Surah e Al Kahaf and Dajjal
By Dr Basheer Ahmed Khan
Garden Grove, CA
Nabi SA has commanded us to recite the first ten verses of Surah e Kahaf if we happen to see Dajjal (Tirmizi 2240). There are several other narrations about the virtues of recitation of Surah e Kahaf or a part of it on Fridays. Some of them say that one who reads it is kept safe from the evil of Dajjal while others say that it creates a Noor (light) for the one who reads it (Ma’ariful Qur’an Vol 5). The two statements are not contradictory but complementary.
Dajjal was not a name introduced by Nabi SA but it had been a familiar name with the people of the book earlier. He is known to the people of the book as Anti Christ. Nabi SA said that there was no prophet who had not warned his people about Dajjal and I also warn you about him (Tirmizi 2234 & 35).
First we should try to understand who this Dajjal is against whom Surah e Kahaf is a shield. There is no mention of Dajjal in the Qur’an, but it is not difficult to understand Dajjal if we contemplate about the world view which Qur’an offers.
When Allah swt created Adam as His vicegerent (Ch 2 V 30), Satan, who was created before Adam through the fire of Big Bang (Ch 15 V 27), refused to bow before Adam. Satan sought Allah’s permission to mislead Adam and his progeny till the dooms day. This was granted to Satan by Allah (Ch. 38 V 71-85). In these verses it was also stated that Satan can’t deceive those who are sincere in their faith. Dajjal therefore is the person who is totally taken over by Satan. Satan is sabotaging the mission of mankind as vicegerent of God through Dajjal.
As vicegerent the mission of mankind is to keep the peace and harmony on earth as it is seen in universe (Ch 55 V 1-9). As Satan tries to fail man in his duties as vicegerent through Dajjal, Surah e Kahaf guides mankind to be safe from it.
Satan being an early creation had seen the process of Creation and in some Ahadeeth is referred to as “Muallim Ul Malkooth”, the teacher of the angels. Therefore, Satan has a great capacity and knowledge to mislead human beings through its evil whispers (Ch 14 V 22) to which man easily succumbs. This was seen when Satan lured Adam to eat from the forbidden tree (Ch 7 V 20-21) and displace him from the comforts of paradise to the ignominy of life on earth. Ever since then several dajjals have come and gone from this world, but the final one about which Nabi SA has warned us in a long Hadith by Tirmizi is by far the most powerful. Nabi SA says about him: Dajjal will emerge at the end of time from area between Syria and Iraq and he will have his sway for forty days the first day of which will be as long as one year, the second day as long as one month, the third day as long as one week, and the remaining days will be like any other ordinary day. Those who do not obey him will lose all that they have, and those who do, will get plenty of everything. He will cut a young person into two pieces and join him again instantaneously to claim that he is god who has power over life and death. At this juncture Allah swt sends Isa AS (Jesus, Peace Be Upon Him) to save the faith of the faithful. He comes near the eastern gate of Damascus on two angels and will kill him and all his accomplices. Dajjal melts like salt in water when he sees Isa AS. (Tirmizi 2240). This shows how a fragile Dajjal has so much sway over us because of our faithlessness, and when he sees Jesus (PBUH), he melts like salt.
What Nabi SA has told in the Ahadeeth about Surah e Kahaf being the shield of safety from the evil designs of Dajjal is, that this Surah or a part of it, will give us light, guidance, and above all else that faith which is required to protect ourselves from dying in disbelief if we happen to live in his times. Many devout Muslims have been following this advice of Nabi SA faithfully as a ritual. But Qur’an is not a book of good luck charms but a book of common sense and rationale which was revealed to the last prophet to rationalize Islam, the universal religion of submission to One God Allah to Whom everything belongs.
If we look at the four stories mentioned in Surah e Kahaf each one of them inspires its reader uniquely to build a faith that will not be shaken by any drama which Allah Himself allows to occur by His divine will and absolute knowledge. Let us look into these stories and the lesson they have for us in building a faith that keeps us safe from the deceit of Dajjal. I am not giving the details of the Qur’anic text of the stories but giving only the verse numbers so as to keep this article short and I request the reader to read these stories from any good translation of Surah e Kahaf.
