The Mystery of Ashabul Kahfi Who Was Sleeping for 3 Century

Seven Sleeper by Mark-Twain (source)
Ashabul Kahfi is a legend from Islam about 7 young men who are said to have experienced a miracle in a cave. The incident began when they tried to escape from a king who was very cruel, they found a cave and chose to sleep for a while. When they woke up, they unexpectedly passed 300 years after being discovered by someone from the future.

In addition to Islam, this story had previously developed among Christians. This legend is called The Seven Sleeper. It is said that during the reign of Roman Emperor Decius around 250, there were 7 young men named Maxalmena, Martinus, Kastunus, Bairunus, Danimus, Yathbunus and Thamlika and a dog named Kithmir. They are accused of adhering to Christian teachings that were once considered heretical. The seven young men were forced to apostatize or deny their faith. To avoid this pressure, they went to a mountain and hid in a cave to pray and rest. When the Emperor knew that they still adhered to that belief and did not want to change. The emperor ordered to close the mouth of the cave tightly so that the seven men died.

They were sleeping while in the cave. Hundreds of years have passed, namely, in the reign of Theodosius or around 379-395, there was a landowner who decided to open the mouth of the closed cave for his cattle cage. After opening the owner was surprised to see 7 people lying inside. Suddenly he immediately woke them up. After the 7 young men woke up, they admitted that they had only slept for 1 day. One of the young men went straight to Ephesus, how surprised he was to see the symbol of the cross everywhere. Many people do not believe the story, but they prove it with the old currency in the Decius era, everyone was stunned and astonished. Then the local bishop interviewed them and they also told all that he experienced and died while praising God.

Ashabul Kahfi in Efesus, Turki (source)
This legend continues to reverberate, until finally in the 7th century, this story was published in the Koran in Surah 18, Al-Kahf, verses 9-14, but not as detailed in the Christian story. A century later, Paul, the deacon told this story in his book "The History of the Lombards", but in a different version. According to him, they wore Roman clothes and no barbarians dared to touch them,

During the Crusade, the bones were found in a grave near Ephesus which was believed to be the bone of the seven young men. The bones are now stored in Marseille France in a large stone coffin, and become a sacred heirloom that was saved by the Saint Victoire Church of Marseille.

Regardless of the authenticity of the story, it might have a purpose or other purpose. It seems that during the period when 7 people woke up, there was a group of infidels who did not believe in the resurrection. The seven sleeping people are told as evidence of the resurrection of the body. Whether seven people sleep really exists or not is another different question altogether.

Archaeologist and historian John Bedell said that the story could be understood as a story to popularize shamanism's beliefs. "As shamans in many cultures they often enter conditions such as sleep, or possessions, where their souls leave their bodies and explore other fields of existence," Bedell wrote on his blog site. "The knowledge of shamanism is so great that they can carry out this practice for years. More often is the story of shamans who make their first magical journey, lapsed into extraordinary long comas before awakening to tell amazing things."

Read also Mystery Existence of Gog and Magog
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