Companion of the Cave: Is Verse 9:40 In Honour of Abu Bakr? - Our Prophet 5 - 80/90

Now, let us examine something very important over here, which is the verse of the cave. Which is highly cited amongst other schools of thought as a very huge virtue for Abu Bakr. Let us examine in detail of this verse. So the verse of the cave is in Surah at-Tawbah, verse number 40. Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says: "illa tansuruhu faqad Nasarah Allah" (9:40).

Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala After talking about their assassination plots and their attempts, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala supported him. Now, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala does not mention exactly whom he is talking about. Here, Allah uses a pronoun. But from the previous verses that are talking about the Prophet, we know who the pronoun refers to. So when Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says "faqad Nasarah Allah" (9:40), who is Allah subhana wa ta'ala alking about? The Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wa alih.

Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala has given the Prophet his nasr and his support. This is clear from the context of the verse. Allah is now telling us the story of how he saved him and he supported him.

"Idh akhrajahu alladhina kafaru" (9:40). Those unbelievers caused the Prophet to leave Makka because they decided to assassinate him, they left him with no option but to escape. "Thani ithnaini, idh huma' fi 'l-ghar" (9:40). He was the second of two being in the cave. "Idh yaqulu li sahibihi la tahzan" (9:40). He the Prophet says to his companion la Tahzan, do not be sad, do not have sorrow, "inna Allaha ma'ana" (9:40). Allah is with us. "Fa anzala Allah Sakinatahu a'layh" (9:40). Then Allah sent down his Sakina, his tranquillity on him. "Wa 'ayyadahu bi junudin lam tarawha" (9:40). And Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala supported him with invisible, unseen soldiers.

So they take this verse as a big virtue for Abu Bakr. See, the Qur'an calls him second of two. There are two and Allah's praising that. And he is a companion of the Prophet and the Qur'an, when it says that, it's a praise and the Sakina came down on him. Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala sent down the tranquility, that inner state of rest and belief in Godand, that only comes down on a believer. What was single? Yes. Well, they say many of them say Allah sent the Sakina on him, meaning Abu Bakr. We will debate that now we will examine that. So this is a clear verse on the Holy Qur'an that is praising him.

Let us now break this down and analyze each of these claims one by one.

First of all, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says "thani ithnain", the Prophet was the second of two. Allah is telling us about the number of people who were in the cave. Does that in itself, in any way, give a virtue to the one who was with the Prophet? If Allah says there were two people, the Prophet and someone, the number since when does a number give you the meaning of a virtue? Does a number give you the meaning of a virtue? Allah is just telling us they were two. Is there any virtue in that? Is that a praise? If I say there were three people in the room and one of them was good, does that mean the other two are good?

No, numbers are silent. They do not tell you anything about people. Numbers are just numbers. They just tell you quantity. How many people? Do they tell you about quality? Since one do numbers talk about quality? Numbers in any language talk about quantity. So Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says they were two. Okay, they were two. They were not three. How is that a virtue? So this definitely is not a virtue.

Number two, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala calls him a companion "Idh yaqulu li sahibihi" (9:40), he says to his sahib. So they say see, the Qur'an is confirming that he is a companion and that is praising him. Question: the word Sahib, companion in itself, does that in any way give the meaning of praise? No. Why not? Exactly. We can draw from Qur'anic examples in which the Qur'an uses the word sahib to refer to non-believers.

The very famous story of Prophet Yusuf alayhi as-salam, when he was in prison and he had two companions. Those two companions, what were they worshipping? Idols! And that is why he gave them advice. How does he address them in the Qur'an? What does he tell them? "Ya sahibi as-sijn" (12:39; 12:41). Oh my two companions of the prison. Does that mean the Qur'an was praising those idol-worshippers? In fact, he is rebuking them. He is telling them, isn't worshipping one God better than all these idols that you are worshipping?

So the Qur'an considers an idol-worshipper, an unbeliever, to be the companion of Prophet Yusuf alayhi as-salam. That means the word companion in itself does not denote any special virtue. It just means the one who is with you, that is it. That person who is with you can be good or bad. So this in itself does not in any way give you the meaning of virtue.

Yes. Okay. [Didn't they convert and become believe in Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala?]. At the point when he was talking to them, were they believers or were they idol-worshippers? When he called them my companions. They were idol worshippers. Okay so that means you can call an idol-worshipper a companion. That proves the point. Regardless of what happened to them after that, whether they believed or not in that moment, they were mushirk, in that moment. Yet prophet Yusuf alayhi as-salam calls them. What? My companions. That proves that you can call someone who is not a believer a companion. That is enough for us, regardless of what happened to them later. Okay. That is one proof from the Holy Qur'an. And this is Surah Yusuf verse 39.

