Who is Zulqarnain?

[Believer]

Who is Zulqarnain?
He's mentioned in "The Cave" a few times.
Was he a prophet or an ancient king or something?
I heard some say he was Alexander the great and other said he was Darius the Persian king.
Darius was a wise and gentle king who worshipped one God.
Would he have worshiped Allah or another god?

[muawiyah]

According to our historians ZulQarian refered in the Surah al Kahf[ the cave] is The Persian King Cyrus the Great. And if we read the historical accounts on this king, and his beliefs, as well as his character and conquests, then they best fit that of "Zul Qarnian" mentioned in the Quran.

[abdulhakeem]

you may find the answer here:

Ruling on reading the books of Ahl al-Kitaab and debating with them on the internet (http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=25361)

[Believer]

Was Zulqarnain a prophet of Allah?
Was he a Muslim?

[Hamza Abbass]

Hi Believer,
Was Zulqarnain a prophet of Allah?
Was he a Muslim?
Your questions are answered here:

http://www.understanding-islam.com/rq/q-028.htm

Hamza

[Believer]

Interesting article. Thanks!:rolleyes:

[Details]

Originally posted by muawiyah
According to our historians ZulQarian refered in the Surah al Kahf[ the cave] is The Persian King Cyrus the Great. And if we read the historical accounts on this king, and his beliefs, as well as his character and conquests, then they best fit that of "Zul Qarnian" mentioned in the Quran.

i do not believe you can support that position. It is a relatively modern interpretation and is not supported in historical documents. It is known that Alexander the Great was known as Iskandar Zulqarnain, and there are coins in existance that depict him with the two horned crowns .... the dual-crown he recieved upon conquering Egypt.

"18.86": Until when he reached the place where the sun set, he found it going down into a black sea, and found by it a people. We said: O Zulqarnain! either give them a chastisement or do them a benefit.

This bit is actually paralleled in the accounts of alexander the great while he was on his quest for immortality.

"18.94": They said: O Zulqarnain! surely Gog and Magog make mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute on condition that you should raise a barrier between us and them

again, paralleled in the accounts of his travels from persia north to the caucausus. the stories are repeated where0ever you go in north-western iran.

'The famous Quranic translator maulana A. Yousuf Ali gave a long story as Appendix Vll (titled: Who was Zulqarnain; page 760-765) detailing the facts and figures why most Islamic scholars including himself considered very strongly that, Quranic Zulqarnain was nobody but Alexander the Great." '

and then there is Derbend, Hissar District, about 150 miles south-east of Bukhara.
"There is no iron gate there now, but there was one in 7th century when the Chinese traveler Hiouen Tsiang saw it on his journey to India. He saw two folding gates cased with iron and hung with bells. Near by is a lake named Iskandar Kul, connecting the locality with Alexander the Great. We know from history that Alexander, after his conquest of Persia and before his journey to India, visited Sogdiana (Bukara) maracanda (Samarqand). We also know from Muqaddasi, the Arab traveler and geographer, who wrote about A.H. 375 (A.D. 985-6) the Abbasi Khalifa Wathiq (842-846 A.D.) sent out a mission to Central asia to report on this iron gate. They found the defile 150 yards wide: on two jambs made with bricks of iron welded together with molten lead, were hung two huge Gates, which are kept closed"

defile = narrow passage between two mountains.


and about gog and magog?
"They were the Mongol tribes on the other side of the Barrier, while the industrious men who did not understand Zul-qarnain?s language were the turks, with their agglutinative language, so different from the languages then spoken in Western Asia. This Barrier served its purpose for the time being. ... In the Alexander legends of medieval Europe, Gog and magog are said to have come with 400,000 men to the help of Porus whom Alexander defeated, and to have fled after that defeat. They fled to the mountains, and Alexander built a wall with brass gates to prevent their irruption (Paul Meyer, Alexander le Grand dans la literature fraqaise du Moyen age: Paris, 1886; Vol.2, pp:386-389)."

[Believer]

If this is true, Details, then it's a serious blow to Islam.
Alexander was a bisexual!
He was a sodomizing heathen with an insatiable thirst for land and glory.

