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Day 25: Tafsir Part 20

SURAH KAHF AYAH 10

Description
This video discusses the 10th ayah of Surah Kahf.

Translation of the Ayah

When the young men turned in refuge toward the cave, then they said Our Master give us a Mercy from Your special
behalf and furnish for us (mold/transform) given our matter a correct course of action or a correct path.
This ayah captures the moment at which the dua took place and the fleeing of the people of the cave. And as they are in
their flight they are turning to Allah in dua.
Grammar of the Ayah

Means: when

Ibn Ashoor
o

Considered a regardless of what comes after it

He argues that Were they at the time when they turned to refuge, strange? This is another detail of

and thus this sentence is connected to the previous ayah. They are grammatically connected
o

Whenever you see , it also implies a right before it that isnt said, and that in this case is :
this is a strange explanation using so mention when the youth turned toward the cave

If this is the grammatical case, then it would be it would not be connected to the
previous ayah anymore and it is an expressive way of furthering what is strange about them.

Whichever explanation you take to explain any way you go grammatically the bottom line is that
Allah is drawing attention to the fact that their story was not the strangest of all of the ayaat of Allah.

Means: to turn in refuge

Aloosi argues that is of

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The word strange is being further by when they turned

i.e. Did you find it all that strange at the time that they turned? He is associating this idea with
the word strange.

Linguistic Analysis of

First meaning: - for things to come together

o

- joining someone; so the people of the cave will be one with the cave

- When birds are flocking and are on top of each other

Second meaning: To give someone refuge out of concern for them

o
o

Just like Nuh alayhi alsalams sun said he would go up high on a mountain to be protected from the
water
command form is take refuge!

Third meaning: - to return

Fourth meaning:
- show so-and-so mercy

Something that people turn to at any time of the night and day and they return to it over and over
o

A word that is found throughout the Quran

Surah Sajda verse 19:

The gardens of refuge and that youll find safety in people making it to Jannah and ask
to reassure themselves that they really are in safety and peace

Surah Aal-Imran verse 197:

On the opposite side it is also used to describe Jahannam and Hellfire
2 words here are used for sarcasm
o Some things they will enjoy in this life, then the place of refuge is Jahannam
but jahannam isnt a place of refuge

- And what a terrible - comes from the root word

mahd, which is a cradle, a mothers cradle

The other thing is that just like a mother holds her baby tight, Jahannam
will crush its victims tightly

Other verb form

o

Surah Duha verse 6:

Didnt Allah find you an orphan and give you shelter?

To give shelter out of love and to protect and to give you something to keep going back to

Those who provided shelter, took people in and aided

Surah Anfal verse 72:

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Surah Maarij verse 13:

On the Day of Judgment, his entire extended family that used to give him shelter and protect
him

Means: Youth

Has to do with freshness and newness; it is an age in life where you are renewed

the verb masdar is to actually reach the prime of your youth and life; to become a young man
o

a woman reached the prime of her youth

The age between a teenager and a full blown man late teens and twenties
A well rounded complete wholesome young man

If you say you mean a few young men

Saying means many young men

The early part and pleasant part of the day

generosity
o

a certain age and you start thinking about the world and you dont just think about yourself; cant be
self-absorbed teen age

Old Arabic expression: they competed with me in generosity and I outdid them

a legal ruling from a Faqih

used in Surah Yusuf when they asked him to interpret their dreams

o It is the ability to make sound judgment, a wise interpretation and analyze things properly
So they are young people that are worthy of being noticed and also their ability to make solid decisions
Used in the Quran in many places in many of the same contexts
o

Can also be used to mean a young servant when its a in Surah Yusuf twice

HADITH:

None of you should dare say my slave, , or , slave girl. All of you are slaves of Allah and all of
your women are slaves of Allah. However, a person should say my young boy, my young man, and not
use .

It is actually an honor that Allah swt uses the name 3abd.

This is also a warning to some elements of Arab and Pan-Arab culture where they use the word
3abd for black people. This is a big violation.

