The blazing sun of the day had set, and the veil of evening began to spread across the sky. Three travelers resolved to spend the night in a cave within a mountain. As soon as they entered, a massive rock rolled down from the mountain’s peak and blocked the mouth of the cave. Now, the three of them were trapped in utter darkness, loneliness, and helplessness. The vastness of the earth had become constricted for them, and the sky had receded far from their sight.
All hope of reaching out to any human in the world had faded. They said to one another:
“All paths to deliverance from this calamity are cut off. Now, only one path remains for our salvation: that we turn to Allah and lay our pleas before Him.
Let us recall our righteous deeds, those which we performed purely for the sake of Allah’s pleasure, and make them a means of seeking His mercy. Then, let us present our supplications with humility before His Court.”
One of them stepped forward and, from the depths of his heart, raised his hands in prayer to Allah:
“O Allah!
My parents were very old, and I considered serving them to be my greatest honor. Never did it happen that anyone in my household was given even a sip of milk or a morsel of food before them.
One day, I went to the forest to collect fodder and firewood for the animals, but on returning, I was somewhat delayed. When I reached home, I found that my parents had already fallen asleep. I milked the animals and stood at their bedside with a bowl of milk in my hand.
Before me, my children were writhing in hunger, yet I did not prefer my family over my parents. I remained standing until the first light of dawn appeared on the horizon. Only then did they awake, and I presented the bowl of milk to them.
O Allah! If I performed this deed solely for Your pleasure, then deliver us from this dire situation.”
His supplication was barely complete when the rock shifted slightly, and a glimmer of light entered the cave. However, the opening was still too narrow to escape.
Then the second man began to speak. His voice carried remorse, his heart sincerity, and his eyes were filled with humility:
“O Allah!
I was deeply in love with my cousin. I tried in many ways to win her heart, but she remained steadfast in modesty and chastity. Then a year came when famine struck, and she was compelled to come to me in need.
I gave her one hundred and twenty dinars on the condition that she would submit herself to me. Out of desperation, she agreed. Yet, when I was about to violate her purity, she said—”
In a trembling voice, she said:
“Fear Allah! Do not commit this injustice!”
O Most Generous Rabb! I immediately restrained my desires, safeguarded her honor, and did not even take back the gold I had given her.
O Allah! If this act was done purely for Your pleasure, then grant us deliverance from this affliction.
The rock moved a little more, the circle of light and air widened, yet the passage was still not fully open.
Then the third man spoke from the depths of his heart:
“O Allah!
Once, I had hired a group of laborers for work. I paid all of them their wages, but one of the workers left without taking his wage. I invested his share into my business, and with years of effort, that amount increased until I purchased many camels, cows, and goats from it.
After several years, that man returned and said: ‘Give me my wage.’
I said to him: ‘Look up and see—whatever you behold before you, all of it belongs to you.’
He was astonished, thinking it a jest. But I said: ‘By Allah, I speak the truth—take it all, it is yours.’
So he took everything away. I did not betray his trust in the slightest.
O my Master! If this was done solely for Your pleasure, then grant us freedom from this darkness.”
And indeed, the rock moved away completely, the cave shone with the rays of the sun, and the three travelers, by the grace and mercy of Allah, emerged free.
When the intention is pure, the deed sincere, and the heart beats for Allah alone, then closed doors are opened, lifeless rocks move, and the Lord of the worlds causes rivers of mercy to flow.
Serving parents, safeguarding chastity, and preserving trust—these are the deeds that rescue a person from the caves of difficulty and lead him toward the light of ease.
This incident, narrated on the authority of Hazrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (رضي الله عنهما) and recorded in Sahih Muslim, is something we have heard for years. But the real question is: why did the beloved Prophet ﷺ narrate this story from a time long past?
Was it merely a historical event?
Or is there a profound purpose and timeless message hidden behind its narration?
Believe it with certainty!
Every word, every sentence, every story that flows from the blessed tongue of the beloved Prophet ﷺ transcends the limits of time and space, becoming a radiant lamp of guidance for humanity until the Day of Judgment.
This incident is not merely a narration of three men trapped in a cave and seeking Allah’s help; rather, it is a living demonstration of the sincerity of intention (ikhlās al-niyyah), the reality of righteous deeds (‘amal ṣāliḥ), and their eternal power.
It is such a manifestation that can alter the destiny of a person, open closed doors, and transform the impossible into the possible.
And the real lesson is this: every moment of life, every action of a believer, cannot attain the rank of religion and worship unless it is founded upon sincerity.
Intention (niyyah) is the soul of action. Just as a body without a soul is lifeless, so too is a deed without sincerity weightless.
Intention is the scale upon which every action will be weighed, and on the Day of Resurrection, it is intentions that will make the scales of deeds heavy or light.
Another crucial lesson is this:
Righteous deeds are not limited only to outward acts such as prayer, fasting, zakāh, and ḥajj.
Rather, righteous deeds encompass a broad concept that embraces the whole of human life. If one’s intention is pure and the heart sincerely seeks the pleasure of Allah, then serving one’s parents, earning a livelihood, raising children, caring for the sick, helping the oppressed, removing a stone from the road—all of these are righteous deeds, all of these are acts of worship.
In the story, the three men performed deeds for the pleasure of Allah:
- One served his parents.
- Another safeguarded chastity.
- The third upheld trustworthiness.
These deeds were not done for worldly gain, nor for fame. They did them solely for the pleasure of their Rabb, and that sincerity itself became a miracle for them.
Today, each one of us must look into the mirror of our hearts.
We must reflect upon our daily actions and ask: Do we truly live for Allah?
Do we truly seek the pleasure of our Rabb?
Or are we prisoners of our own desires, this worldly life, and the applause of society?
Remember! Sincerity is a power—a power that can move the rock blocking the mouth of a cave, that can elevate a supplication to the heights of the heavens, and that can transform an apparently ordinary action into the greatest act of worship.
Therefore, if we truly desire success…
If we want our supplications to carry weight…
If we want our lives to become, like those righteous people, a living miracle—then we must build every action upon the foundation of sincerity.
When intention is pure, even failure turns into success.
And when intention is corrupt, even success turns into loss.
This, indeed, is the very lesson for which the noble Prophet ﷺ narrated this incident…