Medical References at the shadows of Surat Al Kahf

The Quranic chapter 18 : "The Cave"  (Al Kahf)  was revealed to answer few questions which the mushriks (unbelievers) of Makkah, had put to the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in order to test him.. One of the questions was : Who were "the Sleepers of  the Cave" ?  The disbelievers of Makkah were told that the story of the Sleepers of the Cave was a clear proof of the creed of the Hereafter, as it shows that Allah has the power to resurrect anyone He wills even after a long sleep of death as He did with the Sleepers of the Cave (they slept over 300 years) .

• Allah the Almighty says in this chapter  : “Then We smote their ears in the Cave many years.” (18 : 11)
• ஆகவே நாம் அவர்களை எண்ணப்பட்ட பல ஆண்டுகள் வரை அக்குகையில் (தூங்குமாறு) அவர்களுடைய காதுகளின் மீது (திரையிட்டுத்) தடையேற்படுத்தினோம்.

The sense of hearing is a physiological one that does not stop functioning at the time of sleep (the sleeper can wake up at a nearby sound). As the 8th cranial nerve (which passes in the inner part of the ear) has two divisions: one for hearing and the other for equilibrium (position and movement of the head). In the case of Cave Sleepers the physiological  function of both hearing and equilibrium did stop, therefore, the Quranic verse uses the expression “Smote their ears..” rather than their hearing.

• The other bodily functions were veiled, and the eye did not see though open :“You would have thought them awake, as they lay sleeping” (18: 18).

• And their muscles did not move, although they were alive: “While We turned them now to the right, now to the left” (18:18)

• (நபியே! அக்குகையிலுள்ள) அவர்கள் நித்திரை செய்து கொண்டிருந்தபோதிலும் அவர்கள் விழித்துக் கொண்டிருப்பதாகவே நீங்கள் எண்ணுவீர்கள். அவர்களை வலப்பக்கமாகவும், இடப் பக்கமாகவும் (மாற்றி மாற்றி) நாம் திருப்பிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறோம். அவர்களுடைய நாயோ தன் இரு முன்னங்கால்களையும் விரித்துக்கொண்டு வாசலில் உட்கார்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறது (என்பதை நீங்கள் காண்பீர்கள்). அவர்களை நீங்கள் எட்டிப் பார்த்தால் அவர்களை விட்டு வெருண்டோடுவீர்கள்; திடுக்கமும் (நடுக்கமும்) உங்களைச் சூழ்ந்து கொள்ளும்.

• Their shape did not change although many years elapsed as they did not notice real changes on their faces when they woke up:  “They said: ’We have tarried a day, or part of a day ” (18:19)

• Their conditions as such are like that of preserving organs through cooling to cause metabolic inhibition, which is used extensively in the medical field to preserve donated organs (heart, kidneys, cornea, etc) before transplantation into another body. Therefore, the sun inclines towards the right when rising up and towards the left when setting down, so that it will not strike them, while they are in a gap in the cave: 
  “And you would have seen the sun, when it rose, inclining from their Cave towards the right, and when it set, passing them by on the left, While they are in a gap therein, Such are among the Signs of Allah” (18:17),

So, coolness in this gap in the Cave away from the heat of the sun that did not touch them, was sufficient to inhibit bodily metabolism for the preservation of their bodies all this long period.  Had they been only asleep, they would have needed water and food to survive, and would have been awaken by the need to urinate after some hours.  But Allah inhibited all their biological functions and preserved their bodies in a living shape. So, He said; “You would have thought them awake, as they lay sleeping”.(18: 18),

and did not say; “You would have thought them dead, as they lay sleeping”, as the sign of awakening is ‘eye wink’.  Allah preserved their eyes from blindness through blinking, as the eye if kept closed for a long period of time will be blind, because the optic nerve will shrink and die, and if it is kept open, the cornea will be affected with corneo-xerosis, and blindness. Therefore, this rare status of theirs would have aroused terror, if seen, as they were not alive or dead.  They were asleep, yet their eyes were blinking: “Had you observed them surely you would have turned your back on them in flight, and been filled with terror of them.” (18:18)

As Allah preserved their eyes through blinking, He also preserved their bodies from ulcers through constant turning: “While We turned them now to the right, now to the left” (18:18),

so that they would not be affected with pressure sores.