Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran: Difference between revisions

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.

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.

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: