Alexander the Great is thought by most scholars to be the "Zul-qarnain" (meaning "The Two-Horned Lord") mentioned in the Qur'an in Surat Al-Kahf (chapter 18;'The Cave').

Historical Background

Alexander the Great was an immensely popular figure in the classical and post-classical cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East. Almost immediately after his death a body of legend began to accumulate about his exploits and life which, over the centuries, became increasingly fantastic as well as allegorical. Collectively this tradition is called the Alexander Romance and features such vivid episodes as Alexander ascending through the air to Paradise or journeying to the bottom of the sea in a glass bubble.

As the Alexander Romance persisted in popularity over the centuries, it was assumed by various neighboring cultures. Of particular significance was its incorporation into Jewish and later Christian legendary traditions. In the Jewish tradition Alexander is often a figure of satire, representing the vain or covetous ruler who is ignorant of larger spiritual truths. Yet their belief in a just, all-powerful God forced Jewish interpreters of the Alexander tradition to come to terms with Alexander's undeniable temporal success. Why would a just, all-powerful God show such favor to an unrighteous ruler? This theological need, plus acculturation to Hellenism, led to a more positive Jewish interpretation of the Alexander legacy. In its most neutral form this was typified by having Alexander show deference to either the Jewish people or the symbols of their faith. In having the great conqueror thus acknowledge the essential truth of the Jews' religious, intellectual, or ethical traditions, the prestige of Alexander was harnessed to the cause of Jewish ethnocentrism. Eventually Jewish writers would almost completely coop Alexander, depicting him as a righteous gentile or even a believing monotheist. The Christianized peoples of the Near East, inheritors of both the Hellenic as well as Judaic strands of the Alexander Romance, further theologized Alexander until in some stories he was depicted as almost a saint.

It was in this context of a well-established Judeo-Christian Alexander tradition that Islam also adopted the Alexander Romance. In the Qur'an Alexander (called "The Two-Horned Lord" in reference to his frequent depiction[1] with ram's horns) is portrayed as a pious servant of God. With the Muslim-Arab conquest of Iran, the Alexander Romance found its way to an honored place in Persian literature- an ironic outcome considering pre-Islamic Persia's hostility to the national enemy who not only destroyed the glorious Achaemenid Empire, but was also directly responsible for centuries of Persian domination by Hellenic and quasi-Hellenic foreign overlords.

Theological Controversy

Though some Muslim scholars have traditionally identified Zul-qarnain with Alexander the Great (others preferring to identify him with the mysterious Tubba' of Yemen), modern historical and scriptural scholarship has lately made this position untenable. Most obviously the factual details of the Alexander Romance as included in the Qu'ran (Alexander's fantastic deeds as well as his implied monotheism) have no basis in historical fact- a difficulty for a text considered by almost all Muslims to be infallible.

More fundamentally, the inclusion of pseudo-religious folklore in the Qu'ran challenges core doctrines of Islamic theology. Islam's attitude to Judaism and Christianity is basically negationist. Though kinship between these two religions and Islam is acknowledged, Islamic theology holds that over time Jews and Christians deviated from the original, divinely-inspired scriptures they received and introduced enough heretical "innovations" that a final, corrective prophetic mission (that of Muhammad) became necessary. The inclusion of a text with no scriptural authority, and which in the main derives from a pagan/polytheistic legendary tradition, seriously undermines this claim. As such, some modern Muslim scholars have recently argued that Zul-qarnain is not in fact Alexander, but instead some other ancient king, such as Cyrus the Great.

Qur'anic Text

From the Qur'an (Chapter 18):

[83] They ask thee concerning Zul-qarnain Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story." [84] Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends. [85] One (such) way he followed, [86] Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: near it he found a people: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority), either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness." [87] He said: "Whoever doth wrong, him shall we punish; then shall he be sent back to his Lord; and He will punish him with a punishment unheard-of (before). [88] "But whoever believes, and works righteousness, he shall have a goodly reward, and easy will be his task as we order it by our command." [89] Then followed he (another) way. [90] Until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no covering protection against the sun. [91] (He left them) as they were: We completely understood what was before him. [92] Then followed he (another) way, [93] Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word. [94] They said: "O Zul-qarnain! the Gog and Magog (people) do great mischief on earth: shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect a barrier between us and them? [95] He said: "(The power) in which my Lord has established me is better (than tribute): help me therefore with strength (and labour): I will erect a strong barrier between you and them: [96] "Bring me blocks of iron." At length, when he had filled up the space between the two steep mountain sides, he said, "Blow (with your bellows)" then, when he had made it (red) as fire, he said: "Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten lead." [97] Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it. [98] He said: "This is a mercy from my Lord: but when the promise of my Lord comes to pass, He will make it into dust; and the promise of my Lord is true."

External Links

• Jewish Encylopedia.com: Alexander the Great