Till, when he [the traveller Zul-qarnain] reached
the setting-place of the sun,
he found it going down into a muddy spring, ...
-- Sura Sura 18:86Till, when he reached the rising-place of the sun,
he found it rising on a people
for whom We had appointed no shelter from it.
-- Sura Sura 18:90
First: It is scientifically proven that the sun does not go down in a muddy spring.
Second: This seems to presuppose a flat earth, otherwise how can there be an extreme point in the West or in the East? It does not say, he went as far as possible on land in these directions and then observed the sun-rise or sun-set while standing at this shore. A sunrise there would be basically just the same as at any other place on this earth, at land or sea. It would still look as if it is setting "far away". It does say, that he reached THE PLACE where the sun sets and in his second journey the place where it rises.
See also the thorough discussion of this issue in Islam and the Setting of the Sun.
Furthermore: Yusuf Ali in his commentary reports that Zul-qarnain is thought to be Alexander the Great. And so does the "Concise Dictionary of Islam." Looking at verses 98-101, this would make Alexander the Great a Muslim -- 1000 years before Muhammad. Yet that is for sure not true. The history does not relate that Alexander the Great had any other religion than the pagan Greeks he came from and ruled over. This is historically blatantly false.
Many more details about this historical issue are available in the articles on Zul-Qarnain, his gate, and the place of sunset.
Muslim Response by
Randy Desmond
Date: Thurs, 13 Mar 1997
I looked in the translation by
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, "Towards Understanding the Qur'an" by Mawdudi,
a small translation by two muslims whose names I have forgotten
(but their translation reflects some famous tafsirs and sources of
ahadith), and, lastly, my (new) Arabic dictionary.
I found that Mawdudi's tafsir and the Arabic dictionary to be the
most comprehensive in giving information about this subject matter
(second, of course, to just plain reading the Qur'an).
Those verses are
talking from Dhul-Qarnayn's perspective of where the sun set/rose.
Dhul-Qarnayn found the sun setting in a murky spring, and Dhul-Qarnayn
found the sun rising on a certain people. Allah gives His factual
descriptions BEFORE describing how Dhul-Qarnayn found where/when the
sun was setting/rising.
As (idhaa) he reached (balagha) the rise/time of rising [of
The key here is that Dhul-Qarnayn found the sun setting in a murky
spring. The verse is very explicite in showing that the setting of the
sun (and the rising) are from Dhul-Qarnayn's perspective.
Knowing this information, we can understand the description of
where the sun set and rose (from Dhul-Qarnayn's perspective) to
be simply human descriptions of the areas (both westerly and
easterly) of Dhul-Qarnayn's reign.
I hope that clears it up.
As for Dhul-Qarnayn being Alexander the Great, that
is only speculation at best. So don't jump on accusing the Qur'an of
what it
does not say. Some scholars say it was Alexander the Great, but some
scholars
may be wrong sometimes too. They are not prophets. Muslims are warned
not to
follow blindly. We are taught
to seek knowledge and correct our brothers if they do wrong. Know this,
at best
the answer to the question of who is the personage of Dhul-Qarnayn is
simply
speculation. Having said that, I know some scholars say it was King
Cyrus,
the Persian Emperor, who is described in the Book of Ezra as a
God-fearing king who liberates
the Israelites because he is such a God-fearing individual.
(source: Mawdudi's "Towards understanding the
Qur'an") Additionally, Mawdudi writes, "Nevertheless, the information
available
to date does not enable us to form a definitive opinion concerning
Dhul-Qarnayn's
identity." God knows best.
Until (Hattaa) as (idhaa) he reached (balagha) the place or time of
sunset/west
To further explain: just like Morocco is called Al-Maghrib (the West)
and we have a prayer at sunset time called maghrib (the "a" on the end
of
the word in the verse is a vowel denoting accusative grammatical case)
and
maghrib is used today even today to mean the direction west.
(maghriba)... (18:86)
celestial bodies]/break [of day] (maTli`a)... (18:90)
Contradictions in the Qur'an
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