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Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran: Difference between revisions
Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran (view source)
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[[File:Seven sleepers.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Folio from an illustrated Islamic manuscript depicting the Seven Sleepers and the evil emperor led by a [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Racism|dark-skinned Satan]]. Iran, Qazvin. 1550s.]] | [[File:Seven sleepers.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Folio from an illustrated Islamic manuscript depicting the Seven Sleepers and the evil emperor led by a [[Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Racism|dark-skinned Satan]]. Iran, Qazvin. 1550s.]] | ||
The [[Qur'an|Qur'anic]] story of the "Companions of the Cave" has traditionally been explained by the Islamic narrative as proof of [[Allah]]'s divine power whereby he miraculously caused 7 youths to fall asleep and awaken after more than 300 years. Yet comparison with the literary milieu of the Qur'an, 7th century Chrisian culture in the Middle East, reveals parallels to the 7 Sleepers of Ephesus, a Christian legend dating from the 5th century which tells the story of Christian youths being persecuted by the pagan Roman Emperor Decius in the 3rd century. The youths seek shelter in a cave, fall asleep for over 200 years, and venture out only to find that the Empire is now Christian. Their faith confirmed, the youths then die and are embraced by the Lord. Rather than a mere exhibition of god's power, the original story was a parable meant to emphasis the ability of Christian faith to overcome persecution, a celebration of the Christianization of the Roman Empire and an answer to heretics at the time of the story's composition who doubted the literal nature of the physical Resurrection. As the Qur'an does not preserve the entire story, but appears to merely refer to it, the [[tafsir|mufassirun]] of later generations misinterpreted the story, leaving out key components and failing to relay the underlying message of the original parable. | The [[Qur'an|Qur'anic]] story of the "Companions of the Cave" has traditionally been explained by the Islamic narrative as proof of [[Allah]]'s divine power whereby he miraculously caused 7 youths to fall asleep and awaken after more than 300 years. Yet comparison with the literary milieu of the Qur'an, 7th century Chrisian culture in the Middle East, reveals parallels to the 7 Sleepers of Ephesus, a Christian legend dating from the 5th century which tells the story of Christian youths being persecuted by the pagan Roman Emperor Decius in the 3rd century. The youths seek shelter in a cave, fall asleep for over 200 years, and venture out only to find that the Empire is now Christian. Their faith confirmed, the youths then die and are embraced by the Lord. Rather than a mere exhibition of god's power, the original story was a parable meant to emphasis the ability of Christian faith to overcome persecution, a celebration of the Christianization of the Roman Empire and an answer to heretics at the time of the story's composition who doubted the literal nature of the physical Resurrection. As the Qur'an does not preserve the entire story, but appears to merely refer to it, the [[tafsir|mufassirun]] of later generations misinterpreted the story, leaving out key components and failing to relay the underlying message of the original parable. In 2023, academic scholar Thomas Eich published his finding that the specific version of the tale found in the Qur'an overlaps significantly with the version taught by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus (d. 690 CE), and which can be situated in a 7th century Palestinian context.<ref name="Eich2023">Eich, Thomas. [https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/islam-2023-0003/html Muḥammad und Cædmon und die Siebenschläferlegende. Zur Verbindung zwischen Palästina und Canterbury im 7. Jahrhundert] (abstract in English), Der Islam, vol. 100, no. 1, 2023, pp. 7-39. https://doi.org/10.1515/islam-2023-0003</ref> | ||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
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===Christian and Jewish Legends in the Qur'an=== | ===Christian and Jewish Legends in the Qur'an=== | ||
It is well known that the Qur'an contains many stories that were first told in Jewish and Christian communities around the Middle East. This includes [[ | It is well known that the Qur'an contains many stories that were first told in Jewish and Christian communities around the Middle East. This includes [[Parallels Between the Qur'an and Late Antique Judeo-Christian Literature|apocryphal and legendary tales]] that originated in Syria between the 2<sup>nd</sup> and early 7<sup>th</sup> century CE. One of the most widespread of these stories was the legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus. Popular in both Europe and the Middle East during medieval times, this story was translated into Latin and found its way into many Christian works of that era. It also became very prominent in the Muslim world because of its inclusion in the Qur'an. After the Renaissance and Enlightenment of the 16<sup>th</sup> century, this story fell out of favor and was largely dismissed as mythical. Since the tale is not found in the Bible, it was also rejected by the majority of the world's Christian churches without any theological consequence. The feast day for the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus is no longer observed by the Roman Catholic Church (it is now referred to within the church as a "purely imaginative romance"), and the story today is virtually unknown among the Protestant churches. | ||
===Oral Tradition=== | ===Oral Tradition=== | ||
