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The Companions of the Cave(Ashab i-Kahf)
In the year 106 A.D., Roman armies occupied the land of Jordan, where
the Kingdom of the Nabataeans was standing.
The Roman Emperor, Trojan, was a fanatic pagan, so he chased the
believers, especially the followers of 'Isa (A.S.).
Before this military expedition, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan had
enjoyed a kind of self-rule, and the capital Rome was satisfied with
taking taxes from these countries. That is because the Roman forces were
few in number.
Thus, the Romans organized such a military expedition to completely
occupy these countries and to subject them to the direct rule of Rome.
In the year 112 A.D., Emperor Trojan gave an order: "Those who follow
'Isa and refuse to worship the idols gods are disloyal to the state, so
we will sentence them to death!"
Philadelphia
At that time, the people called Amman Philadelphia because it was a
beautiful city. They decorated it with statues, but they did not use the
statues for decoration only. Rather they worshipped them as gods instead
of Allah, the Glorified.
There was the statue of Athina, the god of war. There was a sword in
the right hand of the statue, and a shield in its lert hand. There is
also the statue of Taiki, the god of luck and guard of the city. It is
now in the Amman Museum.
Philadelphia was to the southeast of Amman; it witnessed the greatest
civilization at that time. As for the believers, they led a life of
fear, especially when the Roman forces occupied the city at the time of
Trojan and subjected it to the direct rule of Rome.
In the year 112 A.D., Trojan regarded all the Christians as disloyal
to his government, and he made them choose between worshipping gods and
death.
The Seven Youths
Many people of the city led a life of terror, so they pretended that
they worshipped the gods of Romans. Meanwhile the government committees
checked the people's beliefs, so the people were anxious. However, seven
youths lived in that city. History has mentioned thier names as follows:
1. Maximinyanius.
2. Amlikhius.
3. Motyanius.
4. Danius.
5. Yanius.
6. Aksa Kadtho Niyanius.
7. Antonius.
Those believing youths were perplexed, not knowing what to do.
They had two choices: they had to choose between death and unbelief.
At those critical moments, they decided to escape from the city. How
did they escape?
In the early morning of that day, while the investigating committees
were chasing the believers, the guards saw seven youths and a dog
leaving the city, so they asked them. "Where are you going?"
One of the seven youths answered: "We're going hunting?"
The guards explained: "Well, you must go back to take part in the
official celebrations!"
To the Cave
The seven youths took their dog and went to a cave. The cave was
seven kilometers from the city; it was near-by a village called
al-Raqim.
The youths arrived in the mountainous area, and then they climbed the
mountains to go to a cave they had chosen before.
The cave was in the southern foot of the mountain. It had a unique
situation: it was moderate because there were two openings in its right
and left sides. As for its entrance, it was facing the South Pole. The
ground in the cave was 7.5 m wide; it was the place the youths chose to
hide.
The youths decided to isolate themselves from people, to hide in this
place, and to wait for Allah's mercy.
They had no hope in winning a victory over the Romans.
They also adamantly refused to worship idols. They thought that Allah
was the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and that worshipping idols
was opposite to the Greatest Truth in the existence.
The people of that time did not believed in the Day of Judgment. They
thought that when a perosn died, his soul moved to another person or
animal.
The Long Sleep
The youths were tired when they entered the cave.
Meanwhile, they were anxious, for they thought that the Romans
soldiers would chase them and discover their hiding-place.
They were tired because they did not sleep for a day, so they felt
drowsiness playing with their eyelids; therefore they slept while they
were dreaming about a happy future.
To show His power in raising mankind from the dead, Allah, the
Glorified, made the seven youths sleep deeply and prevented them from
hearing.
How long did the seven youths sleep? They slept for many years. The
sun rose and set while they were sleeping.
The Roman soldiers looked for the seven youth everwhere,but all their
attempts came to nothing.
The people of the country talked about the seven youths, saying: "The
seven youths went hunting. They have disappeared and no one have found
them yet."
Many years passed, but nobody knew what had happened in that cave.
The dog stretched its paws at the entrance of the cave and slept
deeply.
The air in the cave was moderate, for the entrance of the cave was
facing the South Pole, and the two openings in both side of the cave let
the sunshine enter in the morning and afternoon.
The seven youths slept and did not know what had happened. Tens of
years passed while they were sleeping.
If a shepherd had found the cave or a passer-by had gone to it during
a rainfall, he would have escaped from that fearful sight. Why? Because
he would have seen some persons with open eyes and a motionless hunting
dog at the entrance of the cave.
The seven youths slept deeply, but they had no dream.
What had happened around the cave? What had happened at the towns and
villages of the country?
The Death of Trojan
Emperor Trojan died. Many emperors succeeded him, and then they died.
Diqyanius, who ruled from the Year 285 to the year 305 A.D., died too.
Tadmor lost her glory in the year 110 A.D., and then she regained it.
However, in 272 A.D., she lost her glory completely when the Romans
attacked her and took her Queen, Zenobia, prisoner.
