There are rumors that he is Alexander The Great, his name meaning "The Two Horned One", but they both lived in different time periods. There are also scholars who say he is/was Cyrus The Great. I was wondering, any chance of him being Saladin (Salahuddin)?
Dhul Qarnayn, may Allah raise his rank, was a great Yemeni king as well as a pious man (waliyy). Allah gave him many extra-ordinary matters, and his story was mentioned in the Qur’an.
His name was as-Sa^b bin al-Hareth according to some scholars. Others said his name was as-Sa^b bin Dhi Mara’ed. He was the most famous among the Yemeni kings called the Tababi^ah of that era.
One of his grandsons recited a poem about him saying;
My grandfather Dhul Qarnayn was an undefeated Muslim king.
He traveled from East to West ganing a reign over all the lands
as was granted to him by Allah, the generous Lord.
Muslim scholars mentioned that Dhul Qarnayn’s minister was Prophet al-Khader who led his army. Dhul Qarnayn also met with Prophets Ibrahim and Isma^il, peace be upon them, when he traveled on foot from Yemen to honorable Makkah to perform Hajj. When Prophet Ibrahim learned of his arrival he greeted him, made du^a for him, and gave him general advice and guidance. While in Hijaz (1) Dhul Qarnayn circumambulated the Ka^bah and slaughtered animals in the company of both Prophets Ibrahim and Isma^il. He was offered a horse to ride but out of respect Dhul Qarnayn said, "I will not mount a horse in the land of Prophet Ibrahim." Prophet Ibrahim then gave him the good news that Allah had ordered the wind to carry him wherever he wished.
Dhul Qarnayn was granted many remarkable matters, among them was a long life and victory. Allah also gave him the knowledge of different landmarks and features of the earth. As a result, he conquered many cities and ruled lands ranging from the east to the west. Dhul Qarnayn mastered different languages, he could communicate with the people he ruled in their native language. Dhul Qarnayn was kind and compassionate and wise as he ruled. The inhabitants of the land he entered embraced Islam and were safe and prosperous; while those that refused were dishonored and shamed.
Illumination and darkness were also under Dhul Qarnayn’s command, by the will of Allah. If he traveled at night the path ahead of him would illuminate while the path behind him would remain dark. Sometimes darkness would be used as a weapon against enemies who attempted to fight him. Darkness would engulf them from all sides until they retreated. The darkness was used another time when one day he decided to travel west to the land where the sun sets.He found a nation living there. They were murderers and unjust people who spread misguidance. He gave them a choice between extreme punishment in this world and more punishment in the hereafter, or believing in God, performing good deeds and reaping the reward in the garden of Eden. Dhul Qarnayn stayed with them for a period of time spreading guidance and goodness.
After being near the place closer to where the sun sets, Dhul Qarnyan aspired to visit the place closer to where the sun rises. Making his way there, he reached a vast empty plain with no construction, mountains, or trees. There he found strange people. When the sun rose they would escape its intense heat by hiding in burrows they had dug, or diving underwater. They would emerge again after the sun had set.
At one time an army of soldiers came to this land and set up camp near these people. Concered for their visitors, residents advised them not to stay on lamd in time for the sun to rise." Stubbornly, the army replied, "We will not leave before the sun rises." As they observed the area around them they saw many skeleton bones. When they asked about the bones, the resident tribe told them, "These are the skeleton bones of another army who died when the sun rose over them sometime ago." Hearing this news and seeing the evidence, the army quickly fled.
Dhul Qarnayn witnessed this strange matter and continued on his way conquering reigning over every land he entered, supported by the victory that Allah granted him. Eventually, he reached a valley between two giant mountains. In this valley lived another strange tribe whose language was barely identifiable. Their neighbors were a wicked, malicious, a deviant group of people, Gog and Magog.
When the tribe in the valley realized that Dhul Qarnayn was a strong king with might and vigor they sought his help. He had years of experience, a vast kingdom, and numerous aides, so they asked him to build a barrier to separate them from their evil neighbors. Dhul Qarnayn agreed to their request. They offered to pay him for this service, but Dhul Qarnayn refused saying, “What Allah has bestowed upon me and given me is better than what you offer. I only ask that you help me with the labor and machinery needed to build this partition.”
