Yet this, too, runs counter to the writer’s fanciful claim that the Companions of the Cave were merely of medium height.

Third point: it must be said that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—never saw the People of the Cave, neither while they slept nor when Allah later roused them, for they lived many ages before his time. Since he ﷺ never beheld them, it is a gross error and an ugly suspicion to attribute to him what the author of that deplorable article alleges: that the Prophet ﷺ was seized with fright at the sight of the Cave dwellers, that the image of that fear lingered in his mind, and that whenever he saw a man with a thick beard he would recall their appearance and could not endure it. The outrageous audacity of such a claim toward the master and elect of humankind is plain for all to see.

We ask Allah to raise up against that ignorant writer—and all others who fail to honor and revere the Prophet ﷺ—someone who will enforce the legal ruling that must be applied to anyone who belittles or reviles him.

Ibn Kathir states in al-Bidāyah wa’n-Nihāyah, while commenting on Allah’s words about the Companions of the Cave—“Had you looked at them, you would certainly have turned away from them in flight and been filled with dread of them” (Qur’an 18:18)—that the verse refers to the awe and majesty that surrounded their condition. He then observes that the address here is most likely directed to humankind in general, not specifically to the Messenger ﷺ, just as in the verse, “So what yet causes you, O human being, to deny the Recompense?” (Qur’an 95:7), because human nature