Muhammad b. Ishaq mentioned the reason why the chapter 18, Surah al-Kahf, was revealed:
The Quraysh sent two men to the Jewish rabbis in Madinah and told them: ‘Ask them (the rabbis) about Muhammad, and describe him to them, and tell them what he is saying. They are the people of the first Book, and they have more knowledge of the Prophets than we do’. So, they set out and when they reached 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 Torah 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 traveled 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) – 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, two men 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 (ﷺ) and said, ‘O Muhammad, tell us’, and they asked him about the things they had been told to ask.
There is a book called the ‘Testament of Moses’ or ‘The Assumption of Moses’[1] that mentions a prophecy about a group of people entering a cave to escape from falling into error. The book purports to contain secret prophecies Moses revealed to Joshua before passing leadership of the Israelites to him. It is characterized as a “testament”, meaning the final speech of a dying person, Moses. This book also has a timeline for the arrival of God’s kingdom which comes to the time of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).
It is a 1st-century Jewish apocryphal work[2]. The text is thought to have been originally written in Hebrew or another Semitic language, and then translated to Koine Greek. The only surviving manuscript is a 6th-century Latin translation of the Greek text. The manuscript was incomplete, and the rest of the text is lost. From references in ancient works, it is thought that the missing text depicted a dispute over the body of Moses, between the archangel Michael and the devil[3]. The Jews of Madina may have had this book in a distorted manner as well and they thought to test the Prophet (ﷺ). It is extra interesting because the Prophet (ﷺ) did not have access to such books and even the events that the Jews knew of were ambiguous.[4]
Before going into the details of the passages, it is important to understand the Islamic position on other scriptures.
Below is an interesting passage from that book that mentions something to happen 1,750 years after Moses:
And then His kingdom shall appear throughout all His creation, and then Satan shall be no more, and sorrow shall depart with him. Then the hands of the angel[5] shall be filled, who has been appointed chief, and he shall forthwith avenge them of their enemies. For the Heavenly One will arise from His royal throne, and He will go forth from His holy habitation with indignation and wrath on account of His sons. And the earth shall tremble: to its confines shall it be shaken: And the high mountains shall be made low, and the hills shall be shaken and fall. And the horns of the sun shall be broken and he shall be turned into darkness; and the moon shall not give her light, and be turned wholly into blood. And the circle of the stars shall be disturbed. And the sea shall retire into the abyss, and the fountains of waters shall fail, and the rivers shall dry up. For the Most High will arise, the Eternal God alone, and He will appear to punish the Gentiles, and He will destroy all their idols. Then you, O Israel, shall be happy, and you shall mount upon the necks and wings of the eagle, and they shall be ended[6]. And God will exalt you, and He will cause you to approach to the heaven of the stars in the place of their habitation. And you will look from on high and see your enemies in Ge(henna) and you shall recognize them and rejoice, and you shall give thanks and confess thy Creator. And do you; Joshua (the son of) Nun, keep these words and this book; For from my death [assumption] until his advent there shall be 250 times…
We look at the mention of the people of the cave later, but it is essential to discuss this matter before. The mention of 250 times is very important here:
And do you; Joshua (the son of) Nun, keep these words and this book; For from my death [assumption] until His advent there shall be 250 times [= year-weeks = 1750 years]. And this is the course of the times which they shall pursue till they are consummated. And I shall go to sleep with my fathers. Wherefore, Joshua you (son of) Nun, (be strong and) be of good courage; (for) God has chosen (you) to be minister in the same covenant.[7]
Musa (عليه السلام) most likely passed away in 1,180 BC[8] and 1,750 years from then come to be 570 CE, the year in which Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) was born.
The sleepers of the cave
Chapter 9 of The Assumption/Testament of Moses mentions Taxo’s seven sons taking refuge in a cave and dying, but nothing about them being revived from the dead. The Jews had some kind of information about the sleepers of the cave but their information was so distorted that they though to test the Prophet (ﷺ) and his truthfulness by this story. The passage is as follows:
Then in that day there shall be a man of the tribe of Levi, whose name shall be Taxo, who having seven sons shall speak to them exhorting (them): ‘Observe, my sons, behold a second ruthless (and) unclean visitation has come upon the people, and a punishment merciless and far exceeding the first. For what nation or what region or what people of those who are impious towards the Lord, who have done many abominations, have suffered as great calamities as have befallen us Now, therefore, my sons, hear me: for observe and know that neither did the fathers nor their forefathers tempt God, so as to transgress His commands. And you know that this is our strength, and thus we will do. Let us fast for the space of three days and on the fourth let us go into a cave which is in the field, and let us die rather than transgress the commands of the Lord of Lords, the God of our fathers. For if we do this and die, our blood shall be avenged before the Lord.
As soon as this passage ends, the next passage starts with these words: And then His kingdom shall appear throughout all His creation … until His advent there shall be 1,750 years. The incident of the cave was to happen before the coming of the Messenger (ﷺ) after 1,750 years i.e., after Eisa/Jesus (عليه السلام) and before the Prophet (ﷺ).
The seven sons taking refuge and dying is not exactly in line with the Qur’an but still quite similar and has many parallels. Medinan Jews most likely had this text in a very distorted manner. Even the one we have available now is not complete and even not in the original language. Medinan Jews may have had a Hebrew copy, or they may have a similar story as to what we can access now. Moreover, the timing of this cave incident is very interesting as well i.e., after Eisa/Jesus (عليه السلام) and before the Prophet (ﷺ).