The Righteous Emperor
The Emperor Thiodusius ascended the throne of Rome in 408 A.D., and
then he embraced the Christian religion, so the Roman Empire became
Christian.
In the year 412, Allah wanted the truth to apperar and to show His
power to all mankind, as mercy from Him.
Now, the seven youths slept for three centuries.
What had happened in the cave?
Kotmirun, the dog, barked, so the youths woke from the longest sleep
in history.
One of the seven youths thought that he slept some hours, so he asked
his fellows: "How long did you sleep?"
The seven youths were still sleepy. The sun was about to set, but it
was still sending its golden rays into the cave through the opening in
it.
Thus, the seven youths thought that they slept for one full day. They
imagined that then spent all the night sleeping, and that they did not
feel the setting and rising of the sun. The sun was now setting, so they
said: "We slept for a day and part of a day."
One of them said: "Your Lord knows best how long you had slept."
Only Allah knows how long their sleep lasted. Only He knows the
unseen. When man sleeps, he does not know what happens in the world
around him.
Suppose that a person slept in the beginning of Autumn and woke to
see snow and leafless trees. He would understand that he slept for more
than three months. Why did this person understand that? He understood
that because he spent Autumn sleeping and now was in winter.
The seven youths woke and saw the sun setting. They did not know
whether they slept some hours or more. That is because they did not know
whether the sun set, and then it rose on the following day. They did not
know whether the sun set again or not.
They firmly believed in Allah, so they said: "Only Allah knows how
long we had slept." They only thought that they slept for a day and part
of a day.
The Dangerous Task
In the following morning, the seven youths became hungry, and they
wanted to buy some food. So one of them brought out some gold coins and
said: "Let one of us take these gold coins and buy for us some delicious
food, but he must be very careful of the people. He must not let them
know him. If they knew out hiding-place, they would capture and kill
us."
Another youth said: "Indeed, they will stone those who refuse to
worship their gods."
Another youth said: "Perhaps, they'll force us to prostrate ourselves
to their gods."
Another youth said: "Therefore, what a miserable fate this is!'
In the Market
One of the seven youths volunteered to go to the town to buy some
food from the market.
He left the cave and descended from the mountain. He thought about
how to enter the town and to answer the Roman guards and soldiers when
they asked him.
He did not see the changes rain, floods, and the wind made for three
centuries.
He was anxious, for he did not go for hunting or a walk when he
escaped with his fellows to the cafe.
He was now coming back to buy some food, but he was still afraid.
He thought that affairs were as they had been before. He arrived at
the town and looked at its walls and buildings. He walked with
perplexity and astonishmanet; he thought that he arrived at another
town.
No one hindered him when he entered the town. In the meantime he did
not find the statues of gods, but he found himself strange in the town.
The people looked at his clothes with astonishment because they did
not wear such clothes at that time.
He saw the people of the town wearing new clothes, but he did not see
the Roman soldiers who persecuted and punished them because of their
beliefs.
He saw the people of the town live, work, and plant peacefully.
Meanwhile, he did not see the marks of anxiety on their faces.
The youth went on walking to the market. He asked a person about the
market and the person directed him to it. He was astonished to hear the
accent of the people because their accent was different from his. They
talked with a new accent.
"A wonderful thing!" said the youth.
Then he asked himself: "Have I lost the way and arrived at another
town.?"
The Great Truth
The youth paid attention to his behavior. He thought that he had to
buy food and to return to the hiding-place in the mountain.
Thus, he behaved in a usual manner, as if he was one of the people of
the town.
The people regarded the youth as a stranger who came from a distant
village among the mountains.
The youth looked for a good man who could sell food to him, but he
did not find him. However, he found many good people who sold food.
The youth chose some food and paid the gold coins for them. Now, what
he had anticipated had happened.
When the seller received the gold coins, he looked at them with
astonishment. Then he said to himself: "These coins date back to the
time of Emperor Trojan. They were minted three centuries ago."
The seller looked at the youth with astonishment. He thought that the
youth had found a treasure, so he said to him: "Have you found a
treasure?"
"What do you mean?" asked the youth.
The seller replied: "I mean that these coins date back to tens of
years."
"They are my coins, and I have come to buy food," explained the
youth."
"Look! We deal with these coins!" said the seller.
The youth looked at the seller's coins. He had not seen them before,
so he asked: "My Lord, what has happerned?"
The seller said: "If you give me a share of the treasure, I will not
tell anyone."
"Which treasure?" asked the youth, "I have nothing except these
coins."
"Therefore, I will tell the police!" said the seller.
The seller seized the youth by the hand and shouted loudly, so the
people gathered about them.
The youth turned to the left and right and said: "Please, leave me!
The soldiers of Trojan will kill me if they capture me! They will have
no mercy on me!"
"Trojan!" exclaimed the seller.
The people looked at the youth with astonishment, and then they
laughed. One person said: "Trojan died many years ago. Are you mad,
youth?"
"Who is ruling the Emperor now?" asked the youth.
