Surah Al-Kahf • Ayah 21

How the People of the City came to know about Them; building a Memorial over the Caveوَكَذلِكَ أَعْثَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ(And thus We made their case known,) means, `We caused the people to find them.'لِيَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَأَنَّ السَّاعَةَ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهَا(that they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour.) Several scholars of the Salaf mentioned that the people of that time were skeptical about the Resurrection. `Ikrimah said: "There was a group of them who said that the souls would be resurrected but not the bodies, so Allah resurrected the people of the Cave as a sign and proof of resurrection." They mentioned that when they wanted to send one of their members out to the city to buy them something to eat, he disguised himself and set out walking by a different route, until he reached the city, which they said was called Daqsus. He thought that it was not long since he left it, but in fact century after century, generation after generation, nation after nation had passed, and the country and its people had changed. He saw no local landmarks that he recognized, and he did not recognize any of the people, elite or commoners. He began to feel confused and said to himself, "Maybe I am crazy or deluded, maybe I am dreaming." Then he said, "By Allah, I am nothing of the sort, what I know I saw last night was different from this." Then he said, "I had better get out of here." Then he went to one of the men selling food, gave him the money he had and asked him to sell him some food. When the man saw the money he did not recognize it or its imprint, so he passed it to his neighbor and they all began to pass it around, saying, "Maybe this man found some treasure." They asked him who he was and where he got this money. Had he found a treasure Who was he He said, "I am from this land, I was living here yesterday and Decianus was the ruler." They accused him of being crazy and took him to the governor who questioned him about his circumstances, and he told him. He was confused about his situation. When he told them about it, they -- the king and the people of the city -- went with him to the cave, where he told them, "Let me go in first and let my companions know." It was said that the people did not know how he entered it, and that the people did not know about their story. It was also said that they did enter the cave and see them, and the king greeted them and embraced them. Apparently he was a Muslim, and his name was Tedosis. They rejoiced at meeting him and spoke with him, then they bid farewell to him and went back to sleep, then Allah caused them to die. And Allah knows best. Aوَكَذلِكَ أَعْثَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ(And thus We made their case known,) meaning, `just as We caused them to sleep then woke them up physically intact, We made their story known to the people of that time.'لِيَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَأَنَّ السَّاعَةَ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهَا إِذْ يَتَنَـزَعُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَمْرَهُمْ(that they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour. (Remember) when they (the people) disputed among themselves about their case, ) meaning, about Resurrection. Some believed in it and some denied it, so Allah made their discovery of the people of the cave evidence either in their favor or against them.فَقَالُواْ ابْنُواْ عَلَيْهِمْ بُنْيَـنًا رَّبُّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ(they said: "Construct a building over them; their Lord knows best about them,") meaning, seal the door of their cave over them, and leave them as they are.قَالَ الَّذِينَ غَلَبُواْ عَلَى أَمْرِهِمْ لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيْهِمْ مَّسْجِدًا(those who won their point said: "We verily, shall build a place of worship over them.") Those who said this were the people of power and influence, but were they good people or not There is some debate on this point, because the Prophet said:«لَعَنَ اللهُ الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى اتَّخَذُوا قُبُورَ أَنْبِيَائِهِمْ وَصَالِحِيهِمْ مَسَاجِد»(Allah has cursed the Jews and the Christians who took the graves of their Prophets and righteous people as places of worship) Warning against what they did. We have reported about the Commander of the faithful `Umar bin Al-Khattab that when he found the grave of Danyal (Daniel) in Iraq during his period of rule, he gave orders that news of this grave should be withheld from the people, and that the inscription containing mention of battles etc., that they found there should be buried.

