Muhammad's Marriages and Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance: Difference between pages

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According to Anas ibn Malik, the Prophet [[Muhammad]] used to visit all eleven of his wives in one night; but he could manage this, as he had the [[Sex|sexual]] prowess of thirty men.<ref>{{Bukhari|1|5|268}}. See also {{Bukhari|7|62|142}}.</ref> The historian Al-[[Tabari]] calculated that Muhammad [[Marriage|married]] a total of fifteen [[Islam and Women|women]], though only ever eleven at one time; and two of these marriages were never consummated.<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 126-127}}.</ref> This tally of fifteen does not include at least four concubines. According to Merriam-Webster, a concubine is “a woman with whom a man cohabits without being married”,  and has a “social status in a household below that of a wife.”<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concubine|2=2011-09-28}} Concubine] – Merriam-Webster, accessed September 28, 2011</ref> All of Muhammad’s concubines were his [[Slavery|slaves]]. Al-Tabari also excludes from the fifteen several other women with whom Muhammad had some kind of marriage contract but who, due to legal technicalities, never became full wives. It is fairly certain, however, that none of these legally-stifled unions was ever consummated. They were the cultural equivalent of a broken engagement. Finally, there were several other women whom Muhammad wished to marry, or whom he was invited to marry, but for various reasons he did not.
[[File:Alexander the Great.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Alexander the Great depicted with horns on a silver tetradrachm of Lysimachos, circa 297-281 B.C.]]


==Wives and Concubines (list)==
The story of Dhul-Qarnayn (in [[Arabic]] ذو القرنين, literally "The Two-Horned One", also transliterated as Zul-Qarnain or Zulqarnain) is found in the 18<sup>th</sup> [[Surah]] of the Qur'an, al-Kahf (the Cave).  While he is never mentioned explicitly by name, the story is clearly based upon a legendary account of Alexander the Great.  For centuries, most Muslim historians and Qur'anic commentators endorsed the identity of Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander, though some also proposed alternatives. In recent years, this identification of Dhul-Qarnayn has become particularly problematic and controversial for Muslim scholars, as the Qur'an's understanding of Alexander differs remarkably from the image of him in history as a Greek [[Pagan Origins of Islam|pagan]] who fashioned himself as a [[god]]. This has prompted some [[apologists]] to create and advance alternative theories that identify  Dhul-Qarnayn as other prominent historical kings, most notably Cyrus the Great. These alternative theories, though, have major deficiencies and fall short of the strong parallels between the Qur'anic story and legends of Alexander that date to the early 7<sup>th</sup> century. The theory that Dhul-Qarnayn is some other figures such Cyrus the Great has little evidence in its favor compared to the overwhelming evidence that the story is actually based on a legendary version of Alexander. The story in the Qur'an in fact parallels a medieval Syriac legend of Alexander quote closely; both narratives portray him as a believing king who traveled the world and built a barrier of iron which holds back the tribes of Gog and Magog until Judgement Day. Almost every major element of the Qur'anic story can be found in Christian and Jewish folklore about Alexander which dates back hundreds of years prior to the time of Prophet Muhammad. Most early Muslim commentators and scholars identified Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander the Great, and some modern ones do too. Historical and Archaeological evidence, though, quite plainly reveal that the real Alexander was a polytheistic pagan who believed he was the literal son of Greek and Egyptian gods. In addition, the story speaks of a giant wall built by Dhul-Qarnayn to hold back the nations of Gog and Magog, yet today, there is no such giant wall of iron and brass between two mountains that is holding back a tribe of people; it likely never existed and was originally a legendary embellishment of the original Alexander legend.


The following [[lists]] of women in Muhammad’s life are based on the Islamic sources. Because there were so many women, some of whom had only a very brief association with him, it is possible that this number still falls short of the real total.
==Background==
The gargantuan conquests of Alexander the Great, stretching from Macedonia in the West to the river Indus in the East, left an indelible mark on all the regions where his troopers trode. Alexander founded cities, declared himself a god and the son of a god, solved the famous Gordian knot, initiated a new chapter in the history of civilizational exchange and spread Greek Hellenic culture far and wide. Dying at 33 of either alcohol overdose or perhaps poisoning, his legend quickly became larger than life. First Jews and then Christians claimed his as their own, though according to Theodore Theodor Nöldeke the origin of their Alexander Romances was actually a Pahlavi Persian Alexander romance (though probably written by a Syriac-speaking Christian) <ref> Encyclopedia of Islam Volume IV E. J. Bril 1997, p. 127</ref>. As the legend of Alexander spread, so to did the claims of his miraculous deeds grow in scope and size.  


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"
===Historical vs Legendary Alexander===
! width="10" |No.
! width="280" |Name
! width="65" |Status
! width="65" |Date
! width="330" |Details
! width="130" |Notable Early Sources


