Summary of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli’s Tafsir Class 87/12/12 (18:22-24)

Ayatollah Javadi Amoli

قُل رَّبِّي أَعْلَمُ بِعِدَّتِهِم مَّا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ فَلَا تُمَارِ فِيهِمْ إِلَّا مِرَاء ظَاهِرًا وَلَا تَسْتَفْتِ فِيهِم مِّنْهُمْ أَحَدًا

وَلَا تَقُولَنَّ لِشَيْءٍ إِنِّي فَاعِلٌ ذَلِكَ غَدًا

إِلَّا أَن يَشَاء اللَّهُ وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ إِذَا نَسِيتَ وَقُلْ عَسَى أَن يَهْدِيَنِ رَبِّي لِأَقْرَبَ مِنْ هَذَا رَشَدًا

Say thou: “My Lord knoweth best their number; It is but few that know their (real case).” Enter not, therefore, into controversies concerning them, except on a matter that is clear, nor consult any of them about (the affair of) the Sleepers. Nor say of anything, “I shall be sure to do so and so tomorrow.” Without adding, “So please Allah!” and call thy Lord to mind when thou forgettest, and say, “I hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer (even) than this to the right road.”[1]

The number of the companions of the cave is hidden knowledge; not clear. Any mention of it is mere conjecture. The only people who know are:

1. Allah
2. People who Allah informs – the prophets and imams
3. People who the prophets and imams inform, to whatever extent they were informed. For instance, Ibn ‘Abbas claims that he was taught the number of the companions of the cave.

In these verses there are 6 commands:

1. “Say thou: “My Lord knoweth best their number.” Here we are commanded to tell people that Allah knows the secrets of the heavens and the earth; that Allah knows all things.

2. “Enter not, therefore, into controversies concerning them, except on a matter that is clear.” Here it is unclear what the number of the companions of the cave is so we are ordered not to debate about this number. We should not debate about things which are not clear.

3. “nor consult any of them about (the affair of) the Sleepers.” We should not consult with anyone about their numbers either because everyone is ignorant of this fact. For instance, if one wants to consult with the Christians about their number it must be said that Christians are not prophets, they are not infallible, and their scripture is distorted. They are ignorant and we should not go after knowledge from an ignorant person.

4. “Nor say of anything, “I shall be sure to do so and so tomorrow.” Without adding, “So please Allah!” A story is mentioned about this part of the verse which is: A group of people of the scripture came to the Prophet (s) and asked him about a few subjects. They asked about the people of the cave, dhul-Qarnayn, and the soul. The answer to the question about the soul was given in Surah Isra’ while the answer to the other two question is given in this chapter. Some people narrated that when the Prophet (s) heard these questions he said that he would give the answer on the following day – without saying God-willing. It is very far-fetched that this happened, but it is said that because he did not say God-willing he was punished and did not receive revelation for forty days. Proving the validity of such a story is difficult. The Prophet (s) has duties just like everyone else; he must perform the obligatory actions and stay away from what is forbidden. Recommended and disliked actions are the same. The punishment of not receiving revelation for forty days is not understood from the verse and seems unlikely given the Prophet’s (s) sunnah. History shows that the Prophet (s) was spiritually raised from childhood when he would only suckle from one of Halimah’s breasts because he did not want to take the right away from his breastfeeding brother.

The principle mentioned in this command is something which spiritually trains the spirit of monotheism in man – no matter if the task that he wants to perform is small or large. The actions of a person whose existence is dependant on Allah is definitely dependant on Allah as well. If a person states that he will perform such and such task without considering Allah’s will then he is claiming independence; he is standing up to Allah. Now, stating God-willing does not have to be with words, if it is in one’s heart it is enough.

Under this section of the verse a theological discussion is raised. There are three main theological schools of thought:

1. Those who believe in predestination
2. Those who believe in free will
3. Those who believe in a matter in between these two (as Imam Ja’far Sadiq beautifully put). There is a tradition which states that the space between predestination and free will is more expansive than the space between the heavens and the earth.

But, here a fourth school of thought arises which is called tawhid af’ali (You did not throw if you threw). This school is saying that Allah’s will is what happens – His will is guiding and giving sustenance to our will.

5. “ and call thy Lord to mind when thou forgettest.” It is recommended to say God-willing out loud, but if one remembers it is enough because the forgetfulness as been lifted with remembrance.

6. “and say, “I hope that my Lord will guide me ever closer (even) than this to the right road.” Allah taught us about the companions of the cave – people who lived in a desert centuries ago. We ask him to be enlightened more and more.