دوبارہ جینے کی حجت ٭٭ارشاد ہے کہ اسی طرح ہم نے اپنی قدرت سے لوگوں کو ان کے حال پر آگاہ کر دیا تاکہ اللہ کے وعدے اور قیامت کے آنے کی سچائی کا انہیں علم ہو جائے۔ کہتے ہیں کہ اس زمانے کے وہاں موجود لوگوں کو قیامت کے آنے میں کچھ شکوک پیدا ہو چلے تھے۔ ایک جماعت تو کہتی تھی کہ فقط روحیں دوبارہ جی اٹھیں گی، جسم کا اعادہ نہ ہو گا۔ پس اللہ تعالیٰ نے صدیوں بعد اصحاب کہف کو جگا کر قیامت کے ہونے اور جسموں کے دوبارہ جینے کی حجت واضح کر دی اور عینی دلیل دے دی۔ مذکور ہے کہ جب ان میں سے ایک صاحب دام لے کر سودا خریدنے کو غار سے باہر نکلے تو دیکھا کہ ان کی دیکھی ہوئی ایک چیز نہیں، سارا نقشہ بدلا ہوا ہے۔ اس شہر کا نام افسوس تھا۔ زمانے گزر چکے تھے، بستیاں بدل چکی تھیں، صدیاں بیت گئی تھیں اور یہ تو اپنے نزدیک یہی سمجھے ہوئے تھے کہ ہمیں یہاں پہنچے ایک آدھ دن گزرا ہے۔ یہاں انقلاب زمانہ اور کا اور ہو چکا تھا، جیسے کسی نے کہا ہے۔ «اما الدیار فانہا کدیارہم» «واری رجال الحی غیر رجالہ» صفحہ نمبر4870گھر گو انہی جیسے ہیں لیکن قبیلے کے لوگ تو سب اور ہی ہیں۔ اس نے دیکھا کہ نہ تو شہر کی کوئی چیز اپنے حال پر ہے، نہ شہر کا کوئی بھی رہنے والا جان پہچان کا ہے، نہ یہ کسی کو جانیں نہ انہیں اور کوئی پہچانے۔ تمام عام خاص اور ہی ہیں۔ یہ اپنے دل میں حیران تھا۔ دماغ چکرا رہا تھا کہ کل شام ہم اس شہر کو چھوڑ کر گئے ہیں، یہ دفعتا ہو کیا گیا؟ ہر چند سوچتا تھا کوئی بات سمجھ میں نہ آتی تھی۔ آخر خیال کرنے لگا کہ شاید میں مجنوں ہو گیا ہوں یا میرے حواس ٹھکانے نہیں رہے یا مجھے کوئی مرض لگ گیا ہے یا میں خواب میں ہوں۔ لیکن فوراً ہی یہ خیالات ہٹ گئے مگر کسی بات پر تسلی نہ ہو سکی اس لیے ارادہ کر لیا کہ مجھے سودا لے کر اس شہر کو جلد چھوڑ دینا چاہیئے۔ ایک دکان پر جا کر اسے دام دئیے اور سودا کھانے پینے کا طلب کیا۔ اس نے اس سکے کو دیکھ کر سخت تر تعجب کا اظہار کیا اپنے پڑوسی کو دیا کہ دیکھنا یہ سکہ کیا ہے؟ کب کا ہے؟ کسی زمانے کا ہے؟ اس نے دوسرے کو دیا اس سے کسی اور نے دیکھنے کو مانگ لیا۔ الغرض وہ تو ایک تماشہ بن گیا، ہر زبان سے یہی نکلنے لگا کہ اس نے کسی پرانے زمانے کا خزانہ پایا ہے، اس میں سے یہ لایا ہے اس سے پوچھو یہ کہاں کا ہے؟ کون ہے؟ یہ سکہ کہاں سے پایا؟صفحہ نمبر4871چنانچہ لوگوں نے اسے گھیر لیا مجمع لگا کر کھڑے ہو گئے اور اوپر تلے ٹیڑھے ترچھے سوالات شروع کر دئے۔ اس نے کہا میں تو اسی شہر کا رہنے والا ہوں، کل شام کو میں یہاں سے گیا ہوں، یہاں کا بادشاہ دقیانوس ہے۔ اب تو سب نے قہقہہ لگا کر کہا، بھئی یہ تو کوئی پاگل آدمی ہے۔ آخر اسے بادشاہ کے سامنے پیش کیا اس سے سوالات ہوئے اس نے تمام حال کہہ سنایا، اب ایک طرف بادشاہ اور دوسرے سب لوگ متحیر ایک طرف سے خود ششدر و حیران۔ آخر سب لوگ ان کے ساتھ ہوئے۔ اچھا ہمیں اپنے اور ساتھی دکھاؤ اور اپنا غار بھی دکھا دو۔ یہ انہیں لے کر چلے غار کے پاس پہنچ کر کہا تم ذرا ٹھیرو میں پہلے انہیں جا کر خبر کر دوں۔ ان کے الگ ہٹتے ہی اللہ تعالیٰ نے ان پر بے خبری کے پردے ڈال دئے۔ انہیں نہ معلوم ہو سکا کہ وہ کہاں گیا؟ اللہ نے پھر اس راز کو مخفی کر لیا۔ ایک روایت یہ بھی آئی ہے کہ یہ لوگ مع بادشاہ کے گئے، ان سے ملے، سلام علیک ہوئی، بغلگیر ہوئے۔ یہ بادشاہ خود مسلمان تھا، اس کا نام تندوسیس تھا۔ اصحاب کہف ان سے مل کر بہت خوش ہوئے اور محبت و انسیت سے ملے جلے، باتیں کیں، پھر واپس جا کر اپنی اپنی جگہ لیٹے، پھر اللہ تعالیٰ نے انہیں فوت کر لیا، رحمہم اللہ اجمعین۔ «وَاللهُ اَعْلَمُ» ۔صفحہ نمبر4872کہتے ہیں کہ سیدنا عبداللہ بن عباس رضی اللہ عنہما سیدنا حبیب بن مسلمہ رضی اللہ عنہ کے ساتھ ایک غزوے میں تھے، وہاں انہوں نے روم کے شہروں میں ایک غار دیکھا، جس میں ہڈیاں تھیں، لوگوں نے کہا یہ ہڈیاں اصحاب کہف کی ہیں، آپ رضی اللہ عنہ نے فرمایا تین سو سال گزر چکے کہ ان کی ہڈیاں کھوکھلی ہو کر مٹی ہو گئیں [ ابن جریر ] ‏ پس فرماتا ہے کہ جیسے ہم نے انہیں انوکھی طرز پر سلایا اور بالکل انوکھے طور پر جگایا، اسی طرح بالکل نرالے طرز پر اہل شہر کو ان کے حالات سے مطلع فرمایا تاکہ انہیں اللہ کے وعدوں کی حقانیت کا علم ہو جائے اور قیامت کے ہونے میں اور اس کے برحق ہونے میں انہیں کوئی شک نہ رہے۔ اس وقت وہ آپس میں سخت مختلف تھے، لڑ جھگڑ رہے تھے، بعض قیامت کے قائل تھے، بعض منکر تھے۔ پس اصحاب کہف کا ظہور منکروں پر حجت اور ماننے والوں کے لیے دلیل بن گیا۔ اب اس بستی والوں کا ارادہ ہوا کہ ان کے غار کا منہ بند کر دیا جائے اور انہیں ان کے حال پر چھوڑ دیا جائے۔ جنہیں سرداری حاصل تھی، انہوں نے ارادہ کیا کہ ہم تو ان کے اردگرد مسجد بنا لیں گے۔ امام ابن جریر ان لوگوں کے بارے میں دو قول نقل کرتے ہیں ایک یہ کہ ان میں سے مسلمانوں نے یہ کہا تھا دوسرے یہ کہ یہ قول کفار کا تھا۔ «وَاللهُ اَعْلَمُ» ۔ لیکن بظاہر معلوم ہوتا ہے کہ اس کے قائل کلمہ گو تھے، ہاں یہ اور بات ہے کہ ان کا یہ کہنا اچھا تھا یا برا؟ تو اس بارے میں صاف حدیث موجود ہے، رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم نے فرمایا [ حدیث ] ‏ «لَعَنَ اللَّه الْيَهُود وَالنَّصَارَى اِتَّخَذُوا قُبُور أَنْبِيَائِهِمْ وَصَالِحِيهِمْ مَسَاجِد» اللہ تعالیٰ یہود و نصاری پر لعنت فرمائے کہ انہوں نے اپنے انبیاء اور اولیا کی قبروں کو مسجدیں بنا لیا۔ [صحیح بخاری:435] ‏ جو انہوں نے کیا، اس سے آپ اپنی امت کو بچانا چاہتے تھے۔ اسی لیے امیر المؤمنین عمر رضی اللہ عنہما نے اپنی خلافت کے زمانے میں جب دانیال کی قبر عراق میں پائی تو حکم فرمایا کہ اسے پوشیدہ کر دیا جائے اور جو رقعہ ملا ہے جس میں بعض لڑائیوں وغیرہ کا ذکر ہے اسے دفن کر دیا جائے۔صفحہ نمبر4873

آیت 21 وَكَذٰلِكَ اَعْثَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ چنانچہ اصحاب کہف کا ایک ساتھی جب کھانا لینے کے لیے شہر گیا تو اپنے لباس حلیے اور کرنسی وغیرہ کے باعث فوری طور پر اسے پہچان لیا گیا کہ وہ موجودہ زمانے کا انسان نہیں ہے۔ پھر جب اس سے تفتیش کی گئی تو سارا راز کھل گیا۔ اس وقت اگرچہ اس واقعہ کو تین سو سال سے زائد کا عرصہ گزر چکا تھا مگر اس کے باوجود یہ بات ابھی تک لوگوں کے علم میں تھی کہ فلاں بادشاہ کے ڈر سے اس شہر سے سات آدمی کہیں روپوش ہوگئے تھے اور پوری مملکت میں تلاش بسیار کے باوجود کہیں ان کا سراغ نہ مل سکا تھا۔ اسی طرح یہ بات بھی لوگوں کے علم میں تھی کہ اس پورے واقعے کو ایک تختی پر لکھ کر ریکارڈ کے طور پر شاہی خزانے میں محفوظ کرلیا گیا تھا۔ لہٰذا اصحاب کہف کے ساتھی سے ملنے والی معلومات کی تصدیق کے لیے جب مذکورہ تختی ریکارڈ سے نکلوائی گئی تو اس پر اس واقعہ کی تمام تفصیلات لکھی ہوئی مل گئیں اور یوں یہ واقعہ پوری وضاحت کے ساتھ لوگوں کے سامنے آگیا۔لِيَعْلَمُوْٓا اَنَّ وَعْدَ اللّٰهِ حَقٌّ وَّاَنَّ السَّاعَةَ لَا رَيْبَ فِيْهَایہ واقعہ گویا بعث بعد الموت کے بارے میں ایک واضح دلیل تھا کہ جب اللہ تعالیٰ نے تین سو سال تک ان لوگوں کو سلائے رکھا اور پھر اٹھا کھڑا کیا تو اس کے لیے مردوں کا دوبارہ زندہ کرنا کیونکر ممکن نہیں ہوگا ؟اِذْ يَتَنَازَعُوْنَ بَيْنَهُمْ اَمْرَهُمْ اس کے بعد اصحاب کہف تو اپنی غار میں پہلے کی طرح سوگئے اور اللہ تعالیٰ نے ان پر حقیقی موت وارد کردی لیکن لوگوں کے درمیان اس بارے میں اختلاف پیدا ہوگیا کہ ان کے بارے میں حتمی طور پر کیا معاملہ کیا جائے۔فَقَالُوا ابْنُوْا عَلَيْهِمْ بُنْيَانًا ۭ رَبُّهُمْ اَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ کچھ لوگوں نے رائے دی کہ اس معاملہ کی اہمیت کے پیش نظر یہاں ایک شاندار یادگار تعمیر کی جانی چاہیے۔

CommentaryDescribed in this verse which opens with the words: وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَعْثَرْ‌نَا عَلَيْهِمْ (And in this way We made them known) is the disclosure of the secret of the People of Kahf before the residents of the city. Along with it given there is a view of His wisdom, and of the belief in the Hereafter and the Last Day when the dead will rise again, and that they will ultimately be-lieve in it. How this came about has been mentioned briefly in Tafsir al-Qurtubi as follows:The secret of the People of Kahf:How did the people of the city learn about it?When the People of Kahf went out, the Mushrik king Daqyanus, the oppressive ruler of that city died. Centuries went by. Then, it was taken over by people who were pure monotheists. Their king was a righteous man (whose name has been given as Baidusis in Tafsir Mazhari with references to historical narratives). During his time, it so happened that differences became rampant on the issue of the dead rising again on the day of Qiyamah. One sect rejected the possibility of human bodies rising again after the process of decomposition, disintegration and dispersal as scattered particles all over the world. Baidusis, the king of the time, started worrying about ways to dispel these doubts. When nothing worked, he got into ragged clothes, sat down on a