Another verse Surah al-Khaf verse 37. Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala talks about a conversation that took place between a believer, a movement and a Kafir. The Qur'an says the believer said to his kafir companion. Allah says: "Qala lahu sahibu wa huwa yuhauruhu" (18:37), his companion said to him while he was debating him, talking to him, "Akafarta bi 'lladhi khalaqaka..." (18:37). Are you doing Kufr in God? A believer saying that to his disbelieving companion? So that means you could have a companion who is a disbeliever, yet you call him sahib, according to the Holy Qur'an.

This is Surat Al-Kahf verse 37. In fact, the word sahib in Arabic is so general, it can even include not-humans. For example, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala in Surat al-Qalam verse 48, he refers to the whale of Prophet Yunus as what? Sahib, companion, friend. "Fa 'sbir li hukmi Rabbika wa la takun ka sahibi 'l-hoot" (68:48) and do not be like the friend, or the companion of the whale. Even you could use that word to refer to a whale. What kind of a virtue is that? Is Allah praising the whale by saying that? No, it has nothing to do with it.

So this expression in the Qur'an that the Prophet said to his sahib, in no way is a virtue, it's just saying that the Prophet said something to his companion. Companion could be good, companion could be bad, companion could be a believer, could be a hypocrite. That verse does not tell us anything about this companion, just with this expression. So that is the second very important point in the verse.

Number three, they say, but see, the Prophet loved him [Abu Bakr] so much and he was so concerned about him, he told him: "la tahzan" (9:40), do not have sorrow, do not be sad. He does not tell him: do not be fearful, because we have a word for that in Arabic that specifically means fear, which is "la takhaf", do not have Khawf, do not have fear. He tells them, do not have sorrow, do not be sad. So they are saying, see, the Prophet adds of his compassion, he is telling him, it's okay, do not be sad. Well, if he was a bad person, why would the Prophet console him like that? Give him consolation like that?

Our response to that, this phrase in itself is not in any way praising him. In fact, many of our scholars have considered this phrase to be what? Advice for him, not a virtue. Why? Before we try to speculate what his intentions are, we will get to that point. Here is what scholars have said. They are like if you have sorrow, regardless of what he had sorrow about, either his sorrow was in God's obedience or disobedience. Either his sorrow was good or bad. Is there a third option? No.

If his sorrow was good, and he is concerned about the life of the Prophet, and he is showing his love and concern for the Prophet, is that a good thing or a bad thing? That is a good thing. That is God's obedience. If his sorrow was in God's obedience, why would the Prophet prohibit him from obeying God? Why? If what he did was good, why would the Prophet prohibit him, and tell him, do not be sorrowful, because the Prophet never prohibits you from doing something good. And if it was bad, well, that is why the Prophet prohibited him. So that is the argument many scholars have made.

Yes, this is "la an-nahiya". Yes, "la tahzan" and that is why it is what? Majzum. Because "la an-nahiya" the prohibiting no, "don't", the imperative "don't", it makes the verb after it majzum. And that is why "tahzan", it's not "tahzanu", because al-fa'al al-mubara is what? marfu'. But over here it is majzum, that's why it has the sukhun.

Yes, we will get to that. We will analyze that phrase, and that is a very powerful argument that we can make. Now, what is my personal view about this argument? Our scholars have made that the Prophet telling him "la tahzan" indicates that he was disobeying God, and that his sorrow was negative, uncalled for, and that is why the Prophet prohibited him? I myself, I'm not sure how valid this argument is, because we do have many instances in the Holy Qur'an in which this word is also used for prophets, for righteous people, such as Jesus alayhi as-salam telling his mother, la Tazani, do not have sorrow. When she was about to give birth, he told her, do not have husband, do not have sadness. Right. It does not mean that what she was doing is necessarily bad.

And we have a number of other verses like that. So it's not clear to me that that in itself indicates he was disobeying God, but it's also not praising him. We just do not know why the Prophet said that to him. It could go either direction. So that in itself is not proof that he is being praised, but is it proof that the Prophet is rebuking him for that sorrow? It's not that clear to me, to be honest. But many scholars have said that. For me, it's not that clear.

Yes, for me, the word choice that God used, is alarming, because if it was just fear that he had, the Prophet is going to be killed, maybe he will be killed. The Qur'an should have said, "la takhaf", do not be fearful, Allah will protect us. But he had huzun, he had sorrow. See, huzn in Arabic is grief, sadness, sorrow. Why? In that state, why would you have sadness or grief? You do the judgment. Why are you sad?

See, if somebody is about to attack you and you are about to get killed, you are not sad, you are what? You are scared. You are in fear. Why does Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala not use that word which specifically means fear? And Allah uses a word that means sorrow, sadness. You are about to get killed. What are you sad about? You do the judgment here. But it's very important why Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala uses this word and not why "la takhaf", because in normal usages, that is exactly what you tell someone. You tell your friend, do not get scared. You do not tell them, do not be sad, do not be sorrowful.