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[1] Quran 18: 22-24

Summary of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli’s Tafsir Class 87/11/23

Ayatollah Javadi Amoli

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

وَكَذَلِكَ أَعْثَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَأَنَّ السَّاعَةَ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَا إِذْ يَتَنَازَعُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَمْرَهُمْ فَقَالُوا ابْنُوا عَلَيْهِم بُنْيَانًا رَّبُّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ قَالَ الَّذِينَ غَلَبُوا عَلَى أَمْرِهِمْ لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيْهِم مَّسْجِدًا ﴿21﴾

سَيَقُولُونَ ثَلَاثَةٌ رَّابِعُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ خَمْسَةٌ سَادِسُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ رَجْمًا بِالْغَيْبِ وَيَقُولُونَ سَبْعَةٌ وَثَامِنُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ قُل رَّبِّي أَعْلَمُ بِعِدَّتِهِم مَّا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ فَلَا تُمَارِ فِيهِمْ إِلَّا مِرَاء ظَاهِرًا وَلَا تَسْتَفْتِ فِيهِم مِّنْهُمْ أَحَدًا ﴿22﴾

So it was that We let them come upon them, that they might know that God’s promise is true, and that there is no doubt in the Hour. As they were disputing among themselves about their matter, they said, ‘Build a building over them. Their Lord knows them best.’ Those who had the say in their matter said, ‘We will set up a place of worship over them.’ [21] They will say, ‘[They are] three; their dog is the fourth of them. They will say, ‘[They are] five, their dog is the sixth of them,’ taking a shot at the invisible. They will say, ‘[They are] seven, their dog is the eighth of them.’ Say, ‘My Lord knows best their number, and none knows them except a few.’ So do not dispute concerning them, except for a seeming dispute, and do not question about them any of them. [22][1]

The Story of the Companions of the Cave (Ashab al-Kahf) is a famous story all over the world; in Asia, Europe, and Africa. There has been much research done in this regard. Many caves were looked into. This story was mentioned in the Bible and it is famous amongst the Christians.

The Quran mentions the important matters of this story. For instance, it does not matter whether they were 6 or 7 people. It does not matter if their numbers were even or odd; but it is interesting that all of the possibilities that are mentioned are odd numbers: three, five, or seven.

The numbers are not important; what is important is that a few people slept for centuries and then Allah woke them up.

It is not contradictory that it is said whoever saw them ran away with terror and that Allah wanted to keep them hidden. People thought they were sleeping (they would move from side to side). This is one of the miracles given to the companions of the cave because Allah could have done this without moving them from side to side.

Some people ask concerning their numbers. People are divided into two groups here: one group gives a number and another group says that Allah knows best. This is the truthful answer.

One another note, the Quran is the word of Allah and has been researched extensively by Muslims. They want to know every single detail of this book. People have researched and found out how many words, letters, alifs, waws, vowel marks, etc are in the Quran – even before modern technology was at their disposal. The late Fayd mentions this information in his book al-Wafi, which was written 700 years ago.

There are two opinions about the middle letter of the Quran. The famous opinion is that it is in the phrase ‘وَلَا تَسْتَفْتِ’. Apparently, the ta’ is the middle letter. There is another opinion by Ibn ‘Atiyah which is different.

There is a grammatical point in these verses as well. The و in front of ثَامِنُهُم. Is there a reason why this و is mentioned there? Does it have something to do with the number eight?

There is no such thing as a و of the number eight in Arabic syntax, but there is a point to be mentioned about it. This و is mentioned before the number eight in a number of verses. Following are a few examples:

التَّائِبُونَ الْعَابِدُونَ الْحَامِدُونَ السَّائِحُونَ الرَّاكِعُونَ السَّاجِدونَ الآمِرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّاهُونَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَالْحَافِظُونَ لِحُدُودِ اللّهِ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿112﴾

[The faithful are] penitent, devout, celebrators of God’s praise, wayfarers, who bow[and] prostrate [in prayer],bid what is right and forbid what is wrong, and keep God’s bounds—and give good news to the faithful. [112][2]

Here, the و that is mentioned before the النَّاهُونَ is mentioned after the eighth category (penitent -1, devout -2, celebrators of God’s praise -3, wayfarers -4, who bow -5, prostrate -6, bid what is right -7, forbid what is wrong -8, keep God’s bounds -9). We cannot say here that, just as in English, the و is mentioned before the last member of a series because after it is mentioned ‘keep God’s bounds.’

Another example is:

سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا فَتَرَى الْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَى كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ ﴿7﴾

Which He disposed against them for seven grueling nights and eight days, so that you could have seen the people lying about therein prostrate as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees. [7][3]

Here, the و is mentioned before the number eight – ثَمَانِيَةَ.

This is worth looking into.

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[1] Quran, 18:21-22

[2] Quran, 9:112

[3] Quran, 69:7