Part 2
As you know the background of Surah Kahf in previous chapter, Because the incident of Hazrat Zul-Qarnain (PBUH) has been told in this Surah. The events of the Surah are described in detail. On one point the Quraysh of Makkah, they decided to compete with Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) on a very intellectual level. That is why he asked the top scholars of the Jews to give some questions. Which they wanted to ask to Last Prophet (SAW).
One of the questions that the Jews gave the Quraish was who is Zul-Qarnain? And the details are already shared with you in previous chapter.
And in this chapter, we will tell you the about Hazrat Zulqarnain in very systemic way with proper research. Which is a cause of curiosity for us in today’s era, who was Zul-Qarnain?
Where did he see the sun sinking into the mud? What was the place he sees where there was no place to seek shelter from the sun? And where is the wall he built? Why can’t we see this wall today?
And perhaps the most interesting question of the entire journey. Who is this Gog and Magog (Yajooj and Majooj)?
At the end of the previous chapter, I told you the incident of Zul-Qarnain in exactly the same way as mentioned in the Holy Quran
letter by letter, but before I begin the formal discussion on this incident, we want to tell you the whole story of this incident in simple words. Now read carefully this chapter because throughout the next chapters we will be referring to these events from time to time.
Allah Almighty gave Zul-Qarnain (A.S.) strength and power in the world and also gave him the resources of everything. Zul-Qarnain started his journey and even reached a place where the sun was setting in black mud. Zul-Qarnain saw some kind of people there. Allah gave Zul-Qarnain a choice either to punish them or treat them well, it’s your choice.
Zul-Qarnain says that whoever does wrong, I will punish him and whoever turns back to Allah, then Allah will punish him. Both before me and before Allah.
After that, Zul-Qarnain goes on another journey, this time they reach the place where sunrise. Now here too they see some kind of people but here a strange thing happens. There is no veil of the sun between these people, there is no barrier,there is no protection, those people are not able to avoid the sun.
After this, Zul-Qarnain sets out on a third journey, so that they arrive between two obstacles, there he also meets some people, it is difficult for them to understand the language of Zulqarnain. However, by talking in any way they tell him. “O Zulqarnain, Yajooj and Majooj are troubling us a lot, we give you some expenses etc. so that you make a barrier between us and them to block their way.”
Zulqarnain Replied “”No, what my Allah has given me is much better than what you people are giving me. But yes, you guys can help me in one way, with your power, A man Power. And if you do that, I will put a strong barrier between you and Yajooj and Majooj”
And in this way, Zulqarnain used to build a wall and Allah told the whole way of building this wall. In this way, Zulqarnain says to these people that you people bring iron sheets for me. Steel sheets. When those people bring Iron sheet, he makes such a barrier by placing the sheets on top of each other that it becomes a kind of wall. Then he lights a fire near this wall and say to these people now give it air. Thus, when that iron becomes red hot. Zul-Qarnain says now bring me the molten copper so that I should put it on this hot iron. After all the processing It becomes such a strong barrier or wall that Neither Yajooj or Majooj can pierce it nor they can climb over it. But after creating this barrier, Zulqarnain said “Look, all this is because of the mercy of Allah, but when Allah wills, this wall will also be broken, It will be a mess
Yajooj Majooj will be freed and they will come like waves from all heights.
Now as I told you all these incidents in simple words, we come now to our questions. And the first of countless questions we have about this event that Who was Zulqarnain?
Much has been written about the identity of Zulqarnain. Some call him Prince Alexander the Great of Greece; some call him the king of Iran Cyrus the Great. And this is a name that you must have heard. But there is also an opinion about this Zulqarnain that He was once a king of Arabia. Not only will I discuss all these names with you going forward. Rather, apart from them, I will tell you some more names which maybe you have never heard. However, one thing that you all must know is the word Zul-Qarnain has one meaning, means processor of Two Horns. (2 Qaran) Qaran have 35 meanings in Arabic, one meaning of Qaran is “the one with two Horns.”
Because of this meaning some scholar said Because Zulqarnain used to wear a helmet with two horns on his head that’s why they got this name. Zulqarnain’s name also has another meaning “One who belongs to two centuries” Because of this some scholars also say that he lived for 200 years hence his name is Zulqarnain. Some scholars also say that he went from one end of the world to the other end
Hence his name is Zulqarnain. According to Scholars, this name is also due to his character that two eras are associated with it. That is, there was a time when Zulqarnain traveled on earth and Yajooj and Majooj were locked behind the wall. And the second age will be when Yajooj and Majooj is about to open again, that is, near the time of Resurrection.
Some scholar also said that his name is Zulqarnain because se had two braids on his head. Although there are lots of meaning and reasons found of this name Zulqarnain. Going forward, I will tell you more meanings of the name Zulqarnain.
Now, let’s move forward to the next question after all who was Zulqarnain?
First of all, I want to tell you according to a famous theory, Zulqarnain can be an Alexander the Great of Greece. You can estimate the popularity of this theory from here that the full name of Zulqarnain Sikandar has been sitting in the minds of our generation since childhood. However, I have seen many people using the same word while narrating this incident, means Zulqarnain Sikander.
Alexander the Great was the name of a Greek prince about 2300 years ago, and a big section of Muslims consider Zulqarnain Sikander as Alexander the Great, because there were many reasons to believe him like it.
Now we will give you such arguments that will tell whether Alexander the Great was Zulqarnain Sikander or not. Alexander the Great was considered Zulqarnain due to several reasons.
