In this book I want to analyze the scientific notion conveyed to us more than 1500 years ago and Western scholars took no time to label it as a fairy tale which remained to them a fairy tale for more than 1400 years, only in the last century Western scientists admitted that it the torpor phenomenon as described in this surah is possible in human beings.

1. 1

2. 2
In beloved memory
Of my parents
Muhammad Nesar
and
Ahmadi Begum

3. 3
Surah Al‐KAHF
CHAPTER 2.
‫ﻭﺍ‬ُ‫ﺛ‬ِ‫ﺑ‬َ‫ﻟ‬َ‫ﻭ‬‫ﻲ‬ِ‫ﻓ‬ْ‫ﻡ‬ِ‫ﻬ‬ِ‫ﻔ‬ْ‫ﻬ‬َ‫ﻛ‬َ‫ﺙ‬ َ‫ﻼ‬َ‫ﺛ‬ٍ‫ﺔ‬َ‫ﺋ‬‫ﺎ‬ِ‫ﻣ‬َ‫ﻳﻥ‬ِ‫ﻧ‬ِ‫ﺳ‬‫ُﻭﺍ‬‫ﺩ‬‫َﺍ‬‫ﺩ‬ْ‫ﺍﺯ‬َ‫ﻭ‬‫ﺎ‬ً‫ﻌ‬ْ‫ﺳ‬ِ‫ﺗ‬
THE COMPANIONS OF THE CAVE AND HOW THEY SPENT THREE HUNDRED
AND NINE (309) YEARS IN THE CAVE (18.25).
HIBERNATION OR TORPOR
One of the many reasons we find ourselves disconnected from the Qur'an is due to us
losing this ability to ponder and reflect over the greatest of Speech. The Pagan Arabs
for all their polytheistic beliefs and enmity to Islam were overwhelmed by the linguistic
beauty and poetry of the Qur'an. Indeed, even the most formidable of creations such as
the mountains cannot withstand its power.
I have been researching the Tafsīr of Sūrah al-Kahf, the eighteenth chapter of the
Qur'an. Yet despite days and days of study and reading, the beauty of this sūrah never

4. 4
ceases to amaze me. It was from amongst the early portions of the Qur'an to be
revealed as is mentioned in the ḥadīth of the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam
(peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him). Here I want to analyze the scientific notion
conveyed to us more than 1500 years ago and Western scholars took no time to label it
as a fairy tale which remained to them a fairy tale for more than 1400 years, only in the
last century Western scientists admitted that it the torpor phenomenon as described in
this surah is possible in human beings.
The story of the people of the cave centers on a group of believing young men who
lived in a society of shirk, wherein those young men were persecuted for their beliefs,
but they stood firm upon their beliefs, addressing their despot ruler and their people.
This is one of the most common trials the believers face; trials to do with their faith. At
its most extreme, it can lead to persecution and torture, but there are many other forms
it can take. Derogatory remarks, uncomfortable stares and sometimes a deficiency
complex when having to openly show our religion in front of others are all forms many of
us have experienced. At times, it can be our own family and friends who attempt to
dissuade us when we want to increase in our attempts to practice Islam. IN MAMMALS,
"hibernation" is a state of suspended animation, with profound reductions in
metabolism, oxygen consumption and heart rate. "Suspended animation" refers to the
slowing or stopping of life processes by exogenous or endogenous means but without
termination.
(Nation Center for Biotechnology Information, USA).
Hibernation happens from genes being turned on and off—much like a light switch—in
very unique patterns throughout the year to modulate physiology. And, importantly,
these genes are shared among the entire mammal family tree. They are not genes that
evolved specifically for hibernation. Therefore, it seems as though all mammals—
including humans—might actually have the genetic capacity for hibernation. It's literally
written in our DNA.

