[18].Surah Al-Kahf [The Cave]: 64-65

 

Ayat 64. [Musa (PBUH)(Moses)] said: "That is what we have been seeking." So they went back retracing their footsteps.

Ayat 65. Then they found one of Our slaves, unto whom We had bestowed mercy from Us, and whom We had taught knowledge from Us.

[Tafseer] (He said) Moses (PBUH) said: (This is that which we have been seeking) as an indication from Allah to Khidr (they retraced their steps again) they went back, following their own footsteps. (Then found they) at the rock (one of Our slaves) i.e. Khidr, (unto whom We had given mercy from Us) He says: We favoured him with prophethood, (and had taught him knowledge from Our presence) the knowledge of future events.  

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH) delivered a Khutbah and said, "O people! Hajj (pilgrimage to the House of Allah) has been made incumbent upon you, so perform Hajj.'' A man inquired: "O Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH), is it prescribed every year?'' He [SAWW](PBUH) remained silent till the man repeated it thrice. Then he [SAWW](PBUH) said, "Had I replied in the affirmative, it would have surely become obligatory, and you would not have been able to fulfill it.'' Afterwards he said, "Do not ask me so long as I do not impose anything upon you, because those who were before you were destroyed on account of their frequent questioning and their disagreement with their Prophets. So when I order you to do something, do it as far as you can; and when I forbid you from doing anything, eschew it.''

[Muslim Book 07, Chapter 71, Hadith # 3095]. 

Lesson : This Hadith brings out the following points:

1. Hajj is compulsory once in a lifetime for those who have the means for it.

2. Unnecessary questioning is disliked.

3. Those who believe in Allah and His Prophet [SAWW](PBUH) are required to do what they are ordained and abstain from what they are forbidden. 

[18].Surah Al-Kahf [The Cave]: Ayat 62-63

 

Ayat 62. So when they had passed further on (beyond that fixed place), Musa (PBUH)(Moses) said to his boy-servant: "Bring us our morning meal; truly, we have suffered much fatigue in this, our journey."

Ayat 63. He said:"Do you remember when we betook ourselves to the rock? I indeed forgot the fish, none but Shaitan (Satan) made me forget to remember it. It took its course into the sea in a strange (way)!" 

[Tafseer] When they came to the Junction of the Seas, Moses forgot about the fish, and his attendant forgot to tell him of the fact that he had seen the fish escaping into the sea in a marvellous way. They passed on, but the stages now became heavier and heavier, and more fatiguing to Moses. So when our old knowledge is exhausted, and we come to the brink of new knowledge, we have a feeling of strangeness, heaviness, and difficulty, especially when we want to pass the new knowledge by and do not make it our own. Some refreshment even if it be in our old traditional way, is required to sustain us. But we must retrace our steps, and seek the accredited repository of the knowledge which is our quest. It is our business to seek him out. We shall not find him without effort. The attendant actually saw the fish swimming away in the sea, and yet "forgot" to tell his master. In his case the "forgetting" was more than forgetting. Inertia had made him refrain from telling the important news. In such matters inertia is almost as bad as active spite, the suggestion of Satan. So new knowledge or spiritual knowledge is not only passed by in ignorance, but sometimes by culpable negligence.

Hazrat Talhah bin Ubaidullah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: At the sight of the new moon (of the lunar month), the Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH) used to supplicate: "Allahumma ahillahu `alaina bil-amni wal-iman, was-salamati wal-Islam, Rabbi wa Rabbuk-Allah, Hilalu rushdin wa khairin (O Allah, let this moon appear on us with security and Iman; with safety and Islam. (O moon!) Your Rubb and mine is Allah. May this moon be bringing guidance and good).''

[At-Tirmidhi Hadith # 3451]. 

Lesson : After sighting the moon, one should recite the prayer which was recited by the Prophet [SAWW](PBUH). The prayer cited in the text of this Hadith is one of them.

[18].Surah Al-Kahf [The Cave]: Ayat 60-61

 

Ayat 60. And (remember) when Musa (PBUH)(Moses) said to his companion: "I will not give up (travelling) until I reach the junction of the two seas or (until) I spend years and years in travelling."

Ayat 61. But when they reached the junction of the two seas, they forgot their fish, and it took its way through the sea as in a tunnel.

[Tafseer] This episode in the story of Moses (PBUH) is meant to illustrate four points. (1) Moses (PBUH) was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Even so that wisdom did not comprehend everything, even as the whole stock of the knowledge of the present day, the sciences and the arts, and in literature, (if it could be supposed to be gathered in one individual), does not include all knowledge. Divine knowledge, as far as man is concerned, is unlimited. Even after Moses (PBUH) received his divine mission, his knowledge was not so perfect that it could not receive further additions. (2) Constant effort is necessary to keep our knowledge square with the march of time, and such effort Moses (PBUH) is shown to be making. (3) The mysterious man he meets, to whom radiation assigns the name of Khidr (literally, Green), is the type of that knowledge which is ever in contact with life as it is actually lived. (4) There are paradoxes in life: apparent loss may be real gain; apparent cruelty maybe real mercy; returning good for evil may really be justice and not generosity. Allah's wisdom transcends all human calculation. The most probable geographical location (if any is required in a story that is a parable) is where the two arms of the Red Sea join together, viz., the Gulf of 'Aqabah and the Gulf of Suez. They enclose the Sinai Peninsula , in which Moses (PBUH) and the Israelites spent many years in their wanderings. There is also authority for interpreting the two seas as the two great streams of knowledge, which were to meet in the persons of Moses(PBUH) and Khidr.  