[Details]

well i dunno about that stuff, but i do know he tried to deify himself. he was a ruler of two words. i have a little trouble with the accuracy of personality traits of ppl who lived so long ago

[JiHaD_JoE]

Originally posted by Believer
If this is true, Details, then it's a serious blow to Islam.
Alexander was a bisexual!
He was a sodomizing heathen with an insatiable thirst for land and glory.

i heard that Alexander isnt Zulqarin because Alexander claimed to be God

[Believer]

I always thought Zulqarnain was likely King Darius.

[AbuMubarak]

Originally posted by Details
i do not believe you can support that position. It is a relatively modern interpretation and is not supported in historical documents. It is known that Alexander the Great was known as Iskandar Zulqarnain, and there are coins in existance that depict him with the two horned crowns .... the dual-crown he recieved upon conquering Egypt.

"18.86": Until when he reached the place where the sun set, he found it going down into a black sea, and found by it a people. We said: O Zulqarnain! either give them a chastisement or do them a benefit.

This bit is actually paralleled in the accounts of alexander the great while he was on his quest for immortality.

"18.94": They said: O Zulqarnain! surely Gog and Magog make mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute on condition that you should raise a barrier between us and them

again, paralleled in the accounts of his travels from persia north to the caucausus. the stories are repeated where0ever you go in north-western iran.

'The famous Quranic translator maulana A. Yousuf Ali gave a long story as Appendix Vll (titled: Who was Zulqarnain; page 760-765) detailing the facts and figures why most Islamic scholars including himself considered very strongly that, Quranic Zulqarnain was nobody but Alexander the Great." '

and then there is Derbend, Hissar District, about 150 miles south-east of Bukhara.
"There is no iron gate there now, but there was one in 7th century when the Chinese traveler Hiouen Tsiang saw it on his journey to India. He saw two folding gates cased with iron and hung with bells. Near by is a lake named Iskandar Kul, connecting the locality with Alexander the Great. We know from history that Alexander, after his conquest of Persia and before his journey to India, visited Sogdiana (Bukara) maracanda (Samarqand). We also know from Muqaddasi, the Arab traveler and geographer, who wrote about A.H. 375 (A.D. 985-6) the Abbasi Khalifa Wathiq (842-846 A.D.) sent out a mission to Central asia to report on this iron gate. They found the defile 150 yards wide: on two jambs made with bricks of iron welded together with molten lead, were hung two huge Gates, which are kept closed"

defile = narrow passage between two mountains.


and about gog and magog?
"They were the Mongol tribes on the other side of the Barrier, while the industrious men who did not understand Zul-qarnain?s language were the turks, with their agglutinative language, so different from the languages then spoken in Western Asia. This Barrier served its purpose for the time being. ... In the Alexander legends of medieval Europe, Gog and magog are said to have come with 400,000 men to the help of Porus whom Alexander defeated, and to have fled after that defeat. They fled to the mountains, and Alexander built a wall with brass gates to prevent their irruption (Paul Meyer, Alexander le Grand dans la literature fraqaise du Moyen age: Paris, 1886; Vol.2, pp:386-389)." Originally posted by abdulhakeem


With regard to what you say about Alexander the Great, this is a specious argument which is indicative of the stupidity and ignorance of the Christians. We may respond to that from several angles, as follows:

1 – There is no mention in the Qur’aan of how long Dhu’l-Qarnayn (Alexander) lived, or of the era in which he lived.

2 – Dhu’l-Qarnayn who is mentioned in the Qur’aan is not Alexander the Macedonian or Greek who built Alexandria. This Alexander is the one who died at the age of 33, as mentioned in the Christian books. He lived 323 years before the birth of the Messiah (peace be upon him).

Dhu’l-Qarnayn who is mentioned in the Qur’aan lived at the time of Ibraaheem (peace be upon him), and it is said that he became Muslim at the hands of Ibraaheem (peace be upon him), and he went on pilgrimage to the Ka’bah walking. The scholars differed concerning him, as to whether he was a Prophet or a righteous slave and just king, but they agree that he was a Muslim, a monotheist (believer in Tawheed) and one who was obedient to Allaah.

