Or dost thou reflect that the Companions
of the Cave and of the Inscription were wonders among
Our Sign? (Surat al-Kahf: 9)
The Qur'an's 18th Surah named "Al-Kahf", meaning
"the cave", tells about a group of young people
who took shelter in a cave to hide away from a ruler who denied
Allah and practised oppression and injustice upon the believers.
The verses on the subject are as follows:
Or dost thou reflect that the Companions of the Cave
and of the Inscription were wonders among Our Sign? Behold,
the youths betook themselves to the Cave: they said, "Our
Lord! bestow on us Mercy from Thyself, and dispose of
our affair for us in the right way!" Then
We draw (a veil) over their ears, for a number of years,
in the Cave, (so that they heard not):
Then We roused them, in order to test which of the
two parties was best at calculating the term of years
they had tarried! We relate to thee their story
in truth: they were youths who believed in their Lord,
and We advanced them in guidance:
We gave strength to their hearts: Behold, they stood
up and said: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens
and of the earth: never shall we call upon any god other
than Him: if we did, we should indeed have uttered an
enormity! "These our people have taken for
worship gods other than Him: why do they not bring forward
an authority clear (and convincing) for what they do?
Who doth more wrong than such as invent a falsehood against
Allah. "When ye turn away from them and the
things they worship other than Allah, betake yourselves
to the Cave: Your Lord will shower His mercies on you
and disposes of your affair towards comfort and ease."
Thou wouldst have seen the sun, when it rose, declining
to the right from their Cave, and when it set, turning
away from them to the left, while they lay in the open
space in the midst of the Cave. Such are among the Signs
of Allah. He whom Allah, guides is rightly guided; but
he whom Allah leaves to stray,- for him wilt thou find
no protector to lead him to the Right Way.
Thou wouldst have deemed them awake, whilst they were
asleep, and We turned them on their right and on their
left sides: their dog stretching forth his two fore-legs
on the threshold: if thou hadst come up on to them, thou
wouldst have certainly turned back from them in flight,
and wouldst certainly have been filled with terror of
them.
Such (being their state), we raised them up (from
sleep), that they might question each other. Said one
of them, "How long have ye stayed (here)?" They
said, "We have stayed (perhaps) a day, or part of
a day." (At length) they (all) said, "(Allah)
(alone) knows best how long ye have stayed here.... Now
send ye then one of you with this money of yours to the
town: let him find out which is the best food (to be had)
and bring some to you, that (ye may) satisfy your hunger
therewith: And let him behave with care and courtesy,
and let him not inform any one about you. "For
if they should come upon you, they would stone you or
force you to return to their cult, and in that case ye
would never attain prosperity."
Thus did We make their case known to the people, that
they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and
that there can be no doubt about the Hour of Judgment.
Behold, they dispute among themselves as to their affair.
(Some) said, "Construct a building over them":
Their Lord knows best about them: those who prevailed
over their affair said, "Let us surely build a place
of worship over them."
(Some) say they were three, the dog being the fourth
among them; (others) say they were five, the dog being
the sixth,- doubtfully guessing at the unknown; (yet others)
say they were seven, the dog being the eighth. Say thou:
"My Lord knoweth best their number; It is but few
that know their (real case)." Enter not, therefore,
into controversies concerning them, except on a matter
that is clear, nor consult any of them about (the affair
of) the Sleepers.
Nor say of anything, "I shall be sure to do so
and so tomorrow"-
Without adding, "So please Allah." and call
thy Lord to mind when thou forgettest, and say, "I
hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer (even) than
this to the right road."
So they stayed in their Cave three hundred years,
and (some) add nine (more)
Say: "(Allah) knows best how long they stayed:
with Him is (the knowledge of) the secrets of the heavens
and the earth: how clearly He sees, how finely He hears
(everything)! They have no protector other than Him; nor
does He share His Command with any person whatsoever.(Surat
al-Kahf: 9-26)
According to widespread belief, the Companions of the Cave
who are praised both by the Islamic and Christian sources,
were subjected to the cruel tyranny of the Roman Emperor,
Decius. Meeting the oppression and injustice of Decius,
these young people warned their own people many times not
to abandon the religion of Allah. The indifference of their
people to their communication of the message, the increase
in oppression of the emperor and their being threatened
with death, caused them to leave their homes.
As historical documents verify, at that time, many emperors
extensively executed policies of terror, oppression, and
injustice on believers who stood for early Christianity
in its original and pure form.
In a letter written by the Roman Governor Pilinius (69-113
AD) who was in North West Anatolia, to the Emperor Trayanus,
he referred to "the companions of the Messiah (the
Christians) who were punished because they resisted worshipping
the statue of the Emperor." This letter is one of the
important documents which relate the oppression visited
on early Christians at that time. Under such circumstances,
these young people, who were asked to submit to a non-religionist
system and to worship an emperor as a god apart from Allah,
did not accept this and said;
"Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and of the
earth: never shall we call upon any god other than Him:
if we did, we should indeed have uttered an enormity!
