Is Zul-Qarnain really Alexander The Great?

There is a great myth which is circulating on the Internet at present. Christian missionaries are spreading the false information that Zul-Qarnain, a prophet of Islam, is none other than Alexander The Great. There are a few Muslims who agree with them, but this is only because they have never been educated about the character Alexander. Others who subscribe to atheistic or humanist beliefs are propagating the same lies even further. From where they have deduced this absurd estimation we will show below. We will attempt to expose this flawed judgment by using history, the Bible and basic Islamic knowledge.
 
Alexander was born in 356 BC, and died in 323 BC. He was a deceitful man, who himself claimed to be a god at one point and demanded that others worship him. Is this Islamic? In his 33 years of existence he did not once preach peace, bring justice or enlighten the people. He possessed absolutely no traits of a true prophet whatsoever. All the prophets between Moses and Christ are named explicitly within the Quran and the name of Zul-Qarnain does not show up amongst them.
 
Most Muslims are silent as to whom Zul-Qarnain really is, and rightly so because not enough clues and pointers exist for them to make the assumption which is better than jumping the gun and making rash conclusions unlike our Christian missionary friends. After much thought and consideration we would like to put forward the possibility that Zul-Qarnain is really King Prophet Atlas who existed during the time of Prophet Abraham and features in the myths and legends (if they are that) of Atlantis, the lost continent. The Quran mentions Gog and Magog were among the people visited by Zul-Qarnain. According to Biblical scholars, Gog and Magog are a community of people (savages and barbarians) who reside in the North Eastern part of the world (Siberia). Alexander only ever dreamt of reaching Siberia, as we know. Therefore he could not have been the person who visited Gog and Magog. Learnt Christians would agree with us that Gog and Magog date to a period way back in history and would therefore rule out any chance of Zul-Qarnain being Alexander. However there are a community of rather uneducated (about their own faith) so-called Christians who are oblivious to this fact and millions more. They are feeding the minds of the Atheists with rubbish and it is giving way to more ignorance.
 
Zul-Qarnain’s name literally means 'two-horned one'. Zul or Dhul was a common suffix given to the ancient Kings of Yemen. He is termed so simply because part of his outfit was a horned helmet. The Missionaries wild conclusion is derived from the simple coincidence that Alexander also possessed a horned helmet and was also bit of a traveller.

Click here to see evidence from the Holy Quran that Zul-Qarnain is not Alexander

Whose waters are murky?

The following claim is taken from Mr Sina's website and can be found copied and pasted on almost every anti-Islamic site. They make the claim……..

Koran teaches us that the Sun sets in a muddy spring:

"Till, when he (the traveller Zul-qarnain) reached the setting-place of the Sun, he found it going down into a muddy spring…"(18:86)

"Till, 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..."(18:90)

“Serious scientific errors here! Firstly, it is scientifically accepted fact that, the Sun never go down in a muddy spring.”

They say laughter is good for you, but this is becoming extremely unhealthy. These people go to such lengths in their attempts at highlighting the alleged contradictions or scientific fallacies in the Quran, it's shocking to witness how desperate some people have become. They will twist translations, invent false ideas and inject them into the mind of the new reader in the most rapid way possible.
 
They try to make the claim that the author of the Quran was scientifically challenged, that he was oblivious to the fact that the sun never actually sets. They also make the savage claim that the same set of verses "prove" that the Earth is flat!
 
Here is the story of Zul-Qarnain from the Holy Quran verse 18:83-101

They ask thee concerning Zul-Qarnain. Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story." Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends. One (such) way he followed, 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." 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). "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."

Then followed he (another) way, 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. He left them as they were: We completely understood what was before him. Then followed he (another) way, Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word. 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? 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: "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."

Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it. 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." On that day We shall leave them to surge like waves on one another: the trumpet will be blown, and We shall collect them all together. And We shall present Hell that day for Unbelievers to see, all spread out,- (Unbelievers) whose eyes had been under a veil from remembrance of Me, and who had been unable even to hear.

Lets analyse the two verses put forward:

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". [18:86]

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. [18:90]

The verses narrate part of the story of Zul-Qarnain. Being a great traveller Prophet Zul-Qarnain eventually, at sun set, arrived at a place where there were springs of vast murky waters. He found around it tribes of people, some righteous and some malign. The narration goes on to describe how Zul-Qarnain was given authority to rule over them as a just king. It narrates the version of events as he, Zul-Qarnain saw them – he saw the sun set in a murky water, nothing wrong with that. The second verse narrates that Zul-Qarnain turned another direction and travelled on until he saw the sun rise and it just so happens that he saw it rise on a people who were without shade. Again, a very simple narration, no claim of being scientific fact.

The idiotic critics who raise this issue and claim that the God of the Quran does not know the simple scientific that the sun never actually sets are barking up the wrong tree. The above verses in no way make the claim of being scientific fact as God sees it. We don’t see God making the claim that the sun sets into murky waters! Or rises on a certain group of people. We simply see God describing things as witnessed by Zul-Qarnain - "They ask thee concerning Zul-Qarnain. Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story". The sun sets wherever you see it set. If you are on a beach you will see it set into the ocean. If you are on a hill, you will see it set behind the hill.

“Secondly, this seems to presuppose a FLAT Earth, otherwise how can there be an extreme point in the West or in the East? 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.”

This is classical anti-Islam rhetoric; putting words into verses in order to support other claims. The gentlemen writes “this seems to presuppose a flat Earth, otherwise how can there be an extreme point in the West or in the East?”. The only translation which narrowly supports his conjecture is the one by Yusuf Ali. The other two main translations are pasted alongside below.

Figurative reading was never designed for our Atheistic friends, therefore we should pardon them for their ignorance. The narration is pasted above for all to see, nowhere within it is their a reference to an extreme East or West. How these people come to such conclusions really baffles me! It seems that the decision to ridicule Islam is made up long before they go into the Quran looking for supposed incongruities, or do they leave their atheistic tendencies behind? Who knows. They hasten to find something they can please the masses with. The above claim is simply fruitless.

Any comments, refutations, corrections or whatever please get in touch

"Lord of the two Easts, and Lord of the two Wests! Which is it, of the favours of your Lord, that ye deny?" (55:17-18)