6 Facts about Ashab-e-Kahf most of the people don’t know

The Ashab-e-Kahf are a small group of pious youngsters who were looking for refuge in order to escape a Pagan King and his tyranny. They managed to hide in a cave. Almighty Allah allowed them to sleep in the cave for around 300 years. The entire story has been mentioned in the Holy Quran in the Surah Kahf. Recommended: 4 Beautiful stories mentioned in the Surah Kahf

The exact location of the cave is a suburb of Abu Alanda in Amman. Although the entire Quran is amazing everyone should read 5 Lessons from Surah Al-Kahf for every Muslim and Non-Muslim. Here we present, 6 Facts about Ashab-e-Kahf most of the people don’t know[irp]

1-Back in 250 AD, there had been a Roman King by the name of Decius or Daqyanoos who used to hold an annual meeting which had been solely dedicated to the worship of Idols. Several people used to attend this meeting and be dressed in their best clothes.

However, one of the youngsters amongst the visitors believed in the oneness of Almighty Allah as well as the teachings of Prophet Isa (Jesus) (peace be upon him) while shunning the pagan practices. He openly rebelled against the pagan practices in the society. He gathered one youngster after another who shared his belief.

2-When the King came to know about this small rebellion he grew angry and ordered for all of the rebels to be killed. In order to hold on to their faith, the youngsters fled and hid. On their escape path, they came across a young farmer and his dog. They gave the farmer Da’wah and he too accepted and decided to join them.

They eventually made their way to a cave in which they prayed to Almighty Allah for ease. They then decided to rest there for a little time and left the dog named Qitmir close to the entrance as a guard. The Almighty made them and the dog sleep for a period of 300 years.

 

3-The Holy Quran states that the total period of time that the youth had spent in the cave was around 300 years. During these three centuries, the calendar of their people had been changed from a solar one to a lunar one, and hence their period of sleep extended to exactly 309 years.

4-When the group woke up, they did not know how long they had been sleeping for and thought it had only been a few hours. They sent one of them to buy some food, however, the shopkeeper was shocked to see such old currency and hence the reality of time caught up with the group.

5-The Ruling King Tandoosees had been a believer and came on foot to meet the group and seek their blessing. When the men and the dog died, they were buried in the cave where their bones can still be seen today.

6-To the left of the entrance of this particular cave is also an extremely ancient olive tree. At one period in time a small church had also been built atop the cave, however, it was later converted into a mosque.

Source: Islamic Landmarks