Al-Kahf

Infobox Sura
Name_of_Surah=Al-Kahf
Arabic_name=الكهف
Screenshot_of_Surah=
Caption=
Classification=Makkan
Meaning_of_the_name=The Cave
Other_names=
Time_of_revelation=
Sura_number=18
Number_of_verses=110
Juz'_number=15 to 16
Hizb_number=30 to 31
Number_of_Rukus=
Number_of_sajdahs=none
Number_of_words=
Number_of_letters=
Harf-e-Mukatta'at=
Subjectwise_ayat=
Previous_Sura=Al-Isra
Next_Sura=Maryam

Sura aAl-Kahf (Arabic: سورة الكهف, "Sūratu al-Kahf", "The Cave") is the 18th sura of the Qur'an with 110 ayat. It is a Meccan sura. It is also important, because if the first ten verses are recited, you are protected from the trials of dajjal. This is mentioned in various hadiths.

History

The earliest mention of Dhul-Qarnayn, outside the Qur'an, is found in the works of the earliest Muslim historian and hagiographer, Ibn Ishaq, which form the main corpus of the "Sira" literature. Ibn Ishaq's Sira reports that the eighteenth chapter of the Qur'an (which includes the story of Dhul-Qarnayn) was revealed to Muhammad by God on account of some questions posed by the Jewish Rabbis residing in the city of Medina - the verse was revealed during the Meccan period of Muhammad's life. According to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad's tribe, the powerful Quraysh, were greatly concerned about their tribesman who had started claiming prophethood and wished to consult Jewish Rabbis about the matter. aThe Quraysh sent two men to the Jewish Rabbis of Medina, reasoning that the Rabbis had superior knowledge of the scriptures and about the prophets of God. The two Quraysh men described their tribesman, Muhammad, to the Rabbis. The Rabbis told the men to ask Muhammad three questions:

:"They (the rabbis) said, `Ask him about three things which we will tell you to ask, and if he answers them then he is a Prophet who has been sent (by Allah); if he does not, then he is saying things that are not true, in which case how you will deal with him will be up to you. Ask him about some young men in ancient times, what was their story For theirs is a strange and wondrous tale. Ask him about a man who travelled a great deal and reached the east and the west of the earth. What was his story And ask him about the Ruh (soul or spirit) -- what is it If he tells you about these things, then he is a Prophet, so follow him, but if he does not tell you, then he is a man who is making things up, so deal with him as you see fit.'" [Tafsir ibn Kathir [http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=18&tid=29908] ]

The famous story, in the Sira, goes that when Muhammad was informed of the three questions from the Rabbis, he said that he would have the answers in the morning but did not say 'If God Wills'. So, God did not reveal the 'inspiration' 'tomorrow', Muhammad did not give the answer in the morning. For fifteen days, Muhammad awaited eagerly for the revelation. Muhammad did not answer the question till then. Doubt in Muhammad began to grow amongst the people of Mecca. Then, after fifteen days, Muhammad received the revelation that is Surah Al-Kahf ("the Cave"), the eighteenth chapter of the Qur'an, as an answer to the questions.

Verses [http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/quran/18.htm#9 9 - 26] of the chapter tell the story of the "People of the Cave" (believed by somewho|date=March 2008 to be the Seven Sleepers of Epheseus in Christian martyrology). Some number of young monotheistic men lived in a time where they were persecuted. They fled the city together, and took refuge in a cave where they fell asleep. God caused them to remain sleeping for approximately 300 years, and when they woke the surrounding area had become monotheistic as well.

Surah Al-Kahf also mentions the Rooh, or soul/spirit in verse [http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/quran/18.htm#28 28] , and in the Parable of Two Men in verses [http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/quran/18.htm#32 32 - 44] . This story discusses two men who had both been given blessings from God, but one wronged his soul by saying that none of it could ever be taken away from him. At the end of the parable God destroys what he had given the man.

The third main story within the chapter (verses [http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/quran/18.htm#60 60 - 82] ) is that of Moses traveling to gain knowledge from another servant of God who is never mentioned by name, but from other sources is called Al-Khidr.

Finally, the surah mentions in verses [http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/quran/18.htm#83 83 - 98] a man who traveled a great deal and reached the east and the west of the earth - namely, Dhul-Qarnayn.

Ibn Ishaq's original work is lost, but it has been almost completely incorporated in Ibn Hisham, another early Muslim historian. Ibn Hisham collected Ibn Ishaq's Sira and added his notes to it; in regard to Dhul-Qarnayn, Ibn Hisham noted::"Dhu al-Qarnain is Alexander the Great, the king of Persia and Greece, or the king of the east and the west, for because of this he was called Dhul-Qarnayn [meaning, 'the two-horned one'] ..."

The theme, amongst Islamic scholars, of identifying Dhul-Qarnayn with Alexander the Great appears to have originated here. Why Ibn Hisham made this identification is not entirely clear. Aristotelian Muslim philosophers, such as al-Farabi, Avicenna, and al-Kindi enthusiastically embraced the concept of Dhul-Qarnayn being an ancient Greek king. They stylized Dhul-Qarnayn as a Greek philosopher-king. In later days, some scholars, for example Maududi, identifies Dhul-Qarnayn as Cyrus the Great.

Most Muslim Scholars don't believe he was at all of Greek origin but a man of God, a religious man who was able to build a partition to save people from Gog and Magog. In accordance with some Islamic jurisprudence, near the End Times, Gog and Magog will learn the secret (saying, "Inshaa Allah," if God Wills, before trying to tunnel out of their confinement) which will set them free and they will once again wreak havoc upon the world.

Important verses

*quran-usc|18|23: And say not of anything: Lo! I shall do that tomorrow,
*quran-usc|18|24: Except if Allah wills it. And remember thy Lord when thou forgettest, and say: It may be that my Lord guideth me unto a nearer way of truth than this.

ee also

References

External links

* [http://www.tafsir.com/Default.asp Tafsir Ibn Kathir]
* [http://www.altafsir.com/Quran.asp?SoraNo=18&Ayah=1&NewPage=0&Tajweed=1 Al-Kahf] at Altafsir.com