The first and most obvious reason is that Alexander the Great traveled from the West to the East just like Zulqarnain. He started his military journey from Macedonia, Greece. He immediately reached India conquering millions of territories and in the history of the world. built a huge empire, which we now call the Greek Empire. Then the second reason of considering Alexander as Zulqarnain, by the way which is very interested.
The Puran Mountains, in today’s era, are the regions of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and to some extent the territory of Iran is also there.
From here Alexander defeated the Scythian, that is, the people who lived in these mountains at that time. They were like savages. So, Alexander built a chain of mountains to keep them away from the rest of the world. So, Alexander to keep them away from the rest of the world built a wall in the Caucasus mountains. So that those people could not come to a civilized world built by Alexander. This is very interesting and very few people will be aware of this.
Rather, this wall of Alexander the Great is known as The Gates of Alexander and It is mentioned in a book written in Greek language and its a very popular book. This book was written about 300 years before our Prophet Muhammad (SAW). And by the way, this is quite a popular book, but maybe you know it by another name like Alexander Romances.That is, the book of events in the life of Alexander the Great. If you’re wondering where romance came to mean events, so in 16th-century English, everyday tasks were called romance. Now the strange thing is that after reading this book it seems that Alexander is Zulqarnain.
For example, as Zulqarnain sees the sun sinking into a black mud, the same is written in the Syriac legends that Alexander finds a poisonous sea in the west.
By sending convicted criminal into this water as a punishment. Just as Zulqarnain talked about the good and bad of people found in the black mud, I will punish those who do evil.
And like Zulqarnain found a place where the sun was rising, as per Syriac Legend Alexander the Great also found a similar place, where People were not able to escape from the sun.
Another reason to consider Alexander the Great as Zulqarnain that he had 2 horns on his head. And I’d like to give you a little background story on these horns because you might find them very interesting and surprising. And the interesting thing is, this story is absolutely true.
When Alexander the Great fought battle of Issus in Anatolia and from there he went on and conquered Egypt.
At that time the priests of Egypt were inspired by the power of Alexander and declare him a son of Amon. And its a very important thing because in Egypt, the god Amon used to have the same status as the Greek god.
That is, Amon was considered the greatest god of the Egyptians. Another name for this Egyptians god Amon was the two-horned wind.
And the incident that I am going to tell you now, this event is attributed to at least five historians of Greece, they all have written that when the Egyptian priests declared Alexander the Great the son of Amon, So Alexander visited a temple of the Egyptians. This temple was built in the Siva’s oasis in the Libyan desert, and within this temple a very interesting ritual was performed by Alexander.
The custom was to wear a crown of horns like Amon, it was a sign that Alexander was really a form of Amon and He is a son of him born on earth. In this ritual, the Libyan priests considered Alexander to be the son of Amon and the (Devta) God instead of Philip.
I have told you about 5 historians, and they all wrote that Alexander himself seems to have become convinced that he is a (devta) God. And on this occasion, Alexander also minted such coins on it was a picture of him wearing two horns.
This is very important and we will come back to it later.
There used to be another city in Greece which you already heard “Sparta”. The inhabitants of which are slightly different from the rest of the Greeks.
These people used to think of themselves as completely free, and on their concept of freedom, a short time ago, A movie called 300 was made on them. These people didn’t like the Greeks much but there is a reason why I am telling you about Sparta. From a document found at Sparta, there is proof of Alexander the Great and Sewa’s oases incident that it was true. The document name is “The Spartan Decree”
And in it is written that in the temple of Sewa, Alexander considers himself to be God, so he can.
But after knowing all these things, Can Alexander the Great be Zulqarnain?
No
Alexander the Great can’t be Zulqarnain.
Many great scholars.
For example, Imam Ibn Katheer, Ibn Taymiyyah, and the Nasir Mukarram Shirazi etc. All of them refuse to accept Alexander the Great as Zul-Qarnain for two main reasons.
The First reason is purely religious, the Zul-Qarnain is mentioned in the Holy Quran, he was monotheistic, believed in one God, believed in punishment and reward, he had faith. And he used to attribute all his achievements to Allah alone. For example, as Zulqarnain says in the third trip.
(Al-Kahf 18:95) “What Allah has given me is much better than that what you are giving me”
Or when he talks about the wall,
(Al-Kahf 18:98) “When the promise of my Lord comes, this wall will fall”
These two things show that Zul-Qarnain was a Muslim, He was monotheistic.
But,
Alexander the Great, we know the first thing that he was polytheistic, means he believes in many Gods.
Even when he lived in Greece, people believed him to be the son of the god of the Greeks.
And later when he came to Egypt, the incident I told you before, how did he go into a temple built in Sewa’s oasis and wearing a horned crown, he declared himself to be Amur and the horned god.
Another reason why Alexander the Great was not Zulqarnain, is the book you know as Alexander Romances. Nowhere in the book has Alexander the Great had two-horned or he is Zul-Qarnain. Rather, throughout the Syriac legend, Alexander’s name is called Alexander. But more importantly, although some of the events and some of the characters in this book are actually real but in fact Alexander’s romance is a very fabricated literature. And such events are written in this book which is not related to the real life or biography of Alexander.
Then Alexander the Great passed about 2300 years and most of his life is within our knowledge.
And it is almost impossible for Alexander of Greece to be Zulqarnain. However, there is another king, a large number of Muslims believe in him, that he may be Zulqarnain.
Who was that King?
Can he be Zulqarnain?
We will tell you about this in the next chapter.
To be Continued……