heap of ash and prayed to Allah. Lamenting and pleading earnestly, he said, '0 Allah, now it is up to Thee to make things work out in a way that the belief of my people gets corrected and they take to the right path.' On one side was this king engaged in his plaint and prayer while, on the other side, Allah Ta` ala arranged to have his supplication answered in His own way. The People of Kahf woke up. They sent one of their men (reportedly named Tamlikha) to the city bazaar to buy food. He went to a shop and paid for the food he bought in the form of a silver coin dating back to the time of king Daqyanus who reigned there three hundred years ago. The shopkeeper was taken aback. Where did this coin come from? What period does it belong to? He was confused. He showed it to other shopkeepers. Everyone said that the man had struck some treasure and was there with a coin from it. This man told them that nothing of that kind had happened to him and the coin was his own.The shopkeepers detained him and produced him before the king. As said earlier, this king was a righteous man of Allah. It is said that he was aware of the old state treasure house and in its archaeological section he had also seen the tablet inscribed on which there was a list of the names of the People of Kahf along with the description of the incident of their escape. According to some, the cruel king Daqyanus was the one who had ordered that such a tablet should be inscribed to declare them as proclaimed offenders, to preserve their names and addresses and to have them arrested on sight. Some other reports say that there were people in the royal court who disapproved of idol-worship by heart and took the People of Kahf as votaries of truth. But, they did not have the courage to declare it openly. What they did was to have this tablet inscribed to be kept as memorabilia. The name of this tablet was Raqim because of which the People of Kahf were also called the People of Raqim.So, this king knew something about this event and at that time he was busy praying to Allah that He would somehow make his people believe that making dead bodies rise again was not beyond His most perfect power.Therefore, when he inquired into the background of Tamlikha, he was convinced that the man was one of the People of Kahf. He said that he used to pray to Allah in the hope that He would somehow make him fortunate enough to meet the people who had run away from Daqyanus for the sake of their faith. Now that Allah had perhaps heard his prayer, he was grateful. May be there is, in this event, some decisive proof that makes people believe in the rising of the dead. After saying this, he asked this man to take him to the Cave from where he had come.The king arrived there with a retinue of people from the city. When the Cave came close, Tamlikha asked the king to wait there for a while so that he could go in and inform his companions about the situation. He would tell them that the king was there to meet them along with his people and that the king was a believer, a monotheist and so were his people. If he failed to do that, and the king appeared there unannounced, it was likely that they might take him to be their enemy like the previous one. When Tamlikha went in the Cave, he related the whole story before his companions. They were pleased. They greeted the king showing due respect for him. Then they returned to their Cave. And as most narratives have it, when Tamlikha related the whole story before his companions, they died and could not meet the king. At this stage, Abu Hayyan has reported a narrative in al-Bahr al-Muhit which says that after the meeting, the People of the Cave took leave of the king and the visiting citizens and went into the Cave. It was at that time that Allah Ta` ala sent death to them. Allah knows best the reality as it is.However, the people of the city