Hazrat Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: The Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH) said, "There are no days during which the righteous action is so pleasing to Allah than these days (i.e., the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah).'' He was asked: "O Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH), not even Jihad in the Cause of Allah?'' He [SAWW](PBUH) replied, "Not even Jihad in the Cause of Allah, except in case one goes forth with his life and his property and does not return with either of it.'' [Al-Bukhari Book 02, Chapter 15, Hadith # 086]. 

Lesson : This Hadith brings out the following two points:

1. Righteous deeds during the first ten days of the month of Dhul-Hijjah are far better and more rewarding than righteous deeds done on other days of the year, because they are Hajj days in the sacred season of pilgrimage. Because of their excellence and importance, Allah (SWT) swore by them, thus: "By the Dawn; by the ten Nights...'' (89:1,2)

2. Jihad has great eminence in Islam.

[18].Surah Al-Kahf [The Cave]: Ayat 58-59

 

Ayat 58. And your Lord is Most Forgiving, Owner of Mercy. Were He to call them to account for what they have earned, then surely, He would have hastened their punishment. But they have their appointed time, beyond which they will find no escape.

Ayat 59. And these towns (population, 'Ad, Thamud, etc.) We destroyed when they did wrong. And We appointed a fixed time for their destruction.

[Tafseer] Min duni hi: should we take the pronoun to refer to "the appointed time", or to "your Lord," mentioned at the beginning of the verse? Most Commentators take the former view, and I have translated accordingly. But I agree with those who take the latter view, and the better translation would be: "But they have their appointed time, and except with Allah, they will find no refuge." That means that even during the period allowed them, when they are left to wander astray as they have rejected Allah's Grace, Allah's Mercy is open to them if they will repent and return; but nothing but Allah's Mercy can save them. The instances of exemplary Punishment in former times were also subject to this rule, that Allah gives plenty of rope to the wicked, in case they might turn, repent, and obtain His Mercy.  

Hazrat Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: When the Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH) and his Companions reached Al-Hijr, the dwellings of the Thamud people, he admonished his Companions (saying), "Do not pass by these people who are being tormented, without weeping, lest the punishment should befall you as it had befallen them.'' [Al-Bukhari Book 04, Chapter 55, Hadith # 564].

Another narration is: Ibn `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) said: When the Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH) passed near Al-Hijr, he said, "Do not enter without weeping, the dwellings of those who wronged themselves, lest the same chastisement should fall upon you as it had fallen upon them.'' Messenger of Allah (PBUH) then covered his head and sped up until he crossed the valley of the tormented people.

Lesson : as mentioned above in Surah Al-Kahf Ayat 59. "And these towns (population, 'Ad, Thamud, etc.) We destroyed when they did wrong" The Thamud were the people to whose guidance Allah sent Prophet Salih. They lived between Al-Madinah and Syria. In 10 A.H. when the Prophet [SAWW](PBUH) went to the Syrian border for the Tabuk expedition, he also passed through this ruined territory. This Hadith is related to the address which he gave to his Companions on the occasion. Here is an instruction that when we happen to pass through the territory of a nation destroyed in the past as a result of Divine wrath, we are advised to quicken one's pace. That is why we have been commanded to avoid the company of the corrupt and the wrongdoers, lest we meet their bad end, too. As the Qur'an says: "And incline not toward those who do wrong, lest the Fire should touch you.'' (11:113) May Allah save us from it!

[18].Surah Al-Kahf [The Cave]: Ayat 57

 

Ayat 57. And who does more wrong than he who is reminded of the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of his Lord, but turns away from them forgetting what (deeds) his hands have sent forth. Truly, We have set veils over their hearts lest they should understand this (the Qur'an), and in their ears, deafness. And if you call them to guidance, even then they will never be guided.

[Tafseer] Considering the power of sin, and how it gets hold of the hearts of men, and considering all the wrongs that men have done, it is the height of folly and injustice on their part to turn away from warnings which are given expressly for their good. But a stage of callousness is reached, when, by their own choice, they have rendered themselves impervious to Allah's Grace. At that stage a veil is put over their hearts and they are left alone for a time, that they may commune with themselves and perhaps repent and seek Allah's Mercy again. If they do not, it is their own loss.  

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah [SAWW](PBUH) said, "If anyone calls others to follow right guidance, his reward will be equivalent to those who follow him (in righteousness) without their reward being diminished in any respect, and if anyone invites others to follow error, the sin, will be equivalent to that of the people who follow him (in sinfulness) without their sins being diminished in any respect".

[Muslim Book 06, Chapter 34, Hadith # 6470]. 

Lesson : as mentioned above in Surah Al-Kahf Ayat 57. "And if you call them to guidance, even then they will never be guided" `Invitation' and `Call' stand to mean here that someone induces others to virtue or seduces to sin by means of his speech or action. We come to know from this Hadith that one who becomes a medium for either of them is given a reward or punishment respectively by Allah (SWT).