Stories of Al Kahf #01 – The Seven Sleepers

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh their respective viewers, I hope you're well in sha Allah, my roof and welcome to stories from alkaff. Today we'll be discussing the story of the Seven Sleepers in sha Allah tala and with me. We have jack Sajid on Salam Alikum or how to live

or how to live over a Qatari Maru. How are you handling so nice to see you I need to use the social player on the social. Tell us how's your journey, a little bit about yourself in shower thought along the journey was well and appraises belongs to Allah subhanho wa Taala and it's nice to be back and nice to be in your presence. hamdulillah had the you come from Riyadh this time. Yes.

You look a little different in comparison to your videos. You know, can you let us know about also half in this time or what? You mean? I'm not wearing

the scarf. And I have to keep up with you young lads right.

hamdulillah chef hamdulillah like I previously mentioned in the introduction of this series, this is the stories within Surah Al calf. So today we're discussing the Seven Sleepers. Can you just let us know about why Allah subhanaw taala uses stories to express points to his slaves in Charlotte. Right. So that's an excellent question. So firstly, we say Bismillah or Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah. While early he was so happy woman while we always begin In the name of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And we send salutations upon the final messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So it's a very good question. You've asked why

do we have stories in the Quran? And there's several reasons for this.

Firstly, people love to hear stories, stories, you know, engage people.

It keeps people interested. And also, because in stories, our lessons, especially in the Quranic stories, there are lessons for us to learn. And there's guidance in the stories guidance to assist us

in the time that we are living in. Now, one thing that's important to mention is that chronic stories are not fictional stories. Stories in Revelation are true stories. Right? So it's, it's like we're getting a history lesson, but in the form of a story. And when we understand this, then, and in light of your question, we realize that they set an objective that Quranic stories or stories in Revelation

want to achieve. And one of those important lessons is guidance, as we've said, right, because history is a great guide. History is a great guide.

Those before us were people, and we are people as well. They went through circumstances, we go through circumstances, right. So they are lessons and it is a universal law, that certain circumstances will recur, irrespective of time, space or span, it will recur, you know, it could be a recurrence that happens after centuries, it could be a recurrence that happens after decades, it could be a recurrence that happens after days or hours, but you know, they will recur. So people have before us they went through those circumstances in the event that similar circumstances recur. What How can we benefit from the experience of other people? So this is one of the the, shall we say

the objectives of Quranic stories that that guidance is shed. And if we look in the Quran, we witness several sources, we can translate it as chapters, several chapters that are actually named after historical events, right? Today, you've said we want to discuss the story of the Seven Sleepers, right? If you look at the surah, that houses this story, and many other stories, is actually titled, The chapter of the cave, or the chapter of the people of the cave, because we look at the different narrations from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi, wasallam. So the different variations that we find in the prophetic tradition, we find two names, that is the story or it's the

sort of the cave or the, the sort of the people of the cave, right. And both these things, highlight number one, or both these names highlight number one, the importance of a cave, which perhaps we'll discuss, and number two, the importance of these people of the cave, right. So it's named after, because they definitely went through an experience and that experience has been registered in history. And now an entire surah has been named after the system.

relevant, right? So

this is highlighting that from the objectives of the Quranic studies is to take heed that we should benefit from history and read history and ponder over history and deliberate over history. This is one of the

the objectives, also from the objectives is to give us steadfastness and inspiration. Yes. Right? Because it could be that we're going through a difficulty, right, and now we're reading about other people went through difficulty. And you know, what they got through that difficulty. You know, sometimes when we are in a situation, we end up, you know, because we don't know where the end is going to be. And when you don't know where the end is going to be you just filled with a lot of unknowns. And when you filled with a lot of unknowns, what happens? You just you hyperventilate, you are in concert, you don't know what's next, whoo. But then you read the story and say, Oh, God, you

know, they went through it, and the end came to them, right. And when we look at the different historical events, we see that this world, you know, is dynamic, it's not static things, just, you know, things don't just remain the same all the time. There's ups, there's downs, there's days that are with you days that are for you, days that are against you, and so on and so forth. Right. So you know, what, we just got to ride the wave, there is a turning point that's going to happen, because every story we've read in life, we've come to know that turning points happened. So this is perhaps a brief synopsis, in answer to your question. Now, there's not a lot here. So in terms of actually

talking about a brief analysis of the actual story, we're going to mention into Could you just, you know, touch on that a little bit. Insha? Allah? So what is the story of the Seven Sleepers? And what does it entail? Yeah, so the story of the Seven Sleepers is a story of a group of people

a long time ago.

