Surah Al-Kahf (18) — Ayah 9

(Ayah 9) ➊ {اَمْ حَسِبْتَ …:’’ الْكَهْفِ ‘‘} A spacious cave in the mountain. {’’ الرَّقِيْمِ ‘‘} means {’’مَرْقُوْمٌ‘‘}, that is, a written tablet or slab or those who possess a book. These people are called "Ashab al-Raqeem" because when they suddenly disappeared and could not be found despite much searching, their names were written on a tablet or slab and kept safe in a treasury, or it is because they had a written book containing the rulings of the Shariah. (Shanqiti) Or it is that after they woke up, people installed a tablet on the cave on which their names were written.

➋ { اَمْ حَسِبْتَ اَنَّ اَصْحٰبَ الْكَهْفِ … :} The interpretation of this verse, which most commentators such as Tabari, Ibn Kathir, Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on them) have given, is that {’’ اَمْ ‘‘} is for disjunctive negation. Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Allah Almighty is saying to His Prophet: Have you considered the story of the People of the Cave to be a very wondrous sign among Our signs? Surely, people consider it a very great and wondrous thing, but in comparison to Our power and great signs, it is not so wondrous, because Our creating the heavens and the earth, then creating every adornment in the earth, then on the Day of Resurrection making it a barren plain, is much more wondrous than the matter of the People of the Cave, whom We made to sleep for three hundred and nine (309) years, then raised them up again. The evidence for this is found in many verses; one is that Allah Almighty, before mentioning the People of the Cave, mentioned the creation of the earth and its adornment, then making it a barren plain. From this, it is understood that this story is not as wondrous as those things which are much greater than it. In many places in the Noble Qur'an, people are reminded that the creation of the heavens and the earth is a much greater matter than the creation of people, as He said: «لَخَلْقُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ اَكْبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ وَ لٰكِنَّ اَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ » [ المؤمن : ۵۷ ] "Surely, the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of mankind." And see also An-Nazi'at (27 to 33). Remember that "Ashab al-Kahf" and "Ashab al-Raqeem" are names for the same group, and the three men mentioned in Sahih Bukhari who took refuge in a cave have a very distant connection to this incident, among whom one was dutiful to his parents, one was chaste, and one was an employer who hired a laborer. And remember that regarding the story of the People of the Cave, their names, and in which part of the earth they were, nothing is proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) except what is in the Qur'an. The commentators have narrated many Isra'ili traditions about them, which, due to their unreliability, we have not paid attention to." (Shanqiti summarized)

Another interpretation, besides the first, which the author of Ruh al-Ma'ani and Ibn Ashur (may Allah have mercy on them) and others have mentioned, is that {’’حِسْبَانٌ‘‘} comes in the sense of both assumption and knowledge, but {’’ اَمْ ‘‘} is not for negation but for affirmation, that is, to indicate that indeed these people were truly wondrous. As if it is being said: {’’اِعْلَمْ أَنَّهُمْ عَجَبٌ‘‘} "Know that indeed those people were very wondrous." Just as you say: {’’ أَعَلِمْتَ أَنَّ فُلاَنًا فَعَلَ كَذَا ‘‘} "Do you know that so-and-so did such and such." That is, indeed he did such and such. These commentators say that after mentioning the wondrous nature of their story, Allah Almighty is narrating the incident in detail, so that the listener's interest is aroused. This interpretation is also possible.

9. 1. That is, this is not the only great and wondrous sign. Rather, every one of Our signs is wondrous. The creation of the heavens and the earth and its system, the subjugation of the sun, moon, and stars, the coming and going of night and day, and countless other signs—are these not astonishing? "Kahf" refers to a cave that is in a mountain. "Raqeem," according to some, is the name of the town from which these youths departed; some say it is the name of the mountain in which the cave was located; some say "Raqeem" means "Marqoom," and it is a tablet of iron or lead on which the names of the People of the Cave were written. It is called "Raqeem" because names are inscribed upon it. Recent research has shown that the first opinion is more correct. Near the mountain in which this cave is located, there is a settlement now called "Al-Raqeeb," which, due to the passage of time, is a corrupted form of "Al-Raqeem."

9. Do you think that the story of the People of the Cave [8] and the Inscription was among Our wondrous signs?

[8]
The Three Historical Questions of the Quraysh of Makkah:

After this introduction, now begins the response to those questions of the disbelievers of Makkah which they had asked you after consulting the People of the Book and seeking their advice. In reality, the disbelievers of Makkah wanted to ask you some such historical questions about the previous generations, of which at least the polytheists of Makkah and the common Arabs had no knowledge. Thus, they sought help from the scholars of the People of the Book in this matter. Their purpose was that by asking such questions, it would become clear whether this person is truly a prophet or not. If he could not answer, then his falsehood would be proven, and if he gave correct answers, it would be known that he truly has some source of knowledge of the unseen. In other words, their real aim with these questions was to test your prophethood. Thus, among the questions that the People of the Book told the Quraysh of Makkah, at the top was the story of the Companions of the Cave (Ashab al-Kahf), then secondly the story of Musa ؑ and Khidr ؑ, and thirdly the story of Dhu’l-Qarnayn. According to some narrations, the second question was about the soul (ruh) instead of the story of Musa ؑ and Khidr ؑ, which has already been mentioned earlier in Surah Bani Isra’il. This does not seem correct because there is a long period between the revelation of these two surahs. In the order of revelation, Surah Bani Isra’il is number 50, while this surah is number 69. Moreover, in this surah, only these three stories are mentioned. Allah Almighty not only revealed the answers to these three questions but also clarified such matters alongside which are extremely necessary for human guidance, as is the characteristic style of the Noble Quran. Furthermore, these stories have been narrated in such a manner that they closely correspond to the circumstances of the Quraysh of Makkah.

The Meaning of Kahf and Raqim:

Kahf refers to that cave in a mountain which is open and spacious, and if it is narrow, it is called a ghar (cave). Raqim is in the meaning of marqum (inscribed), that is, when these Companions of the Cave suddenly disappeared from society and, despite much searching, could not be found, then the names and addresses of these government fugitive criminals were recorded, which remained in the government records for years. According to some people, these names were recorded when people found out about them, their story became widespread, and when these people re-entered the cave, people wrote their names and addresses, etc., and placed a plaque outside the cave, and also recorded their brief circumstances. Since the story of the People of the Cave was a clear proof of resurrection after death and an extraordinary event, therefore, the story begins with the sentence: Do you think that this story was a very wondrous sign of Allah Almighty? Whereas the reality is that the other signs of Allah Almighty are much more wondrous than this event, which are scattered throughout the universe and are present within their own selves as well. In other words, whatever Allah Almighty has already created, compared to that, resurrection after death is a much easier and insignificant thing for Him.