As per his request, they brought him large iron slabs; each one weighing a qintar. He placed these iron blocks between the two mountains, one on top of the other. He started at the bottom and worked his way up to the peak. He then surrounded the iron sheets with charcoal and wood and started a fire. He gave orders to keep the flames strong and blow on it to intensify its temperature. The fire caused the iron blocks to melt. Then he poured melted copper mixed with lead on top of the iron; this made a solid, smooth barrier that extended from the valley to the top of the mountains. It reached a height of 250 dhira^ (equivalent to 125 meter). This barrier was difficult to climb because it was smooth and had no protrusions. It had no holes and was very difficult to break through.
When Dhul Qaryan completed building the barrier he said, “Allah facilitated this for us, by His mercy. When the Day of Judgment is near, this wall will be destroyed.” Thus, Dhul Qarnayn imprisoned Gog and Magog behind this barrier. Prophet Muhammad informed us that the people of Gog and Magog live long and do not die until they give birth to 1000 or more children. They will eventually breakthrough the iron partition and emerge with a huge population.
Everyday since that time, the people of Gog and Magog try to break through the barrier but fail. One day in the near future, closer to the approach of the Day of Judgement and after a long strenuous day of trying to break through, they say, “Tomorrow we will continue.” However, they come back the next day only to find the small hole that they opened was resealed. They do this everyday, until one day they say, “Tomorrow we will continue by the will of Allah." When they come back the next day they will find the hole from the previous day still open and from there they will continue digging through the barrier until they emerge. Their appearance will be one of the major signs that indicate the nearing of the Day of Judgement. May Allah protect us from its terrors and awes.
Dhul Qarnyan lived for hundreds of years, helping those in need, teaching and ruling according to Islam and ruling fairly. He lived his life preparing for the hereafter and died armed with good deeds and piety.
There are rumors that he is Alexander The Great, his name meaning "The Two Horned One", but they both lived in different time periods. There are also scholars who say he is/was Cyrus The Great. I was wondering, any chance of him being Saladin (Salahuddin)?
Thank you brothers,
Allah be with you
Saladin cannot be Dhul Qarnain because Saladin lived in 12th century. Correct me if I am wrong.
Although he loved peace, Salahuddin Ayyubi became one of the world's greatest warriors. He was born in Tekrit in 1138 CE when his father Ameer Najmudin was the ruler of Tekrit. He was brought up by his noble father and talented uncle, Asad-ud-din Shirkhu. Salahuddin was a very intelligent and noble person. He loved peace and never enjoyed fighting battles. But all changed when Salahuddin was ordered to go to Egypt with his uncle. He went to Egypt many times with his uncle to fight two enemies, the Franks and the Batnids. After his uncle's death, he became the commander and Vizier of Egypt. Salahuddin Ayyubi never lived in the palace. Instead, he lived in a small house near the mosque. Salahuddin had a great love for Islam and as the vizier and general of Egypt, he tried hard to root out the Crusaders. For this purpose, he maintained a strong army. He established peace and prosperity throughout the country. From the beginning, many prejudiced Egyptian ministers disliked him. When they saw he was winning the hearts of the Egyptian people they did many conspiracies against him but due to Salahuddin's wisdom, they were defeated. When the Fatmid caliph Al Aziz died, Salahuddin became the ruler of Egypt. When Salahuddin took over Damascus the people opened the gates of the city to him and greeted him warmly.
The Crusaders were not happy by Salahuddin's increasing power and success. Uniting their forces, they planned a decisive attack on Muslim area. Battle of Hittin took place. Muslims won under the leadership of Salahuddin. Thousands of Crusaders were arrested. Salahuddin treated the prisoners with tolerance.