Sorrow is when you have missed something, right? That is a possibility. That is definitely a possibility. So it's very interesting why Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala uses this word. In any case, what is very clear to us is not a praise. Now, what is it exactly? What his intentions are? Allahu 'alam, God knows. But is that in itself praising him? In no way is that praising him. In fact, we have many, many verses that say the believers, those who have Iman, they do not have, huzn.

For example, Allah subhana wa Ta'ala in, Surah al-Baqarah verse 38, Surah al-Baqarah verse 62, Surah al-Baqarah verse 112, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala describes the believer that they have no huzn, they have no sadness. Allah says: "fa man tabiha hudayah fa la khawfun 'alaihim, wa lahum yahzanoon" (2:38), the one who is on my path and he is following my path. They have no fear, they have no sorrow. Whereas this guy had sorrow.

In another verse, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala is talking about those who believe and do good. Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says: "fa lahum 'ajrum 'anda Rabbihim" (2:62), Allah will give them their reward, "wa la khawfun 'alaihim, wa lahum yahzanoon" (2:62). They do not grieve, they do not have sorrow.

And look at Imam 'Ali on that night, even though the danger is surrounding him, did he have any traces of sorrow? No, no traces of sorrow. In fact, when the Prophet told him, I'll be saved and you'll be sleeping in my bed, he even smiled. He even left. Look at the contrast. And then look at the Qur'an and talking about the believers, Allah says: "they do not grieve, they do not have sorrow". So we have many, many verses.

Surah al-Baqarah, verse 277. Surah Yunus, verse 62: "'ala inna awliya Allah" (10:62), the true friends of God, "la khawfun 'alaihim, wa lahum yahzanoon" (10:62), there is no fear, there is no sorrow. Yes.

[What's going to happen? Because I've heard people say that he was able to walk past them while they were standing up there, but they weren't able to see him]. Yeah, the Prophet cast dirt into their eyes, and he recited a verse from Surat Yasin, which is called the verse of the barrier [36:9], that is why they didn't see him.

Now, the next part, "inna Allaha ma'ana" (9:40), very briefly, the next part: "inna Allaha ma'ana" (9:40), God is with us. See? God is with Abu Bak. Well, the Holy Qur'an tells us what? God is with everyone, everywhere. Wa huwa ma'akum ayna ma kuntum" (57:4), Allah, in another verse, He says: "and He is with you wherever you are". Is that praise? And Allah is not talking about the believers. In fact, in that verse in which Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says that, He is talking about people who whisper, and they think God can't hear them, and they are conspiring. Allah says, look, do not conspire. I'm with you wherever you are. Is that a praise? Obviously not.

So the Qur'an saying the Prophet told him God is with us, that means God is watching, He is here, do not be so worried. Allah is the master planner here. That in no way is praising him. God is everywhere. Even if the unbelievers are there, Allah is still there. So that in itself is not a virtue.

The final point, and this is the most powerful point. If you look at the context of the verse, Allah is using the pronoun to refer to the Prophet: "akhrajahu" (9:40), "they caused him to leave". Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala supported him. He [the Prophet] told his companion, God is with us. Then Allah says he sent down His Sakina on him. Who is that him? No, it's either the Prophet or that companion, one of these two. Who is... Sakina that tranquility in the heart.

They make the argument that it's Abu Bakr, because the Prophet does not need the Sakina. He already has the Sakina. This is negated by other verses in the Qur'an which clearly state in other battles for example, Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala sent his Sakina "ala Rasulih" (9:26). So the Qur'an does state very clearly that the Sakina comes down on the Rasul. So their argument that the Prophet does not need Sakina is invalid. No, in fact, the Sakina always comes down on the Prophet.

So if you look at the context of the pronouns in the Arabic language, the pronoun is referring to the Prophet, not to the companion. That would be uneloquent for the Qur'an to make the pronoun go against its context and refer to the companion. So the Sakina came down only on the Prophet. Why is that important? There is only two people in the cave. In every other verse in the Qur'an that Allah mentions the Sakina, it comes down on the believers. So Allah says the Sakina comes down on the Prophet and the believers, or the Sakina comes down only on the believers, on the mu'minin.

We do not have an example in the Qur'an in which the Sakina is coming down on other than a Mu'min. So the question is, if he was a Mu'min, why the Sakina did not come down on him? Because the Qur'an in other verses, such as Surah at-Tawba, verse 26, states that Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala brought down his Sakina on the Messenger and the believers. So whenever the Prophet was with the Mu'minin and he received Sakina, the believers also received that tranquillity from God. Except in this verse.

Only the Prophet is receiving it. Why? Well, you draw the conclusion. Why is he being denied the Sakina of God? Why? Tells us. It should have been "alayhima" yes, on both of them. Because when Allah talks about Sakina, about the Prophet and believers, Allah says: all of them were included. The Prophet and all of the mu'minin. Why in this verse, Sakina is exclusive to the Prophet, and his companion was not included, why?

Well, I'm not passing any judgments here, but we have to contemplate the Book of God. When the Qur'an deliberately excludes him from Sakina, it's telling us a lot about this person.