Tafseer of Surah Al-Kahf by Yasir Qadhi Part 2

Part 2: Theme and Cause of Revelation

Previously, it was mentioned that the primary theme of Surah al-Kahf is to demonstrate that Allah (Subhanallahu wa Ta’ala) protects all those who turn to Him for protection.

Surah al-Kahf has many blessings and one point that we can add on to that is the very name Kahf has been mentioned by Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam) as being the name of the surah, and there is clearly a similarity between the name and the theme in that. The theme is that Allah will protect you when you turn to Him. And a cave is a symbolic place for protection. Like the Cave of Hira’ where Allah protects Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam) and it is a place where Allah sent down the Qur’an. The name of the Surah is like a protection – Surah Al-Kahf.

Cause of Revelation

In Books of Tafseer – Ibn Katheer and at-Tabaree has mentioned that the reason why the surah was revealed was that the Quraysh had never heard of a prophet or a book until they heard the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam) preached, so they asked the elders, and the elders said to them, Why don’t you go to the Jews of Yathrib and ask them “What is a prophet and how do you know if he is a prophet?” “What are the signs of a true prophet?”

So they went to Yathrib (Madinah) and they spoke to the Jews, “There is a man amongst us that claim to be a prophet. How do we know if he’s a true prophet?” So they say, test him with 3 questions:

1. What is the story of young men who fled seeking Allah’s protection? (Ashabul Kahf)

2. The story of the king Zulkarnain

3. What is the Ruh?

And they said the 3rd question is a trick question because anyone who answers this is not a true prophet. Nobody knows what the ruh is.

So the Quraysh quizzed the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam) and they said, “If you are truly a true prophet, tell us the responds of these 3 questions.” The Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam) is accustomed to Jibrail coming down at a certain time of a certain week and the time is tomorrow. And Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam) expected Jibrail to come at the same time on the next day. So he said to them, just wait until tomorrow and then I will inform you. And he didn’t say “In sha Allah” and he was confident that it was going to happen. And instead of one day, it was delayed to 3 or 15 days (according to different report of narrations). And the Quraysh became happy as Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam) promised them tomorrow but nothing happened until when Jibrail came with Surah al-Isra’ and Surah al-Kahf. The answers to these three questions were given in these two Surahs. The question of the young men is in the beginning of Surah Al-Kahf, the question of Zulkarnain is answered at the end of Surah al-Kahf and the answer of the Ruh is in Surah al-Isra’.

“And they ask you (O Muhammad SAW) concerning the Ruh (the Spirit); Say: "The Ruh (the Spirit): it is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little." (17:85)

Meaning we don’t know what the Ruh is, we cannot to this day scientifically prove the Ruh, and to talk about the Ruh is beyond our understanding.

Interesting points in Surah al-Kahf:

1. If we count the words of the Qur’an, the conclusion is that the exact middle of the Qur’an is in Surah Al-Kahf and the word that is in the middle is – وَلْيَتَلَطَّفْ – means be kind, be discreet, or be merciful.

2. Surah Al-Kahf begins with the same thing as the beginning of the Qur’an which is Alhamdulillah. The middle of the Qur’an and the beginning of the Qur’an begins with Alhamdulillah.

3. The end of Surah al-Isra’ (Surah 17) directly link to the beginning of Surah al-Kahf (Surah 18). The end of Surah Al-Isra’ is

And say, "Praise to Allah, who has not taken a son and has had no partner in [His] dominion and has no [need of a] protector out of weakness; and glorify Him with [great] glorification." (17:111)

And the beginning of surah Al-Kahf says,

All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has sent down to His slave (Muhammad SAW) the Book (the Qur’an), and has not placed therein any crookedness.” (18:1)

And to warn those who say, "Allah has taken a son." (18:4)

So they directly link to one another.


Allah begins Surah Al-Kahf with,

All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has sent down to His slave (Muhammad SAW) the Book (the Qur’an), and has not placed therein any crookedness.” (18:1)

He has not placed any crookedness in the book and then Allah continues to say,

“(He has made it) Straight ....” (18:2)

The meaning of Hamd

Alhamd is a beautiful word because there are many Arabic words that mean praise.

Madah means to praise.

Shukr and shakara means to thank and praise.

But Alhamd has a very specific meaning. Because the word madaha means to flatter and many times the word madah is done out of false sense of wanting to impress a person. Madaha could be done for truth or could be done for falsehood. Madah could be a lie or false and it could also be true.

Shukr is only done in response to a good done to you. Somebody did good to you, you say shukran. Shukr is an exchange.

Alhamd – it has nothing to do with shukr and madah. Hamd is to praise because the being you are praising to is worthy of that praise. Hamd is broader because it has nothing to do with what the being that you are praising has done for you. And hamd is more specific because you have to praise Hamd, the one who deserves it, because of him and not because of you.

Shukr because what he has done for you, madah it could be because you want something back, but hamd, it is done because the being you are praising is worthy of that hamd.


