Friday, October 21, 2011

Al Kahf Tales....

Al Kahf Tales
Each Friday there is a great emphasis on the recitation of Surah Al-Kahf i.e. the chapter from the Quran, called "The Cave". It would only be foolish to miss out the brilliant opportunity that Allah (swt) has blessed us with in form of Surah Al-Kahf. It is the very gift that illuminates our lives and allows us to have our sins from the past Friday forgiven. Of course, this cannot be misinterpreted as a ticket to clearing the record of bad deeds so you could commit them again. Al-Kahf contains some very valuable morals through 4 great stories from the past times. There is a message about "Time," conveyed through the story of the People of the Cave, a message of "Knowledge," conveyed through the story of Prophets Moses and Khizr (peace be on them), and a message of "Power," conveyed through the tale of the great warrior ZulQarnayn.

The Importance of Surah Al-Kahf
Besides the gift of our past week's sins being forgiven, Al-Kahf is a shield of protection from the Dajjal, Anti Christ as known to the world. The first ten and last ten ayahs (verses) of Al-Kahf secure a person from the evil of Dajjal.

Why Was Surah Al-Kahf Revealed?
When Prophet Mohammad (saww) announced prophethood and began conveying the Word of Allah to the people, several doubt arose about his authenticity and credibility. This was because they were the dark ages of Arabia and also there had been several accounts of false prophets.
The Quraysh (the tribe of the prophet) sent 2 men, An-Nadr bin Al-Harith and `Uqbah bin Abi Mu`it, to the Jewish rabbis in Al-Madinah, to ask them about Prophet Mohammad (saww) while describing the Prophet to them and conveying his message to them. The Jews were considered the people of the first Book (Tawrah) and their knowledge about the chain of prophets from Prophet Adam (a.s.) right down to Prophet Moses (a.s.) was considered authentic. They knew what prophets had been like and what knowledge they were to possess when Allah chose them as men of knowledge.
So they set out and when they reached Al-Madinah, they asked the Jewish rabbis about the Messenger of Allah . They described him to them and told them some of what he had said. They said, `You are the people of the Tawrah and we have come to you so that you can tell us about this companion of ours.'
They (the rabbis) said, `Ask him about three things which we will tell you to ask, and if he answers them then he is a Prophet who has been sent (by Allah); if he does not, then he is saying things that are not true, in which case how you will deal with him will be up to you. Ask him about some young men in ancient times, what was their story For theirs is a strange and wondrous tale. Ask him about a man who travelled a great deal and reached the east and the west of the earth. What was his story And ask him about the Ruh (soul or spirit) -- what is it If he tells you about these things, then he is a Prophet, so follow him, but if he does not tell you, then he is a man who is making things up, so deal with him as you see fit.'
So An-Nadr and `Uqbah left and came back to the Quraysh, and said: `O people of Quraysh, we have come to you with a decisive solution which will put an end to the problem between you and Muhammad. The Jewish rabbis told us to ask him about some matters,' and they told the Quraysh what they were. Then they came to the Messenger of Allah and said, `O Muhammad, tell us,' and they asked him about the things they had been told to ask.
The Surah was revealed for the purpose of blessing Prophet Mohammad (saww) with the knowledge of the 3 questions that the Jewish rabbis had put forward and also to console him and the Believers that they shouldn't waste themselves in regret over the disbelief of the idolators and non-believers.

No comments:

Post a Comment