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
The Dhul-Qarnayn of the Qur'an is the Alexander of legend, not as some authors have asserted the Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC) of hisory<ref>For example, [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.understanding-islam.com%2Fq-and-a%2Fsources-of-islam%2Fwho-is-the-prophet-zulqarnain-5247&date=2013-11-25 Amar Ellahi Lone] completely ignores the Alexander Legends of the 4<sup>th</sup>-7<sup>th</sup> century and focuses on a historical account of Alexander. [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iranchamber.com%2Fhistory%2Farticles%2Fzolqarnain_cyrus_quran.php&date=2013-11-25 Baha'eddin Khoramshahi] rejects Alexander based solely on his historical identity. And [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fanswering-islam.org%2FAuthors%2FNewton%2Falex.r.html&date=2013-11-25 Khalid Jan] gives background information on the historical Alexander and why he is not a fit to the Qur'anic story.  Expresses no knowledge of the Alexander legends.</ref>. Instead, it is based entirely upon legendary stories of Alexander which bare little resemblance to the Alexander of history.  In particular, the Qur'an parallels a Syriac legend where Alexander is portrayed as a monotheistic king who awaits the second coming of the Messiah and the end of the world.<ref name="Budge">{{cite web|url= http://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_Alexander_the_Great_Being.html?id=_14LmFqhc8QC|title= The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version of the Pseudo-Callisthenes, Volume 1|publisher= The University Press|author= Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge|date= 1889|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref>
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |1
|[[Khadijah bint Khuwaylid]]
|Married
|July 595.
|She was a wealthy merchant from Mecca who employed the 24-year-old Muhammad and then proposed marriage. She was the mother of six of his children and a key character in the earliest development of Islam. She was Muhammad's only wife as long as she lived. She died in April 620.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 82-83, 106-107, 111, 113-114, 160-161, 191, 313-314.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 127-128}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 3-4}}</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:9-12, 39, 151-152.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
It has been well understood for many centuries that legendary accounts of Alexander's life began shortly after his death in 323 BC.  These were popular across most of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Persia and even India and China. In the subsequent centuries after his death, the historical accounts of Alexander were largely forgotten and legendary accounts of his deeds and adventures replaced them in popular folklore.  It is these legendary depictions of Alexander that would have been known in the 7<sup>th</sup> century and not the historically accurate accounts of his life. It was not until the Renaissance in the 16<sup>th</sup> century that the first historical accounts of Alexanders life were rediscovered and investigated.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |2
|Sawda bint Zam'a
|Married, though with limited rights.
|May 620.
|She was a tanner who had been an early convert to Islam. Muhammad married her at a time when he was unpopular and bankrupt. He considered divorcing her when, as the oldest and plainest of his wives (described as "fat and very slow"), she no longer attracted him, but she persuaded him to keep her in the house in exchange for never sleeping with her again (she gave up her turn to Aisha).
|
*Bukhari<ref>{{Bukhari|2|26|740}}.</ref>
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 148, 309, 530.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 128-130}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 169-170}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:39-42, 152.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
==Parallels to the Syriac Legend==
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |3
|Aisha bint Abi Bakr
|Married
|Contracted May 620 but first consummated in April or May 623.
|She was the daughter of Muhammad's best friend and head evangelist Abu Bakr. Muhammad selected the six-year-old Aisha in preference to her teenaged sister, and she remained his favourite wife. She contributed a major body of information to Islamic law and history. The paedophilic aspect of this relationship has institutionalised such marriages within Islam.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 116, 223, 279-280, 311, 457, 464-465, 468, 493-499, 522, 535-536, 544, 649-650, 667, 678-688.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 128-131}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 171-174}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:43-56, 152.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
In 1889, the renowned scholar and philologist, Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge, translated five Alexander stories from Syriac manuscripts into English. One of these stories was a legend that detailed the exploits of Alexander, the son of Philip the Macedonian, and how he traveled to the ends of the world, made a gate of iron, and shut behind it the Huns so they might not come forth to spoil the land.<ref name="Budge" /> The parallels between this story and the story of Dhul-Qarnayn in the Qur'an are detailed below.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |4
|Hafsa bint Umar
|Married
|January or February 625.
|She was the daughter of Muhammad's wealthy friend Umar. Hafsa was the custodian of the autograph-text of the Qur'an, which was [[Textual History of the Qur'an|somewhat different]] from the standard Qur'an of today.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 218, 301, 679.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 131-132}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 174-175}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:56-60, 152.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
===Two Horns===
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |5
|Zaynab bint Khuzayma
|Married
|February or March 625.
|She was a middle-class widow known as "Mother of the Poor" because of her commitment to charity work. She died in October 625.
|
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 138}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 63-64}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:82, 152.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
Alexander in the Syriac legend is described as having horns on his head. An Ethiopic variation of the story refers to Alexander as "the two horns".<ref name="Budge" /> Coins depicting Alexander with ram horns on his head were first minted shortly after his death. By the 1<sup>st</sup> century BC, silver coins depicting Alexander with ram horns were used as the primary currency in Arabia. Imitation coins were issued by an Arab ruler named Abi'el who ruled in the south-eastern region of the Arabian Peninsula and other minting of these coins occurred throughout Arabia for another thousand years.<ref> "The impact of Alexander the Great’s coinage in E Arabia" at [http://web.archive.org/web/20040603181636/www.culture.gr/nm/presveis/Pages/museum/13/p1302.html culrute.gr].</ref> This connection of Alexander with two-horns was widely known across the region at the time.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |6
|Hind (Umm Salama) bint Abi Umayya
|Married
|April 626.
|An attractive widow with four young children, Hind had been rejected by her aristocratic family in Mecca because they were so hostile to Islam. Her tact and practical wisdom sometimes mitigated Muhammad's cruelties. She was a notable teacher of Islamic law and a partisan of Ali.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 146, 147, 150-153, 167-169, 213-214, 462, 529, 536, 546, 589, 680.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 132}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 175-177}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:61-67, 152.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 146|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |7
And king Alexander bowed himself and did reverence, saying, "0 God, Lord of kings and judges, thou who settest up kings and destroyest their power, 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;<ref name="Budge"/>}}
|Zaynab bint Jahsh
|Married
|March 627.
|An early convert to Islam, Zaynab was the wife of Muhammad's adopted son Zayd ibn Harithah. She was also the Prophet's biological cousin. When Muhammad became infatuated with Zaynab, Zayd was pressured into a divorce. To justify marrying her, Muhammad announced new revelations that (1) an adopted son did not count as a real son, so Zaynab was not his daughter-in-law, and (2) as a prophet, he was allowed more than the standard four wives. Zaynab excelled at leather-crafts.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 215, 495.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 134}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 180-182}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:72-81, 152.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
===Established with Power===
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |8
|Rayhana bint Zayd ibn Amr
|Sexual slavery
|May 627.
|Her first husband was one of the 600-900 Qurayza men whom Muhammad beheaded in April 627. He enslaved all the women and selected Rayhana for himself because she was the most beautiful. When she refused to marry him, he kept her as a concubine instead. She died shortly before Muhammad in 632.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 466.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 137, 141}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 164-165}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:92-94, 153.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
At the beginning of the Syriac legend, Alexander says a prayer to God that he might be given power from heaven to rule over the kingdoms of the earth. The Qur'anic story, speaking from the perspective of Allah, says that he has given Alexander power on earth.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |9
|Juwayriyah bint Al-Harith
|Married
|January 628.