Alhamdulillah – All praise is due to Allah (Subhanallahu wa Ta’ala). Why is He worthy of praise? Because He has revealed upon His ‘abd, the Book. The Qur’an is so powerful of a miracle that Allah deserves to be praised because of the Qur’an. Because we have the Qur’an, we say Alhamdulillah. Such a beautiful blessing that Allah has blessed the world with that we are thanking Allah and praising Allah because He has sent the book down. In fact Allah has mentioned in other verses like

“Blessed be He Who sent down the criterion (of right and wrong, i.e. this Quran) to His slave (Muhammad SAW) that he may be a warner to the 'Alamin (mankind and jinns).” (25:1)

So we praised Allah for having to reveal the book.

The meaning of 'abd

And He mentioned the recipient of the Book which is ‘abd – Many translate ‘abd as slave but the real meaning of ‘abd here is worshipper. That is because the highest praise of any human is by worshipping Allah. This is the highest maqam. No human will be exalted unless he humbles himself in front of Allah. The more you humble yourself in front of Allah the more honour you are. The one who has achieved the height of humbleness in front of Allah is Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam). So when Allah say my ‘abd, this is the highest praise that Allah can give to any creation. Allah says “This is my worshipper; he has worshipped Me the way that nobody else has worshipped Me.”

Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam) has been mentioned as ‘abd’ in the most honorary places in the Qur’an. For example:

And if you (Arab pagans, Jews, and Christians) are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down (i.e. the Qur’an) to Our slave (Muhammad Peace be upon him), then produce a Surah (chapter) of the like thereof and call your witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides Allah, if you are truthful. (2:23)

In the verse above, Allah defended Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam).

Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allah) Who took His slave (Muhammad SAW) for a journey by night from Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah) to the farthest mosque (in Jerusalem), the neighborhood whereof We have blessed, in order that We might show him (Muhammad SAW) of Our Ayat. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer. (17:1)

In this verse, Allah raises the rank of Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam).

So, defending Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam), raising the rank of Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam), talking about the maqam of Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam), in all of these locations Allah (Subhanallahu wa Ta’ala) uses the term ‘abd.

The meaning of Kitab

And Allah says, “We have revealed the Kitab”. The Kitab has two meanings to it:

1. Book – kataba means to write down.

2. Katb (with the sukoon) means a large amount. For example, katiba means a large group of men that are on an expedition.

So of the meanings of Kitab is that this Book has a lots of wisdom, information, and that this Book has been written down. And both of these meanings apply to the Qur’an; the Qur’an is that which is recited and the Kitab is that which is written down.

The meaning of 'no crookedness' and qayim

“And He did not place any crookedness” – this proves to us that the Qur’an and the Risalah of Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam) are linked together. Why? Because Allah says that this is the Book I have sent down to my ‘abd. How do you know that this is my ‘abd? By examining the book. So the book is the credential of the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam). How do you know that Islam is true? Look at the Book. What are the miracles of Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wassalam)? Look at the book. And what are the signs of the Book? There is nothing strange or misunderstanding in the book as it is straight and it is making others straight.

There are two meanings of Qayim:

The Book is straight and it makes others straight. Notice that in these two ayats, Allah negates crookedness and affirm straightness. This is similar to the verse in Surah al-Baqarah:

“This is the Book (the Qur’an), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun” (2:2)

There is nothing that is confusing or crooked; it is guidance. First you negate the evil, and then you affirm the positive. The Qur’an has no evil and it has nothing but positive.

What is the reward for the believers?

Then in verse 2, Allah says,

(He has made it) Straight to give warning (to the disbelievers) of a severe punishment from Him, and to give glad tidings to the believers (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism), who work righteous deeds, that they shall have a fair reward. (18:2)

What is this reward? It is not explicitly mentioned, but the next verse clarifies it.

They shall abide therein forever. (18:3)

So therefore the reward is Jannah.

Fundamentals of Islam

Notice that in these 3 verses, Allah combines the three fundamentals of Islam; Tawheed, Risalah and Akhirah.

Tawheed – Allah is praising Himself.

Risalah (Message) - for revealing the Book to His Prophet.

Akhirah – those who reject it will be punished and those who accept it will be rewarded.

Three Pillars of Imaan

Also notice that the three pillars of Imaan has also been referenced. Loving Allah, fearing Allah and hope in Allah.

Alhamdulillah – He is worthy to be praised because of our love of Allah.

The Qur’an warns of the punishment – we scared of Allah’s punishments.

The Qur’an gives glad tidings of good news – we hope for Allah’s rewards.

So love, fear and hope are combined in these verses.

Another point is that never Allah threatens except that He always gives glad tidings as well. The Qur’an always has both of these together. There is always takhweef and tabsheer together. Takhweef is to make scare and tabsheer is to give good news and the Qur’an combined both of these together. Islam always brings about the two emotions together.

Allah mentions the Qur’an as being the ultimate criterion of Him, of His Prophet, of the Risalah and of the Qiyamah. All are linked to the Qur’an. The Qur’an is the ultimate proof of our religion. If somebody asks us how do we know that Islam is true? Immediately our respond should be that it is the Qur’an. The Qur’an is the living miracle and the miracle is in every sense; in its recitation, in its hearing, in its memorization, in its understanding and in its implementation. The Qur’an is the ultimate proof and Surah Al-Kahf will bring this proof over and over again.