Fake, you know, commentators have different did these people come before Jesus? What do they come after Jesus? Clearly, we know from our sources, that this was a story known to the Jewish settlers around in the Arabian Peninsula. And we'll come to that as to why I'm sharing this conclusion. So they were a group of seven people. And they were a group that God Almighty,

you know, guided, and they lived in a midst of people. That practice deviation, the practice polytheism. Right. So basically, these seven took a stance, right, so they lived at a time, if I could just share some of what some of the commentators have said, although when we look at the story in the Quran, we don't find all these details. And this, I want to use this as an opportunity to highlight an important point. And that point is in the Quran, when God Almighty reveals a story, and this is what makes it different to just any story, Cora mighty focuses and mentions those points that have clear lessons to developers. There's no need for all the extra unnecessary information

because time shouldn't be wasted. This is a beautiful thing of the Quranic stories. So we don't have this extra information. But just to add context, in light of what some commentators have said, they said that look, this these group of people lives at a time when there was oppressive King and oppressive king. He was deviated. He wasn't upon monotheism. And he demanded that people worship Him, in the sense that they listened to his instructions. And they listen, they follow his way. And his way was a way of polytheism. Right? So these seven took a stance and they said, No, we will not do this. Right. And because of that, they were threatened. And due to them being threatened, they

decided to detach themselves from the people and leave the people that were upon deviation. And they sought assistance from God Almighty, and they went into a cave into a calf. Right, because this is what kind of means it means a cave. And when they went into this cave,

God Almighty showered upon them protection in several forms, perhaps we'll traverse through them as we we go through the different verses that that highlight the people of the cave columbidae, showered upon them protection in different ways, and cause them to experience a deep slumber for over 300 years, right or 300 years.

But in the lunar calendar in the solar candidate, the lunar calendar that will equate to 309 years. So they experienced Islam before 309 years, and then God Almighty caused them to wake up. And their story was a famous story. It was recorded in history. And God Almighty mentions it to us in this revelation. But one thing we should highlight, as we discuss this is why has it or is there a reason why God Almighty revealed it? And there is a reason and the commentators state that the reason behind this is because

the Prophet peace and blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad. He

went with the message of money

As a worshiping one God Almighty, to his people, and his people turned against him. Right. And as time progressed, his people began to feel that you know what he is really becoming a proverb that maybe at the beginning, they heard off his message. They didn't like it, but they left him to be. But now they actually think that you know what, he's getting momentum with this message, people are actually jumping on board and moving into the movement and believing in the movement. So they said, you know, what, we need to take extra measures and from the extra measures, they decided that they will go to the Jewish settlers in the in the region, and say to them that look, he's coming to us

saying he's a prophet. And we know you guys have a history of profits and history of dealing with those profits. Right? So give us some tips. What can we do to discredit him? and sort the situation out before it becomes more emphasized? How can we exacerbate the situation or meaning? How can we derail his efforts and stop it from being emphasized? And the Jewish settlers gave these people some advice? They said, You know what? Go to him, and ask him the following. Ask him to tell you about the story of the Seven Sleepers.

And ask him to tell you about a king known as Zulu called me,

and asked him to tell you about the song.

Ask him these three questions, the song, and via these three questions. You will discredit him, meaning if he's able to answer, but obviously they doubted his ability. So via these three questions, you will describe you will discredit him, and they went to the messenger peace and blessings be upon him and they asked the question, and the messenger of peace and blessings be upon him said that I will give you the answer to these questions tomorrow. But he forgot to say insha Allah, which means if God wills, and as a result, the answer was not revealed to him for a period of 15 nights or more.

So there's more to say on this, but let's take a quick break. And when we come back,

this is a good cliffhanger to leave it on. When we come back. We'll complete the story.

Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Welcome back at the respective views. Now, Chef, before the breaker we were discussing a brief overview of the story of the Seven Sleepers. Could you just elaborate on that for us in Sharla? Yeah. So just before the break, we were looking as to why God Almighty revealed this particular story in the Quran. And we said that the Quraysh the people that the messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him when they obviously wanted to derail his message and derail this movement that was beginning to happen, right? So

they took advice from the Jewish settlers, and the Jewish settlers, they, they asked him, or they asked the Quraysh that go to him, and ask him three questions, asking him about the Seven Sleepers, which is this particular story, ask him about the just King, Luke coralayne, and ask him about the soul. So the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him when he when they asked him? He says, I'll give you the answer tomorrow. But he didn't say insha Allah. So God Almighty didn't give him the answer, until after 15 nights, and in that period, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam obviously became sad, and it weighed down heavy upon him.