|The daughter of an Arab chief, she was taken prisoner when Muhammad attacked her tribe. Muhammad did not make a habit of marrying his war-captives, but Aisha claimed that Juwayriyah was so beautiful that men always fell in love with her at first sight.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 490-493.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 133}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 182-184}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:83-85, 152.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 146|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |10
'''Give me power from thy holy heavens that I may receive strength greater than [that of] the kingdoms of the world''' and that I may humble them, and I will magnify thy name, O Lord, for ever, and thy memorial shall be from everlasting to everlasting, and I will write the name of God in the charter of my kingdom, that there may be for Thee a memorial always.<ref name="Budge"/>}}
|Ramlah (Umm Habiba) bint Abi Sufyan
|Married
|July 628 (following a proxy wedding earlier in the year)
|She was a daughter of Abu Sufyan, the Meccan chief who led the resistance against Muhammad, but she had been a teenaged convert to Islam. This marriage offset some of Muhammad's political humiliation in the Treaty of Hudaybiya by demonstrating that he could command the loyalty of his adversary's own daughter. Ramlah was devoted to Muhammad and quick to pick quarrels with people who were not.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 146, 527-528, 529, 543.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 133-134}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 177-180}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:68-71, 153.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|84}}|Verily '''We established his power on earth''', and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends.}}
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |11
|[[Safiyah|Safiyah bint Huyayy]]
|Married
|July 628.
|She was the beautiful daughter of a Jewish chief, Huyayy ibn Akhtab. Muhammad married her on the day he defeated the last Jewish tribe in Arabia, only hours after he had supervised the slaying of Kinana her second husband. His earlier victims had included her father, brother, first husband, three uncles and several cousins. This marriage was of no benefit to Safiyah's defeated tribe, who were banished from Arabia a few years later; though some consider that it was politically significant in that Safiyah's presence in Muhammad's household was an open demonstration that he had defeated the Jews.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 241-242, 511, 514-515, 516-517, 520.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 134-135}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 184-185}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:85-92, 153.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
===Journey to the Fetid Sea===
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |12
|Maymunah bint Al-Harith
|Married
|February 629.
|She was a middle-class widow from Mecca who proposed marriage to Muhammad. A placid woman who kept a very tidy house, Maymunah was one known to be obsessed with rules and rituals.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 531, 679-680.</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 135}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 185-186}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:94-99, 153.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
The first destination for the hero in both the Syriac and Qur'anic stories is a place near the setting of the sun. The Syriac legend identifies this location as Oceanus, a mythical sea believed to encircle a [[Flat Earth and the Quran|flat earth]]. In both accounts, the water is described as being muddy or fetid.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |13
|[[Mariyah the Sex Slave of the Holy Prophet|Mariyah bint Shamoon al-Quptiya]]
|Sexual slavery
|c. June 629.
|She was one of several slaves whom the Governor of Egypt sent as a present to Muhammad. He kept her as a concubine despite the objections of his official wives, who feared her beauty. Mariyah bore Muhammad a son, Ibrahim.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 653.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 137, 141}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 193-195}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:148-151.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 145-147|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |14
"As to the thing, my lord, which thy majesty (or thy greatness) desires to go and see, namely, upon what the heavens rest, and what surrounds the earth, the terrible seas which surround the world will not give thee a passage'; because there are eleven bright seas, on which the ships of men sail, and beyond these there is about ten miles of dry land, and beyond these ten miles '''there is the fetid sea''', Oceanus (the Ocean), which surrounds all creation.  
|Mulayka bint Kaab
|Divorced
|January 630.
|Her family resisted the Muslim invasion of Mecca. Needing to appease the conqueror, they gave him the beautiful Mulayka as a bride. When she realised that Muhammad's army had killed her father, she demanded a divorce, which he granted her. She died a few weeks later.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 165}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:106, 154.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
And they put ships to sea and sailed on the sea four months' and twelve days, and they arrived at the dry land beyond the eleven bright seas.<ref name="Budge"/>}}
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |15
|Fatima ''al-Aliya'' bint Zabyan ''al-Dahhak''
|Divorced
|February or March 630.
|She was the daughter of a minor chief who had converted to Islam. Muhammad divorced her after only a few weeks "because she peeked at men in the mosque courtyard." Fatima had to work for the rest of her life as a dung-collector, and she outlived all Muhammad's widows.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 138}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 186-188}}. Despite the confusion over the name, she is probably also the woman referred to in {{Tabari|9|pp. 136-137}} and the “Fatima bint Shurayh” of {{Tabari|9|p. 139}}</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:100-101, 153.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|18|85|86}}|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."}}  
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |16
|Asma bint Al-Numan
|Divorced
|June or July 630.
|She was a princess from Yemen whose family hoped the marriage alliance would ward off a military invasion from Medina. But Muhammad divorced her before consummation after Aisha tricked her into reciting the divorce formula. Asma later married a brother of Umm Salama.
|
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918 (here he has apparently confused her with Amra bint Yazid).</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 188-191}}. She is mentioned in {{Tabari|9|pp. 128-130}} but has apparently been partly confused with Amra bint Yazid.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:101-105, 153.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
Dr. Kevin Van Bladel, professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, states in his comparison of the two stories, that the water at the place where the sun sets is 'fetid' in both texts, a coincidence of two uncommon synonyms (Syriac saryâ, Arabic hami'a).<ref name="VanBladel"> Van Bladel, Kevin, “The Alexander legend in the Qur‘an 18:83-102″, in [http://books.google.com/books?id=DbtkpgGn4CEC&pg=PA175 "The Qur’ān in Its Historical Context"], Ed. Gabriel Said Reynolds, New York: Routledge, 2007.</ref> Similar connections can be found in Islamic poetry contemporary to the time of Muhammad. Muhammad ibn Ishāq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār recorded many pre-Islamic Arabic poems in his [[Sirat Rasul Allah]] (Biography of Muhammad);  This included a poem about Dhul-Qarnayn that he claims was composed by a pre-Islamic king of ancient Yemen.  Here we can see that the sun sets into a pool of water that is described as being both muddy and fetid, a perfect linking of the two adjectives in both the Qur'anic and Syriac stories.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |17
|''Al-Jariya''
|Sexual slavery
|After 627.
|She was a domestic slave belonging to Zaynab bint Jahsh, who made Muhammad a present of her. She seems to have been an "unofficial" concubine who did not have a regular turn on his roster.
|
*Ibn al-Qayyim<ref>Ibn al-Qayyim, ''Za’d al-Ma’ad'' 1:114.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
{{Quote|The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |18
Conquered kings thronged his court, East and west he ruled, yet he sought Knowledge true from a learned sage. He saw where the sun sinks from view, In a '''pool of mud and fetid slime'''.<ref> Ibn Ishaq; Guillaume, Alfred, ed. (2002) [?-767 AD]. "The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah". Oxford University Press. pp. 138–140. ISBN 978-0-19-636033-1.</ref>}}
|Amra bint Yazid
|Divorced
|c. 631.
|She was a Bedouin of no political importance. Muhammad divorced her before consummation when he saw she had symptoms of leprosy.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Ibn Ishaq, cited in Guillaume, A. (1960). ''New Light on the Life of Muhammad'', p. 55. Manchester: Manchester University Press</ref>
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918 (here he has apparently confused her with Asma bint Al-Numan).</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 139}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 187-188}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:100-101.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
===Punishment of Wrongdoers===
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |19
|Tukana al-Quraziya
|Sexual slavery
|Unknown, but probably in the last months of Muhammad's life.
|She was a member of the defeated Qurayza tribe whom Muhammad selected as one of his personal slaves. She appears to have been another "unofficial" concubine without a regular turn on the roster. After Muhammad's death, she married Abbas.
|
*Majlisi<ref>[http://www.al-islam.org/hayat-al-qulub-vol2-allamah-muhammad-baqir-al-majlisi/54.htm/ Majlisi, ''Hayat al-Qulub'' 2:52].</ref>
*Ibn al-Qayyim.<ref>Ibn al-Qayyim, ''Zaad al-Ma’ad'' 1:114.</ref>
|}<BR>