now had before them a marvel of Divine power manifested so decisively and clearly. They came to believe in the working of that power. They saw living human beings kept alive for three hundred years without food and things essential in life. And then, they also saw them raised intact, healthy and fit after having been kept asleep for such a long time. With all this in view, why should it be at all difficult for that power to make these bodies come alive after having met their death? Through this event, their perception that the resurrection of bodies was a far out proposition stood refuted. They now realized that taking the Power of the master of the universes on the analogy of the power of human beings was an act of ignorance by itself.A hint was made towards this very aspect in the words: لِیَعلَمُوآ اَنَّ وَعدَ اللہِ حَقُّ وَأَنَّ السَّاعَةَ آتِيَةٌ لَّا رَ‌يْبَ فِيهَا (so that they realize that Allah's promise is true and that there is no doubt about the Hour). It means, 'Allah raised thePeople of Kahf after having kept them asleep for a long time so that others realized that His promise to raise the dead on the Last Day of Qiyamah was true, and that there was no doubt about the coming of the Qiyamah.'People differed after the death of Ashab al-KahfAs for the holiness of the People of Kahf, everyone agreed about that and thought of making a memorial for them close to the Cave. However, there was a difference of opinion on the nature of the building. Some reports tell us that idol-worshippers, still left in the city, also used to visit the site. They proposed that it should be a public welfare building. But, the king and the official in his government were believers who played a dominant role in public affairs. They proposed that they should make a mosque over there so that it serves as a memorial to them and also becomes the cause of saving people from idol-worship in the future. At this place in the Qur'an, the reference to this difference of opinion is hemmed in by the sentence: رَّ‌بُّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ (Their Lord knows them best).Regarding the meaning of this sentence, Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit has mentioned two probabilities. (1) This was said by the same people from the city present there, because when a memorial was proposed after their death, people thought of inscribing a tablet mentioning the names and the details about the people of the Cave for the memory of whom the building was to be dedicated. And so they started talking variously about the background details concerning the People of Kahf. In the end, when their differences remained unresolved, they said: رَّ‌بُّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ (their Lord knows them best). After saying that, they turned to the main job at hand which was raising a building in their memory. Those who were dominant decided to make a mosque. (2) Then, the probability that this was said by Allah Ta` ala also exists here as it warns people who indulged in mutual disputations around baseless issues during that time. They are being told here that they do not know the reality and they do not have the sources to arrive at that knowledge. Why, then, would they waste their precious time in futile argumentation? Then, it is also possible that the warning was beamed at Jews and others who used the crutch of this event to indulge in baseless debates during the blessed time of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Pure and High is Allah who knows best.RulingThis event tells us that making a masjid for Salah near the graves of men of Allah is no sin. As for the Hadith in which words of curse have appeared against those who make the graves of prophets a masjid, it means making the graves as such a place of sajdah or prostration - which is, by consensus, Shirk, and Haram. (Mazhari)