Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran: Difference between revisions

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 story of the companions of the cave is found in the 18^th [[surah]] of the Qur'an, [[The Holy Qur'an: Al-Kahf (The Cave)|al-Kahf]] (the Cave), for which the surah is named. It relates the tale of a young group of believers, who fall into a supernatural sleep in a cave, only to awaken hundreds of years later. This story mimics a story found in the Syriac homily by a Christian bishop named Jacob of Serugh (521 CE).<ref name="Reynolds">Reynolds, Gabriel Said. "Seven Sleepers" in [http://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA720 Medieval Islamic Civilization], ed  Josef W. Meri, Routledge, 2004, p. 720, ISBN 9780415966900 </ref> His story tells of seven young Christians in Ephesus (an ancient Greek city now situated in modern-day [[Turkey]]), who hide from an evil emperor in a cave, fall into a supernatural sleep for hundreds of years, and awaken to find that their home town has been converted to Christianity.<ref name="Gold">Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, 1275 First Edition Published 1470. "Seven Sleepers" in [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume4.asp The Golden Legend: Volume IV] <small>([http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fordham.edu%2Fhalsall%2Fbasis%2Fgoldenlegend%2FGoldenLegend-Volume4.asp&date=2013-12-04 archived])</small>.</ref>  

===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 [[Parallelism Between the Qur'an and Judeo-Christian Scriptures|apocryphal and legendary tales]] that originated in Syria between the 2^nd and early 7^th 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^th 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.

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.

==Parallels to the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus==

There are a number of clear parallels between the Qur'anic story and the legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus.

 

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.

Or dost thou reflect that the Companions of the Cave  and of the '''Inscription''' [ar-Raqim] were wonders among Our Sign?}}

In retellings of the Syrian legend, there is some dispute about the time the sleepers were in the cave. Apparently, this disagreement among Christians was still an issue in the 7^th century when this story was first told to the early proto-Islamic Believer community. The Qur'an relates that Allah has woken the sleepers as a way to test who could calculate the length of their stay the best.

The author of these verses in the Qur'an does not provide a definitive answer for the number of sleepers, stating the possibility that there were three, five, or seven. The Syrian legend clearly and emphatically states in the first sentence that the story is about seven sleepers.   

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^th 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 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 Christianity.

 

The Syrian narrative, in its content and structure, is successful in achieving its purpose.  The youths awakening to find that their home town has been converted to Christianity is a compelling ending and the mere existence of the youths provides the affirmation of a bodily resurrection. This serves the double purpose of affirming the principle that god will save Christians through persecution, and also exulting in the Christianization of the Roman Empire that had once persecuted Christians. However, in the Qur'anic narrative the youths awaken to the same 'polytheists' and are only questioned by each other concerning the length of their sleep. There is no argument made for why Allah could not have begotten a son, nor an answer provided for what benefits the youths were meant to gain from their long sleep.

Since it is found within the Qur'an, Islamic scholars and [[apologists]] have defended the historicity of the story.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://quransmessage.com/travelogues/seven%20sleepers%20FM3.htm|title= The Sleepers of the Cave - The Quran, Historical Sources and Observations|publisher= The Quran and its Message|author= Joseph A Islam|date= January 25, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fquransmessage.com%2Ftravelogues%2Fseven%2520sleepers%2520FM3.htm&date=2013-12-04|deadurl=no}}</ref> However, there are significant reasons to doubt its historical authenticity. Not only is it scientifically impossible for the human body to live three hundred years but there is good evidence that this story may have been invented as a political and theological polemic within the Syrian Christian Church. These facts, along with connections to many pre-existing legends about sleeping heroes, strongly suggest that this story of the Seven Sleepers should be placed in the category of myth and legend.