In 1187 CE, Salahuddin conquered Jerusalem. Thousands of Crusaders were arrested. However, when their mothers, sisters, and wives appealed to Salahuddin, he released them. Many crusaders were ransomed. However, he paid for many of them. In addition, he provided them transport, etc. He allowed neither massacre nor looting. He gave free pardon to all citizens. He even arranged for their traveling. He granted freedom to Christians to leave the city if they paid a small tribute. Salahuddin paid it, himself, for about ten thousand poor people. His brother paid it for seven thousand people. Salahuddin also allocated one of the gates of the city for people who were too poor to pay anything that they leave from there.
On Friday 27th Rajab 583 AH, Salahuddin entered Jerusalem. After entering the city they went straight to the Mosque and cleaned it. Then for the first time in more then 80 years, the people of Jerusalem heard the Azan (call of prayer) from Al Aqsa Mosque.
As the Brother Muslimeen Mentioned from Quran the Story of Dhul Qarnayn... i would like to explain here...that it was the Jewish Rabbis in Madinah who had posed the Question to pagan Makkans to ask the Prophet Muhammad if he can answer this Question... they posed three questions and among them one of them was about the Mighty Ruler who had travelled throughout the earth and had established Justice...
(18:83) “And they (the Rabbis) ask thee (Oh Muhammad) concerning Dhūl Qarnain. Say, I will relate to you something of his story.”
And Dhul Qarnayn means the One who has Two Horns or the Two Horned One..... Dhul Qarnayn means the "Two Horned One"... Qarn means "Horns" "epoch".. "Ages"...
Most Commentators believed that "Two Horned One" may represent the 2 Horns as symbolism of Very powerful... but Allah (swt) knows best...
we have to see under the Words of Quran that Dhul Qarnay was a Believer in One God... as in Quran Allah (swt) mentions him...
(18:84) Behold, We established him securely on earth, and endowed him with (the knowledge of) the right means to achieve anything.
Allah (swt) establishing him and giving him all means of resources to rule the world with Justice shows, his Faith in One God, and So there is NO WAY Alexander the great, could be him, because Alexander the Great (who is shown on his coins with 2 horns) was worshiper of many gods and followed the Greek Mythology! The reason why Allah (swt) stresses Dhul Qarnay in the Quran is due to his faith (Iman)....
He was Just ruler as we can see from the rest of the Verses of the Surah Al Kahf 18:83-98
The main reason why Allah (swt) mentions Him is to give the Muslims, the example of a Just Ruler and the Basis of His Just Rulership was due to his Faith in One God.... and Allah (swt) stresses the fact in the Quran, that Just Rulership can only maintain its structure so long as it is Established on the Pillar of Faith in Allah (swt)... and so it is this reason why Allah mentions his story, to learn lesson for his way of rulership, and not for the purpose of legend.
Cyrus the Great
How ever there are many Commentators in the past who have said that He could have been Cyrus the Great... Why is that... ?
according to the Bible Prophet Daniel saw in his vision that the united kingdom of Media and Persia was like a two-horned ram before the rise of the Greeks. (Dan. 8: 3,20). The Jews had a very high opinion of "The Two-horned" one, because it was his invasion which brought about the downfall of the kingdom of Babylon and the liberation of the Israelis.
The Jews were enslaved under the Babylonian Kingdom (present day Iraq) and Prophet Daniyal (daniel) (a.s) was sent as a Prophet among them, and gave them the good news of a Two Horned one who would liberate them. This captivity they were in, happened during the time of 500 BC when Nebuchadnezzar (Bakht Nasr) took over Jerusalem and killed thousands of Jews and captured others, and brought them to Babylon. Once they were liberated because of this Persian King, named Cyrus the Great, he gave them the permission to rebuilt their temple in Jerusalem and move back to their city. That is why the Jews have a very high opinion of him. So since he was a ruler of Vast empire it could be that he was Dhul Qarnayn. And so it could be this reason why Jews posed this Question to pagans to ask Muhammad (Saw).
Also this Verse
(18:94) “They said: O Dhul Qarnain! Gog and Magog corrupt (our) territory with acts of great oppression and corruption. Can we offer you tribute (i.e., pay you) in order that you might erect a barrier between us and them?”
