Quran 18:23 · Al-Kahf

The Quraysh of Makkah sent Nadar ibn Harith and ‘Uqbah ibn Mu‘it to Madinah to meet the Jewish scholars and ask for information about the Prophet Muhammad, because the Jews had knowledge about prophets. The Jews advised these emissaries to ask the Prophet Muhammad about three things, adding that if he could give information about these things, then he was the Prophet; otherwise he was merely a glib talker. Of these questions, one was about the young ‘Men of the Cave’, the second related to ‘Dhul Qarnayn’ and the third was about the spirit. Before the age of the press the common people did not know about the ‘Men of the Cave.’ This story was recorded in certain Syrian manuscripts, a fact known only to particular scholars. When this question was put to the Prophet Muhammad, he said that he would give the required information the next day, in the hope that Gabriel would appear the next day and give him the necessary information, which he would then pass on to the questioners. But, Gabriel’s arrival was delayed. He took fifteen days to bring the chapter entitled ‘The Cave’ (al-Kahf). Due to this delay in revelation, The Prophet Muhammad’s Makkan antagonists had a good opportunity to malign his name on this issue. God said, ‘On the pretext of a small, ordinary incident, you are trying to make people doubtful about the truthfulness of a person whose truthfulness is going to be vouchsafed by far better and much more convincing arguments.’ (Tafsir al-Mazhari, vol. 6, p.

27

). Now that so many arguments have accumulated to substantiate the truthfulness of the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad, no sensible person could deny it. Today, his prophethood is a well established fact and not merely a claim.