Three Men in the Cave

Occasion: Summary of a Jumuʿah khutbah delivered on March 30, 2018.Source: transcription of a recorded khutbah by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — watch the original video on YouTube

Praise belongs to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help and ask His forgiveness, and we ask Him to increase the blessing in this masjid and in the people who come to it. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muḥammad ﷺ is His servant and the last of His messengers.

The khutbah is built on a story that the Prophet ﷺ used to tell his companions, and it is told, as the speaker reminds us, by a young companion: ʿAbd Allāh. He was born around the time revelation began, and when the Prophet ﷺ left Makkah for Madīnah he was about thirteen. He tried to join the army to defend Islam, and the Prophet ﷺ told him he was still too young.^[1] The speaker pauses on this. Here are young people sitting around the Prophet ﷺ and receiving from him, and here in the masjid are fathers who have brought their sons to listen. We are raising the second generation. If we leave our children in front of screens and games, their minds will be somewhere else, and Allah will ask us about them. If we bring them here, they carry these ideas into their character and their view of Islam.

A rock rolls over the entrance

ʿAbd Allāh said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say that three men were travelling when night fell, and they took shelter in a cave in the mountain. A great rock rolled down and sealed the mouth of the cave.^[2] One moment they were walking in; the next they were trapped.

Picture yourself there. The speaker offers a modern parallel: you are alone in an elevator, the power cuts out, there is no signal, and your phone is useless. Nobody can reach you. What will you do? The three men looked at one another and said: nothing will save us now except calling upon Allah by the best deeds we did for His sake alone.

This is not a matter of reciting words. Calling on Allah in a crisis needs something that comes from the heart, and that is only possible if you have a deed that was sincerely for Him. In times of ease, then, do not forget Allah, because in hardship you will turn to Him. Allah warns us against being like those who forgot Him:

﴿وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ﴾ [الحشر: 19]

"And do not be like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves." (al-Ḥashr 59:19)

The first man: his parents

The first said: O Allah, my parents were old. I used to go out to gather wood, and when I returned I would milk the animals and bring the milk to my parents first. Only after they drank would I give it to my children and my wife, and then to myself. One day I came back late and found them asleep. I did not want to wake them, and I did not want to feed my children before them, so I stood with the bowl in my hand until they woke, and I gave them their share first. And all that while, he says, my children were crying at my feet from hunger.

The speaker notes what that detail tells us: there was nothing else in the house. Whatever little food there was, the mother may have given the children to keep them quiet until their father came. And still he waited. He asked Allah: if You know that I did this for Your sake, remove the rock so that we can see the sky.

Why did he ask only to see the sky, and not to get out? The speaker reads in it a man who wanted to be sure he was on the right path, because he knew they were three. Allah moved the rock enough for them to see the sky.

The second man: restraint in the moment of power

Two remained, and the speaker pauses on how much hangs on one's companions. If the next man had nothing to offer, they would all die in that place. So it is with friends: if you are the only one among them who worships Allah, they may bring you down. Choose companions who are at your level of faith, so that when hardship comes, their īmān helps yours and you call on Allah together.

The second said: O Allah, I loved a cousin of mine with the deepest love a man can have for a woman. I tried to win her, but she refused every time and said: this is ḥarām, do not try this with me. Then one day she came to me in need and asked for my help. I gave her one hundred and twenty dinars on the condition that she give herself to me, and she agreed. When I was close to her, she said: fear Allah, and let it not be done in the wrong way. When I heard that, I left her and I left the money.

At this point the speaker stops and thinks of women today who come from overseas or who are in need somewhere in the world and ask for help, and are told: we will help you, but on one condition. Will Allah hold only those men to account, or will He also ask us why we did not help them when we could have, without conditions? That is the responsibility the story places on a community. The man said: O Allah, if I did it for Your sake, remove the rock. Allah moved it a little, but they could still not get out.

The third man: a trust returned in full

The third said: O Allah, I hired workers and paid them all except one man, who left without taking his wage. I invested his wage, and it grew until it became a great wealth. After a time he returned and came back and asked me for his wage. I said: all the camels, cattle and sheep you see are yours. He said: do not mock me. I said: I am not mocking you. He took it all and drove it away and left nothing behind.^[3] O Allah, if I did this for Your sake, remove the rock. And Allah removed it, and they walked out.

Why three stories in one?

The speaker asks why the Prophet ﷺ gave us three stories in a single narration. The first is dutifulness to parents, the second is purity and restraint, and the third is honesty with what is owed to others. These are the pillars of good character on which a community is built. If we gather them in one community, it would be the best of communities.

He also notes something about the ages of the three. The speaker's reading is that they represent three stages of life: a young man struggling with his desires, a man in the middle of life with parents and children to look after, and an older man with experience. All three are needed. The one who is older has experience to give; the young have strength; the community cannot be carried by one generation alone. If the elders hold every position and give the young no chance to lead, the community is damaged. In this story the Prophet ﷺ gives us the idea of teamwork across ages.

Closing

When trouble comes, nothing will help except Allah, so in times of ease we must not forget Him. We ask Allah to accept from us and from you.

--- ^[1]: توثيق المحرر: المقصود عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما، وقد رُدَّ يوم أُحد لصغر سنه، وراوي حديث الغار. ولم يذكر الخطيب في التفريغ اسم الأب، فالتعيين من المحرر. ^[2]: توثيق المحرر: حديث أصحاب الغار، رواه البخاري ومسلم من حديث عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما، ومنه: «انْطَلَقَ ثَلَاثَةُ رَهْطٍ مِمَّنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ حَتَّى أَوَوُا الْمَبِيتَ إِلَى غَارٍ فَدَخَلُوهُ، فَانْحَدَرَتْ صَخْرَةٌ مِنَ الْجَبَلِ فَسَدَّتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الْغَارَ». وأحداث القصة بتفاصيلها في الروايات الصحيحة. ^[3]: توثيق المحرر: ورد في الرواية: «الْإِبِلُ وَالْبَقَرُ وَالْغَنَمُ وَالرَّقِيقُ»، وهو من الألفاظ المعروفة لهذا الحديث، وليس في التفريغ إلا ذكر الجِمال وغيرها إجمالًا.