Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic tradition, Qitmir () was the dog that guarded the People of the Cave and stood by them all through their long sleep. His name, Qitmir, in Arabic, is the name of a small membrane on a separating

date Date or dates may refer to: * Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') * Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activi ...

from its seed. He is sometimes called Ar-Raqim (), although narrations identify that Ar-Raqim was the name of the cave, or the name of a "brass plate, or stone table". He is regarded as one of the most important animals of Islam. In

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (), commonly known as ' (), is the Qur'anic exegesis (') by Ibn Kathir. It is one of the most famous Islamic books concerned with the science of interpretation of the Quran. It also includes jurisprudential rulings, and takes care of the hadit ...

Ibn Jurayj Abd al-Malik ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Jurayj (, 80 AH/699 CE - 150 AH/767 CE) was an eighth-century ''faqīh'', exegete and hadith transmitter from the Taba' at-Tabi'in. Biography Ibn Jurayj was born in Mecca in 80 AH/699 CE. His father Abd al-Aziz w ...

described Qitmir as lying outside the door on his stomach with his front legs stretched out. He was also said to be either the hunting dog of one of the Companions of the Cave, which is the more accepted view, or the dog of the king’s chef, who accepted the Ashābul-Kahf's religious views, and brought Qitmir with him.

In the Quran

Al-Kahf Al-Kahf () is the 18th chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an with 110 verses ( āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation ('' asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is an earlier Meccan surah, which means it was revealed before Muh ...

, the following is mentioned:

Alleged skull

Arab archaeologist Rafiq Al-Dajani entered the

Cave of the Seven Sleepers Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock sh ...

Al-Rajib Al-Rajib or simply Rajib is a town in Qweismeh area of Greater Amman Municipality in northwest Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by ...

in 1963, where he allegedly found seven graves, and part of a dog's skull on the door of the cave.

References

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (), is an American rapper. He is one half of Golden age hip-hop, golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: ''Paid in Full ...

Animals in Islam Dogs in religion {{islam-stub