In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful
Qur'aanic Verses 18:83 to 18:99
provide some information about this prehistoric personality.
Scholars identify him variously as
Alexander the Great, Cyrus the Great, or Darius the Great. Some even identify
him as Prophet Muhammad himself (peace on him)! But it is all speculation. Only
Allah Almighty knows who he was. So, let us restrict ourselves to just what
the Qur'aan says about him.
Allah Almighty had established him with a good position in this world. And he had the means to undertake expeditions, at Allah's behest, in various directions from his seat of power.
In the first expedition described in the Qur'aan, he went westwards. He found a people living near a huge pond of muddy water extending right up to the horizon in the west. The people were apparently a mixed lot of good and wicked persons. Zul Qarnain had the full authority and power to deal with them as he pleased. But he exercised his power in a just manner. The wicked were punished and the good were well treated.
And his just use of power is the important point that the Qur'aan highlights here about Zul Qarnain. His identification with any historical figure was not important. He was more just than most rulers in today's world!
Zul Qarnain's 2nd expedition that the Qur'aan records was to the East. Here he comes across a community that lived in the open. This community could not have been of human beings, as Allah has given them enough creative power to build for themselves some sort of shelter against heat and rain. The community could therefore be of wild animals. Zul Qarnain could do nothing about it. Here Allah showed him his limitations as a human being!
In the 3rd recorded expedition, Zul Qarnain came across a people harassed by unduly mobs coming across a pass between 2 mountains. Zul Qarnain had the resources to close the pass with iron gates plastered with molten brass. The gates effectively prevented the unruly mobs from coming across. It was thus seen that Zul Qarnain was not only just, but was extremely helpful, to people he came across during his expeditions!
A Chinese traveller during the 7th century AD records in his travelogue the existence of those iron gates far away in the North from the Arabian Peninsula (source: Wikipedia). There was, therefore, hardly any chance of any Arab personally knowing about those gates, at the time the Qur'aan was revealed. Mention of those gates in the Qur'aan does certainly show that the knowledge displayed in it could have come only from Allah!
The Qur'aan further states that, in due course, the gates would be demolished. And, sure enough, the gates are no longer there! This also points to the divine nature of the Qur'aan.
At the end of the Qur'aanic narration of the story of Zul Qarnain, the Holy Book truly predicts the intermingling of the various communities of this world, as a prelude to their being gathered for Judgement Day!
O Muslims! Do you still entertain doubts about the divine origin of the Qur'aan!? And, if you don't, why don't you follow the Qur'aan, in letter, and in spirit!?
Mohammad Shafi
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