While the complete story of the Seven sleepers was not first written down until the 6^th century, the story was known in Syria by the middle of the 5^th century.  It is first mentioned by Bishop Stephen of Ephesus (c. 448-451 CE) <ref>{{cite web|url= |title= Ephesus after Antiquity: A Late Antique, Byzantine and Turkish City|publisher= Cambridge University Press|author= Clive Foss|date= 1979|page= 43|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref> and it is also referenced by Bishop Zachariah of Mitylene (c. 465-536 CE).<ref name="Mitylene"> {{cite web|url= http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/zachariah02.htm|title= Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle: Book II Chapter 1|publisher= M.A. Methuen & Co|author= F. J. Hamilton, D.D. and E. W. Books (trans.)|date= 1899|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tertullian.org%2Ffathers%2Fzachariah02.htm&date=2013-12-04|deadurl=no}}</ref> During this time period, a number of theological controversies were taking place in Syrian Christian communities.<ref>{{cite web|url= |title= The Church of the Ancient Councils|publisher= Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press|author= Peter L’Huillier|date= 1996|pages= 199-201|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= |title= The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon vol. 3|publisher= Liverpool University Press|author=Richard Price and Michael Gaddis|date= 2007|pages= 1-3|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref> Among these was a debate over the nature of the resurrected body. Called the Origenist controversy, after the heretical Christian writer and cleric Origen, this theological disagreement began in Egypt during the late 4^th century and by the middle of the 5^th century had spread into Asia Minor. Origenists claimed that the resurrected body of the believer was not the same physical body they had during life. Stephen records that the bishops of his time regarded the miracle of the Seven Sleepers as a divine answer to the controversy. In his work, Zachariah of Mitylene uses the case of the Seven Sleepers as evidence toward defending the orthodox position on the resurrection:

It seems all too convenient that this miracle of physical preservation would suddenly occur right at the height of a theological controversy about the resurrection of the physical body.  This naturally leads to skepticism of the historical nature of these events, rather pointing to the story being invented solely as a polemic for one side in a theological debate.

Located just outside of the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey, the Grotto is a network of catacombs, tombs, and graves around a cave on the eastern slope of Panayirdag hill.  Archaeological evidence collected in the 1920s has verified that some of the tombs at the site in Ephesus date back to the middle of the 5^th century but it also showed that the cave was in use at least two centuries prior. Among the items collected were pottery shards with Christian symbols along with inscriptions on the walls dedicated to to the seven sleepers.  Other pieces of pottery contained images of Greek and Roman gods.<ref name="Honigamann"> Ernest Honigmann, “Stephen of Ephesus and the Legend of the Seven Sleepers,” in Patristic studies (Studi e testi), Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1953</ref>  

Located near Amman Jordan, this site has alternatively been identified as the one mentioned in Surah Al Kahf. It was discovered by the Jordanian archaeologist Rafiq Wafa Ad-Dajani in 1963 CE.<ref name="amman">{{cite web|url= http://www.ammancity.gov.jo/en/services/histdetails.asp?id=3|title= Kahf Ahl Al-Kahf (Cave of the Cavemen)|publisher=Greater Amman Municipality|author= |date= accessed December 5, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ammancity.gov.jo%2Fen%2Fservices%2Fhistdetails.asp%3Fid%3D3&date=2013-12-05|deadurl=no}}</ref> The cave and tomb have become a tourist destination and the locals refer to it as Al-Raqim, or the (cave of) the inscription. However, beyond local tradition, there seems to be little that links this site to the story of the Seven Sleepers.   

Numerous other sites, in Muslim countries, have also been offered as possible locations of the cave in the Qur'anic story. In Turkey (Ammuriyag Hadj Hamza: subterranean cave of an ancient Greek convent, and Tarsus; grotto), Syria (Damascus: the Ahl al-Kahf Mosque, with seven qibla in the crypt), Egypt (Cairo: cave of the Maghwari in Moqattam), in North Africa there are numerous sites. This attests only to how easy it is to find a cave, cemetery, and religious building situated in the same location.<ref>Geneviève Massignonn, [http://www.dcbuck.com/Articles/Pilgrimage/Pilgrimage.html "The Veneration of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus"], 1963 <small>([http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcbuck.com%2FArticles%2FPilgrimage%2FPilgrimage.html&date=2013-12-05 archived])</small>.</ref>

{{Hub4|Companions of the Cave|the Companions of the Cave}}