Surah Al-Kahf 18:21

How the People of the City came to know about Them; building a Memorial over the Cave

(And thus We made their case known,) means, `We caused the people to find them.'

(that they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour.) Several scholars of the Salaf mentioned that the people of that time were skeptical about the Resurrection. `Ikrimah said: "There was a group of them who said that the souls would be resurrected but not the bodies, so Allah resurrected the people of the Cave as a sign and proof of resurrection." They mentioned that when they wanted to send one of their members out to the city to buy them something to eat, he disguised himself and set out walking by a different route, until he reached the city, which they said was called Daqsus. He thought that it was not long since he left it, but in fact century after century, generation after generation, nation after nation had passed, and the country and its people had changed. He saw no local landmarks that he recognized, and he did not recognize any of the people, elite or commoners. He began to feel confused and said to himself, "Maybe I am crazy or deluded, maybe I am dreaming." Then he said, "By Allah, I am nothing of the sort, what I know I saw last night was different from this." Then he said, "I had better get out of here." Then he went to one of the men selling food, gave him the money he had and asked him to sell him some food. When the man saw the money he did not recognize it or its imprint, so he passed it to his neighbor and they all began to pass it around, saying, "Maybe this man found some treasure." They asked him who he was and where he got this money. Had he found a treasure Who was he He said, "I am from this land, I was living here yesterday and Decianus was the ruler." They accused him of being crazy and took him to the governor who questioned him about his circumstances, and he told him. He was confused about his situation. When he told them about it, they -- the king and the people of the city -- went with him to the cave, where he told them, "Let me go in first and let my companions know." It was said that the people did not know how he entered it, and that the people did not know about their story. It was also said that they did enter the cave and see them, and the king greeted them and embraced them. Apparently he was a Muslim, and his name was Tedosis. They rejoiced at meeting him and spoke with him, then they bid farewell to him and went back to sleep, then Allah caused them to die. And Allah knows best. A

(And thus We made their case known,) meaning, `just as We caused them to sleep then woke them up physically intact, We made their story known to the people of that time.'

(that they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour. (Remember) when they (the people) disputed among themselves about their case, ) meaning, about Resurrection. Some believed in it and some denied it, so Allah made their discovery of the people of the cave evidence either in their favor or against them.

(they said: "Construct a building over them; their Lord knows best about them,") meaning, seal the door of their cave over them, and leave them as they are.

(those who won their point said: "We verily, shall build a place of worship over them.") Those who said this were the people of power and influence, but were they good people or not There is some debate on this point, because the Prophet said:

(Allah has cursed the Jews and the Christians who took the graves of their Prophets and righteous people as places of worship) Warning against what they did. We have reported about the Commander of the faithful `Umar bin Al-Khattab that when he found the grave of Danyal (Daniel) in Iraq during his period of rule, he gave orders that news of this grave should be withheld from the people, and that the inscription containing mention of battles etc., that they found there should be buried.

Dalam ayat ini, dijelaskan keadaan mereka selanjutnya. Setelah Tamlikha pergi ke kota untuk berbelanja dengan membawa uang perak dari kawan-kawannya, ia melihat suasana kota Ephesus yang jauh berbeda dari apa yang diperkirakan. Saat datang ke kota itu, dia menemukan rakyatnya sudah beriman kepada Tuhan Yang Maha Esa. Namun demikian, di antara rakyatnya ada beriman penuh kepada kejadian hari kiamat, dan ada yang masih ragu. Ada yang mengatakan kiamat itu dengan roh saja, ada pula yang mengatakan kiamat itu dengan roh dan jasad.

Sebagaimana Allah membangkitkan Ashhabul Kahf itu dari tidurnya, supaya saling bertanya satu sama lain tentang diri mereka, sehingga keimanan mereka bertambah sempurna, demikian pulalah Tuhan mempertemukan penduduk kota itu dengan Ashhabul Kahf, ketika mereka berselisih tentang masalah hari kiamat. Dengan peristiwa Ashhabul Kahf, perselisihan mereka akan lenyap dan keimanan mereka kepada kekuasaan Tuhan akan menjadi sempurna. Mereka yakin bahwa hari kiamat itu benar-benar akan terjadi dan manusia akan dibangkitkan dari kubur dengan tubuh dan rohnya, seperti kebangkitan Ashhabul Kahf itu.

Menurut riwayat Israiliyat, pangkal pertemuan mereka dengan Tamlikha terjadi ketika dia mengeluarkan uang peraknya untuk membayar harga makanan yang dibelinya. Pada uang perak itu terdapat gambar raja Decyanus. Penjual bahan makanan itu menjadi heran dan kaget. Ia lalu membawa mata uang logam tersebut kepada pejabat di kota itu, Tamlikha ditanya dan diperiksa. Akhir dari pemeriksaan itu adalah pengakuan tamlikha mengenai siapa dirinya dan menunjukkan gua tempat mereka bersembunyi. Peristiwa ini menimbulkan kegemparan dalam masyarakat. Rakyat dan raja menyaksikan kejadian luar biasa yang membawa mereka kepada keyakinan akan terjadinya hari kebangkitan. Golongan yang sebelumnya ragu terhadap hari kiamat, dengan kesaksian mereka terhadap peristiwa ini, berubah menjadi beriman dengan iman yang sempurna bahwa Allah swt kuasa menghidupkan orang yang sudah mati, dan mengembalikan jasad mereka sebagaimana bentuk semula ketika roh itu meninggalkan jasad. Maka dalam ayat ini, Allah swt menyatakan bahwa dipertemukannya Ashhabul Kahf dengan penduduk kota Ephesus itu supaya mereka mengetahui dengan yakin bahwa janji Allah itu benar dan kedatangan hari kiamat (hari kebangkitan) tidak diragukan lagi.

Setelah pertemuan antara raja dan pemuka masyarakat dengan Ashhabul Kahf itu berakhir, maka Ashhabul Kahf kembali ke tempat pembaringanya. Pada waktu itulah, Allah swt mencabut roh mereka untuk diangkat ke sisi-Nya. Kemudian raja dan para pemuka masyarakat itu mengadakan musyawarah. Sebagian dari mereka berkata kepada yang lain, "Dirikanlah sebuah bangunan besar sebagai peringatan di dekat mulut gua itu." Orang yang berkuasa di antara mereka berkata, "Kami benar-benar akan mem-bangun sebuah tempat ibadah di dekat mulut gua mereka." Kedua pihak ingin memuliakan Ashhabul Kahf itu, tetapi mereka berbeda pendapat tentang caranya. Satu pihak menghendaki mendirikan sebuah bangunan besar, sedang pihak yang lainnya ingin mendirikan sebuah masjid untuk tempat beribadah bagi mereka. Tentang apakah penduduk Ephesus mendirikan sebuah bangunan untuk peringatan atau mereka mendirikan sebuah masjid untuk tempat beribadah di atas gua itu hanya Allah yang mengetahuinya.

Membangun masjid dekat kuburan tidak dilarang oleh agama. Tetapi agama sangat melarang menjadikan kuburan sebagai tempat ibadah, sebagaimana sabda Rasulullah saw:

Allah mengutuk orang Yahudi dan Nasrani yang menjadikan kuburan Nabi mereka menjadi tempat ibadah". (Riwayat al-Bukhari dari 'aisyah dan 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas)

Islam sangat melarang umatnya menjadikan kuburan sebagai tempat beribadah untuk memuliakan orang-orang yang dikubur itu. Bahkan sebagian ulama, seperti Ibnu Hajar dalam kitabnya az-Zawajir memandang perbuatan itu sebagai dosa besar, berdasarkan hadis-hadis yang disebutkan. Dalam sejarah terbukti kuburan para nabi atau wali yang dibangun dalam tempat ibadah cenderung membawa orang kepada penghormatan yang berlebih-lebihan terhadap kuburan itu. Hal ini membuka peluang terjadinya perbuatan syirik.