===Engagements and Broken Contracts===
The Qur'anic story next gives the reader a cryptic speech by Dhul-Qarnayn where he says that "whoever does wrong" will be sent back to the Lord (i.e. killed). The Syriac legend gives a much fuller account; it explains that Alexander asked for criminals to be sent to the shore of the fetid sea to test a rumor that anyone who approaches the sea dies. When the prisoners drop dead, Alexander notes that it is good that those already "guilty of death should die". Not only is there a direct parallel between the stories, but the Syriac legend helps makes sense of the short and cryptic Qur'anic version of the story.


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"
{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 147-148|
! width="10" |No.
And Alexander and his troops encamped, and he sent and called to him the governor who was in the camp, and said to him, "Are there any men here guilty of death?" They said to him, "We have thirty and seven '''men in bonds who are guilty of death'''." And the king said to the governor, "Bring hither '''those evil doers'''." And they brought them, and the king commanded them and said, "Go ye to the shore of the fetid sea, and hammer in stakes that ships may be tied thereto, and prepare everything needful for a force about to cross the sea." And the men went, and came to the shore of the sea. Now Alexander thought within himself, "If it be true as they say, that everyone who comes near the fetid sea dies, '''it is better that these who are guilty of death should die'''," and when they had gone, and had arrived at the shore of the sea, '''they died instantly'''.<ref name="Budge"/>}}
! width="280" |Name
! width="130" |Date
! width="330" |Details
! width="130" |Notable early sources


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{{Quote|{{Quran|18|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).}}
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |1
|Ghaziya (Umm Sharik) bint Jabir
|Early 627.
|She was a poor widow with dependent children. She sent Muhammad a proposal of marriage, and he agreed to the contract. However, when he met her in person, he saw that, although attractive, she was "old", and he divorced her immediately. She never remarried.
|
*Ibn Hisham<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 139}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:111-114.</ref>


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===Sun Rises on People with No Cover===
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |2
|Khawla bint Hudhayl
|Probably mid- or late-627.
|She was a princess from the powerful Christian Taghlib tribe in northern Arabia. Her uncle arranged the marriage, which was expected to be politically advantageous on both sides. Muhammad signed the contract, but Khawla died on her journey to Medina, before they met in person.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 139}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 166}}</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:116.</ref>


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After leaving the muddy sea, The Qur'an tells us that Dhul-Qarnayn travels to the east where the sun rises. The author then conveys an odd and cryptic detail that the people living there have "no covering protection against the sun"; however, it gives no further explanation as to what that means. Again, the Syriac legend not only has an expanded, parallel account but it helps clarify the Qur'anic story. The reader is told that the people who live near the location where the sun "enters the window of heaven" (i.e. rises above the flat earth) must seek cover because the sun is much closer to the ground and its rays burn the people and animals there.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |3
|Sharaf bint Khalifa
|Probably mid- or late-627.
|She was an aunt of Khawla bint Hudhayl (above). After Khawla's death, the family tried to substitute Sharaf. In one tradition, Sharaf also died before consummation. In another tradition, Muhammad changed his mind and broke off the contract.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 138}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:116-117.</ref>


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{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 148|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |4
So the whole camp mounted, and Alexander and his troops went up between the fetid sea and the bright sea '''to the place where the sun enters the window of heaven'''; for the sun is the servant of the Lord, and neither by night nor by day does he cease from his travelling. The place of his rising is over the sea, and the people who dwell there, when he is about to rise, flee away and hide themselves in the sea, that they be not burnt by his rays; and he passes through the midst of the heavens to the place where he enters the window of heaven; and wherever he passes there are terrible mountains, and those who dwell there have caves hollowed out in the rocks, and '''as soon as they see the sun passing [over them], men and birds flee away from before him and hide in the caves''', for rocks are rent by his blazing heat and fall down, and whether they be men or beasts, as soon as the stones touch them they are consumed.<ref name="Budge"/>}}
|Layla bint al-Khutaym
|After 627.
|One of the first converts in Medina, Layla asked Muhammad to marry her so that her clan, the Zafar, would be the most closely allied to the Prophet. He agreed. However, Layla's family warned her that she was too "jealous and whip-tongued" to adapt well to polygamy, which would cause political problems for the whole community. Under this pressure, Layla broke off the engagement.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 139}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:7, 108-109, 231.</ref>


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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|18|89|90}}|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'''. }}
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |5
|Umm Habib bint Al-Abbas
|After March 630.
|She was Muhammad's cousin. He saw her as a baby crawling around and remarked, "If I am alive when she grows up, I will marry her." He changed his mind when he found out that her father had been his foster-brother and died soon afterwards.
|
*Ibn Ishaq.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 311.</ref>
*Al-Tabari.<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 140}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:36.</ref>


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===Travel to the Valley between Two Mountains===
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |6
|Sana ''al-Nashat'' bint Rifaa (Asma) ibn As-Salt
|c. April 630.
|She was the daughter of a Muslim warrior who hoped to advance his career by becoming Muhammad's father-in-law. Muhammad signed the contract, but Sana died before the marriage could be consummated.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 135-136}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 166}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:106-107.</ref>


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On his final journey, the Qur'an tells us that Dhul-Qarnayn traveled to a valley between two mountains. The Syriac legend tells us that Alexander heads north and likewise arrives at a plain between mountains. Here he sets up his camp near a mountain pass.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |7
|Umra bint Rifaa
|c. May 630.
|She was the sister of Sana (above). After Sana died, their father tried to interest Muhammad in Umra. At first he agreed, but he later changed his mind, ostensibly because Rifaa boasted that Umra "has never known a day's illness in her life."
|
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:107.</ref>


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{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 149|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |8
And Alexander said, " Let us go forth by the way to the north "; and they came to the confines of the north, and entered Armenia and Adarbaijan and Inner Armenia And they crossed over the country of TurnAgios, and BethPardia, and Beth-Tekil, and Beth-Drubil, and Beth-Katarmen, and Beth-Gebul, and Beth-Zamrat Alexander passed through nil these places; and '''he went and passed mount Musas and entered a plain''' which is Bahi-Lebta, and '''he went and encamped by the gate of the great mountain.'''<ref name="Budge"/>}}
|Bint Jundub ibn Damra of Janda’a
|Unknown.
|Nothing is known about this woman except that Muhammad contracted marriage with her but divorced her before consummation.
|
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:106.</ref>


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{{Quote|{{Quran-range|18|92|93}}|Then followed he (another) way, Till, when '''he came between the two mountains''', he found upon their hither side a folk that scarce could understand a saying. }}
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |9
|Jamra bint Al-Harith
|c. 631
|She proposed marriage to Muhammad, and he accepted. Her father informed him that she suffered from a serious disease, whereupon Muhammad broke off the engagement. According to the Muslim chroniclers, her father arrived home only to find that she really had been afflicted with leprosy.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 140-141}}</ref>


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===Gog and Magog Spoil and Ravage the Land===
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |10
[[File:Gogmagogmap.JPG|right|thumb|200px|12<sup>th</sup> century map by the Muslim geographer Al-Idrisi (south up). "Yajooj" and "Majooj" (Gog and Magog) appear in Arabic script on the bottom-left edge of the Eurasian landmass, enclosed within dark mountains. Note that the earth is encircled by water that corresponds to the ocean at the end of the world in the Alexander Legend.]]
|Al-Shanba’ bint Amr
|January 632.
|She was from a Bedouin tribe who appeared friendly to Muhammad but who had also been friends of the [[Qurayza]] tribe. Al-Shanba’ insulted Muhammad on the first day by implying that he was not a true prophet, and he divorced her immediately.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 136}}.</ref>


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The Syriac legend then states that Alexander meets with people who live near the mountain pass. These natives tell of a tribe, the Huns, who live beyond the pass. These Huns spoil and ravage the land and then return back to their lands on the other side of the mountain. The legend identifies the first two kings of this tribe as Gog and Magog, the exact same names used in the Qur'anic account.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |11
|Qutayla (Habla) bint Qays
|May 632.
|She was a cousin of Asma bint Al-Numan, and the Yemenites sent her to Muhammad as a substitute bride. He signed the marriage contract but he died before Qutayla arrived in Medina. As soon as she heard that he was dead, she apostated from Islam. Soon afterwards she married an Arab chief who was a leader in the Apostasy Wars.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 138-139}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:105.</ref>


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{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, pp. 149-150, 152|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |12
Alexander said, "This mountain is higher and more terrible than all the mountains which I have seen." The old men, the natives of the country, said to the king: "Yea, by your majesty, my lord the king, neither we nor our fathers have been able to march one step in it, and men do not ascend it either on that side or on this, for it is the boundary which God has set between us and the nations within it" Alexander said, "Who are the nations within this mountain upon which we are looking? "The natives of the land said, " They are the Huns." He said to them, " Who are their kings?" The old men. said: "'''Gog and Magog'''..."
|Mary, mother of Jesus
|The Afterlife.
|According to some sources of varying authenticity, Muhammad said that Allah had wedded him in Heaven to the Virgin Mary. Authentic sources quote Muhammad describing her as one of 'the four perfect women'.<ref>{{Quran-range|3|33|51}}; {{Quran-range|19|16|40}}; {{Quran|21|91}}; {{Quran|66|12}}.</ref><ref>[http://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=55&translator=1&start=91&number=633/ Sahih Bukhari 4:55:642]. {{Bukhari|5|58|163}}.</ref><ref>{{Muslim|31|5965}}.</ref> The Qur'an refers several times to Mary, praising her chastity and affirming the virgin birth of Jesus. The scriptures describing their marraige state that she lived in a beautiful jewelled palace in Paradise next to Khadijah's.
|
*Ibn Kathir<ref name=":0">{{Citation|title=al-Bidaya wal-Nihayah|author=Ibn Kathir|trans_title=From the Beginning to the End|url=https://app.turath.io/book/4445|publisher=Maktabah al-Shamilah|volume=2|pages=431}}</ref>
*Majlisi<ref>[http://www.al-islam.org/hayat-al-qulub-vol2-allamah-muhammad-baqir-al-majlisi/ Majlisi, ''Hayat al-Qulub'' 2:26].</ref>


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Alexander said to the natives of that country," '''Have they come forth to spoil in your days?'''" The old men answered and said to the king: "May God establish thy kingdom and thy crown, my lord the king! These fortresses which have been overturned in our lands and in the lands of the Romans, have been overthrown by them; by them have these towers been uprooted; '''when they go forth to spoil, they ravage the land''' of the Romans and of the Persians, and then they enter their own territory."<ref name="Budge"/>}}
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |13
|Queen Asiya of Egypt
|The Afterlife.
|According to some sources of varying authenticity, Muhammad said that Allah had wedded him in Heaven to the Queen Asiya. Authentic sources quote Muhammad describing her as one of 'the four perfect women'.<ref>{{Quran-range|28|4|13}}; {{Quran|66|11}}.</ref><ref>{{Muslim|31|5966}}.</ref> The Qur'an tells how Asiya rescued the infant Moses from the evil Pharaoh, and how Pharaoh later tortured his wife to death for her monotheism. The scriptures describing their marraige state that Asiya's palace in Heaven was on the other side of Khadijah's.
|
*Ibn Kathir<ref name=":0" /><ref>[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1298&Itemid=122/ Ibn Kathir, ''Tafsir''] on {{Quran|66|11}}.</ref>
*Majlisi<ref>[http://www.al-islam.org/hayat-al-qulub-vol2-allamah-muhammad-baqir-al-majlisi/ Majlisi, ''Hayat al-Qulub'' 2:26].</ref>


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{{Quote|{{Quran|18|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?"}}
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |14
|Kulthum bint Amram
|The Afterlife.
|Muhammad originally believed that Maryam the sister of Moses and Maryam the mother of Jesus were one and the same. When he realized his mistake, he (perhaps over-)corrected himself by stating that Moses' sister was not named Maryam. He renamed her Kulthum ("Chubby Cheeks") and, according to some sources of varying authenticity, said that Allah had wedded him to her in heaven. However, he did not say that she was a perfect woman or that she lived next to Khadijah.<ref>{{Quran-range|19|27|28}}.</ref><ref>{{Muslim|25|5326}}.</ref>
|
*Ibn Kathir<ref name=":0" />
*Majlisi<ref>[http://www.al-islam.org/hayat-al-qulub-vol2-allamah-muhammad-baqir-al-majlisi/ Majlisi, ''Hayat al-Qulub'' 2:26].</ref>
|}<BR>


===Refused Proposals===
===Build a Barrier===


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"
After speaking with the people about Gog and Magog, Alexander says he will build a barrier (a wall or dam) between the people and the tribes that harass them. Both stories record Alexander proclaiming this in a speech.  
! width="10" |No.
! width="280" |Name
! width="130" |Date
! width="330" |Details
! width="130" |Notable early sources


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{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 153|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |1
When Alexander had heard what the old men said, he marveled greatly at the great sea which surrounded all creation; and Alexander said to his troops, " Do ye desire that we should do something wonderful in this land?" They said to him, "As thy majesty commands we will do." The king said, "'''Let us make a gate of brass and close up this breach'''."<ref name="Budge"/>}}
|Fakhita (Umm Hani) bint Abi Talib
|before 595;
January 630;


c. 631
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|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'''}}
|Muhammad proposed to his cousin Fakhita, but her father married her off to a wealthy Makhzumite poet.


Nearly forty years later, after Muhammad conquered Mecca, Fakhita's husband fled rather than convert to Islam, causing an automatic divorce. Muhammad proposed to Fakhita again, but she refused, saying she could not be equally fair to a new husband and her young children.
===Made of Iron and Brass===


Later still, Fakhita came to Muhammad, saying her children had grown up and she was finally ready to marry him; but he said she was too late.
Another similarity between the two stories is that the wall will be made of both iron and brass. Here the Qur'anic translators use different words for the second metal: "lead" (Yusif Ali), "copper" (Pickthall), "brass" (Shakir) but the connection with the Syriac legend is apparent.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 181, 184, 404-405, 551-552, 557, 689.</ref>
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 140}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 170-171}}</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:109-110.</ref>


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{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 153|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |2
And Alexander commanded and fetched three thousand smiths, workers in iron, and three thousand men, workers in brass And '''they put down brass and iron''', and kneaded it as a man kneads when he works clay. Then they brought it and made a gate, the length of which was twelve cubits and its breadth eight cubits. And '''he made a lower threshold from mountain to mountain''', the length of which was twelve cubits;<ref name="Budge"/>}}
|“As Many Wives as You Want”
|c.618-619.
|The chiefs of Mecca offered Muhammad "as many wives as you want in marriage," together with wealth, political power and the services of a competent exorcist, if only he would stop insulting their gods (by preaching monotheism). Muhammad refused this offer, which was made while Khadijah was still alive.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|6|pp. 106-107}}.</ref>


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{{Quote|{{Quran|18|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 [brass]'''."}}
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |3
|Habiba bint Sahl
|c. 623.
|Habiba was a prominent member of the Najjar clan in Medina. When the chief died with no obvious heir, Muhammad proposed to Habiba. His companions warned him that the women of Medina were not used to polygamy and that the men were very jealous for the happiness of their daughters; if this marriage turned out badly, key citizens might withdraw their support from Islam. Muhammad retracted his proposal, but the Najjar clan made him their chief anyway.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 235.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:288-289.</ref>
*Abu Dawud<ref>{{Abudawud|12|2219}}; {{Abudawud|12|2220}}; {{Abudawud|12|2221}}.</ref>
*Muwatta<ref>{{Muwatta|20|10|31}}.</ref>


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===Cannot be Breached===
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |4
|''Al-Ansariya''
|After 625.
|This unnamed woman proposed to Muhammad in Hafsa's presence. Hafsa decried the shame of a woman who would throw herself at a man, but Muhammad retorted, "She is better than you because she wanted me while you only find fault." He refused the proposal, but promised the woman a reward in Paradise for asking.


In fact several ''ansar'' women are said to have proposed to Muhammad; while this example is anonymous, it clearly refers to a woman who is distinct from Layla bint Khutaym.
After constructing the barrier, the Syriac legend says that it is very difficult to penetrate and the Huns will not be able to dig under it.  A similar phrase is used in the Qur'an to convey that the barrier is very difficult to pass.
|
*Majlisi<ref>[http://www.al-islam.org/hayat-al-qulub-vol2-allamah-muhammad-baqir-al-majlisi/54.htm/ Majlisi, ''Hayat al-Qulub'' 2:52].</ref>


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{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 153|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |5
He fixed the gate and the bolts, and he placed nails of iron and beat them down one by the other, so that '''if the Huns came and dug out the rock which was under the threshold''' of iron, even if footmen were able to pass through, '''a horse with its rider would be unable to pass''', so long as the gate that was hammered down with bolts stood.<ref name="Budge"/>}}
|Khawla bint Hakim
|After 627.
|This is the same Khawla bint Hakim who arranged Muhammad's marriages to Aisha and Sawda. Her first husband was Hafsa's uncle, and their elder son fought at Badr. After being widowed, Khawla asked Muhammad to marry her, but he refused without giving a reason. However, he found her a new husband the same day.
|
*Ibn Ishaq<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 590</ref>
*Bukhari<ref>{{Bukhari|7|62|24}}; {{Bukhari|7|62|58}}; {{Bukhari|7|62|63}}; {{Bukhari|7|62|66}}.</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:114.</ref>
*Ibn Kathir<ref>[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1839&Itemid=89/ Ibn Kathir, ''Tafsir''] on {{Quran|33|50}}.</ref>


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{{Quote|{{Quran|18|97}}|Thus were they made powerless to '''scale it or to dig through it'''}}
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |6
|Dubaa bint Amir
|After 627.
|Dubaa was a wealthy noblewoman to whom Muhammad sent a marriage proposal when he heard about her beautiful long hair that filled a whole room when she sat down. But by the time she accepted him, he had been advised that she was “elderly” (her grown-up son had been born from her third marriage) so he retracted his proposal before he had even met her.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 140}}</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:111.</ref>


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===Destroyed at the End of Times===
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |7
|Izza bint Abi Sufyan
|After July 628.
|She was the sister of Muhammad’s wife Ramlah. Ramlah proposed Izza as a bride, "since, as I cannot be your only wife, I would like to share my good fortune with my sister." But Muhammad said he could not marry two sisters concurrently.
|
*Muslim<ref>{{Muslim|8|3412}}; {{Muslim|8|3413}}.</ref>


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An often overlooked aspect of the story of Dhul-Qarnayn is that it ends with a prophetic prediction of the wall being destroyed and the tribes of Gog and Magog surging and destroying everything in their path. In particular, it notes that this will occur on the day of Judgement when the "trumpet is blown" and the people of the world are gathered together to account for their sins. The Syriac legend also ends with a similar prophecy that likewise occurs when the nations have been gathered together at the end of times.
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |8
|Durrah bint Abi Salama
|After July 628.
|She was the daughter of Muhammad's wife Hind. Another wife, Ramlah, noticed that Muhammad admired Durrah and asked  if he intended to marry her. He replied that he could not marry his stepdaughter; and besides, her father had been his foster-brother. On the day Muhammad died, Durrah was only six years old.
|
*Muslim<ref>{{Muslim|8|3412}}; {{Muslim|8|3413}}.</ref>


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{{Quote|The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 154|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |9
And '''the Lord will gather together the kings and their hosts''' which are within this mountain, and they shall all be assembled at His beck, and shall come with their spears and swords, and shall stand behind the gate, and shall look up to the heavens, and shall call upon the name of the Lord,"saying, 'O Lord, open to us this gate.'  And the Lord shall send His sign from heaven and '''a voice shall call on this gate, and it shall be destroyed and fall''' at the beck of the Lord, and it shall not be opened by the key which I have made for it. And a troop shall go through this gate which I have made, and a full span shall be worn away from the lower threshold" by the hoofs of the horses which with their riders '''shall go forth to destroy the land by the command of the Lord''';<ref name="Budge"/>}}
|Umama bint Hamza
|After March 630.
|She was Muhammad's cousin and said to be the prettiest girl in the family. Ali proposed her as a bride while she was still a child, but Muhammad said that he could not marry her because her father had been his foster-brother. She later married his stepson, Salama ibn Abi Salama.
|
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:115-116.</ref>


|-<!-- New row starts here -->
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|98}}|
! style="background: #EEEEEE;" |10
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'''.}}
|Safiyah bint Bashshama
|September 630.
|She was a war-captive from Mesopotamia. Muhammad asked her to marry him, but when she said she wanted to return to her husband, he allowed her family to ransom her. It is said that her family cursed her for placing her personal happiness above the political needs of the tribe.
|
*Al-Tabari<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 140}}</ref>
*Ibn Sa'd<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:109-111.</ref>


|}<BR>
The connection with the destruction of the wall and the end of times is further explained in the classic Qur'anic [[tafsir]] by Ibn Kathir.


==Muhammad's Marriages and Poor Widows==
{{Quote|Tafsir Ibn Kathir, "The Barrier restrains Them, but It will be breached when the Hour draws nigh"|(We shall leave some of them to surge like waves) meaning mankind, on that day, the day when the barrier will be breached and these people (Ya'juj and Ma'juj) will come out surging over mankind to destroy their wealth and property.  As-Suddi said: "That is when they emerge upon the people." All of this will happen before the Day of Resurrection and after the Dajjal, as we will explain when discussing the Ayat:  (and As-Sur [the trumpet] will be blown.) As-Sur, as explained in the Hadith, is a horn that is blown into. The one who will blow into it is (the angel) Israfil, peace be upon him, as has been explained in the Hadith quoted at length above, and there are many Hadiths on this topic.<ref> Tafsir Ibn Kathir. Ch 18: "The Barrier restrains Them, but It will be breached when the Hour draws nigh". Full text at [http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2700&Itemid=73 qtafsir.com] </ref>}}
It is often suggested that [[Muhammad]]’s wives were, for the most part, poor widows whom he [[marriage|married]] to save from a life of destitution. This article investigates the plausibility of such a perspective.


Prophet Muhammad himself never claimed that he married women out of compassion for their poverty. On the contrary, he asserted that he, and men in general, chose their wives for four basic motives: for their money, for their family connections, for their beauty and for their piety. He added: “So you should marry the pious woman or you will be a loser.”<ref>{{Bukhari|7|62|27}}.</ref> The suggestion that Muhammad’s many marriages were motivated by a charitable concern for the welfare of widows is not found in the early sources. This theory seems to have been devised by a few modern historians and then uncritically accepted by others.
===Views of Modern Scholars===


Nevertheless, the widely held view that “Muhammad married poor widows to provide them with a home” is not supported by the available historical evidence from Islamic sources.
Van Bladel in his book sums up the relation between the Qur'an and the Romance:


{{Quote|Ali, M. M. (1924, 1993). ''Muhammad the Prophet'', pp. 192-193. Columbus, Ohio: The Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam Lahore.|The perpetual state of war created disparity between the male and female elements of society. Husbands having fallen on the field of battle, their widows had to be provided for … This is the reason that [Muhammad] himself took so many women to be his wives during the period when war was raging. Nearly all of his wives were widows.}}
{{Quote|The Alexander legend in the Qur‘an 18:83-102, p. 182|
Thus, quite strikingly, almost every element of this short Qur'anic tale finds a more explicit and detailed counterpart in the Syriac Alexander Legend. In both text the related events are given in precisely the same order.
{{Quote|Abdallati, H. ''Islam in Focus'', pp. 177-179.|Wars and persecution burdened the Muslims with many widows, orphans and divorcees. They had to be protected and maintained by the surviving Muslim men … One course of relief was to take them as his own wives and accept the challenge of heavy liabilities.}}


Muhammad's wives [[Khadijah]] & [[Aisha]] are generally altogether excluded in the analyses of those who maintain that Muhammad's marriages were a form of welfare. This is because it is agreed upon that “Khadijah was a merchant woman of dignity and wealth”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 82.</ref> who eventually expended her on maintaining [[Islam]].<ref>Ibn Hanbal, ''Musnad'' vol. 6 pp. 117-118.</ref> It is also agreed that Aisha, beside being a professional spinster,<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref> was the daughter of “a man of means,”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 223.</ref> “a merchant of high character” with “experience in commerce.”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 114.</ref> She likewise already had a fiancé at the time of Muhammad’s proposal, and her father had to break off this engagement before marrying her to Muhammad,<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 129-130}}.</ref> so it would rather difficult to argue that Muhammad did Aisha some sort of financial favor through his marriage to her, as it seems that, in all likelihood, she would have socially and financially prospered regardless.
As it is, the correspondences shown earlier are still so exact that it is obvious in comparison that the two texts are at least connected very closely. They relate the same story in precisely the same order of events using many of the same particular details.<ref name="VanBladel"/>}}


As for Muhammad’s other wives, it is true that most of them were widowed, divorced or both. Only [[Mariyah the Sex Slave of the Holy Prophet|Mariyah]],<ref>{{Tabari|39|193-195}}; {{Tabari|9|pp. 137, 141}}.</ref> Mulaykah<ref>{{Tabari|8|p. 187}}.</ref> and Fatima<ref>{{Tabari|9|136-139}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 186-188}}.</ref> are not recorded as having been previously married.<ref>Since so little is known about these women, it cannot be asserted that they were ''not'' widows. We only state here that no previous marriages are ''recorded''.</ref>
==Dating the Alexander Legend==


Whether these widows were “poor” depends on how one defines poverty. Some may not consider a slave to be poor if the slave serves in the household of the wealthy, for while Islamic slaves had no political rights or autonomy, they were usually better fed than the poorest free persons. Others may not consider a Bedouin to be poor, even while Bedouins eat daily, simply because they neglect and thus have few material possessions. Moreover, no matter how poor a widow might be, some might argue that she fails to truly qualify as “destitute” so long as she has living relatives who can guarantee that they will take care of her.
The parallels between the Syriac Legend and the Qur'an are quite striking and there is no other logical conclusion other than they share a common source. As to the question of dependency, in chronological terms the Qur'an must be dependent on the Syriac version, but there are in fact multiple common streams of stories which might have influenced both.  


Finally, in addition to considering whether Muhammad's individual wives were persons, one must also consider whether Muhammad was himself a man of means who would have been able to well provide for the women whom he married. For, if Muhammad was not himself a reliable source of welfare, then it would be equally difficult to maintain that his marriages were a form of financial relief for his wives, who may, one thinks, just as easily, have encountered great wealth elsewhere among the muslims.
While the Syriac texts available relate a more or less specific version of the Alexander Romance, many aspects of this legend draw from earlier materials. Similar stories of Alexander pre-date both the Qur'an and Syriac legends by many centuries including folklore found in earlier Christian and Jewish writings. Parallels to the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical story of Gog and Magog can be clearly identified in the story as well.


===The Wives===
===Epic of Gilgamesh===


====Sawdah bint Zamaa====
One of the earliest and most influential stories, the Epic of Gilgamesh was written sometime before 2000 BCE. In one of the tablets of his many adventures, Gilgamesh travels far to the east, to the mountain passes at the ends of the earth. He slays mountain lions, bears and other wild animals. Eventually he comes to the twin peaks of Mount Mashu at the end of the earth, from where the sun rises. Here he finds a large gate, guarded by scorpion-people who protect the sun and forbidden anyone to enter through the gate without their permission.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab9.htm|title= Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet IX|publisher= Academy for Ancient Texts|author= Maureen Gallery Kovacs (trans.)|series= |date= I998|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ancienttexts.org%2Flibrary%2Fmesopotamian%2Fgilgamesh%2Ftab9.htm&date=2013-11-23|deadurl=no}}</ref>


Muhammad married Sawdah in May 620.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 170}}.</ref> It is not known how Muhammad was making his living in his last few years in Mecca, but he does not seem to have been able to re-launch Khadijah’s merchant business. If it is true that ''all'' of Khadijah’s wealth had been expended in the days of the blockade,<ref>Ibn Hanbal, ''Musnad'' vol. 6 pp. 117-118.</ref> Muhammad was now bankrupt. He certainly did not seem to have any resources of his own by the time of the ''Hijra'' in September 622, as it is recorded that all the expenses of his journey were paid by Abu Bakr.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 223</ref>
It is in this very ancient mythology, that we have the basic outline of the adventure found in the Qur'an and the Alexander legends: a powerful hero, who travels from west to east, the setting and rising of the sun, two mountains and a gate.


By contrast, Sawdah was a tanner<ref>An-Nasa’i vol. 5 #4245</ref> and a perfume-mixer.<ref>[http://www.alim.org/library/hadith/TIR/927/ Tirmidhi 927.]</ref> So she was not in penury; she had the means to earn her own living. Nor was she alone, for she lived with her father and brother.<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 130}}.</ref> It is not stated that they were wealthy, but they were respectable. Sawdah also had a son, Abdulrahman ibn Sakhran,<ref>Zarqani 2:260 states that he was killed at the Battle of Jalula in 637. If Sawda was born c. 580, she could easily have given birth to a son before 600.</ref> who is never mentioned as being part of Muhammad’s household. This suggests that by 620 he was an adult who did not need to move in with his new stepfather if he preferred to remain with his blood-relations; therefore he was also old enough to work to contribute to the family expenses. Sawdah’s father approved of her marriage to Muhammad, but her brother did not. Sawdah and Muhammad took care to finalize their union on a day when her brother was out of town; when he returned home and heard the news, he poured dust on his head.<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 130}}.</ref> It appears he would rather have taken financial responsibility for his sister for the rest of his life than see her married to someone he evidently considered an enemy.
===Early Jewish Legends===


So, it appears, Sawdah had no economic need to marry Muhammad. On the contrary, it seems more likely that ''he'' rather than she was the one who gained financially from this marriage.  
The Jewish historian Josephus (37-100 CE), records in his two books legendary stories of Alexander that were known to the Jews of the first century. In his first book, "The Antiquities of the Jews", he mentions that the tribes of Magog are called the Scythians by the Greeks. In his second book, "The Wars of the Jews", he further details that these people are held behind a wall of iron that has been built by Alexander the Great. In this legend, Josephus relates that Alexander allows the tribes of Magog to come out from behind the wall and create havoc in the land. Here is a very clear connection of Alexander to an iron gate and the tribes of Magog being prevented from plundering the land. This shows that local folklore already contained the basic backbone of the Alexander story almost six centuries before the story found in the Qur'an.


