The Cave

Verse 46 mentions "the good deeds that last forever.

" According to scholars, this means all good deeds and acts of worship that benefit us on Judgment Day and lead us to eternal life in Jannah, including

prayers, charity, fasting, and dhikr (remembrance of Allah) such as: 'SubhanAllah' (Glory be to Allah), 'Alhamdulillah' (Praise be to Allah), and 'Allahu Akbar' (Allah is the

Greatest).

{Imam Ibn Kathir & Imam Al-Qurtubi}

Once upon a time, there was an Imam who lived in a village by the ocean.

One day, he went to the market to sell his horse.

Shortly after, a man came and said he would be blessed to buy the Imam's horse.

The Imam advised the man, "This horse is unique and highly trained.

To make it walk, you have to say, 'SubhanAllah.

' To make it run, you have to say, 'Alhamdulillah.

' And to make it stop, you have to say, 'Allahu Akbar.

'" The man paid the price and thanked the Imam for the wonderful advice.

Finally, when the horse was just one step away from the edge, the man remembered and shouted, 'Allahu Akbar!

' and the horse stopped.

The man took a deep breath, looked up towards the sky, and shouted, 'Alhamdulillah!

' The end.

In verses 54-57, Allah says that He has given every kind of lesson in the Quran, but people just keep arguing, using falsehood against the truth, even without

understanding it.

For example, they argued that:

• The Quran was magic.

• The Prophet (ﷺ) made the Quran up.

• Allah can't bring them back to life for judgment.

• Their gods will defend them if there is actually a Judgment Day.

Arguing to establish the truth is acceptable in Islam.

The Quran argues, for example, that Allah is our Creator and He alone deserves our worship, Muhammad (ﷺ) is His prophet, the Quran is a revelation from Him,

and Judgment Day is coming for sure.

The Prophet (ﷺ) and his companions also responded to people who came to argue about these beliefs.

However, arguing for no reason is not good, especially when it's done only to show off or win an argument, not to support the truth.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I guarantee: • A home inside Paradise for those who give up arguing even if they are right.

• A home in the middle of Paradise for those who avoid lying even if they are joking.

• A home in the highest rank of Paradise for those who have good manners.

" {Imam Abu Dawood}

There was a man who smoked all the time.

His wife tried every possible way to convince him to quit smoking, but he always refused.

She told him that he was wasting their savings and harming himself, but he didn't listen.

Eventually, she told him, "For every $10 you spend on cigarettes, I'm going to take $10 for myself from the savings.

" He argued, "Take $20, I don't care.

"

Khalid called his internet provider to complain about a payment increase.

He said he had subscribed to the unlimited data package for $100, but when he used more than 20 gigabytes, they charged him an extra $50.

He couldn't understand how his 'unlimited package' was 'limited.

' After arguing for 30 minutes, the internet company replied, "Yes, our unlimited package is actually limited, just like your name is Khalid ('the one who lives forever'),

but everyone knows you are going to die.

"

One day, Prophet Musa (A.

S.

) gave a powerful speech, then a man asked him, "Who is the most knowledgeable person on earth?

" Since Musa (A.

S.

) was a great prophet, he replied, "That would be me!

" Allah revealed to Musa (A.

S.

) that he should not have said that, and told him that there was a man who had special knowledge that Musa didn't have.

Musa (A.

S.

) was then commanded to travel to meet this man, named Al-Khidr, at a place between two bodies of water.

Musa (A.

S.

) asked how he could recognize that man, and Allah told him, "Take a (salted) fish with you and wherever you lose it, you will find him there.

"

Musa (A.

S.

) and his young assistant Yusha' walked for days until they reached the point between the two bodies of water and decided to get some rest.

Suddenly, the salted fish came back to life and jumped into the water, but Yusha' forgot to tell Musa (A.

S.

).

After they continued their travel, Musa (A.

S.

) asked for the fish and Yusha' told him that it was lost where they had rested.

Musa (A.

S.

) said, "This is the sign we were looking for.

" Then they walked back and found Al-Khidr.

Musa (A.

S.

) asked Al-Khidr if he could kindly follow him and learn from his special knowledge.

At first, Al-Khidr said, "You can't be patient enough with me.

" Musa (A.

S.

) promised to be patient and obedient.

But soon Musa (A.

S.

) protested: • When Al-Khidr made a hole in a ship after its owners had given them a free ride.

• When he killed an innocent boy.

• When he fixed the wall of an unkind people for free.

Before they went their separate ways, Al-Khidr explained to Musa (A.

S.

) why he had done all of these things.

The Prophet (ﷺ) commented on this story: "I wish my brother Musa (A.

S.

) had been more patient so Allah would tell us more about him and the man of knowledge.

" {Imam Al-Bukhari & Imam Muslim}

The next story is of a faithful king who travelled to the far east and far west, and is known as Zul-Qarnain ('the two horns/points of sunrise and

sunset').

Some people think that Zul-Qarnain was Alexander the Great, but this can't be true because Alexander the Great was an idol-worshipper.

Most likely, Zul-Qarnain was Abu Kuraib Al-Hamiri, a believing king from Yemen.

According to Imam Ibn Kathir, Allah blessed Zul-Qarnain with authority and resources, so he travelled long distances.

During his journey to the west, he was inspired to reward those who do good and punish those who do evil.

He did the same during his journey to the east.

In his third journey, he came across a group of people that had no protection from the sun.

He met a group of people who understood him only through sign language.

They asked him to build a barrier between the two mountains to protect them from the attacks of the people of Ya'juj and Ma'juj.

We don't know for sure where Ya'juj and Ma'juj are locked away.

This shouldn't be strange if we keep in mind that every now and then we come into contact with a new tribe (for example, in the Amazon Forest

and the Philippines) that was previously unknown.

At the end of time, Ya'juj and Ma'juj will be able to dig their way out of that barrier and cause a lot of trouble throughout the land

before they will eventually be destroyed.

Someone may ask, "If the Quran doesn't conflict with science, how come verse 86 says that the sun was setting in the mud?

" Here are a few tips to deal with these types of questions: • The Makkan idol-worshippers never used these verses to question the Quran because they understood

what they meant.

• The scholars of the Quran have already gone through these verses and explained them in detail, including Imam Ar-Razi and Imam Az-Zamakhshari.

• Today, some people who hate Islam try to find ways to attack the Quran, so they use these kinds of questions even though they can't read or

understand Arabic.

Now, the verse doesn't say that the sun was setting in the mud.

It says it appeared to Zul-Qarnain to be setting on a muddy spring.

In other words, this is what he saw, not what actually happened.

Similarly, we use the words 'sunrise' and 'sunset' even though the sun doesn't actually rise or set.

This is just what appears to our eyes, not what really happens.

In many places in the Quran, Allah tells us things from the perspective of people, even though He sees things differently.

For example: • In 27:7-8, when Musa (A.

S.

) saw the burning bush, he thought it was on fire, but it was actually shining with light.

• In 40:57, Allah says that creating the heavens and the earth would be far greater than re-creating humans, based on what people think.

But for Him, He creates everything with one word: 'kun,' 'Be!

' • In 22:17, Allah says that He will judge between the Muslims, Christians, Jews, and others on Judgment Day.

He uses the same titles that people use to describe themselves, even though the only faith acceptable to Him is Islam (3:19 and 3:85).