While it is impossible to know the exact details of how the author(s) of the [[Qur'an]] came to know the story of the Seven Sleepers, we do know that according to the Islamic narrative itself [[Muhammad]] had ample opportunities to hear it during his 62 year life. According to the traditional sources, Muhammad traveled to Syria while he was a caravan trader and he may have heard the story there. Visitors to Mecca would have included Syrian Christians, who would have known this popular story as well. Muhammad's followers also could have related this story after contact with Christian communities near the Mediterranean and in Arabia. In short, there were numerous ways in which this story could have be told to Muhammad during his lifetime. | While it is impossible to know the exact details of how the author(s) of the [[Qur'an]] came to know the story of the Seven Sleepers, we do know that according to the Islamic narrative itself [[Muhammad]] had ample opportunities to hear it during his 62 year life. According to the traditional sources, Muhammad traveled to Syria while he was a caravan trader and he may have heard the story there. Visitors to Mecca would have included Syrian Christians, who would have known this popular story as well. Muhammad's followers also could have related this story after contact with Christian communities near the Mediterranean and in Arabia. In short, there were numerous ways in which this story could have be told to Muhammad during his lifetime. | ||
== | ===Significant overlap with 7th century Greek-Palestinian version=== | ||
As mentioned above, in 2023 academic scholar Thomas Eich identified a written version of Palestinian origin which has significant overlaps with the Quranic tale. In the abstract of his article he writes: | |||
{{Quote|Part of the abstract from journal article by Thomas Eich (2023)<ref name="Eich2023" />|It is argued that the archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus (d. 690), played a key role in this transfer. His biography puts into focus the transposition of Greek-Palestinian and -Egyptian monk congregations including relics and texts to Italy and especially Rome during the seventh century. The relevance of the surviving texts from the school of Canterbury for the study of seventh-century Middle Eastern history is then further illustrated with a version of the so-called legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesos recorded in Theodore’s biblical exegesis. Theodore’s specific version of that legend overlaps significantly with the version contained in the Qurʾān in Sura 18 (al-Kahf, “The cave”). It has always been clear that Sūrat al-Kahf refers to the Christian Seven Sleepers legend. However, since all other hitherto known versions of the story differed significantly from the Qurʾān version, the connection between the versions was usually imagined within a model of “oral transmission.” The version recorded from Theodore’s seventh century teaching sessions now allow us to draw a more nuanced picture in which this specific version of the legend can be situated in seventh-century Palestine.}} | |||
==Parallels with the Syriac version of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus== | |||
Prior to the identification of the Palestinian version, a number of clear parallels between the Qur'anic story and the legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus had already been identified, though also differences. | |||
The two narratives clearly share many features which would indicate that they are in fact one and the same. They are virtually identical in the events they describe and both contain striking similarities in key details. Both story mention youths, a cave, a long sleep, buying bread with coins, and the Day of Judgement. Since the Syrian legend pre-dates the Qur'anic story by almost two centuries, it should be clear that the author of the Qur'an is simply retelling the Syrian story. The Qur'an even suggests in verse 18:9 that the audience is familiar with the story as they should have already "reflected" upon it. | The two narratives clearly share many features which would indicate that they are in fact one and the same. They are virtually identical in the events they describe and both contain striking similarities in key details. Both story mention youths, a cave, a long sleep, buying bread with coins, and the Day of Judgement. Since the Syrian legend pre-dates the Qur'anic story by almost two centuries, it should be clear that the author of the Qur'an is simply retelling the Syrian story. The Qur'an even suggests in verse 18:9 that the audience is familiar with the story as they should have already "reflected" upon it. | ||
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The Syrian account identifies the Emperor persecuting the seven young men as Trajan Decius, who reigned from 249 - 251 CE. Since the story first originated around the middle of the 5<sup>th</sup> century (circa 450 CE) a sleep of 200 years would be the more accurate number. Given this connection, some Islamic scholars and apologists in modern times have back-peddled on the number of 300 given in the Qur'an, re-interpreting it as a number given by the people at the time and not a definitive number given by Allah. | The Syrian account identifies the Emperor persecuting the seven young men as Trajan Decius, who reigned from 249 - 251 CE. Since the story first originated around the middle of the 5<sup>th</sup> century (circa 450 CE) a sleep of 200 years would be the more accurate number. Given this connection, some Islamic scholars and apologists in modern times have back-peddled on the number of 300 given in the Qur'an, re-interpreting it as a number given by the people at the time and not a definitive number given by Allah. | ||
==Differences== | ==Differences with the Syriac version== | ||
While there are many similarities and they are clearly describing the same events, there are also a few key differences between the | While there are many similarities and they are clearly describing the same events, there are also a few key differences between the Quran and Syriac versions. | ||
===Vagueness of the Qur'an=== | ===Vagueness of the Qur'an=== | ||