Day 14 | Ayat 15 | Great Accusation

This ayat talks about the youths, who are now addressing and accusing the king and the people to bring forth evidence of the claim they make for taking partners with Allah or worshipping other than Allah. Allah increased them in guidance, then made their hearts firm. They are now empowered to accuse their own people who have take other than Allah, to bring forth clear proof. They cannot of course. And therefore the king has threatened them with their life if they do not revert back to the religion of the state. There is a time between the trial and their escape to and refuge in the cave. In the Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Christian history is used to fill in the space between the two events. These histories are neither correct or incorrect, we may take them or leave them as history as they bare no weight in Islam. The sources say they young men were jailed for a period of time where their clothing was confiscated so that they no longer bore the clothing that indicated their station in society or class. They may have been dressed in prison garb, but the information about their clothing is speculative. They then escaped as Allah provided them a means to escape either from the trial or after.