History of surah The Cave

Name
The term "Al-Kahf" appears in verse 9 of this Surah, which gives the verse its name.

Period of Revelation
This is the first of the Surahs that were revealed in Makkah during the third stage of the Prophethood. In the Introduction to Chapter VI, we previously broke the life of the Holy Prophet in Makkah into four phases. The third stage, according to that divide, spanned the fifth through the tenth year of Prophethood. This stage differs from the second and fourth stages in that the Quraish mostly used the second stage to crush the Islamic Movement by mocking, scoffing, threatening, luring, raising objections, and spreading false propaganda against the Holy Prophet and his supporters. However, they did the same thing during the third stage by using the tools of economic pressure, manhandling, and persecution. The Holy Prophet and his family were besieged in Shi'ib Abi Talib along with a sizable number of Muslims, forcing them to flee to Habasha from Arabia. A total social and economic boycott was implemented against them, which made their plight much worse. The only saving grace was the existence of two individuals, Abu Talib and Hadrat Khadijah, whose personal influence had been favorable to the backing of two prominent Quraish households. However, the fourth stage began with such harsh persecutions that it compelled the Holy Prophet and all of his Companions to leave Makkah when these two individuals passed away in the tenth year of Prophethood.
The Surah's theme suggests that it was revealed at the start of the third stage, when migration to Habasha had still to occur despite persecution and hostility. Because of this, the "Ashab-i-Kahf "(the Companions of the Cave) story has been told in order to uplift and inspire the oppressed Muslims and to demonstrate how they have previously preserved their Faith.

Subject and Topics
In order to test the Holy Prophet, the mushriks of Makkah after consulting with the people of the Book asked him three questions, which this Surah was revealed to address . Which of the following: (1) Who were "the Companions of the Cave"? (2) What is Khidr's true story? And thirdly, what is your knowledge of Zul-Qarnain? These three inquiries, which concerned the history of Jews and Christians and were unknown in Hijaz, were chosen to see if the Holy Prophet had any sources of information about the unknown and secret things. However, in the dispute between Islam and disbelieve, that was occurring at the time in Makkah, Allah not only provided a comprehensive response to their inquiries but also used the three stories to the disadvantage of the opponents of Islam: