The objective behind an example is to make the concept easier for understanding, and is not meant for dispute. In surah Baqarah, the first example Allah ta’ala mentions is the mosquito and He ta’ala mentions the objection of those who hear this example, that why would Allah use a mosquito to strike a parable. Instead of understanding and taking a lesson, man argues concerning these ayaat. If there is one thing mankind is good at, it is arguing. Jidaal is not an ordinary debate but it is a severe argument none of the parties are willing to give up. Jidaal is an argument in which two parties try to overcome each other. In surah Kahf alone, we’ve covered more than one example of the life of this world and of the Qur’an.Įven though this is the case, Allah ta’ala says: He azza wa jal gave us many examples to explain the Deen so that we may comprehend it. We learn from this that Allah ta’ala, out of His complete Mercy, has set forth everything we need in the Qur’an. Allah ta’ala mentions parables, warnings, glad tidings to convey the message to mankind. Allah has presented different way, styles, and every kind of example that is necessary for them so that man can understand. Tasreef is used for winds, because winds come from all directions and come again and again. `Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Ibn `Abbas said about Ar-Raqim: “Ka`b used to say that it was the town.” Ibn Jurayj reported that Ibn `Abbas said, “Ar-Raqim is the mountain in which the cave was.” Sa`id bin Jubayr said, “Ar-Raqim is a tablet of stone on which they wrote the story of the people of the Cave, then they placed it at the entrance to the Cave.And certainly We have explained in this Quran every kind of example, and man is most of all given to contention. Ad-Dahhak said: “As for Al-Kahf, it is a cave in the valley, and Ar-Raqim is the name of the valley.” Mujahid said, “Ar-Raqim refers to their buildings.” Others said it refers to the valley in which their cave was. This was also said ﴿in another narration﴾ by `Atiyah Al-`Awfi and Qatadah. With regard to the word Ar-Raqim, Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas that it is a valley near Aylah. (Do you think that the people of Al-Kahf and Ar-Raqim were a wonder among Our signs) “What I have given to you of knowledge, the Sunnah and the Book is far better than the story of the people of Al-Kahf and Ar-Raqim.” Muhammad bin Ishaq said: “(It means) I have not shown My creatures a proof more amazing than the story of the people of the Al-Kahf and Ar-Raqim.” iAl-Kahf refers to a cave in a mountain, which is where the young men sought refuge. If you ever had pondered over the wonderful creation of the sun and the moon and the earth, you would never have expressed any doubt that such a thing was anything difficult for Allah. This question has been posed to expose the skeptical attitude of the disbelievers towards the “Sleepers of the Cave,” as if to say: Do you think that Allah, Who has created the heavens and the earth, does not have the power to keep a few persons in a state of sleep for a couple of hundred years and then to raise them up same as they were at the time of going to sleep. We are also of the opinion that by Arraqim is meant the inscription.Ĩ. (Please refer to Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946, Vol XVII, page 658). That is why the modern archaeologists do not believe that Petra and Rekem are one and the same place. But he has not considered the fact that Rekem, as mentioned in the Bible, belonged to the children of Benjamin and according to the Book of Joshua, the territory of this clan was situated to the west of river Jordan and the Dead Sea and that the ruins of Petra are situated to the south of Jordan. Then he identifies it with the ancient historical city of Petra. Abul Kalam Azad, in his commentary, Tarjmanul-Quran, has preferred the first meaning and opined that it is the same place which has been called Rekem in the Bible (Joshua, 18: 27). There are other commentators who take it to mean the inscription that had been set up at the cave as a memorial to the sleepers of the cave. Some companions and their followers opined that it was the name of that habitation where this event took place and that it was situated somewhere between Aylah and Palestine. There is a difference of opinion about the meaning of arraqim. The Arabic word Kahf literally means a vast cave.ħ. (18:9) Do you think that the people of the Cave and the Inscription were one of Our wondrous signs? Ħ.