From aarsha@tc3net.com Thu Feb 27 21:02 EST 1997
From: aarsha@tc3net.com (Ali Arshad)
Subject: Errors in the Qur'an
About Zul-Qayrnoon, Muhammad Ali says (p586):
{The word qarn means a horn, as also a generation or a century and dhul
qarnain literally means the two-horned one, or one belonging to the two
generations or two centures. The reference here seems to be to the two
horned ram of Daniel's vision (dan. 8:3), which he interpreted as the
Kindoms of Media and Persia, which were combined into a single kindom under
one ruler, Cyrus, who is erroneousy called Darius in the Bible. The
reference in Daniel's vision is, however, not to Cyrus but to Darius I
Hystaspes (521-485 B.C.), "who allowed the Jews to rebuild their temple,
and is reffered to in Ezra 4:5,24;5:5;6:1;Hag1:1;2:10;Zech 1;7, and
probably in Neh 12:22. His liberality towards the Jews is in complete
accord with what we know otherwise of his general policy in relgious matter
towards the subject nations"
That the "two horned ram" of Daniel's vision is the king of Media
and Persia is made plain in Daniel's book, where the interpretation of the
dream is given in the following words: "The ram which thou sawest having
two horns are the Kings of Media and Persia" (Dan8:20). The reference in
the Qur'an in the history of Dhulqarnain is to Darius I: "Darius was the
organizer of the Persian Empire. His conquests served to round off the
boundaries of his realm in Armenia, the Causcasus and India, and along the
Turanian steppes and the highland of Central Asia" (Jewish En., Darius I).
The following remarks in the En. Br. strengthen this view: "Darius in his
inscriptions apears as a ferven tbeliever in the true relgion of Zoroaster.
But he was also a great statesman an dorganizer. The time of conquest had
come tp an end; the wars which Darius undertook, like those of Augustus,
only served the purpose of gaining strong natural frontiers for the empire
and keeping down the barbarous tribes on its border. Thus Darius subjgated
the wild nations of Caucasus. for the same reason he fought against the
Sace and other Turanian tribes." The references in this quotation to
Darius being a fervent believer in the true religion of Zoroaster, to his
subduing the barabarous tribes on the border, to his gaing stron natural
fronties for the empire, and to his fighting against the Sacae clearly
point him out as the Dhul Qarnain of the Qur'an.
The three journeys alluded to seem to have been undertaken with the
object of stregthening the fronties of the empire, the mostimportant of
thes being that spoken of in v.93, the part of the frontier between the
Caspian and the Black Seas, where the Caucasus afforded a natural
protection against the attacks of the Scythians. Darius goes first
westward to the Black sea (v.85, 86). Then he undertakes an eastward
journey-- the land of the rising sun. the description of the people found
here, a people who had no shelter from the sun, is a description of the
barbarous aboriginal tribes on the shores of the Caspian. The En. Br. says
in the article on Media: "The names in the assyrian inscriptions prove that
the tribes in the Zagros and the northern parts Media were not Iranians nor
Ind-Eurpoeans, but an aboriginal population, like the early inhabitanbt of
Armenia, perhaps connected with the numerous tribes of the Caucasus. we
can see how the Iranian elemt gradually became dominant: prinecs with
Iranian names occasionally occr as the ruler of these tribes. But the
galae, Tapuri, Cadusii, Amardi, Utii and other tribes in Northern Media and
on the shores of Caspain, were not Iranians."}
Maududi says:
{Early commenators on the Qur'an were generally inclined to believe that it
referred to Alexander. The characteristics attribute to Dhul Qarnayn,
however, hardly apply to Alexander. In the light of the latest historical
evidence, contemporary commentators on the Qur'an are inclined to believe
that Dhul Qarnayn signifies the Persian Emperor, Cyrus. This, in any case,
seems more plausible. Nevertheless, the info available to date does not
enable us to form a definitive opinion concerning Dhul Qarnayn's id.
Four points:
1) The title "The Two-Horned' was at least familiar to the Jews. This is
eviden tfrom the fact they they had instigated the Makkan unbelievers to
ask the Prophet about him. One must, therefore, inevtiably turn to Jewish
literature to find out who this person was or to establish whiat was the
kingdom know as 'The Two-Horned.'
2)(in summary of Maududi) there are only a few people who fit this description
3) The title of Dhul Qarnaynmay be used for a ruler who, being concerned
with the defence of his kingdom from the assaults of Go and magog, had a
strong protective wall construceted across a mountain pass. Who were they,
and where is the wall?
4)He is a God concious person.
(Maududi then goes on to find evidence on each point).}
Note that Greeks were hated by the Arabs, as evidenced by the verse about
laden eyed people going to Hell, which literally translates into gray-blue
eyes. Rodwell points this out as a hatred for the Greeks. My feeble 16
yr. old mind, which should be doing his homework, so is hurrying, cannot
recall the verse.