7 things you need to know about Surah Al Kahf

By: Jamiatul Ulama

Bismillah

Rabbi Zidnee Ilman

“My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.”

I would like us all to have a little basic knowledge about this Surah. Some simple facts that every person should know and “remember”. The intention and motive of this challenge is to please Allah alone, to follow Messenger ﷺ and to seek protection from the fitna of Dajjal. Lets remember any action which is not intended for the sake of Allah brings no reward to the one who does it. The purpose of memorizing these Ayaat and to benefit from its tafseer should not be to show off.

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: The first of people against whom judgment will be pronounced on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who died a martyr. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favours and he will recognize them. [ The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I fought for you until I died a martyr. He will say: You have lied – you did but fight that it might be said [of you]: He is courageous. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire. [Another] will be a man who has studied [religious] knowledge and has taught it and who used to recite the Quran. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favours and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I studied [religious] knowledge and I taught it and I recited the Quran for Your sake. He will say: You have lied – you did but study [religious] knowledge that it might be said [of you]: He is learned. And you recited the Quran that it might be said [of you]: He is a reciter. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire. [Another] will be a man whom Allah had made rich and to whom He had given all kinds of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favours and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I left no path [untrodden] in which You like money to be spent without spending in it for Your sake. He will say: You have lied – you did but do so that it might be said [of you]: He is open-handed. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire. [Sahih Muslim – Hadith Qudsi]

Now that our intentions are in the right direction, lets start learning the facts. I want everyone to realize how easy it is to memorize Qur’an. Slowly and consistently with small projects and challenges like these we can learn a lot of Qur’an without any excuses.

And We have indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember, then is there any that will remember (or receive admonition)? {Surat Al Qamar 54 : Verse 17}

FACT #1

Surah Al Kahf is a Meccan Surah meaning it was revealed when Prophet Muhammad was in Mecca. It was revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ before the Hijrah/Migration to Medina when the persecution of Muslims and Islam was at its peak. It was revealed somewhere between 8th and 10th year of Prophethood.

FACT #2

Surah Al Kahf has 110 Ayaat/Verses and is the 18th Surah of the Qur’an.

FACT #3

There are 4 Major themes in this Surah

1. Trial of Faith – People of the Cave/ Ashabu Al-Kahf (Verses 9 – 26)
2. Trial of Wealth – The story of the rich and the poor (Verses 32 – 44)
3. Trial of Knowledge – Moses and Al-Khidr (Verses 60–82)
4. Trial of Power – Dhul-Qar-nayn with Yajuj Majuj (Verses 83–98)

FACT #4

Whoever recites Surat Al-Kahf on Friday, it will illuminate him with light from one Friday to the next.

FACT #5

Surah Kahf appears in Juzz 15th and 16th, has 1,577 words, 6,360 letters and consists of 12 Rukus.

FACT #6

The Meaning of Al Kahf is The Cave and this surah is named after the incident of people of the cave or the Ashabu al Kahf.

FACT #7
Different narrations with different number of ayaat from this surah serve as protection from Ad-Dajjal.

Because of the tribulation of the Anti-Christ it is important to memorize the first and last ten Ayaat of this Surah.

Please make sure you memorize all the 7 facts. If someone asks you how many letters does Surah Al Kahf consist of, you should be able to answer them instantly. Please take this challenge seriously and make sincere efforts to learn and memorize and then act upon the lessons. Remember one of the qualities of a true believer is doing things with ihsaan.

Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the leading female scholar from the Prophet’s generation, quoted him as saying, “Indeed, Allah loves that whenever any one of you does something, he or she does it in the best way.”
[At-Tabaraani]

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