Analysis of verses number 11 and 20 of Surah Kahf ( Surah 18) of the Holy Quran.

Analysis of verses number 11 and 20 of Surah Kahf( Surah 18) of the Holy Quran.

Surah 18, verse 11 says: “Then We sealed up their hearing in the Cave for a number of years.”

(from translation by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall – The Meaning of the Holy Quran, publisher Mentor Books).

We can question the number of years the seven sleepers along with their dog, Qitmir, slept in the cave. The Quran answers this as well!

From the scientific and medical standpoint, this sleep was a form of suspended animation and a test for mankind to believe in the Greatness of Allah and His Supreme Plan.

The Abjad System

Introduced now is the Abjad system in the Arabic language which is a system of letters with their equivalent value in numbers. An example is the name Muhammed, which in Arabic is spelled as Mim+Ha+Mim+Dhal. This is totalled as 92, because Mim is 40, Ha is 8 and Dhal is 4. This adds up to 40+8+40+4 and totals as 92.

Another example, a famous one, is Bismillah HirRahman NirRaheem, which means "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful." This equates to 786.

Based on the Abjad system( link here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abjad_numerals) which is as old as the Arabs themselves, we can rewrite verse 11 in mathematical terms based on the hint given by Allah, the last word being “......... years.”

So we total up 80+800+200+2+50+1+70+30+10+1+700+50+5+40+80+10+30+20+5+80+60+50+10+ 50+70+4+4 =2469.

We have a total of 2469 for the sleepers and their dog. Divide now this number by 7 persons and 1 dog and we get 2469/8 = 308.625. We use 8 as a divisor because there were 8 beings. This number is the number of years they slept as confirmed in the Quran in verse 26:

“And (it is said) they tarried in their Cave three hundred years and add nine.”

And 308.625 approximates to 309!

The Quran operates in the Islamic calendar mode and the days are 354.367 days per muslim year, unlike 365.2422 days for the solar calendar. The lunar system is more accurate because we only need to adjust 1 day for every 19 years and this in contrast to the solar which has to adjust by adding 1 day every 4 years and hence the month of February alternates with 28 or 29 days(leap year).

The discrepancy of 0.625

Now we come to this discrepancy or is there one ? In the number we got, 308.625, which has a decimal .625 hanging with a purpose. From this we can calculate the exact time the sleepers woke up!

This .625 is the fraction of the year passed by as they slept and the moment they woke up can be worked out here.

• 0.625x354.367 days, which is 221.479 days.
• 221.479 divided by 29.53 days(average lunar month in days) is 7 months and 0.5 of a month.
• 0.5 of a month equals 0.5x29.53 which is 14.765days.
• this means 14 days and some more time of .765 of a day.
• 0.765x24 hours = 18.36hours and we round this of to 18hours and 21 minutes.
• In a 24 hour clock this would read differently in the solar method, but in Islam the night begins first, so we have to account for 18 hours and 21 minutes from sunset to past sunrise.
• Assuming sunset and sunrise are about 10 to 14 hours apart(depending on the lattitude), we can safely say that average time is 12 hours between these 2 events.
• We assume again that maghrib (sunset ) is at 6 pm. Then we have at sunrise(6am) 12 hours passing by and 6 hours and 21 minutes left.

We come to the conclusion that the sleepers woke up at around 21 minutes past 12 noon in the daytime and being hungry( brunchtime?) immediately set to send someone to the market to buy food. This is confirmed in verse 20.

The Quran mentions one companion saying in verse 20:

“And in like manner We awakened them that they might question each other. A speaker from among them said: How long have ye tarried? They said we tarried a day or some part of a day, (Others) said: Your Lord best knoweth what ye have tarried. Now send one of you with this your silver coin unto the city, and let him see what food is purest there and bring you a supply thereof. Let him be courteous and let no man know of you.”

Also, if someone oversleeps, he would always ask upon waking up and realising that quite a substantial part of the day has passed, he would ask, “What time is it?”

Remember there were NO clocks in this period and time was told by reckoning from sun's altitude in the sky, from phases of the moon and the stars.

If you have stayed in the Arab lands, most markets open after sunrise and close by asr or before sunset.That is the hurry. There were NO ELECTRIC LIGHTS and markets operated in the light of the sun.This getting up in the morning is confirmed in the verses number 20.

Blessings be upon the great prophet of Islam,the unlettered one, as foretold in the scriptures, Muhammed Mustafa(peace be upon him) and upon his family and seed.

And as always, ALLAH KNOWS BEST! ALLAHU AKBAR!

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You can look forward to my next essay on “How Suspended Animation can be accomplished”, InshaAllah!