"Tiudius is ruling the Emperor. He is a good Emperor. He embraced the
religion of 'Isa two or three days ago," replied the person.
The youth asked: "Do you mean that they do not kill the Christians?"
"What do you say?" asked the person, "The people have believed in the
religion of Allah. The time of oppression and torture is over."
An old man rubbed his forhead and said: "My Lord! When I was a child,
my grandmother told me that some pious youths feared for their religion,
so they escaped, and no one found them."
The youth was about to faint. He was about to fall on the ground
because of what he had heard. Then he asked himself: "Is it right that
we slept throughout these long years? Is it possible for man to sleep
three centuries?"
The youth did not remember anything. He thought that he slept a day
and part of day.
He rubbed his eyes. He thought that he had a dream. Then he said:
"No! No! It's the great turth!"
The ruler of the town heard of the moving news. He heard that there
was a believing youth, so he ordered the youth to be summoned. The ruler
understood that he would face a great truth, and that Allah, the
Glorified, wanted to show mankind a sign of His power in raising them
from the dead.
The ruler asked the youth to dierct them to the cave. Thus, the youth
walked, and the believing ruler and his soldiers followed him.
The youths in the cave were anxious because their fellow was late.
One of them said: "Perhaps, he has been arrested!"
Another said: "Perhaps, he was late in entering the town! You know
that the guards are merciless!"
At those exciting moments, one of them went out of the cave and
climbed to the top of the mountain. From there he looked at the roads
leading to the town.
He saw with his own eyes what he was afraid of. Then he shouted: "The
Roman soldiers are coming towards us!"
Then he returned quickly to his fellows and said to them: "I have
seen the soldiers coming towards us! They have captured our fellow and
he is directing them to us."
One of the youths said: "I don't think so! Let's wait! Perhaps, the
soldiers want to go to another place!"
The exciting moments passed quickly. Suddenly, their fellow entered
the cave and told them about the great truth, saying: "You did not sleep
a day or part of a day. You slept for three centuries.
Allah has made you a sign that He is able to raise mankind from the
dead, and that He will return spirits to their bodies again."
At that time some people said: "When the spirit comes out of the
body, it does not return to it; it goes to another body!"
As for the believers, they said: "Allah has power over all things. It
is He Who creates man, makes him die, and raises him from the dead."
The youth had asked the ruler to go to the cave by himself, saying:
"My fellows are afraid of oppression, and they do not know what has
happened."
When the youths discovered this fact, they wept because of fear of
Allah and longing for Him. Then they begged Allah to make them die
because they belonged to a past time that dated back to three centuries.
Thus Allah, the Glorified, accepted their supplication and made them
die, so their souls flew high and went to a world full of good and
peace.
The ruler and his soldiers waited outside the cave. When the waiting
became long, they decided to enter the cave. When they entered it, they
saw a wonderful sight. They saw seven youths and their dog dead. They
understood that the youths had just died because their bodies were still
warm.
So the ruler and the believers prostrated themselves to Allah.
The people at that time discussed with one another on the spirit.
Some of them said that the spirit would return to the body on the
Judgment Day; some said that it would go to another body.
When they saw the Companions of the Cave with their own eyes, they
believed in Allah's power.
The polytheists doubted this fact, so they said: "Erect an edifice
over them - their Lord knows them best."
As for the believers, they said:"We will certainly raise a masjid
over them." They added: "Let's get the blessing of this place where
Allah has shown His power."
Thus, the believers won a victory over the polytheists, and then they
raised a masjid over the seven youths, where they served Allah, the One
and only.
Nine Years added to them
When a person visits the capital of Jordan today, he can see the
Companions of the Cave. It is worth mentioning that the cave is eight km
from Amman. It is between the village of al-Raqim and the Village of Abu
'Alanda.
The person will see seven stone coffins. Besides, he will see a small
stone coffin. Perhaps, this small stone coffin is the gave of the dog ot
the Companions of the Cave.
Thanks to the archeologist, Raffeq Wafa al-Dajjani, who published the
results of his excavations in the year 1964 A.D. He has proved that the
cave is the one the Koran has mentioned, and not the one in the city of
Afsus, in Turkey, as the European historians claim.
The commentators asked: "How long did the Companions of the Cave
sleep?"
In this connection, the Holy Koran says: "And they remained in their
cave three hundred years and (some) add (another) nine."
The answer is: The period of their sleep is 300 calendar years, which
equal 309 lunar years. Now, let's answer this problem:
The calendar year = 365 days
The lunar year =354 daysof
300365=109500 days
309354=109386 day
As the lunar year = 354 days, eight hours, and 48 minutes.
Therefore hours and 48 minutes =528
Day = 24 hours = 1440 minutes
528/1440 =11/30 of one day
30011/30 = 110 days
As the second, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth are leap years.
Therefore 309-300=9=10, because the ninth year is close to the tenth
year.
Therefore 109386+110+4=109500 days, which equal the days of 300
calendar years.
Therefore 300 calendar years = 309 lunar years.
