The Cave
The story of men protected by sleeping in a cave is taken from a Jewish legend, according to Muhammad Asad, though was understood by the earliest Islamic scholars as a Christian legend.
| “ | As already mentioned, the majority of the classical commentators rely on this Christian legend in their endeavour to interpret the Qur'anic reference (in verses 9-26) to the Men of the Cave. It seems, however, that the Christian formulation of this theme is a later development of a much older oral tradition -a tradition which, in fact, goes back to pre-Christian, Jewish sources. This is evident from several well-authenticated ahddrth (mentioned by all the classical commentators), according to which it was the rabbis (ahbdr) of Medina who induced the Meccan opponents of Muhammad to "test his veracity" by asking him to explain, among other problems, the story of the Men of the Cave. Referring to these ahddrth, Ibn Kathir remarks in his commentary on verse 13 of this surah: "It has been said that they were followers of Jesus the son of Mary, but God knows it better: it is obvious that they lived much earlier than the Christian period-for, had they been Christians, why should the rabbis have been intent on preserving their story . . . ? | ” |
Read more about this topic: Legends And The Quran
Famous quotes containing the word cave:
“If the sea were ink
For the words of my Lord,
the sea would be spent before the Words of my Lord are spent.”
—Qur’An. The Cave 18:109, ed. Arthur J. Arberry (1955)
“We are not cave dwellers anymore, we live in the age of technology. When someone needs a car, he does not need to build it. He can buy it. When someone needs a murder, he himself does not need to kill. He can order it.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)