the dark

and they'll also say there were seven and the eighth one was their dog.

Understanding "They Say" in the Quran

Now Allah says they say this, and they say this, and they say this, so you would think this is important, but actually a lot of times, a lot of Muslims, unfortunately, when they read this or study this story, they don't realize what's happening here, what Allah Azza wa Jalla is saying, one thing we have to note in the Quran is whenever Allah Azza wa Jalla says they say they say, study the entire Quran, look for what they say, and you'll find they say really dumb things, they say idiotic things, they say things that Allah criticizes, they say things like (يَقُولُونَ مَتَاهُوا - yaquluna matahua) they say when is the day of judgment coming, you know, they ask, or they make all kinds of (يَقُولُونَ شَاعِرٌ - yaquluna sha'irun) they say he's a poet, that's what they say, in other words, when people just talk, Allah quotes their stupidity sometimes in the Quran, and then answers it with wisdom, He answers it with wisdom, so even the (أُسْلُوب - uslub) just starting with (يَقُولُونَ - yaquluna) should give an (إشارة - ishara) should give a hint to the reader, Allah is not happy with these people, He's not exactly happy with these people.

A Parable About Missing the Point

Now this story has many amazing lessons, but before I go into them and appreciate, help myself and you appreciate the wisdom of these ayat, I want to give you another story on the side, this one I made up myself, imagine that I am a business teacher, my job is to teach students how to start a business, how do you start a business, and a lot of times of course as a good teacher, you should use stories to teach lessons, because students remember the story, they can relate to it, they can draw lessons from it, Allah Himself does that in Quran, so I decide to tell my students a story, about a guy who started a business, so this guy first he looked at the best real estate, he wanted to open up a store, so he found out which area has the most foot traffic, so people will walk into his store, then he got a good price, he negotiated it really well, and he got this store, then he looked at what product is most in demand, and he made sure he went and purchased that kind of product, then he went and found out what are the best suppliers, so he can get the best prices for his product, then he found out what is the best prices, reasonable prices at which he can sell to his customers, then he learned how to deal with customers in a patient way, and be nice to them, so when the customers come into the store, they like how he treated them, so they recommend others to his store also, and I'm telling them the story about this guy, who opened a store, and does all these things, so his business could be successful, and he benefited tremendously, by following these few principles, and not making sure he filed his taxes properly, this and that and the other, and a student raises his hand, he listens to the whole story, he's taking notes, he raises his hand, and he says, what color jacket does he wear to work, another guy asks, how did he paint the door, how

did he paint the door, and what kind of cash register did he get, did he get the digital one, or the manual one, what did he get, so these students start asking questions, and you know what that tells you, when they ask those kinds of questions, I don't think you realize, the point I was making, when I was telling you the story, the point of it was, you should learn to take these principles, and start a successful business yourself, the color of your jacket will not help you, does he wear shoelaces shoes, or does he put velcro on his shoes, what does he do, it won't help you, it's irrelevant, it's actually, it's a kind of what they say in Arabic (نَوْعٌ مِنْ سُوءِ الْفَهْمِ - naw'un min su'i al-fahm) they didn't understand the point.

The Amazing Youth of the Cave

Allah Azzawajal dedicated several ayat, telling us that these young people were amazing, he told that they were young people, I mean this is a college town, young people, young guys, young guys, get together and do what, dhikr of Allah, they get together and make dua to Allah, they get together and help each other, stay away from haram things, is that usual or unusual, the guys here sitting can tell you, when a bunch of guys get together collectively, they don't get smarter, they get dumber, they do stupid things when they get together, and these young people, they are each other's strength, they in a society filled with fitna, are protecting each other's deen, and young people living in a society, that has no values, can do anything they want, they can party, I mean don't think that partying only got invented, when you know, in the modern world, there's ancient forms of partying too, all the things you enjoy, and all the forms of entertainment, and you know, distraction in life you have.

So young people are gonna do bad things, especially when they get together, but these guys are pretty amazing, they get together, and they protect each other, from getting assimilated, into losing all of their values, and they're pretty independent also, there's no parent over them telling them, you shouldn't do this, this is haram, this isn't right, a lot of you young people, your parents tell you, don't do that, don't watch this, don't go there, it's haram, and you're like, oh God, everything is haram, these guys don't even have parents, telling them what to do, they have total freedom, as a matter of fact, the entire society is free, and encourages them to be rebellious, against Allah, and they say, no, we're not going to, these are pretty amazing people.

Their Dua for Protection

And then they turn, and make dua to Allah

- our Lord, give us mercy from Yourself and prepare for us from our affair right guidance. Brother comes up to me, and says, brother, I go to campus, and there's girls everywhere man, I don't know what to do bro, I got a lot of fitna, I can't help myself, you know, is there some exception for me, you know, because you can't blame me, I'm just surrounded by shaitan everywhere, so you know, sometimes I fall, you know, it's not that bad, and I say man, these young people, we're surrounded by fitna too, but they learn to understand, that you, yourself, I myself, are helpless, yes, we are helpless, we can't help ourselves, but Allah is the one who provides protection, Allah is the one who provides guidance,

that's the dua, young people are learning to make from this amazing example.