According to Naisapuri: Has the ability and sound judgment to take care of himself and doesnt depend on
his parents anymore

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Christian rhetoric was that these people of the cave were boys that were rebelling against their political
parents

Ibn Kathirs Thoughts on Youth and Change

Allah mentioned that they are young men and they are more willing to accept the truth and more susceptible to
be guided to the path than older men who refused and withered away in the false religion.
Thats why the majority of the people that responded to Allah and His Messenger, were young men.
As for the men of Quraish, the vast majority remained committed to their own religion and very few of them
changed.
Qurtubis Thoughts about Seclusion
Categorizes people in 3 categories if they are facing difficult times (fitnah) and they want to be in seclusion
o The strongest of those who can bear that lifestyle like the Prophet (pbuh) and the youth honored in the
Quran
Hes referring to the fact that when push came to shove even the Prophet (pbuh) had to be in a
cave for some time and he was mentally prepared to give everything up to be out there
completely relying on Allah swt.
o People who turned their homes into caves, and that became their place of seclusion
Like some of the Sahaba, when the murder of Uthman radiyaAllah anhu happened there was so
much fitnah and blame and rumors that some sahaba decided to stay home and didnt come out
until they died because they could not handle the ugliness outside.
o Someone in between the two (absolute seclusion) who can bear to be mixing with the people on the
streets but is nothing like that when he is on his own and in your solitude you hold yourself to a much
higher standard.
Then you have the people that are constantly socializing and have no time for themselves
Qurtubi praises category 3 and expects most Muslims to be engaged in society but also have to
find time for themselves
The Meanings of
( time stamp 35:00)

As a verb it is used when you take care of something or you are committed to something and you allow it to
flourish until it becomes comopletely mature
Fixing something and maintaing something
Someone who takes care of your decision and takes ccare of your matters and is responsible for it and is
responsible for the things that you do
Allah is The Rabb because He fixes the affairs of His creation

Rabb is not used for anyone other than Allah if it is not a .

and
are only for Allah.

But you can say , ( Yusuf talking about the minister).

- Godly someone who is conscious of their Rabb all the time

godly people, possibly the origin of Rabbi

someone took care of a village then they did ruboobiyya of it

I was rabb to someone means I was in charge of them

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actually means a land that keeps getting rained on and keeps getting taken care of and never


faces drought
o

Thats why clouds that bring rain are called

Used for Allah from within the meaning of Rabb

o The One Who grants favors
o The Maintainer
o The One Who ensures growth
o The One Who has compelte authority
o The One Who guides
o The One Gives in great abundance

The People of the cave turn to Allah and use this word to call upon Him.
The word Rabb is the essence of the Quran
What is the summary of the entire Quran?
o

Allah has many names but the name that is the center of our relationship with Him and defines our relationship
with Him is Rabb. Everything else furthers that relationship
o

Accept Allah as and accept yourself as

That means you are many things to Allah but the first and foremost you are .

o Yes youre created but that is not the center of the relationship. Thats one of the facets of it.
These young men of the cave have accepted Allah as their Rabb (not just His existence). But they accepted that
He is the One that gives them everything and the one that provides them. Theyve internalized something about
this concept that we have a hard time internalizing

- Has to do with softness, compassion, love or connection

his heart was soft towards someone

It is a kind of softness or compassion you have towards someone that makes you want to do things for someone
Rahma versus ni3ma rahma is an act of love and mercy that is given to the one who needs it. Ni3ma is not
necessarily given to someone who needs it
Rahm closeness of a relationship and is based on the hadith of the Prophet (pbuh)

.
o

That when Allah created the womb of the mother ( )He said to it, I am The Rahman and you are
the rahim (womb). I carved your name out from My Name. And whoever kept your bond, I will keep
bonded with him. Meaning whoever respects the relationships tied by the womb (siblings, father, and
mother) and honors them I will keep him connected. And whoever cuts you I will make him completely
severed [Narrated by Tirmidhi as Sahih and Authentic].
Allah is comparing His name Al-Rahman to the name of the womnb
The closest picture we will get to Allahs mercy is inside the womb of a mother
Inside the womb, the child is being protected from all sides, its entire world is enveloped
inside the love and care of this mother.
The child isnt even aware of how much the mother loves him.
The child will get consciousness eventually when they grow up and reciprocate the love
The first thing the child knows is needs. And the mother hasnt even seen this child but
shes already in love with the child.

