Qur'an - Importance of moving in sleep

More than 1400 years ago, this concept was disclosed in the Qur'an.  Chapter 18 of Qur'an called "Cave", gives the accurate account of the "People of the cave" and how Allah caused their bodies to turn left and right while sleep.  Briefly stating, a group of people who believed in God escaped from a tyrant ruler who was a disbeliever.   They took refuge in a cave and fell sleep.  To turn this into a Sign for people, Allah prolonged their deep sleep for more than 300 years. 

Bodily functions can be reduced to a minimum state.  Isn't this the same concept that has baffled the scientists since it is needed for long space travel?  To put the space travelers to a special sleep state and wake them up years later.

Please also see our web page "Ears are active during sleep" related to the "People of the cave".

The purpose of this web page is not to present a complete explanation of all the verses related to the "People of the cave".  The main idea about this Sign of Allah is related to the Judgement Day.  It demonstrates a couple of things. 

1- The concept of time only applies to this world and our perception of events.  Allah has created everything including the "time".  It is easy for Him to recreate us again for the Judgment Day.  Qur'an tells us that on Judgement Day, some people think that they have been sleep only for a couple of minutes while others think maybe a day or two.  Similarly, the "People of the cave" were sleep for a couple of hundred years but when they woke up, they thought that have been sleep only for a couple of hours.

2- The "People of the Cave" put their trust in Allah, prayed, and asked help from Him.  That is the model that we need to follow.  Regardless of the hardship that we are facing; always put our trust in Him!

3- We experience the same type of miracle related to the sleep every night that we sleep.  Please see verse 6:60 below.

Verse 18:18 states that Allah turned them to the right and to the left while they were sleep.  In other words, the Qur'an is trying to point out the importance of these movements.

وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ أَيْقَاظًا وَهُمْ رُقُودٌ وَنُقَلِّبُهُمْ ذَاتَ ٱلْيَمِينِ وَذَاتَ ٱلشِّمَالِ وَكَلْبُهُم بَـٰسِطٌ ذِرَاعَيْهِ بِٱلْوَصِيدِ

 لَوِ ٱطَّلَعْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ لَوَلَّيْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِرَارًا وَلَمُلِئْتَ مِنْهُمْ رُعْبًا

And you would think them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them to the right and to the left, while their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance. If you had looked at them, you would have turned from them in flight and been filled by them with terror. 18:18

A possible mystery still surrounds this verse.  The number formed by the chapter number (18) and verse number (18) is 1818.  Interestingly, the Digit Sum (sum of its digits) is also 18.    (1 + 8 + 1 + 8)

Digit sums are commonly used in checksum algorithms to check the arithmetic operations of computers.

وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى يَتَوَفَّىٰكُم بِٱلَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُم بِٱلنَّهَارِ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ لِيُقْضَىٰٓ أَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّى ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

And it is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have committed by day. Then He revives you therein that a specified term may be fulfilled. Then to Him will be your return; then He will inform you about what you used to do.   6:60