Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

Shaykh

al-Shanqeeti said, commenting on the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):

“Do

you think that the people of the Cave and the Inscription (the news

or the names of the people of the Cave) were a wonder among Our Signs?”

[al-Kahf 18:9]

The apparent meaning is that the People of the Cave and

of the Inscription were all one group, mentioned in conjunction with

two things. This is in contrast to those who say that the people of

the Cave were one group and the people of the Inscription were another

group. Allaah told this story to His Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon them) in this soorah, and He

did not mention anything about the people of the Inscription. This is

unlike those who claim that the people of the Cave were three persons

behind whom the rock fell and blocked the entrance of the cave in which

they were, so they prayed to Allaah by virtue of their righteous deeds;

they were one who honoured his parents, one who was chaste, and one

who was a hired labourer. Their story is well known and is proven in

al-Saheeh, but interpreting this aayah as meaning that these

were the people referred to therein is far-fetched as you can see. It

should be noted there is nothing about the story of the people of the

cave, their names and which part of the earth they were in that has

been narrated in any sound report from the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), in addition to what is

mentioned in the Qur’aan. The Mufassireen quoted many of those details

from the Israa’eeliyyaat (reports from Jewish sources) which we will

not quote here because they cannot be relied upon.