5. 5
There have been a singular examples in the media that suggest that this theory might
hold water, including documented cases of people entering into something that looks
intriguingly like hibernation. For example, back in April 2014, a young man stowed away
in the wheel well of an airplane from California to Hawaii. At that altitude (and those
bone-chilling temperatures and low oxygen levels) he should have died (and won the
Darwin award posthumously). But, he didn't. He walked away from that very lucky
incident just fine and dandy. Was it human hibernation? It's a very compelling notion
and seemingly quite feasible once you boil it down to the As, Ts, Cs, and Gs that make
up our genetic code.
The whole issue is convoluted by how our environment affects genes that are being
expressed. Animals that hibernate are at the mercy of their environment, using
hibernation to avoid periods of cold weather or resource scarcity, when other behaviors
like migrating to warmer environments or staying active during the winter might be more
energetically costly for them. Humans have used our massive brains to figure out how
to manipulate our environments. We build shelters, we use various means to provide
warmth, and we have grocery stores that cater to our every need even in winter. So, our
environments would never prime our genome to respond to the winter months in such a
way, even despite having the capability to do so.
In 2005, though, a German team of researchers collected the first evidence of
prolonged hibernation in fat-tailed dwarf lemurs (Cheirogaleus medius). That discovery
raised the very intriguing possibility that other primates, like humans, that don’t normally
hibernate might be able to pull off the same trick. Lemurs are much closer to us,
genetically, than other hibernating animals are. And that’s important, because if we want
to understand how hibernation works in a way that might someday help people, it pays
to study hibernation in an animal that’s as close to us as possible. Peter Klopfer, one of
the founders of the Duke Lemur Center, when asked what the secret to primate
hibernation is? “We don’t really know,” he admits. “But, we have hypotheses …” He
pronounces this last word very, very carefully, enunciating every syllable, in a way that
seems to convey just how difficult and laborious this process is. One of the most
promising, he says, seems to be ghrelin, a 28-amino acid peptide (very small protein).
The most important thing to know about ghrelin is that also it occurs in humans. The
name ghrelin is derived from the proto-Indo-European linguistic root ghre: “to grow.”) It
has effects on the hypothalamus that induce hunger, for instance. It also reduces
satiety, meaning that we eat more before we feel full. So maybe decreased levels of
ghrelin induce hibernation. Low ghrelin levels would lead to decreased hunger, torpor,
and a generally reduced metabolism.
And, to be fair, there are many other molecules that might cause suspended animation.
For instance, there’s hydrogen sulfide, the gas that comes from sewage and rotten
eggs. There’s also a molecule called adenosine monophosphate, or AMP, that some
researchers think might induce hibernation in animals like mice and dogs, which don’t
normally hibernate.

6. 6
In fact, there are some scientists who believe that AMP molecules hold the key to
hibernation in humans. That’s based on some fascinating research by Cheng Chi Lee, a
biologist at the University of Texas in Houston. Cheng has found that when AMP is
injected into mice, and they’re placed in a cool cage, their metabolism drops by more
than 90 percent. Their heartbeat and breathing slow to almost nothing, and they feel
cold to the touch. But then the AMP wears off in a few minutes and the mouse warms
up, wakes up, and walks away.
Currently, humans do not have the ability to hibernate. Hibernation is defined as
seasonal periods (typically winter) when an animal undergoes bouts of "torpor"—that is,
periods of depressed metabolism when physiological parameters like body temperature,
heart rate, and breathing fall below "normal" values. Torpor enables organisms to
conserve energy when food is less available and air temperatures are low, making it
more costly to maintain normal metabolism and high body temperature. We have
evolved such that survival during challenging environmental conditions like winter is
achieved without having to resort to entering torpor states for energy conservation
But there are good reasons why humans might want to enter into states of torpor, or
even full hibernation. The major one is for medical reasons. In conditions like shock,
massive blood loss, cardiac arrest, and certain types of surgical procedures, the ability
to slow down metabolism and lower body temperature may extend survival time for
patients and prevent life-threatening side effects like ischemic damage and
inflammation.
Use of torpor and hibernation in humans may also aid our ability to travel to distant
regions of space by reducing the need to pack enough food for journeys that take
months—or years—to complete, and to minimize dangers like radiation damage to the
body (Hannah Carey, Ph.D. Professor, School of Veterinary Medicine at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison).

