Study Piece - The Youth of the Cave

I've been watching tafseers by my favorite scholar Nouman Ali Khan. One in particular intrigued me, a lecture on Sura Al-Kahf. He explained that some suras give correction and direction on historical events like wars and jurisprudence. Sura Al-Kahf is different. There is a reason why we are urged to read it each Friday. This sura is so full of archetypal, symbolic and historical meaning you could spend your lifetime studying it and never know all there is to know.
Nouman presents a case for the Catholic history involving the sleepers in the cave. He sites the need to honor the legacy of what came before and take it further. He discusses the Jacobite Christians of Syriac and Arabia and their knowledge of the Youth of the cave. My Catholic background never mentioned this story, or at least I was never formally taught about it. My plan is to research this story and see how it relates to what the Qur'an has to say.
Apparently the Arabic Christians had festivals relating to the youth's story so it was considered auspicious and vitally important to them. The oldest historical record is not Syriac. It stems from the Greek theologian Stephen of Ephesus. There are also many murals in churches that depict the sleeping youths and sometimes their dog in a small space, sometimes on top of each other, sometimes with halos, sometimes not. The Catholic version describes the youth as martyrs. It also confirms the resurrection of body and soul together. Early Catholics began to treat the youth as saintly and capable of intercession. This idea is ironic because they were persecuted for making a religious and political stand against their polytheistic King by refusing to worship idols. My next task is to learn more about these youth. To be continued...

Comments

She Plays With Dolls

girl hugging baby doll by Sarah Rypma Aisha (ra) was noted to play with dolls. Aisha reported: I used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and my girlfriends would play with me. When the Messenger of Allah would enter, they would hide themselves but he would call them to join me and play with me. Source: Sahih Bukhari 5779 Aisha (ra) stands out as a model wife and is often noted as being Prophet Mohammed's (pbuh) favourite and therefore worthy of close study of the qualities that made her such. A popular fact about Aisha (ra) is that she played with dolls. The purpose of hadiths are to transmit the sunnah for the benefit of mankind down through the ages. “Whosoever followed the Messenger, has indeed followed Allah.” (Surah an-Nisa, 80) What can we learn from a hadith describing a young girl at play? Doll play is more than a fun pass-time for little girls. It has multiple developmental and psychological benefits. Pretending...

Remember Me

I still have a lot to learn. I am one of those people who has to learn things the hard way. Although I've attempted to extricate this difficulty from my life, it's a test for me and I keep trying to do my best to reconcile. I need black as much as I need white. Contrast never fails to show me what I need to know. Because of this tendency, I've longed for protection. By protection I mean assurance. I'd like to share something I've learned from a recent lecture based on the research of Dr. Amena Syed (clinical psychologist and neuroscientist). It has to do with the mind/heart connection. Nouman Ali Khan said “The heart and the brain help us make decisions, but the heart is in the driver seat”. The heart communicates to the body in four ways: Biochemical communication (heart hormones release into the blood stream affecting the body), Biophysical communication (through blood pressure and sound waves), Energetic communication (through electromagnetic...

Dignity and Social Reform: An Islamic Perspective

dig·ni·ty ˈdiɡnədē/ noun noun: dignity the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect a sense of pride in oneself; self-respect. Islah or Al-Islah (ألإصلاح ,إصلاح, al-ʾIṣlāḥ ) is an Arabic word usually translated as "reform", in the sense of "to improve, to better, or to put something into a better position." Humans are imbued with an inherent dignity. We have the responsibility to nurture the sense of self-respect inherited since the first man and woman walked the earth. The United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights state that recognition of the inherent dignity and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation for freedom, justice and peace in the world. For centuries moral and ethical codes were rooted in the fiber of civilization. Rules and standards of conduct like Chivalry, Victorian etiquette and 1950s post war manners give examples of codified moral conduct...

Bliss In Practice

Search This Blog