However, a group of young men, probably teenagers, did not believe in such idols that Decius worshipped. These believers, they were more accepting of the truth then their elders! The elders were very stubborn, they clung to polytheism instead of true monotheism. When the people went out to perform their public idol worship, these young men went out with their fathers and their people, and when they saw the actions of their people clearly in front of their eyes, they realized that the prostrations and sacrifices the people were offering to their inanimate idols should only be dedicated to Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth. Each of them started to withdraw from his people and keep aloof from them. The first one of them to move away on his own went and sat in the shade of a tree, then another came and sat with him, then another came and sat with them, then four more followed suit one by one. They did not know each other at first, but they were brought together by the One Who instilled faith in their hearts.
As they did not know the beliefs of each other, each of the young men tried to conceal what he really believed from the others, out of fear of them, not knowing that they believed in the same way as him. Then one of them said, “O people, you know by Allah that only one thing is making you leave your people and isolate yourselves from them, so let each one of you say what it is in his case.” Another said, “As for me, by Allah I saw what my people are doing and I realized that it was false, and that the only One Who deserves to be worshipped Alone with out partner or associate is Allah Who created everything, the heavens, the earth and everything in between.” Then another said, “By Allah, the same thing had happened to me!” The other young men said the same, and they all agreed. They became brothers in their faith.
The young men soon found a particular secluded location as a place of worship and began worshipping Allah there. However, their people became suspicious, and one day they followed them to their secret place very discreetly. The people found out about them and told the emperor about them. Trajan Decius ordered them to appear before him, and asked them about their beliefs. They told him the truth and called him to Allah, saying, “Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, never shall we call upon any god other than Him, if we did, we indeed have uttered an enormity in disbelief. But our people have taken for worship gods other than Him. And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah?”
Trajan Decius sighed in exasperation, and he merely rolled his eyes as they spoke. Once they had done speaking, he commanded them to be stripped of their clothing bearing the adornments of their people, then he gave them some time to think about the situation, hoping that they would return to their former religion. This was, in fact, a way that Allah showed kindness for them, because there was now enough time for them to escape and flee from persecution for the sake of their religion.
The young men escaped from the palace, and they ran as quick as they could. When they had gone far from town, they entered the wilderness and found an uninhabited cave. They decided to hide in the cave, and sought refuge there. After a few hours, the people realised that the men were missing, and as expected, they complained to their emperor about the disappearance. Trajan Decius and his men went all out to look for these men, but Allah had already hidden all traces of them from the view of public eye. After a while, Decius gave up, swearing under his breath that these men would face a terrible punishment once they reappeared.
Sunlight soon appeared, and it entered the entrance of the cave, located on the north side. Then, night fell. Allah caused the group of young men to fall asleep. The young men were guarded by a hunting dog who stood at the entrance. It also fell asleep, but as it slept, it closed one eye and kept one eye open, then it switched eyes while asleep. While they were sleeping, Allah made their appearances look very dreadful. This was so that no one would come near them or touch them until the appointed time when their sleep would come to an end as Allah willed, because of the wisdom, clear proof and great mercy involved in that.
The men eventually woke up in the cave, along with the hunting dog. They were not sure about how long they had slept, it felt as if it was merely a single day. The men felt hungry, so one of them volunteered to leave the cave to buy food. They urged him to be very, very careful and not let anyone know about his origins. They were afraid that Decius would find out about them and then punish them with all kinds of torture until they made them go back to their former religion, or until they died.
It was actually at least 300 years since they had left their city in hiding. Now, Trajan Decius had been long dead, having been killed in battle against the Germanic warriors. The people of the city had become believers, and they were adherents of the religion of Prophet Isa. The new ruler of the city was none other than the pious Theodosius II, a kind hearted ruler who was willing to listen to his scholars. However, the scholars at the time disagreed with each other, resulting in two sides; those who believed in resurrection and those who didn't believe in resurrection. Theodosius II was very nervous, and he prayed to Allah to dispel these doubts.
When the young man reached the city, he was so surprised, there were no idols. Instead, signs of true monotheism were present everywhere. He couldn't believe his eyes, and he asked himself repeatedly, “Am I dreaming?” He certainly wasn't. The young men pulled up to a shop and gave the shopkeeper a coin. But the shopkeeper was surprised at such an ancient form of currency, so he asked where he had gotten this from. The young man just said, “I am from this land, I was living here yesterday and Decius was the ruler!” The shopkeeper thought he was crazy, so a bunch of people from the neighbourhood detained him and took him to the Roman governor. The governor questioned the man, and the man told him the whole story of him and his companions' retreat to the cave where they stayed in refuge. Amazed, the governor referred the matter to his master, great emperor Theodosius II, who was equally amazed. Then the young man said, “Let me go in first and let my companions know of this.”
An hour later, Theodosius II and several of his men and scholars arrived to the cave. He greeted the young men, and he spoke to them. After a while, the young men fell asleep, but shortly after, Allah took away their souls. Theodosius II now had the final answers to the matter of Resurrection; he now understood that people can be resurrected if Allah wills it. The scholars who denied the resurrection immediately changed their views after they had witnessed such an extraordinary event.
Theodosius II ordered that the cave entrance be sealed, then he built a musalla next to the cave for visitors. He himself passed away a few years later when he met with a fatal accident while riding on his horse. He was buried in Istanbul, but his body was lost as the Ottomans (many, many, many years later) could not find it.
Sources
Holy Qur'an - Surah al-Kahf
Ibn Kathir - Tafsir on Surah al-Kahf (ayah 13-21)
Theodorus Lector - Eusebiu tu Alexandreōs, Eusebiu Emisēnu, ta Heuriskomena panta volume 2, page 64