7. 7
Surgeons from the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are set to
begin suspended animation trials by dramatically cooling down trauma victims in an
effort to keep them alive during critical operations.
Twenty years ago, Peter Safar and Ron Bellamy proposed that the rapid induction of
hypothermia could "buy time" for a trauma surgical team to control bleeding. Now,
thanks to the work of Peter Rhee and Samuel Tisherman, this idea is officially ready for
prime time.
EPR-CAT
"We are suspending life, but we don't like to call it suspended animation because it
sounds like science fiction," noted Tisherman in a New Scientist article. "So we call it
emergency preservation and resuscitation." The idea is to buy patients precious time
during critical operations, such as after a massive heart attack, stabbings, or shootings.
The technique will be used on 10 patients who would otherwise be expected to die from
their injuries. The doctors on the project will be paged when a candidate patient arrives
at the hospital; there's usually one case like this every month, typically with survival
rates less than 7%.
It is part a feasibility and safety study, called the Emergency Preservation and
Resuscitation for Cardiac Arrest from Trauma (EPR-CAT). Because patients cannot
give informed consent, the study will be conducted under the exception-from-informed
consent process, which includes community consultation and public notification.
How It Works
This technique involves internal rather than external cooling. A team of surgeons will
remove all of the patient's blood, replacing it with a cold saline solution; the cold fluid is
administered through a large tube, called a cannula, which is placed into the aorta, the
largest artery in the body. This will slow down the body's metabolic functions,
significantly reducing its need for oxygen. Then, a heart-lung bypass machine will be
used to restore blood circulation and oxygenation as part of the resuscitation process. A
state of profound hypothermia will be induced, at about 50ºF (10ºC), to provide a
"prolonged period of cardiac arrest" after extensive bleeding. In other words, clinical
death.
The technique, which was developed by Peter Rhee, was successfully tested on pigs
back in 2000 (his resulting study can be found here). Writing in CNet, Michelle Starr
explains more:

8. 8
The technique, therefore, will only be used as an emergency measure on patients who
have suffered cardiac arrest after severe traumatic injury, with their chest cavity open
and having lost at least half their blood already — injuries that see only a seven percent
survival rate. The survival rate of these patients will then be measured against a control
group that has not received the treatment before further testing can begin.
The human body can only be placed in this state for a few hours, so we're still quite a
ways off from the suspended animation typically featured in scifi. But if this technique is
any indication, we may get there just yet.
Who
Members of at least six mammalian orders are capable of exhibiting torpor. Some
examples are echidna of Monotremata, many dasyurids of Marsupialia, tenrecs, shrews
of the subfamily Crocidurinae, hedgehogs of Insectivora, many bats of both sub-orders
Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera, dwarf and mouse lemurs of Primates and the
various sciurids, cricetids, heteromyids, murids and zapodids of Rodentia.
But the most important aspect is that most mammals hibernate in cold places,
like dug up big holes or caves. See pics below, does not it reminds you of the
cave from the story of the People of the Cave in surah Al-Kahf.

9. 9
SEASONAL TORPOR is represented by aestivation and hibernation, and is
characterized by subsequent torpor bouts of several days or weeks generally
concentrated into one torpor season which can last many months. In fact, the seasonal
torpor never spans the entire hibernating season, but it is interrupted by periodic
arousals and brief normothermic periods (French, 1985, 1988). Some common groups
which exhibit seasonal torpor include the hedgehogs (Erinaceous), marmots and
woodchucks (Marmota), ground squirrels (Spermophilus or Citellus) and bats (Eptesicus
and Myotis). In these animals two distinct states can be identified annually: a non-
hibernating phase, during which body weight is relatively constant and exposure to cold
results in both increased heat production and maintenance of euthermia, and a
hibernating phase, during which a drastic, rapid weight gain occurs, and the exposure to
cold results in hibernation with body temperature capable of decreasing to near 0°C.
NON-SEASONAL TORPOR is a torpor inducible at any time of the year by proper
stimuli (i.e. cold and/or food shortage). A typical form of non-seasonal torpor is the daily
torpor, with a duration of less than 24 hours and a body temperature decrease generally
to 10°C-25°C (considerably higher than that found during hibernation). Moreover, the
daily torpor appears to be integrated into the normal circadian rhythm of activity and
rest, although the torpor is not restricted only to the normal rest phase of the animal

10. 10
(Körtner and Geiser, 2000). Several groups, such as marsupials, insectivores,
chiropterans, primates and rodents, contain members which exhibit daily torpor.
A hibernating chipmunk (from M.Himbealut).
A controversy concerns whether the WINTER SLEEP in bears can be considered a true
hibernating state. During winter dormancy, which lasts from 3 to 7 months, bears do not
eat, drink, defecate or urinate and they use fat exclusively as their energy and water
source. The bear hibernates at a near normal body temperature ranging from 31°C to
35°C, its metabolic rate decreases to 50-60% of the euthermic level and heart rate
drops from 40 to 10 beats/minute. This metabolic depression is much less than that
found even in the daily torpor. In addition, unlike torpid animals, when disturbed the
bear is easily aroused into a mobile, reactive state, able to defend itself, and female
bears give birth and nurse cubs during denning. However, calculation based on
theoretical considerations between body size, fat reserve and energy requirement under
fasting condition have demonstrated that the shallow torpid state of the bear is optimal
for this animal to survive during denning.
When the environment becomes too hostile for an animal, they have to find a way to
cope. Some animals migrate out of the area others enter an inactive state, which they
stay in until conditions suit them better.

11. 11
HUMANS
When a human is exposed to low environmental temperatures, body temperature
begins to fall and hypothermia ensues; the homeostatic mechanism of shivering fails at
body temperature of 30-32 °C, the heart fibrillates at about 28 °C and ventilation stops
at about 23 °C (Ivanov, 2000). Albeit deep hypothermia is regularly achieved during
major surgery requiring extracorporeal circulation
(https://www.nasa.gov/feature/advancing-torpor-inducing-transfer-habitats-for-human-
stasis-to-mars).

12. 12
THE COMPANIONS OF THE CAVE AND HOW THEY SPENT THREE HUNDRED
AND NINE (309) YEARS IN THE CAVE
Atlanta-based SpaceWorks Enterprises is currently working on a cryogenic application
for NASA. Their solution involves mimicking torpor or short-term hibernation as it’s also
called. Some mammalian animals use it, so it’s not entirely implausible for this to work
for humans as well. The plan is to build a torpor statis habitat inside a spaceship where
the astronauts can hibernate for much of their voyage. Inside the pressurized chamber
up to six crew members could co-exist in the low metabolic state simultaneously. Torpor
would be induced by an assisted hypothermic state in which the body is gradually
cooled, all while attached sensors to the astronaut’s body monitor their condition and
trigger automatic safety mechanisms in case something goes wrong. “Food” would be
administered intravenously through TPN or total parenteral nutrition. A catheter would
be inserted to drain urine and thus handle all the generated waste, since bowel is
virtually rendered inactive because there’s only liquid nutrition. Waking up out of
cryogenic sleep after 6 months of slumber might sound like the worst hangover in the
universe, so electromagnetic muscle stimulation would keep away muscle atrophy.

13. 13
Do you consider that the Companions of the Cave and Ar-Raqim were one of the most
remarkable of Our Signs? (Surat al-Kahf, 9).
They stayed in their Cave for three hundred years and added nine. (Surat al-Kahf, 25).
In revealing how long the Companions spent in the cave, the Qur'an says "They stayed
in their Cave for three hundred years and added nine." (Surat al-Kahf, 25) In interpreting
this verse, commentators say that the Companions of the Cave slept for 300 solar years
or 309 years by the lunar calendar.

14. 14
The number of syllables up to "sineena waizdadoo," meaning "number of years" is
exactly 309.36
There are 309 undotted letters in the Surah up to the term "sineena waizdadoo".
Then We woke them up again so that we might see which of the two groups would
better calculate the time they had stayed there. (Surat al-Kahf, 12)
This verse reveals that the reason the Companions of the Cave were woken was to
establish which of the two groups would most accurately calculate how long they had
been asleep. The number of syllables before this verse is exactly 309.37
They stayed in their Cave for three hundred years and added nine. (Surat al-Kahf, 25)
The way that the Qur'an does not directly state that the Companions of the Cave spent
309 years in the cave but also adds an additional 9 years is exceedingly wise. This
mode of expression thus draws attention to the difference between the solar and lunar
years. (Allah knows the truth.)
The solar year refers to the Earth's revolution around the Sun, and 365.242217
complete revolutions of the Earth constitute a solar year. A lunar year consists of
354.36768 days, the time in which the Moon orbits the Earth 12 times. There is thus a
difference of 10.874537 days between the solar and lunar years; 100 solar years is thus
equivalent to 103 lunar years.
In order to determine the equivalent of 300 solar years in terms of lunar years, we need
to add on 9 more years – just as in the verse.
When you look at the Cave, you will be amazed at how its 90 meters were created to
accommodate such a righteous company. First, the cave was designed as would an air-
conditioned apartment be designed. There is a reception ahead of where they slept their
300 years. Then there is an opening in the cave, allowing the entry of air and sunlight.
The opening faced the South-East as if designed to be away from the sun during the
day, but allow the light flow of sun rays and warmth around dusk. Which trustee could
have designed a palace to conserve people for 300 years, to take care of them, as did
The Ultimate Trustee?
If a human could be placed into a very deep sleep instead, they wouldn’t need
entertainment, food and water could be strictly controlled by intravenous drips, and the
energy required to keep them alive would be lowered significantly. Therefore, it’s
obviously a highly desirable thing to do.
The focus of this study is on torpor: a kind of hibernation state that sees body
temperature and metabolic rate decrease. Some animals already naturally go into a
torpor state on a regular basis and humans can if suffering from hypothermia. But NASA
wants to try and safely adapt it for humans and extend it to 180 days. If it can, it would
bring us a step closer to sending a team of astronauts to Mars. "We're not freezing
anybody," said Bradford of NASA. "It's not cryopreservation; it's closer to hibernation.

