Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran: Difference between revisions

The author of the Qur'an seems to be unclear on a few details. He refuses to give an exact number of sleepers, instead giving a vague range of numbers and says that only Allah knows the right number. He is not specific on the time frame, offering a number of years but nothing definitive. He does not mention any names, fails to mention where these events took place, and does not state when this story happened. This evidence suggests that the author was only vaguely familiar with the story and may have heard it shortly before he recited it.

The purpose behind the Syrian story appears to be the affirmation of a bodily resurrection on the Day of Judgement.<ref>For instance, one of the youths states, "Believe us, for forsooth our Lord hath raised us tofore the day of the great resurrection. And to the end that thou believe firmly the resurrection of the dead people, verily we be raised as ye here see, and live." (The Seven Sleepers: par 4)</ref> While the Qur'anic story makes references to the Day of Judgement, it does not mention a resurrection. In fact, the story's stated purpose is to "warn those (also) who say, 'Allah hath begotten a son'"<ref>"''Further, that He may warn those (also) who say, "Allah hath begotten a son":''" - {{Quran|18|4}}</ref> (i.e. Trinitarian Christians). The mainstream Islamic position concerning the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is that it constitutes an act of "shirk" (the sin of practicing idolatry or polytheism) and makes one a "mushrik" (polytheist).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://islamqa.com/en/ref/12713|title= Is the trinity that the Christians believe in mentioned in Islam?|publisher= Islam Q&A|author= |series=Fatwa No. 12713|date= |archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fislamqa.com%2Fen%2Fref%2F12713&date=2013-12-06|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://islamqa.com/en/ref/67626|title= The difference between the mushrikeen and the kuffaar, and to which category do the Jews and Christians belong?|publisher= Islam Q&A|author= |series=Fatwa No. 67626|date= |archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fislamqa.com%2Fen%2Fref%2F67626&date=2013-12-06|deadurl=no}}</ref> So, the author of the Qur'an has taken a story written by Christians and reworked it into a polemic against mainstream Christianity.