Theories about Alexander the Great in the Quran

The story of Dhu al-Qarnayn (in Arabic ذو القرنين, literally "The Two-Horned One"; also transliterated as Zul-Qarnain or Zulqarnain), is mentioned in Surah al-Kahf of the Quran.

[2] According to this legend, Alexander travelled to the ends of the world then built a wall in the Caucasus mountains to keep Gog and Magog out of civilized lands (the latter element is found several centuries earlier in the works of Flavius Josephus).

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.

These are the literary expression of a living popular tradition and as such are the most remarkable and interesting part of the work[15]The Greek variants of the Alexander romance continued to evolve until, in the 4th century, the Greek legend was translated into Latin by Julius Valerius Alexander Polemius (where it is called the Res gestae Alexandri Magni) and from Latin it spread to all major vernacular languages of Europe in the Middle Ages.

[28] The Syriac legend matches many details in the five parts of the verses (Alexander being the two horned one, journey to edge of the world, punishment of evil doers, Gog and Magog, etc.)

Alexander the Great was portrayed in his own time with horns following the iconography of the Egyptian god Ammon-Ra, who held the position of transcendental, self-created creator deity "par excellence".

In the late 2nd century BC, silver coins depicting Alexander with ram horns were used as a principal coinage in Arabia and were issued by an Arab ruler by the name of Abi'el who ruled in the south-eastern region of the Arabian Peninsula.

[39] In 2018, excavations led by Dr. Eleni Procopiou at Katalymata ton Plakoton, an Early Byzantine site within the Akrotiri Peninsula on Cyprus, discovered a 7th Century CE depiction of Alexander the Great with horns.

Professor Sean Anthony regards it as significant, providing "seventh-century Byzantine iconography of Alexander with two horns that is contemporary with the Qurʾan"[40] In 1971, Ukrainian archeologist B.M.

In the prophecy, Daniel has a vision of a ram with two long horns and verse 20 explains that "The ram which thou sawest having two horns is the kings of Media and Persia": Josephus [37–100 AD], in his Antiquities of the Jews xi, 8, 5 tells of a visit that Alexander is purported to have made to Jerusalem, where he met the high priest Jaddua and the assembled Jews, and was shown the book of Daniel in which it was prophesied that some one of the Greeks would overthrow the empire of Persia.

I know in my mind that thou hast exalted me above all kings, and thou hast made me horns upon my head, wherewith I might thrust down the kingdoms of the world...I will magnify thy name, O Lord, forever ... And if the Messiah, who is the Son of God [Jesus], comes in my days, I and my troops will worship Him...[42]While the Syriac Legend references the horns of Alexander, it consistently refers to the hero by his Greek name, not using a variant epithet.

Similarly, St. Jerome (347–420 AD), in his Letter 77, mentions that, The hordes of the Huns had poured forth all the way from Maeotis (they had their haunts between the icy Tanais and the rude Massagetae, where the gates of Alexander keep back the wild peoples behind the Caucasus).

It has been suggested that the incorporation of the Gog and Magog legend into the Alexander romance was prompted by the invasion of the Huns across the Caucasus mountains in 395 AD into Armenia and Syria.

[23]These pseudepigraphic letters from Alexander to his mother Olympias and his tutor Aristotle, describing his marvellous adventures at the end of the World, date back to the original Greek recension α written in the 4th century in Alexandria.

In later versions of the Christian legends, dated to around the time of Emperor Heraclius (575–641 AD), the Gates are instead located in Derbent, a city situated on a narrow strip of land between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus mountains, where an ancient Sassanid fortification was mistakenly identified with the wall built by Alexander.

[54] The Muslim geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi further confirmed the same view in a number of places in his book on geography; for instance under the heading "Khazar" (Caspian) he writes: This territory adjoins the Wall of Dhul-Qarnain just behind Bab-ul-Abwab, which is also called Derbent.

In a paper supporting van Bladel's thesis on the direct dependency of the Dhu'l Qarnayn story on the Syriac Legend, Tommaso Tesei nevertheless highlights Károly Czeglédy's identification that this first prophecy already had a 6th-century CE existence as an apocalytic revelation involving the arrival of the Huns in a passage of the Lives of the Eastern Saints by John of Ephesus (d. 586 ca.).

Ibn Kathir (1301–1373 CE), the famous commentator of the Quran, identified Gog and Magog with the Khazars who lived between the Black and Caspian Sea in his work Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah (The Beginning and the End).

[61][62] The Muslim explorer Ahmad ibn Fadlan, in his travelogue regarding his diplomatic mission in 921 AD to Volga Bulgars (a vassal of the Khazarian Empire), noted the beliefs about Gog and Magog being the ancestors of the Khazars.

