Ashab al-Kahf
Definition
Ashab al-kahf — the Companions of the Cave — are the young believers who fled religious persecution by a pagan king and took refuge in a cave, where Allah put them to sleep for 309 years. Ibn Kathir narrates their story as one of the most dramatic demonstrations of divine protection in the Quran: their eyes appeared open while they slept, the sun shifted to avoid shining directly on them, and a dog sat at the cave's entrance guarding them across three centuries. When they woke, they thought they had slept only a day or part of a day. Their story carries several layered lessons: the willingness to sacrifice everything for faith, Allah's ability to preserve those He chooses across any length of time, and the proof of resurrection embedded in every act of sleep and waking.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
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