There was once a small group of young people who lived among a people who worshipped other deities besides Allah. Around them, the people worshipped other deities besides Allah, but these young people had recognized a truth they no longer wanted to abandon: their Lord was the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and He alone deserved to be worshipped.
There was once a small group of young people who lived among a people who worshipped other deities besides Allah.
Around them, the people worshipped other deities besides Allah, but these young people had recognized a truth they no longer wanted to abandon: their Lord was the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and He alone deserved to be worshipped.
Allah had granted them faith and increased their guidance.
Guidance is the fact that Allah shows a person the path of truth and helps them follow it.
These young people had not simply arrived at a new idea that they could keep secret while continuing their lives as before. Their faith now placed them in opposition to the beliefs of their people, for they refused to worship what others worshipped besides Allah.
They firmly affirmed that their Lord was the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and that they would invoke no other deity besides Him.
But remaining faithful to this conviction was becoming difficult.
To Stay... or to Leave
The young people understood that they could no longer remain among their people without risking being turned away from their religion.
They did not possess the strength needed to confront their people, but they could still make a decision: to distance themselves.
So they left their own.
They were not leaving to seek wealth, discover new territories, or start a more comfortable life.
They were leaving to preserve their faith.
They left behind their people and sought a place where they could take shelter.
They finally found refuge in a cave.
A cave is a large natural cavity hollowed out in the rock, often inside a mountain.
They had done what they could humanly do: they had refused to abandon their belief, left the place where their religion was threatened, and found a hiding place.
But they did not know what was going to happen to them now.
They did not know how long they could stay there.
They did not know if their people would eventually find them.
They did not even know what the outcome of their flight would be.
So, in the heart of this uncertain situation, they turned to Allah.
The Invocation of the Cave
The young people invoked their Lord, asking Him to grant them mercy from Him and to prepare for them a good outcome in their affair.
They said, according to the approximate meaning of the verse:
"Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us a right course in our affair."
The mercy of Allah includes His kindness, His protection, and the blessings He grants to His servants.
As for the right course they asked for, it concerned the outcome of this trial: they had taken the means they could take, but they did not know what would come next.
They had left their people.
They had found the cave.
They had invoked Allah.
Now, they entrusted to Him what they could not control.
And Allah was going to answer their invocation in a way that none of them could have foreseen.
For in that cave where they had come to seek a few moments of protection...
something extraordinary was about to happen.
To be continued...