"[23]This ancient motif of a legendary figure travelling to the end of Earth is also found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which can be dated to c. 2000 BC, making it one of the earliest known works of literary writing.

Eventually he comes to the twin peaks of Mount Mashu at the end of the earth, from where the sun rises from the other world, the gate of which is guarded by two terrible scorpion-beings.

[70] The myth of a flat Earth surrounded by an Ocean into which the sun sets is also found in the Iliad, the famous epic poem written by Homer and dated to c. 900 BC.

It has been argued that he based this on his belief that since India is located at the extreme east of a flat Earth, it would only be logical if the morning were unbearably hot due to the sun's proximity.

In this version, Alexander the Great has a divine mission to convert the whole world to monotheism, and constructs the famous wall confining Gog and Magog before setting out for the Land of Darkness to find the Water of Life.

The Arabic legend also retains certain pagan elements of the story, which are sometimes modified to suit the Islamic message: It is quite remarkable that some characteristics belonging to a pre-Islamic 'pagan' entourage, have survived in the text ... For example, Alexander orders an offering of sacrificial animals at the temple of Hercules.

In the Arabic letter the name of the deity has been replaced by Allah ... Another passage in the account of the palace of Shoshan or Sus, gives a description of the large silver jars, which were alleged to have capacity of three hundred and sixty measures of wine.

During his voyages throughout the seas east of Africa and south of Asia, he has fantastic adventures going to magical places, meeting monsters, and encountering supernatural phenomena.

[17] The material was later incorporated into Qisas Al-Anbiya (Tales of the Prophets): By the turn of the first millennium C.E., the romance of Alexander in Arabic had a core centered on the Greek legendary material ... Interwoven later into this narrative in the Tales of the Prophets literature were episodes of an apparent Arab-Islamic elaboration: the construction of a great barrier to keep the people of Gog and Magog from harassing the people of the civilized world until Judgement Day, the voyage to the end of the Earth to witness the sun set in a pool of boiling mud, and Dhu al-Qarnayn's expedition into the Land of Darkness in search of the Fountain of Life accompanied by his companion Khidir ("the Green-One").

In one of his earliest historical works, entitled Ghilālat al-Zamān and written in 1877 the Tatar theologian, Shihāb al-Dīn Marjānī wrote that according to Arabic and other Muslim writings, as well as according to popular legends, the city of Bulghar was founded by Alexander the Great.

Edwards says, Alexander's association with two horns and with the building of the gate against Gog and Magog occurs much earlier than the Quran and persists in the beliefs of all three of these religions [Judaism, Christianity and Islam].

Silver tetradrachm of Alexander the Great shown wearing the horns of the ram-god Zeus-Ammon .
17th-century manuscript of an Alexandrine novel (Russia): Alexander exploring the depths of the sea
An 11th-century Syriac manuscript . The Syriac language is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent . Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from the 4th to the 8th centuries, [ 14 ] the classical language of Edessa , preserved in a large body of Syriac literature . Syriac became the vehicle of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and culture, spreading throughout Asia . Before Arabic became the dominant language, Syriac was a major language among the Assyrian Christian communities of the Middle East and Central Asia . Several Syriac manuscripts of the Alexander romance exist, dating from the 7th century. The Greek–Syriac translators are generally credited with introducing the works of the ancient Greeks to pre- Islamic Arabia .
A Persian painting from the 16th century illustrating the building of the wall with the help of the jinn
The wall of the citadel in Derbent , Russia. Built by the Sasanian kings, it was often identified with the " Gates of Alexander ". The Caliph Umar , as well as later Caliphs, sent expeditions to Derbent to seek out this wall.
Example of a T-O map appearing in a German encyclopedia published by Joseph Meyer (1796-1856 AD). The T-O map was the first printed map in Europe. The map shows a disc shaped Earth surrounded by Oceanus , with the location Gog and Magog to the north, and Paropamisadae mountains ( Hindu Kush ) to the east in Asia. In the Christian legends, Alexander built the wall against Gog and Magog in the north, near the Caspian sea, and then went to the ends of the earth at the Paropamisadae, where it was supposed that the sun rises.
Map of Alexander's travels. Alexander never marched far west of his native Macedon and his advances eastward ended at the fringes of India.
Manuscript of the 9th-century Arabic work Secretum Secretorum ("Secret of Secrets"), an encyclopedic treatise on a wide range of topics including physiognomy , astrology , alchemy , magic , and medicine . This work includes a series of supposed letters from Aristotle , addressed to Alexander. The Arabic manuscript was translated into Latin in the 12th century and was influential in Europe during the High Middle Ages
Manuscript of a 14th-century poem ( Poema de Yuçuf ) written in Aljamiado (Spanish and Mozarabic language transliterated in Arabic alphabet ).
15th century Persian miniature painting from Herat depicting Iskander, the Persian name for Alexander the Great