Allah's Miraculous Protection

And then Allah will protect you, in a way you can't even imagine, He'll take you into, He took them into a cave, and these are not prophets, this is not a miracle of prophets, these are regular Muslims, these are regular Muslim young guys, and Allah can put them to sleep for 300 years, so they can stay away from fitnah, Allah can do that for them, and keep them alive, you're already learning, Allah controls life and death, and Allah can save you, in ways you can't even imagine, this is our iman, this is the power, when we say

Allah is capable of all things, and that's what we're saying, that Allah can do anything, He can even do that with these young people, why can't He help me, if His help can come in such miraculous ways, not even just for prophets, these are regular Muslims, that His help can come to me, I should not ever lose hope, that the help of Allah is near, and the way in which it will come, I can't even imagine, they didn't know, they woke up, and they're like,

they're asking each other, hey, how long were we asleep, one of them goes, I think we were out the whole day, and the other one is like, maybe a little bit in the afternoon, and the other one says

your master knows better how long you've been there.

The Pointlessness of Numbers

Now that's enough for my point, some people listen to this amazing story, and the only question that they raise their hand with and say, were they 3 or 4, were they 5 or 6, were they 7 or 8

were they 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 18 or 25, how do you benefit from that, what color was the jacket, Allah is so angry at these people, that Allah gave them this amazing lesson, and the only argument you find in them, is this, what is wrong with you people, and then Allah in His anger also, subhanahu wa ta'ala, described this practice with a phrase, He says,

this is part of what you call in the Quran, artistic depiction, Quran draws images, so you can imagine things, so you can learn lessons, Allah says, these people who talk like this, they are like people standing in the dark, with a bunch of rocks in their hand, and a guy is trying to hit a target, and he's just kind of throwing stones in every direction, that's called

okay, in darkness, he's just throwing stones in every direction.

The Problems with Blind Guessing

Now there's something wrong with a guy who does that, imagine some guy in a parking lot, he's got a bunch of rocks in his hand, no lights are on, he's got a bunch of rocks, he's just chucking them in every direction, he's got a target somewhere, he wants to hit this bottle, obviously he doesn't know where it is, now what is wrong with that practice, first of all it seems like a type of insanity, second of all, obviously

you will probably hurt someone else, when you do this, you will hurt someone else, when you start making wild guesses, and even if you hit your target, you won't even know, even if you figured out it's 7, and it's not 8, and it's 6, and it's not 7, or it's 3 and it's not 4, so what, what do you get out of that.

Allah's Response to the Numbers Question

Allah Azzawajal responds himself, now Allah could have ended the mystery, were they 3 or 4, 5 or 6, 7 or 8, Allah himself could have said,

he could have said there were 7, okay, done, end of discussion, he didn't do that, he says,

tell them, let them know, the way to continue this discussion, number one, my master knows better how much they were, how many they were, he chooses not to tell us, he chooses not to tell us, he chooses to tell us, the thing you should know is, Allah knows their number, that is not your business, you don't have enough lessons to learn, that you got caught up in this.

Missing the Point in All Prophetic Stories

People do this with all the stories of the prophets, if you're one of those people, make tawbah, that you hear the stories of the prophets, and you're like, okay, so Yusuf Alayhi Salaam, after all those years, he came out of prison, did he marry that woman or what? I don't care, Quran didn't go into that question, so why do you even want to ask the question, and why do you seek the answer, what will you get out of that? What will you benefit from it? There are some who ask, what kind of dog was it? What was the dog's name? His name is Bowser or Rufus, I don't care, that doesn't help you, that is not the point of the story.

Irrelevant Questions in Islamic Law

Then people do this, and another way people do this, it's not just limited to stories, there are ahkam of this deen, there are rulings, regulations, principles, guidelines, things you must do as a Muslim, things you should not do as a Muslim, there are regulations on all of us, and you should know them, you should know what you can eat, what you can't eat, you should know how to purify yourself, and how you shouldn't purify yourself, you should know the kind of interaction you can have with the opposite gender, and the kind of interaction you can't have, you should know your limits, but you know what people do? Some people, the only kinds of questions they ask about Islam are the questions that have nothing to do with their life, they will not benefit from the answer, but it's a question about Islam, no doubt about it.

Hey, so what if you live on the North Pole, how do you make five prayers because the sun is up for six months? How do you pray? Do you live on the North Pole? Are you moving? Did you get a job at the North Pole? Have you already rented one of those, you know, icicle things? Is that set? You should ask that question when it's relevant to you. Why are you asking now? How does it help you? See, fuqaha can ask those questions because they have to answer all kinds of people, but you and me as an average