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And the child has done nothing for the mother yet. But everyday goes by and the child
still demands more and more from the mother and the mother has to go through more
and more pain. She is constantly increasing in her sacrifice and everytime that increases
she increases in her love for the child.
Allah is doing and doing and doing and we are like these infant babies that dont even
acknowledge and He does even more and more.
All the needs of this child are being taken care of by the mother. There is not a thing
that the rahim (womb) doesnt cover. His housing, cleansing, feeding, protection. The
childs universe is the rahim. Our universe is Al-Rahman. We are enveloped in the
Rahma of Allah.
We cannot compare Allah to a mother and a child to a slave
But we can compare a relationship to a relationship and there we might find some
paralells
Does necessarily mean the elements of the relationship are being compared

Rahman something that is descending immediately

Rahma is something Allah gives at the right moment right then and there for a specific situation and need
other than other instances. Meaning Allahs mercy cannot be compared to each other at the different times that
it comes down. There is no generic mercy.
o Allah showers His mercy individually per persons need, per occasion, per instance, per day, per
moment.

Our Master, Our Rabb gives us from Your special behalf a Rahma
Look at how they combined two elements: on ethe one hand they are looking to solve their immediate problem

and on the other hand they are turning to Allah also (

) and the next part (

) . Theyre being spiritual and pragmatic at the same time

Using the word Rabb for Allah in the dua they are showing etiquette, love, humility and emotional attachment
to Allah.

Al-Shinqeeti about

Give us mercy from You. Rahma in this case includes provision, guidance and protection.
Provision because theyre heading to a cave and there wont be anything to eat
Guidance because they need to stay strong and steadfast on their deen
Protection because they are going into an unsafe territory and from what theyre running away
from the torture of their nation
Also them asking for forgiveness
Ibn Ashoor
o

The
in this ayah indicates that the moment they turned to the cave to seek refuge they started off by
pleading with Allah

is used for something immediate

They asked Allah that He would give them a special Rahma from within His behalf and that is an
expression that combines the good of this world and the next

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Theyre asking Allah to shower them with favor using His Great Rahma which is in accordance
with His Generosity in response to following the very deen that He commanded to be followed
i.e. Oh Allah you are making us follow your deen and you are the only one that can pay
us for following your deen. The job is great so the benefits should be awesome.

The addition of the words

actually point to this reality that this is something special and the
word is in the meaning of a mercy that originates only from You.

Al Raazi

Saying this also means they are denying the accusation that they are Christian because
Christians believe that mercy is from Jesus and that God is Wrathful

Something that He possesses and something that can only be attributed to Him. This is far more eloquent as
opposed to them saying just give us rahma because the fact of the matter is all of creation is dependent on the
rahma of Allah. But they asked for a wholesome and special act of rahma at the very time where the only
expectation would be its opposite. They are rushing towards death and they are asking Allah for rahma
o They intended by this prayer that they should stay safe in their faith and be able to hold on to it despite
the terrible challenge ahead and so that they dont come into contact with different kinds of pain and
toil because of them being away from civilization and that they dont get put in a position where the
enemies of deen get to publically humiliate them and if that were to happen then they would become a
fitnah and a reason for others to remain kaafir and disbelieving.
Saying

here illustrates the greatness of that incredible mercy and its also befitting the favor of Allah
and the vastness of His generosity.
o i.e. when they say that they know that Allahs vaults are vast and enormous

Optimism is important
These guys in the prime of their youth are walking away from everything they know and everything they used to
do to save their lives. How long did they expect to survive in the cave?
o But as they are walking they are asking Allah not just to survive but to open His special vaults of Rahma
for them.
o Theyre walking away from a king but they know theyre walking towards a better King
o It doesnt matter what resources youre walking towards or what difficulty youre going through but you
have no doubt at all that the vast treasures are open. Its just a matter of asking!
o They made one dua and it lasted them longer than a kingdom (300 years almost). Allah is still applying
their dua in dunya because of that one dua
o Optimism is key. Dont ever underestimate the power of dua, what it can do for you and how it can
change things around you.

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