One important purpose of the Qur’an is to correct what the previous ones got wrong, and the cave difference appears to be just that. The Qur’an corrected them:
Or have you thought that the companions of the cave and the inscription were, among My signs, a wonder? [Mention] when the youths retreated to the cave and said, “Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance.” So I cast [a cover of sleep] over their ears within the cave for a number of years. Then I awakened them that I might show which of the two factions was most precise in calculating what [extent] they had remained in time. It is I who relate to you, [O Muhammad], their story in truth. Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord, and I increased them in guidance. And I made firm their hearts when they stood up and said, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Never will we invoke besides Him any deity. We would have certainly spoken, then, an excessive transgression. These, our people, have taken besides Him deities. Why do they not bring for [worship of] them a clear authority? And who is more unjust than one who invents about Allah a lie?” [The youths said to one another], “And when you have withdrawn from them and that which they worship other than Allah, retreat to the cave. Your Lord will spread out for you of His mercy and will prepare for you from your affair facility.” And [had you been present], you would see the sun when it rose, inclining away from their cave on the right, and when it set, passing away from them on the left, while they were [laying] within an open space thereof. That was from the signs of Allah. He whom Allah guides is the [rightly] guided, but he whom He leaves astray – never will you find for him a protecting guide. And you would think them awake, while they were asleep. And I turned them to the right and to the left, while their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance. If you had looked at them, you would have turned from them in flight and been filled by them with terror. And similarly, I awakened them that they might question one another. Said a speaker from among them, “How long have you remained [here]?” They said, “We have remained a day or part of a day.” They said, “Your Lord is most knowing of how long you remained. So send one of you with this silver coin of yours to the city and let him look to which is the best of food and bring you provision from it and let him be cautious. And let no one be aware of you. Indeed, if they come to know of you, they will stone you or return you to their religion. And never would you succeed, then – ever.” And similarly, I caused them to be found that they [who found them] would know that the promise of Allah is truth and that of the Hour there is no doubt. [That was] when they disputed among themselves about their affair and [then] said, “Construct over them a structure. Their Lord is most knowing about them.” Said those who prevailed in the matter, “We will surely take [for ourselves] over them a Mosque.” They will say there were three, the fourth of them being their dog; and they will say there were five, the sixth of them being their dog – guessing at the unseen; and they will say there were seven, and the eighth of them was their dog. Say, [O Muhammad], “My Lord is most knowing of their number. None knows them except a few. So do not argue about them except with an obvious argument and do not inquire about them among [the speculators] from anyone.” And never say of anything, “Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,” Except [when adding], “If Allah wills.” And remember your Lord when you forget [it] and say, “Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct.” And they remained in their cave for three hundred years and exceeded by nine. Say, “Allah is most knowing of how long they remained. He has [knowledge of] the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth. How Seeing is He and how Hearing! They have not besides Him any protector, and He shares not His legislation with anyone.” And recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. There is no changer of His words, and never will you find in other than Him a refuge. [Q.18:9-27]
We saw earlier that the Assumption of Moses is a 1st-century Jewish apocryphal work and so this event was to take place after Eisa/Jesus (عليه السلام) and before 1,750 years from the death of Musa (عليه السلام) i.e., before the Prophet (ﷺ) and the only event related to seven people going to a cave is the event clarified by the Qur’an as the ‘sleepers of the cave’.
Indeed, Allah knows best.
References and footnotes:
[1] The Assumption of Moses also known as The Testament of Moses – Wikipedia page here.
[2] It is surprising that the enemies of the Qur’an don’t shout ‘The Testament of Moses’ as much as they shout ‘The Alexander Romances’ to claim that the Qur’an plagiarized from other sources. The Qur’an corrects other books and, in this case, this book points at the exact time of the Prophet (ﷺ).
[3] Islam came to correct what the previous ones got wrong. The event of the death of Moses is mentioned by the Prophet (ﷺ):
The Angel of Death was sent to Moses when he came to Moses, Moses slapped him on the eye. The angel returned to his Lord and said, “You have sent me to a Slave who does not want to die.” Allah said, “Return to him and tell him to put his hand on the back of an ox and for every hair that will come under it, he will be granted one year of life.” Moses said, “O Lord! What will happen after that?” Allah replied, “Then death.” Moses said, “Let it come now.” Moses then requested Allah to let him die close to the Sacred Land so much so that he would be at a distance of a stone’s throw from it.” Abu Huraira added, “Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, ‘If I were there, I would show you his grave below the red sand hill on the side of the road.” [Sahih al-Bukhari 3407]
[4] If the Jews didn’t know about the incident with clarity, how would they judge whether the Prophet (ﷺ) gave the right information or not? Answer to this query can be read here.
[5] Please bear in mind that the word translated as ‘angel’ can also be translated as Messenger.
[6] Some people have raised concerns about the passage and stated that it appears to be speaking of end times. True, it may sound like the end of times but if you read carefully, idols are broken, gentiles are punished and the stars, sun and the moon stop working, and Israelis celebrating all at the same time shows that population and humanity continues and for that to continue, sun and moon going off would be metaphors. These are either metaphors pointing towards the final law of God being revealed and implemented (a) or the scribes got their understanding wrong and mixed up things and presented the book this way.
(a) The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “My similitude in comparison with the other prophets is that of a man who has built a house completely and excellently except for a place of one brick. When the people enter the house, they admire its beauty and say: ‘But for the place of this brick (how splendid the house will be)!” [Sahih al-Bukhari 3534]
[7] Chapter 10 of The Assumption of Moses – Please note that converting 250 times to 1,750 years is not my work. This is found from the non-Muslim translators. Moreover, considering the Jewish calendar, it makes sense that Moses would give the date in weeks which is much more accurate.
Qur'anic misconceptions addressed 