These our people have taken for worship gods other than
Him: why do they not bring forward an authority clear
(and convincing) for what they do? Who doth more wrong
than such as invent a falsehood against Allah?" (Surat
al-Kahf: 14-15)
As regards the region where the Companions of the Cave
lived, there are several different opinions. The most reasonable
of these are Ephesus and Tarsus.
Almost all the Christian sources show Ephesus as the location
of the Cave where these young believers took shelter. Some
Muslim researchers and the Qur'anic commentators agree with
the Christians regarding Ephesus. Some others, explained
in detail that Ephesus was not the place, and then tried
to prove that the event took place in Tarsus. In this study,
both of these alternatives will be dealt with. Yet, all
those researchers and commentators - including the Christians
- said that the event took place at the time of Roman Emperor
Decius (also called as Decianus), around 250 AD.
Decius, together with Nero, is known to be the Roman Emperor,
who most severely tortured the Christians. During his short
reign, he passed a law that compelled everyone under his
rule to offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods. Everyone was
obliged to offer a sacrifice to these deities, and moreover,
to get a certificate showing that they had done this, which
they had to show to state officials. Those who did not obey
were executed. In Christian sources, it is written that
a great majority of the Christians refused this idolatrous
act and fled from "one city to another", or hid
in secret shelters. The Companions of the Cave are most
probably a group among these early Christians.
Meanwhile, there is a point that has to be emphasised here:
this topic has been narrated in a story-like manner by some
of Muslim and Christian historians and commentators, and
turned into a legend as a result of the addition of much
falsehood and hearsay. However, this incident is a historical
reality.
Are the Companions of the Cave in Ephesus?
As regards the city where these young people lived and the
cave in which they took shelter, various places are indicated
in different sources. The main reasons for this are: people's
wish to believe that such courageous and brave-hearted people
lived in their town, and the great similarity of the caves
in those regions. For instance, in almost all of these places,
there is a place of worship said to be built over caves.
As is well known, Ephesus was accepted to be a holy place
by the Christians, because, there is a house in this city
which was said to be the Virgin Mary's and which was later
turned into a church. So, it is highly probable that the
Companions of the Cave resided in one of those holy places.
Moreover, some Christian sources state their certainty that
it was the place.
The oldest source on the subject is the Syrian priest,
James of Saruc (born 452 AD). The famous historian, Gibbon,
has taken many quotations from James' study, in his book
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. According
to this book, the name of the Emperor, who tortured the
seven young Christian believers and compelled them to hide
away in a cave, was Decius. Decius ruled over the Roman
Empire between 249-251 AD and his period of reign is widely
known for the torments he practised on the followers of
'Isa (Jesus). According to Muslim commentators, the region
where the event took place was either "Aphesus"
or "Aphesos". According to Gibbon, the name of
this place is Ephesus. Situated on the western coast of
Anatolia, this city was one of the largest ports and cities
of the Roman Empire. The ruins of this city are known as
"The Antique City of Ephesus" today.
The interior of the Cave in Ephesus which is thought
to be the one of the Companions of the Cave. |
The name of the Emperor who reigned in the period when
the Companions of the Cave woke up from their long sleep,
is Tezusius according to Muslim researchers, whereas it
is Theodosius II according to Gibbons. This Emperor ruled
between 408-450 AD, after the Roman Empire had converted
to Christianity.
Referring to the verse below, in some commentaries it is
said that the mouth of the cave looks towards the north,
and hence the sunlight could not penetrate inside. Thus,
someone passing by the cave could not see what was inside
at all. The related verse of the Qur'an informs:
Thou wouldst have seen the sun, when it rose, declining
to the right from their Cave, and when it set, turning
away from them to the left, while they lay in the open
space in the midst of the Cave. Such are among the Signs
of Allah: He whom Allah, guides is rightly guided; but
he whom Allah leaves to stray,- for him wilt thou find
no protector to lead him to the Right Way. (Surat al-Kahf:
17)
|
The cave in Ephesus seen from the outside. |
The archaeologist Dr. Musa Baran points to Ephesus as the
place where this group of young believers lived, in his book
named Ephesus, and he adds:
In the year 250 BC, seven young people
living in Ephesus choose Christianity and reject idolatry.
Trying to find a way out, these young people find a cave
in the eastern slope of the Pion mountain. The Roman soldiers
see this and build a wall to the entrance of the cave.
1
Today, it is acknowledged that over these
old ruins and graves, many religious constructions are built.
Excavations made by the Austrian Archaeological Institute
in 1926, revealed that the ruins found on the eastern slope
of the Pion mountain belonged to a construction built on behalf
of the Companions of the Cave in the middle of the 5th century
(during the rule of Theodosius II). 2 |