.. it is said that Cyrus the Great alo had his empire stretched towards the North of Persia, towards the Mountains of Caucasus from where the Wild Tribes of Central Asia, used to make inroads towards the civilized nations and wreaked havoc. Also there are many Gates and walls even uptil today to be found near the Caucasus Mountains between Black Sea and Caspian Seas, which are attributed to those Persian Emperors who used to build them to keep the wild tribes away! Tartars, Mongols, Huns and Scythians , all of these were settled up North in Central Asia, near present day Russia.
One More Misconception that people have ... that Wall of China is one of those Walls of Dhul Qarnay, NO it was made by Chinese Dynasty and has nothing to do with the Story of Dhul Qarnay, and Chinese are NOT Gog and Magog!
Concered for their visitors, residents advised them not to stay on lamd in time for the sun to rise." Stubbornly, the army replied, "We will not leave before the sun rises." As they observed the area around them they saw many skeleton bones. When they asked about the bones, the resident tribe told them, "These are the skeleton bones of another army who died when the sun rose over them sometime ago." Hearing this news and seeing the evidence, the army quickly fled.
Do you seriously believe in this?
Honestly, there is no place where the sun sets or rises. It sets/rises all over the planet due to our rotation. You do NOT come any closer to the setting of the sun by going to the west because the sun first of all doesnt set. And what is all of this about skeleton? It does NOT get hotter for you to go east than to go west! I am interested if there are any more incredible legends and myths about this? How about people throwing things at the sun when it rises? Or other nonsense?
Honestly, there is no place where the sun sets or rises. It sets/rises all over the planet due to our rotation.
It's in relation to where he was at the time....in this case, it's talking about sunrise (or morning). Obviously, when it says sets, it's referring to night time.
You do NOT come any closer to the setting of the sun by going to the west because the sun first of all doesnt set.
THis argument was not even in the text to begin with...
And what is all of this about skeleton?
''These are the skeleton bones of another army who died when the sun rose over them sometime ago"
It does NOT get hotter for you to go east than to go west!
It only mentioned he travelled to the west. It had nothng to do with it being hotter or not..
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
The sun rises in the East. Or at least so it is according to our vision. But that story says that this man reached the far east and the place the sun rises and these people were burned out by the sun. This is what I was speaking about
Ok Good Concern thunderman... your right ... that story is NOT true... not to offend any one, but just trying to make it clear, the Story of Dhul Qarnayn if studied from Quran does NOT say that... this story quoted by Brother Muslimeeen is NOT in the QUran...
Prophet (savs) said: "From a persons good islam is also not being concerned with that which does not belong to him (benefits him/her)" (Tirmidhi, hadithun hasenun-sahih!)
I would suggest to take whatever you find from the Quran and the authentic sunnah. That will be enough for you, believe me. And the oolama said "If you give your whole life to knowladge it will only give you a part of it". They where talking about the Quran and the Sunnah; hence, it is enough for us to study these two sources and not wonder around, when religion is concerned. Allah knows best.
There are rumors that he is Alexander The Great, his name meaning "The Two Horned One", but they both lived in different time periods. There are also scholars who say he is/was Cyrus The Great. I was wondering, any chance of him being Saladin (Salahuddin)?
Thank you brothers,
Allah be with you
ذوالقرنين wasn't Salahuddin Ayyubi. A research carried out by IB and UI users in 2005 found several possibilities about who ذوالقرنين was; including leaders in ancient Crete (near Greece), Sweden, Caribbean and a handful of other places.
The phrase ذوالقرنين is from two words (not including ال, "the" determinant). ذو is the thing or person (in such case we are talking about a person); sometime translated as person or companion. In the case of ذاالنون; its translated as the companion of the fish.
قرنين is the dual form of قرن, which is translated as generation, offspring, nation and horn.
The understanding of ذوالقرنين generally is a man with two horns, although some valid opinions state two children and two nations.
