Hadith And Sunna Of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh)

The Story Of Three Men Trapped in The Cave

Narrated Ibn 'Umar (ra): Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: "While three persons were traveling, they were overtaken by rain and they took shelter in a cave in a mountain. A big rock fell from the mountain over the mouth of the cave and blocked it.
They said to each other. 'Think of such good (righteous) deeds which, you did for Allah's sake only, and invoke Allah by giving reference to those deeds so that Allah may relieve you from your difficulty.
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One of them said: 'O Allah! I had my parents who were very old and I had small children for whose sake I used to work as a shepherd. When I returned to them at night and milked (the sheep), I used to start giving the milk to my parents first before giving to my children. And one day I went far away in search of a grazing place (for my sheep), and didn't return home till late at night and found that my parents had slept. I milked (my livestock) as usual and brought the milk vessel and stood at their heads, and I disliked to wake them up from their sleep, and I also disliked to give the milk to my children before my parents though my children were crying (from hunger) at my feet. So this state of mine and theirs continued till the day dawned. (O Allah!) If you considered that I had done that only for seeking Your pleasure, then please let there be an opening through which we can see the sky.'
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So Allah made for them an opening through which they could see the sky.
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Then the second person said: 'O Allah! I had a she-cousin whom I loved as much as a passionate man love a woman. I tried to seduce her but she refused till I paid her one-hundred Dinars, So I worked hard till I collected one hundred Dinars and went to her with that But when I sat in between her legs (to have sexual intercourse with her), she said, 'O Allah's slave! Be afraid of Allah! Do not deflower me except legally (by marriage contract). So I left her O Allah! If you considered that I had done that only for seeking Your pleasure then please let the rock move a little to have a (wider) opening.'
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So Allah shifted that rock to make the opening wider for them.
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And the last (third) person said: 'O Allah! I employed a laborer for wages equal to a Faraq (a certain measure: of rice,) and when he had finished his job he demanded his wages, but when I presented his due to him, he gave it up and refused to take it. Then I kept on sowing that rice for him (several times) till managed to buy with the price of the yield, some cows and their shepherd.
Later on the laborer came to me an said: '(O Allah's slave!) Be afraid of Allah, and do not be unjust to me and give me my due.'
I said (to him): 'Go and take those cows and their shepherd.'
So he took them and went away. (So, O Allah!) If You considered that I had done that for seeking Your pleasure, then please remove the remaining part of the rock.'
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And so Allah released them (from their difficulty)."
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(Shahi Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 5)
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▪️Now, what we learn from this story?
From the story within this hadith we learn of one of the permissible forms of tawakkul, which is to ask Allah (ﷻ) by your good deeds which you have done in the past. Note that every time one of the men mentioned his good deed, he put a condition on it that Allah (ﷻ) judge whether it was performed sincerely, as a deed which is performed without sincerity will not be accepted by Allah (ﷻ). We also learn some of the noble types of deeds, which include looking after ones parents, avoiding a sin even when one is in the last seconds of committing it, and being careful and wise with responsibilities that are trusted to you.
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It would be an understatement to say that this hadith offers a model for an entire way of life, guidance to every individual in the community and instructions as per how tribulations are to be dealt with.