✨Reflections on Surah Al Kahf
All praise is due to Allah. He guided us to knowing His attributes. And He familiarized us with His greatness through His creation. And He clarified the path to Him through His Book and Shariah:
Al Anam (6) 153: And, [moreover], this is My path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow [other] ways, for you will be separated from His way. This has He instructed you that you may become righteous
He commanded His servants to obey Him and Worship Him alone. And he promised them His pleasure and His paradise. He sent His prophet ﷺ calling to the Tawhid (divine unity) and Iman (faith), bearing calling tidings of the mercy of Allah Almighty and warning about His torment:
Al Ahzab 45-46: (45) O Prophet, indeed We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner (46) And one who invites to Allah, by His permission, and an illuminating lamp.
So be conscious of Allah the Exalted and obey Him and sincerely perform your deeds for His sake. And establish the Tawhid (divine unity). For this is a condition of being saved from an eternal torment, and attaining mercy and gardens of paradise.
Al Bayyinah (98) 5: And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth, and to establish prayer and to give zakāh. And that is the correct religion.
Friday is a great day with Allah the Exalted. He designated many characteristics for it. And exclusively for it, he legislated worships having great rewards for those performing them sincerely for His sake and following the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ.
And from these characteristics is the virtue of reciting surah Al Kahf on Friday. It has been authenticated from the Prophet ﷺ that the person memorizing it is saved from Ad-Dajjal when he said:
Whoever commits to memory the first ten verses of the Surah Al-Kahf, will be protected from (the trial of) Ad-Dajjal.
And whoever looks to surah Al Kahf and reflects on its verses and meanings, knows the wisdom of repeating its recitation every Friday. Confirmation of the creed and a reminder of the Tawhid (divine unity). And it has various ways of confirming this; sometimes through a story and through good instruction at other times. And showing the success of those implementing Tawhid (divine unity) and the loss of the polytheists.
And this is evident in the opening of this great surah. As Allah mentioned the fate of the two parties after extolling His praise, Most Glorified and Exalted, for sending down the Quran which is the source of guidance and Tawhid:
Al Kahf (18) 1-5: (1) [All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has sent down upon His Servant [Muḥammad (ﷺ)] the Book and has not made therein any deviance. (2) [He has made it] straight, to warn of severe punishment from Him and to give good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a good reward [i.e., Paradise]. (3) In which they will remain forever (4) And to warn those who say, “Allah has taken a son”. (5) They have no knowledge of it, nor had their fathers. Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths; they speak not except a lie.
And the earth and all that is on it is at the service of His servants. And it is the place of afflictions and trials. And the arena for the struggle between truth and falsehood. And it is destined to destruction, ruin and annihilation, regardless to the extent that it is populated and built up. Because Allah has decreed that is it is the home of deeds and testing and not the home of recompense and permanence.
Al Kahf (18) 7-8: (7) Indeed, We have made that which is on the earth adornment for it that We may test them [as to] which of them is best in deed. (8) And indeed, We will make that which is upon it [into] a barren ground.
This great surah was opened with this very important determination for the aim of creating mankind, placing them on the earth and putting everything on it for their use. And it is for implementing the Tawhid (divine unity) of Allah Almighty and establishing His religion. So the stories mentioned in it indicate and confirm that aim.
And the first story is the story by which the surah was named. The story of the companions of the cave. And they were a group that Allah Almighty conferred favor on them Iman (faith) and they withdrew from their people who were polytheists. Fleeing with their Iman (faith) and safeguarding their Tawhid (divine unity). And even if it meant leaving their family and clan.
Al Kahf (18) 13-15: (13) Indeed, they were youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. (14) And We bound [i.e., 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. (15) These, our people, have taken besides Him deities. Why do they not bring for [worship of] them a clear evidence? And who is more unjust than one who invents about Allah a lie?”
And in the story of the companions of the cave is fleeing to safeguard Tawhid and fleeing from temptation and discord in religion. To the story of the owner of the two gardens. Whereby Tawhid is confirmed by ascribing the bounties to their Originator. And admitting His favor. And that mandates praising and being grateful to Him and dedicating the religion to Him alone:
Al Kahf (18) 37-39: (37) His companion said to him while he was conversing with him, “Have you disbelieved in He who created you from dust and then from a sperm-drop and then proportioned you [as] a man? (38) But as for me, He is Allah, my Lord, and I do not associate with my Lord anyone. (39) And why did you, when you entered your garden, not say, ‘What Allah willed [has occurred]; there is no power except in Allah’? Although you see me less than you in wealth and children,
And what turns people away from Tawhid and obedience of Allah and pushes them to shirk (associating others with Allah) and sins is mankind’s first enemy: Shaytan and his troops. And he is the one who set the precedence for disobeying the Lord. And he erred and perished. So whoever follows him from the sons of Adam will have the same destiny as the Shaytan.
And from a person’s foresight and wisdom is being cautious of him and his whispers and misguidance:
Al Kahf (18) 50: And [mention] when We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam,” and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was of the jinn and departed from [i.e., disobeyed] the command of his Lord. Then will you take him and his descendants as allies other than Me while they are enemies to you? Wretched it is for the wrongdoers as an exchange.
How much every Muslim is in need of reflecting on these verses and acting on them at this time which is rife with types of trials and error.
Oh Muslims: Just as this this surah began with the Tawhid of Allah Almighty and praising Him, it was likewise concluded with tawhid. And it is explained to its reader that this worldly life, with all that it contains, will disappear. And that on the Day of Resurrection the people will be held accountable for their deeds.
Al Kahf 99-100: (99) And We will leave them that day surging over each other, and [then] the Horn will be blown, and We will assemble them in [one] assembly. (100) And We will present Hell that Day to the disbelievers, on display –
And in its conclusion is a clarification of the fate of the two parties – those implementing Tawhid and the polytheists. As for the polytheists their fate will be as Allah Almighty mentioned:
Al Kahf (18) 103-106: (103) Say, [O Muḥammad], “Shall we [believers] inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds? (104) [They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work.” (105) Those are the ones who disbelieve in the verses of their Lord and in [their] meeting Him, so their deeds have become worthless; and We will not assign to them on the Day of Resurrection any weight [i.e., importance]. (106) That is their recompense – Hell – for what they denied and [because] they took My signs and My messengers in ridicule.
As for the state of the people of Iman (faith). They will dwell in the bliss of the gardens:
Al Kahf (18) 107-108: (107) Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds – they will have the Gardens of Paradise as a lodging, (108) Wherein they abide eternally. They will not desire from it any transfer.
And with this we know the greatness of this surah. And the wisdom of repeating it each Friday. So read it with reflection. And take heed of its lessons. And move your hearts through it and act upon what is in it.
May Allah Almighty bless us with remembering and taking heed. And favor us with righteous hearts and deeds. Verily He is All Hearing, Answering.
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