It is He Who has sent down to you (Muhammad ) the Book (this Qur'an). In it are Verses that are entirely clear, they are the foundations of the Book [and those are the Verses of Al-Ahkam (commandments, etc.), Al-Fara'id (obligatory duties) and Al-Hudud (legal laws for the punishment of thieves, adulterers, etc.)]; and others not entirely clear. So as for those in whose hearts there is a deviation (from the truth) they follow that which is not entirely clear thereof, seeking Al-Fitnah (polytheism and trials, etc.), and seeking for its hidden meanings, but none knows its hidden meanings save Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in it; the whole of it (clear and unclear Verses) are from our Lord." And none receive admonition except men of understanding. (Tafsir At-Tabari).
(Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan translation)
Jazakumullahu Khair
Lā ilāha illā-llāhu waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu lahu-l-mulku
Wa lahu-l-hamdu yuḥyi Wa yumītu Wa huwa ḥayyu-llā yamūtu abadan abada
ḏū-l-jalāli wa-l-ikrām, biyadihi-l-khayr
wa huwa ‘alā kulli Shay’in qadīr.
Its not a mission of seeking hidden or ambiguous meanings, rather one to research a historical figure; a satisfaction for curiosity, not for questioning or messing around with the guidance from Allah, nor for the purposes of following ambiguities.
And when Abraham said (unto his Lord): My Lord! Show me how Thou givest life to the dead, He said: Dost thou not believe? Abraham said: Yea, but (I ask) in order that my heart may be at ease. (His Lord) said: Take four of the birds and cause them to incline unto thee, then place a part of them on each hill, then call them, they will come to thee in haste, and know that Allah is Mighty, Wise. (2:260)
Its not a mission of seeking hidden or ambiguous meanings, rather one to research a historical figure; a satisfaction for curiosity, not for questioning or messing around with the guidance from Allah, nor for the purposes of following ambiguities.
And when Abraham said (unto his Lord): My Lord! Show me how Thou givest life to the dead, He said: Dost thou not believe? Abraham said: Yea, but (I ask) in order that my heart may be at ease. (His Lord) said: Take four of the birds and cause them to incline unto thee, then place a part of them on each hill, then call them, they will come to thee in haste, and know that Allah is Mighty, Wise. (2:260)
Its not a mission of seeking hidden or ambiguous meanings, rather one to research a historical figure; a satisfaction for curiosity, not for questioning or messing around with the guidance from Allah, nor for the purposes of following ambiguities.
As-Salāmu `Alaykum (السلام عليكم):
Nabi Ibrahim (AS) was instructed by Allah to fullfill a commandment. What commandment is this thread or ayat enjoining Muslims to do as an obligation?
Lā ilāha illā-llāhu waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu lahu-l-mulku
Wa lahu-l-hamdu yuḥyi Wa yumītu Wa huwa ḥayyu-llā yamūtu abadan abada
ḏū-l-jalāli wa-l-ikrām, biyadihi-l-khayr
wa huwa ‘alā kulli Shay’in qadīr.
What is the intent for seeking the actual identity of Dhul Qarnayn and how does it assist in Muslims fullfilling our obligations or Aqidah? This is a very clear question.
Lā ilāha illā-llāhu waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu lahu-l-mulku
Wa lahu-l-hamdu yuḥyi Wa yumītu Wa huwa ḥayyu-llā yamūtu abadan abada
ḏū-l-jalāli wa-l-ikrām, biyadihi-l-khayr
wa huwa ‘alā kulli Shay’in qadīr.
What is the intent for seeking the actual identity of Dhul Qarnayn and how does it assist in Muslims fullfilling our obligations or Aqidah? This is a very clear question.
Systems have passed away before you. Do but travel in the land and see the nature of the consequence for those who did deny (the messengers). (3:137)
Researching on Dhul Qarnayn creates room for understanding history; يأجوج and مأجوج being part of that history, and as a sign of يوم القيامة. This isn't a treasure hunt, nor should anyone go around chasing thin air.
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Correct me if I am wrong.
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