The Story of Man with Two Orchards:
The conversation between two friends, one of whom is rich having two orchards and the other poor, is a story that teaches us what should be our attitude to richness and poverty. The richness which normally brings a strange buoy that makes us lose sight of our ground and our reality is nicely stated in this story. So also the hope and optimism of the poor person is enticing (Ch 18 V32-49). The lesson that is given to the readers through this story teaches them about the reality of their lives, its evanescent pleasures and passing pains, its trials and tribulations, its end and its resurrection in a impressive way. If these lessons are understood and retained through weekly reading of this passage they will build a life which is full, inspiring, fulfilling, and unyielding to the effects of extraneous circumstances. This is the type of personality which can withstand the trial of Dajjal by the grace of Allah swt.
Moses and Man with Special Knowledge:
Nobody has all the knowledge except Allah swt. The knowledge which was given to Adam (Ch 2 V 31) is given to his offspring through genes as destined and desired by Allah in accordance with his need and the need of his time (Ch 2 V 255). When Moses (peace be upon him), learnt from Allah that there was a person who had a special knowledge bestowed upon him at a certain place Moses undertook a long journey to meet him (Ch 18 V 60-65). This story makes an interesting reading (Ch 18 V66-81). The gist of this story is that this person whose identity is not established and whose name is presumed to be Al Khizr performs some strange actions while in the company of Moses which are totally against the common sense teachings that were given to Moses as a Prophet. Therefore Moses protests them and Khizr parts with Moses giving his explanations for his strange actions.
The explanation given by scholars of exegesis to the actions of Khizr is that there are certain things which every one of us comes across in life that defy explanation. Nonetheless these actions are performed by individuals in accordance with the knowledge and decree of God (Tafheem Ul Quran). If a person references such action to the will of God and does not trouble himself too much to understand all the causes behind it, he will not be disturbed by the drama staged by Dajjal.
Shabbeer Ahmed Usmani RA has given a very detailed explanation of the differences between the prophetic knowledge and the knowledge of an ascetic like Khizr thus: Prophetic knowledge is (Tashreeh e Khawanin e Kuliath e Kauniya) the knowledge of principles that govern the universe, whereas the Knowledge of Khizr is (Israr e Juziayath e Kauniya) the knowledge of random secrets that dawn upon certain people. He further says that the knowledge of prophets is superior to the special knowledge given to people like Khizr because the former encompasses the life governing principles and the latter is restricted to individual life.
The fact that Moses PBUH is known and revered by billions of people for thousands of years, and the identity of Khizr is obscure as an individual in term of place and time, is a clear proof that however important this knowledge may be in isolated circumstance it is not essential for everyone to get it. Unfortunately everyone is wasting his time energies behind it and causing great harm to himself and the society.
The proper action for people like us is to live by the principles of prophetic knowledge which does not allow anybody to damage anybody's property (like damaging of the boat by Khizr), or kill anybody (like killing of a child by Khizr). If somebody does it, its onus is on him. As Musa AS was there as a traveler he could not do anything more than objecting to the things that were not in consonance with the knowledge that he was given. He therefore walks away from his company.
The lesson that we have in this story is that there are many things in life that we are not able to understand despite our effort. If they are wrong we should object to it and change it if possible or walk away from it as was done by Moses. But we should record our protest against it. If they are good (like building of the wall to protect the treasure for the growing up boys) they should be lauded. If we develop this attitude by repeatedly reading Surah e Kahaf we will be fulfilling the duty of establishing good and negating evil which is essential to defang the design of Dajjal against mankind.
The parting conversation between Musa AS and Khizr which is given in Tirmizi is really the last word which should temper the behavior of all those who draw swords to establish the supremacy of their limited knowledge. Pointing to a bird drinking from the confluence of seas where Musa As and Khizr met, Khizr says: My knowledge and your knowledge compared to the knowledge of Allah is what this bird has taken from this confluence of seas (Tirmizi 3149).
A contemplative study of this story surely has a very positive effect in discouraging us from becoming lesser Dajjals. Most of the time we stumble due to our pride in correctness of our biased opinions as knowledge.
Zul Qarnain, King with Two Horns:
The third story which is about a king named Zul Qarnain (a person with two horns) is another illustration about how Allah plans for the protection of His people. Some people in a far off land with little resources and knowledge and no good leadership were suffering repeated assault from the people of an adjacent nation. They were enduring it with no recourse to save themselves from it. Allah makes Zul Qarnain carry on his conquest to their place. Zul Qarnain erects a barrier that stops the intrusion of their neighbor into their land. This God-fearing King leaves the place telling the local people: I have done my effort to make this barrier to protect you, but this barrier will break when Allah makes his decision to take away its protection from you (Ch 18 V 84-101).