15. 15
So they're still breathing, and they still need sustenance." It's called a hypothermic
torpor. Ideally, the coma would be induced by letting the spaceship cool down in the
freezing cold of space bringing the astronauts' body temperatures down, too.
Or to say just like those young people of the cave who slept for 300 years.
The big challenge is the time extension, with a week being the best achieved so far.
There’s also going to be a major health monitoring hurdle to overcome. What if
something goes wrong during the journey to Mars? NASA will need the ability to monitor
in real-time and adjust the torpor state remotely or even wake up an astronaut if their
health is at risk. Currently, 14 days is the longest a human being has been recorded
surviving in stasis. To just get to the Red Planet — our closest celestial neighbor aside
from the Moon — astronauts would need to be under for 10 times as long. With our
present rocket technology, it takes 6-9 months to travel the 55 million kilometers
between Earth and Mars.

16. 16
Allah says what can be translated as, “And you might have seen the sun when it rose,
declining from their cave towards the right; and when it set, it went past them towards
the left while they were in a broad fissure of (the cave). That was one of the signs of
Allah. Whomever Allah guides, then he is right-guided, and whomever He leads away
into error, then you will never find for him a right-minded patron. ” (TMQ, 18: 17). This
was the first mercy bestowed on them.

17. 17
Cold is at the heart of stasis. Cold slows the functioning of internal organs, dialing down
the speed of the heart and metabolic systems. You’d need less sustenance and take up
less space than a conscious person. And since you’re unconscious, there’s no risk of
cabin fever (http://gizmodo.com/how-traveling-to-deep-space-in-cryogenic-sleep-could-
ac-1725605323).
Allah allowed them to sleep for 309 years, by muting their hearing! Allah says, “Then
We struck upon their ears for a (great) number of years in the cave,” (TMQ, 18:11), and
then says, “And We turned them about towards the right and towards the left,” (TMQ,
18:18). They were not dead, but only asleep. This is one of the very miraculous signs in
this story.

18. 18
Fourthly, noise and disturbance was prohibited around the Cave. The king’s soldiers
informed him where the young men were located, and they were ordered to block the
apparent entrance of the Cave so he could get rid of the young men by suffocating them
inside, but this was only another part of Allah’s settings that the young men not be
disturbed! “And in no way does anyone know the hosts of your Lord except He,” (TMQ,
74: 31). “And they were scheming, and Allah was scheming; and Allah is The Most
Charitable of schemers,” (TMQ, 8: 30).
This normally happens to those unconscious, as those bed-ridden in coma. Thus
medical staff in hospitals will go in to coma patients and continuously turn them in bed
to prevent ulcers of their backs and legs.

19. 19
The young people who thought to have slept about "a day or part of a day" in the cave
sent one of them to the city to buy some food with a silver coin. This shows that they
were unaware of the long duration they have been asleep.
Many people who are in a state of coma feel so. A mother waited 41 days for her injured
son to come out of a coma - only for him to tell her to 'f*** off'. It was his way of telling
her he was going to be OK. Joanne Hopkins leaned forward to hear son Joey whisper
his first words since cheating death in a car smash. But, instead of a touching
exchange, the 22-year-old swore at her. Mrs. Hopkins, 39, said she 'cried with relief'.
'He had been trying to speak but hadn't managed to get any words out,' she said
(http://www.oddee.com/item_97859.aspx).
For the unbelievers, it is a call to open their minds and hearts to word of Allah, the Holy
Quran, and contemplate and ponder the last revelation to mankind. Yet, Allah remarks;
“Say, ‘The truth is from your Lord; so let whosoever wishes believe, and let whosoever
wishes disbelieve.” (18: 29)