THE PHENOMENON OF SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS AND DEAFNESS AMONG MUSLIMS IN THE END TIMES

The Phrase Wa kānū lā yastathīʿūna samʿan (وَكَانُوا لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَمْعًا) in Surah al-Kahf 18:101

This phrase continues the logical progression from the two earlier conditions — being “veiled” and “separated from understanding.” If the previous part described eyes that were already sealed from the light of truth, this part now describes ears that have lost the ability to grasp the meaning of truth.

What is being referred to here is not a refusal to listen, but the loss of the natural ability to comprehend what is heard.

Wa kānū (وَكَانُوا)

This expression indicates a long-standing and continuous state that has become ingrained within their very being. This incapacity did not occur suddenly but is the accumulated result of repeatedly rejecting the signs of Allah.

Lā yastathīʿūna (لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ)

The original word yastathīʿūna means “to be able” or “to act willingly.” When preceded by lā (no or not), it reverses the meaning. In this context, it does not mean “they do not want to,” but rather “they are no longer able to.”

They have lost the inner ability to submit to the meaning of truth — as if their entire inner auditory system has gone numb.

Samʿan (سَمْعًا)

Here, samʿan does not simply refer to sound detected by the physical ear. It encompasses the entire process of hearing, understanding, discerning, and receiving the meaning behind the frequency of sound.

Several verses of the Qur’an help us grasp this concept more fully:

• Al-Aʿrāf 7:179 — “They have ears, but they do not hear with them.”

• Yūnus 10:42 — “Among them are those who listen to you, but can you make the deaf hear, even if they do not use reason?”

• Fuṣṣilat 41:44 — “To those who do not believe, it is like a voice from a distant place.”

These verses make it clear that samʿ refers to spiritual hearing, not merely physical hearing. In the context of al-Kahf 18:101, the voice of revelation from the source of dhikr still reaches them, but the heart no longer processes it into awareness.

Connection with the Two Previous Systems

In the structure of Surah al-Kahf 18:101, Allah describes two primary perceptive systems in human beings:

1. The light system (vision) — aʿyunuhum fī ghiṭāʾin ʿan dhikrī

2. The frequency system (hearing) — lā yastathīʿūna samʿan

When both systems are sealed, humans lose the two essential gates that connect them to remembrance (zikir).

Their eyes still function physically, and their ears still register sound, but meaning is no longer translated into remembrance and awareness. The truth no longer reaches them.

The Emergence of a Broken Awareness

This inability to hear does not stem from the absence of sound, but from hearts that have rejected the frequency of truth.

Allah says in Al-An‘ām 6:25:

“Among them are those who listen to you, but We have placed coverings over their hearts so they do not understand, and in their ears is deafness.”

This means that sound still reaches the eardrum, but the vibration of meaning never reaches the qalb. It is as if the resonance of faith has been erased, even though the verses of Allah echo all around them, yet no reflection of meaning exists within.

Thus, even though they live, interact, and speak about religion, they are already disconnected from dhikrī — the divine awareness system that Allah created to enable mankind to recognize Him through the existence of the world.

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