And thus, if you look at this particular surah, you actually find revelation in it.

Highlighting these aspects for any God Almighty, says do not say and do not say that you will do something tomorrow. In Asia, Allah Allah coolin, Alicia, indefatigable, Malika harden Illa, Aisha Allah, this is instruction from God Almighty and don't say, ever said you're going to do something tomorrow, except by stating that you will do tomorrow by the will of Allah. So that highlights what we see in this reason of Revelation. In another idea in the same surah to have the chapter of the of the cave. God Almighty says follow Allah belfie or Neff sec, I let him in let me know he hasn't had epi server calm it says that, you know, are you going to become destroyed? Because out of because of

this excess of sadness that you're experiencing, because of, you know, the lack of belief and,

you know, you experiencing constantly this group of people who don't want to listen to your message, God, don't let it destroy you. So this is highlighting the sadness that the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him well, when the revelation didn't come down with the answer, and just as a side point, something for all of us to benefit from when we understand this, we really understand that this final testament, this Quran is not from Muhammad peace and

it was revealed to him some people, you know, they just throw out statement and say now, these two

These are from him. This revelation is from him. Now, he was unlettered, Salama, and he was in the middle of Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. So the fact that, you know, revelation was delayed, you know, if you look at it abstractly, this actually proves him being a prophet. Because if he wasn't a prophet, he would just have said anything. So, you know, they wanted to prove whether if he's a prophet, or prove that he is not a prophet, and in the delay that happened, in him getting revelation to answer the questions, there's proof that he is a prophet. And in him actually receiving the revelation to answer the questions. There's proof that he is a prophet. Our reason is

that God Almighty is, is all wise. So this is the reason why we have this story in our sources. But just to highlight again,

as we said, that these Seven Sleepers, they were a people that some commentators have said existed before Jesus peace and blessings be upon him. And some said, was after Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him. But again, to tie everything down from what we've said, we said that Quranic stories focus on what's important. Now God Almighty didn't tell us which era they lived in, was it before Jesus was it after Jesus, because that's not important. What's important, is what they did, or what we can derive from what they did, what they did and what we can do. I have no doubt because again, it's a history lesson. Yes, for us to benefit today. So we have to derive no doubt. Subhana Allah Subhan

Allah? Could you just let the viewers and us know when this surah was revealed and where it was revealed also? Yeah, so that's a good question, because it does bring context. So it brings context and it makes us understand how appropriate the Quran is, you know, it's a good question that you've asked,

because this particular surah was revealed before migration to Medina. Okay, so it's known as it's called MKI. Like it was revealed before migration to Medina, and we have a report that goes back to even miss Rudra viola, which is in a book of Hadith known as Sahih al Bukhari. This book of Hadith has gathered, the most authentic prophetic tradition was statements that go back to the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him. And remember, Bihari mentions the statement of Ibn Massoud in which he says that surah through Caf was from the earlier revelations, meaning it was revealed before migration to Medina Subhana Allah.

This ties in it ties in also to the initial story that we mentioned as to why it came down. Because the Quraysh, the isolators, went to the Jewish settlers in the peninsula. So it really ties up in the sense that they must have gone to them before he actually migrated to Medina. So it was revealed at that particular period, in time, and even the context of the story. It has lessons for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him first is being revealed to him so that he can first take inspiration, right, that you know what they tested me, God Almighty revealed. So it gives you more confidence in his mission, to take the message of monotheism to the people that are not forsaken by

God Almighty looked at it, this revelation is coming every time I need it. Right? There's no room for me to doubt. Right. So this was a gift from God Almighty to him. And it's a means of steadfastness for him. And also, it's a means of what what we call in the Arabic language test, Leah, definitely a means to ease the discomfort. Because the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him was a prophet. He was a human being. He was a prophet, he said he was a human being was not an angel. There's not some other creature of creation. So no doubt human beings feel hurt. They have emotions, right? They go through the motions. So he was going through the motions, because he is

coming with a message that you know, if your salvation and here you fighting it, and he loves you, He wants you to choose, he wants you to experience salvation. Right? So he's feeling it. So God Almighty is revealing stories to help him and don't forget him and the fellow believers that were with him were being persecuted. Right. And at the initial advent of the message, we would say that that was a period of weakness.

Right? Well, let's not say it was a period of weakness, let's say it wasn't a period of strength. Let's Let's title it in a in a more positive way. Because you're not weak when you believe in one line you on the right path, and you haven't, I believe, but it wasn't a period of strength in that they had to face the persecution. So God Almighty is sharing with him a story from history of a people who are persecuted as what

that look what we did for them. Right. So it will happen for you.

But don't retract on the stance that you've taken. Like those people, those Seven Sleepers of the cave, they didn't retract. So that's basically some benefits we can take from that as

Did you listen to this particular story?

That also stems into the next question I have he shifted, you know, who named the Surah Surah Al calf is something that I Lost Planet Allah revealed to the prophet or was it someone else that decided to name a calf? Because, you know, as we know, there's a few other stories that are found within it. So why is it that Al calf was the main, you know, theme of this? Right? This is excellent. Mashallah. So So there's two things that you're asking here. Yes. So basically, you saying Surah Al Kahf is a whole surah. It's a whole chapter. And in it, we have several stories. And we do that is a fact.

Why has the name of the surah be named after this particular story, even though it's other stories? So that's one aspect. And the other aspect is who named it. So in terms of who named it, then we we have narrations in which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam himself is calling it the chapter of uncaf. Right. So we have narrations in Sahih al Bukhari

we decided that the narration of urban massage, is a book of Hadith and ganda is the most authentic prophetic traditions. And there's other books that gather prophetic traditions as well as another book known as a Muslim. In this particular book, we have

the narration of if my memory serves me, right, I would darada robiola who I'm a companion of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, in which he says that whoever recites or whoever memorizes the first 10 verses of Surah Al calf, he will be protected from the Antichrist. In another narration in the same book of Hadith Sahih Muslim whoever reads the last 10 verses of Surah alkaff, he will be protected from the Antichrist.

In other narrations, like in the mustard, Rafi, Mohammed, Mohammed, there's a narration which states, whoever reads the first 10 ir verses of surah alkaff and the last 10, he will have a light from his feet tilt his head, and whoever is the entire surah once a week, meaning on the day of tomorrow, and then he will have a light between him and the heavens or between the heavens and the earth, in other narrations in my memory serves me right in the narration in a book of Hades known as Mr. Draco hacking, which is by emammal, hacking him Allah. He has a narration, which states that whoever

recites Sora will have a he will have a light from him, or between this Friday and the next Friday, right between this Friday and the next Friday. So when we look at these narrations collectively, and we see these narrations of companions who are at attributing this name, to this particular chapter, we can only understand that they got it from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, when he was taught by Allah subhana wa. So we say that

this Sora was named by God Almighty, the surah was named by God Almighty. And it's interesting that the first story right at the beginning, is the story of the people of the cave. And it is named the chapter of the cave and this is not taking away anything from the other story, but just in answer to your question, so Han Allah has.

Now like he said, it was the first 10 and the last 10 Ayat of surah. Al capital will protect you from the Antichrist, the Antichrist. Yeah, the Christ. Could you expand a bit on what the Antichrist is? Or, you know,

is it enough for you to memorize or is it enough for you to read the last 10? Or the final meaning? That's that's another good question. I suppose you highlighting it because of the ratio, that one narration says we have a memorizes, the first 10 elbows is whoever reads the last? Well, what we need to understand is that in Islam, these all these instructions, the relative to reality, and the reality is Islam is not a religion of symbols. It's not a religion of symbols, it's a it's a religion, of reality. You know, it's not a sort of symbolical gesture, that whoever memorizes you done, whoever reads you done, and then you can do whatever you want. Now, it's relative to a reality

and that reality is the reality of putting into practice, reality of learning reality of understanding reality of putting into practice. So when the prophetic narration comes to us and says, whoever reads, or whoever memorizes then we've got to put that in context of the reality of the Islamic message. And that reality is we learn, we understand and we implement. So the reality is to seek to get protection from the Antichrist, we must read yes, these verses, we must understand them, and then practice the guidance from these 10 and whoever does that they will receive that protection and God Almighty knows best Subhan Allah so how are beautiful points, no shade, just like

my Lacaille and just like my luck here on to all the viewers at home listening, also, may Allah reward you all. I wish to see you all next week. As you can see in today's episode, we covered so much just from the surah alkaff and just from the beginnings story from Surah alkaff. The story of this

sleepers Jazakallah khair chef for all of your you know derive benefits and I hope to see you again soon inshallah Allah salla Allahu La Habra, cat