At this juncture it is better to understand the principles which govern Allah’s attitude towards His servants in the World View which Qur’an offers. Allah does not punish His faithful servants who are grateful to Him (Ch 4 V 147). Whatever calamity befalls a people, it is only because of their bad deeds even though Allah overlooks a lot of them (Ch 41 V 30). But when our evil deeds go unchecked then the whole universe will be engulfed by mischief so that we may wake up (Ch 30 V 41).
The lesson that we should draw from this story is that however hopeless our situation is as a people, if we are sincere to God then God will send His people to our rescue. This has been demonstrated in history again and again. It is unfortunate that instead of getting this important lesson from this story we divert our attention to who this king was, where did he leave, and in which period of history and who were the people who were saved by him. This discussion we do as if we have an unadulterated record of all history before us. Qur’an being the book of guidance should be used to draw proper lesson from it instead of nitpicking about details.
Story of The People of Cave:
Nabi SA was asked the question about people of the Cave, Khizr, and Rooh (Spirit) at the prompting by the Jews of Madinah who were familiar with these stories to test if Nabi SA was a real prophet. Some opine that the third question that was asked to Nabi SA was not about Rooh but about Zul Qarnain.
As with other stories we dwell more on details of the story than on its substance. Our focus is on when did the people of the cave live, when did this incident occur, where did it occur, who was the ruler when they went to sleep in the cave and who was the ruler when they woke up from their slumber, how many people were they and how long were they sleeping etc. The result is that the lesson which this story wants to give us is lost in the controversy about these questions.
The story of the people of the cave is: A few young people who loved their faith were coerced by the ruler to abandon their faith. In order to save their faith they left the city and went to live in a cave with their dog trusting that Allah Swt will find a way out for them. They prayed: O Allah grant us from Your mercy guidance to what is right for us in whatever You decide to do (Ch 18 V 10). Because of their trust in Him Allah swt puts them to sleep. After several years when they wake up they find that the atrocities which were taking place against faithful had ended with the death of the cruel king (Ch 18 V 9-22). In this story there is a hint about life after death also.
If we ponder about the gist of the story and the lesson it has for us, it is obvious that Allah swt helps those who put their trust in Him in mysterious ways. Many human beings of faith have experienced this mysterious help in their own lives. That is why Nabi SA in his Hadith has asked us to read it on every Friday to build this faith and this hope to be safe from the trial of Dajjal (Anti Christ).
The story of man with two orchards and his friend teaches about what our individual outlook should be to our personal travails in life to be safe from Dajjal. The story of Musa and Khizr teaches about the limitation of our knowledge and the way we should use it to determine the right from wrong to be safe from the trial of Dajjal. The story of Zul Qarnain teaches us that if we are worth the protection of Allah, then Allah will send His forces from long distances to work for our safety. And lastly, if nothing else works then our faith will, as is demonstrated in the story of People of Cave of Kahf.
Qur’an is a book of history, but it does not describe the details of the event of history, it only gives the lesson of it. Allah says that He explains things through examples and parables and the total knowledge of everything is with Him and Him alone (Ch.24 V35, Ch 18 V54). When we with our limited intelligence and our biased knowledge ignore the lessons which these examples and these parables try to teach us then we can only live a life of despair in our attempt to live a life of our greed and our desires.
As I write this article to give hope to the people of faith who are perplexed by the complexities of modern-day life, words of my gynecology professor, Dr Arundhatti Murthy reverberate in my ears. Once when a few students were talking between themselves during the course of her lecture she stopped and told those students: I know that you are intelligent and you can get all that I am teaching through any book. But you should also know that everybody has got something to give to others if they are willing to take it. If you have this faith that you will learn something from me in this class you will surely learn something. After all it is our faith which makes the stones our gods. Any time I remember this last sentence of hers in that discourse, I shudder for people of faith. While the others through faith have made god out of the stones we have made a stone of our Living God. There is no hope for people of faith till they regain their faith in the real God through real knowledge. Once we regain this real faith and then read Surah e Kahf with full consciousness of the lessons which its stories have to offer then surely it is a light for us to keep ourselves safe from the trials of Dajjal. The way to get this knowledge and this faith is to be in company of those who have this faith and this knowledge (Ch 18 V 28).
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