The correct view is to refrain from stating what he was, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I do not know whether Tubba’ was a Prophet or not, and I do not know whether Dhu’l-Qarnayn was a Prophet or not.”

(Narrated by al-Haakim and al-Bayhaqi; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 5524).

3 – The difference between this righteous slave, and the Macedonian Alexander who was a kaafir, is well known to Muslim scholars. Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Badaayah wa’l-Nahaayah (1/493):

“It was narrated that Qutaadah said: Alexander was Dhu’l-Qarnayn and his father was the first of the Caesars, and he was one of the descendants of Saam ibn Nooh (Shem the son of Noah). As for Dhu’l-Qarnayn, he was Alexander son of Philip… ibn Roomi ibn al-Asfar ibn Yaqaz ibn al-‘Ees ibn Ishaaq ibn Ibraaheem al-Khaleel. This is the genealogy of him given by al-Haafiz ibn ‘Asaakir in his Taareekh. (He is known as) the Macedonian, the Greek, the Egyptian, builder of Alexandria, on the events of whose life the Greeks based their calendar. He came much later than the first Alexander. This was approximately three hundred years before the Messiah. The philosopher Aristotle was his minister and he is the one who killed Daar ibn Daar (Darius) and humiliated the kings of Persia and invaded their land.

We have drawn attention to him because many people think that they are one and the same and that the one who is mentioned in the Qur’aan is the one whose minister was Aristotle, which has resulted in a lot of mistakes and far-reaching corruption. The former was a righteous believing slave and a just king, and the latter was a mushrik and his minister was a philosopher. There were more than two thousand years between the two, so what comparison can there be between them? They are not alike at all and they have nothing in common, except in the mind of a fool who does not know anything.”

4 – The Christians have no information in their holy book about the second Alexander, let alone the first. All they have is the story of the visions of Daniel, which they claim refer to the rule of this infidel Alexander, and the division of his kingdom after his death.

5 – If we assume that there is a difference between what the Qur’aan says and what their book says about a person or an event, why should that be regarded as strange? There are many such differences, especially in the stories of the Prophets such as Ibraaheem (Abraham), Nooh (Noah), Loot (Lot), Moosa (Moses), Dawood (David) and ‘Eesa (Jesus) (peace be upon them). The Christians have no reliable and continuous chain of narration for this book in which they believe, and they know nothing about those who translated it. Moreover it contains dozens of contradictions which effectively nullify any claim to infallibility or to have been written with inspiration from the Holy Spirit. It is sufficient to note the contradictions in the genealogy of Jesus (peace be upon him)!

So how can we take what is in these distorted books as a standard by which to judge the Holy Qur’aan which is preserved by Allaah?!

And Allaah knows best.

http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ln=eng&ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=22029&dgn=4

[Sultan]

In truth, nobody can identify who Zulqarnain was.

It's all just speculation.

Perhaps we should consider the possibility that such a person lived before written history.

Humans have existed on this planet for tens of thousands of years.

Yet we only think of human history as going back to six thousand years or so.

[GenN]

Assalaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu

There were a number of famous historical personalities by the name of
Alexander (Sikander). The one generally referred to as 'Alexander the Great'
was a Greek commander who was also the student of the famous greek
philosopher Aristotle. This much is known in history that this particular
'Alexander the Great' was a Mushrik (polytheist).

From the Qur'aan, it is established that Dhul-Qarnayn was a pious Muslim,
and according to some, was a Nabiy as well. Thus, Dhul Qarnayn was
definitely not 'Alexander the Great'.

According to the Mufassir ibn Kathir, Dhul Qarnayn was another Alexander
(Sikander) in Arabic, who appeared some 2000 years before 'Alexander the
Great' (Ma'ariful Qur'aan vol.5 pg.618)

We are not aware of 'Sikander Bukt'.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
FATWA DEPT.

[GenN]

and ibn Kathir was a great historain hundreds of years ago!

[Brother_Daniel]

I have seen some good arguements that try to identify him as one of the Kings of Persia. But Allaah alone knows his true identity.