As a general commentary on the social problems in the Muslim community, it should be noted that at this early date, the Muslims had not fought a single battle. No Muslim “died in the wars” before the [[Islam Undressed: The Battle of Badr|Battle of Badr]] in 624,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 289ff.</ref> an event that, in all likelihood, no one could have foreseen in 620. In fact, the only Muslim who had so far died violently was a woman.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 145.</ref> So it is equally difficult to maintain that there was a problem with finding enough men to take care of the numerous widows. On the contrary, the gender imbalance appears to have been in the opposite direction. The Egyptian scholar Al-Suyuti compares different traditions about Umar’s conversion in 616: “He embraced the faith early — after the conversion of 40 men and 10 women — or as some say, after 39 men and 23 women, and others, 45 men and 11 women.”<ref>Al-Suyuti, ''Tarikh al-Khulafa''. Translation by Jarrett, H. S. (1881). ''History of the Caliphs'', p. 112. Caclutta: The Asiatic Society.</ref> All these numbers appear to be incorrect, however, for [[Ibn Ishaq]]’s [[Lists|list]] of Muslims who emigrated to Abyssinia in 615 includes 83 men and 18 women.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 146-148.</ref> His list of Muslims converted by Abu Bakr has 41 men and 9 women.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 115-117.</ref> One consistency among all these lists, however, is that the early Muslims seemed to comprise ''far'' more men than women, at least twice (and perhaps ''four times'') as many. Moreover, many of the Muslim women whose names are missing from these early lists<ref>There is no mention of Khadijah and her daughters, nor of Umm Ruman, nor of the numerous sisters of Lubabah bint Al-Harith ({{Tabari|39|p. 201}}).</ref> were married to [[Pagan Origins of Islam|pagan]] men; so even if they had been “numerous” (although they likely were not), there could have been no such pervasive problem of “homeless widows”.
{{Quote|The Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, Ch6, v1|
'''Magog''' founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called '''Scythians'''.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2848/2848-h/2848-h.htm#link2HCH0006|title= The Antiquities of the Jews: Book I, Ch6, v1|publisher= Project Gutenberg|author= Flavius Josephus, William Whiston (trans.)|date= accessed November 24, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gutenberg.org%2Ffiles%2F2848%2F2848-h%2F2848-h.htm%23link2HCH0006&date=2013-11-24|deadurl=no}}</ref>}}


It appears, then, that the issue of how to provide for single women would not have been on Muhammad’s mind in 620. Rather, the problem was how to find anyone at all who was available to marry him. Indeed, it appears that Muhammad was having some difficulty finding Muslim women for his male converts to marry, for he permitted marriage to polytheists right up to the year 628, and even later retained the permission for Muslim men to marry Jewish and Christian women, but not the other way around.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 509-510.</ref>
{{Quote|The Wars Of The Jews, Book VII, Ch7, v4|
Now there was a nation of the Alans, which we have formerly mentioned some where as being '''Scythians''' and inhabiting at the lake Meotis. This nation about this time laid a design of falling upon Media, and the parts beyond it, in order to plunder them; with which intention they treated with the king of Hyrcania; for he was master of that '''passage which king Alexander [the Great] shut up with iron gates'''. This king gave them leave to come through them; so they came in great multitudes, and fell upon the Medes unexpectedly, and plundered their country.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/war-7.htm|title= The Wars Of The Jews: Book VII, Ch7, v4|publisher= Christian Classics Ethereal Library|author= Flavius Josephus, William Whiston (trans.)|date= accessed November 24, 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ccel.org%2Fj%2Fjosephus%2Fworks%2Fwar-7.htm&date=2013-11-24|deadurl=no}}</ref>}}


====Hafsah bint Umar====
===Early Christian Legends===


Hafsah’s first husband, Khunays ibn Hudhayfa, died of battle-wounds in mid-624.<ref>{{Bukhari|5|59|342}}. Bewley/Saad 8:56: "He died, leaving her a widow after the ''Hijra'' when the Prophet arrived from Badr."</ref> He seems to have been a man of humble means who relied on the patronage of Hafsah’s father Umar.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 218.</ref> This suggests that his death did not make much change to Hafsah’s economic situation. Before, during, and after her marriage, she was dependent on her father. Umar claimed to be “one of the richest of the Quraysh”<ref>Guillaume/Ibn Ishaq 216.</ref> and thus should have had no financial difficulty maintaining his daughter.
As early as the 399 CE, local stories of Alexander building a wall against the Huns had made their way into Christian writings as well. St. Jerome, an early church father, writes about rumors of attacks against Jerusalem by invaders from the north. He refers to these invaders as Huns who live near the gate that was built by Alexander.


In addition, Hafsah was one of only four Muslim women in the whole of Medina who knew how to write.<ref>Baladhuri, ''Conquest of the Lands'', cited in [http://english.sahartv.ir/media/pdf/The%20Unschooled%20Prophet.pdf/ Mutahhari, S. A. M. ''The Unschooled Prophet''. Tehran: Islamic Propagation Organization.] There were also eleven Muslim men who could write. The other seven names on Baladhuri’s list are of people who did not convert to Islam until after Hafsah had married Muhammad.</ref> If she had wanted (or been permitted, for Umar was famously opposed to this line of female work) to set herself up as a career woman, she would have been in demand as a clerk.
{{Quote| Letters of St. Jerome, Letter 77| For news came that the hordes of the Huns had poured forth all the way from Mæotis (they had their haunts between the icy Tanais and the rude Massagetæ; where '''the gates of Alexander keep back the wild peoples''' behind the Caucasus); and that, speeding here and there on their nimble-footed horses, they were filling all the world with panic and bloodshed.<ref>Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley. From "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series", Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001077.htm Letters of St. Jerome: Letter 77] <small>([http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newadvent.org%2Ffathers%2F3001077.htm&date=2013-11-24 archived])</small>>.</ref>}}


By contrast, Muhammad could not afford to keep his wives. Aisha claimed that they never ate bread for more than three successive days, and sometimes the family did not light a fire for a month on end because they had nothing to cook but lived off dates and water.<ref>{{Muslim|42|7085}}; {{Muslim|42|7083}}; {{Muslim|42|7086}}; {{Muslim|42|7084}}; {{Muslim|42|7087}}; {{Muslim|42|7089}}; {{Muslim|42|7092}}; {{Muslim|42|7093}}; {{Muslim|42|7097}}; {{Muslim|42|7098}}.</ref> By marrying Muhammad, it then seems, Hafsah was accepting a significant cut in her standard of living. In fact, Umar later warned her never to ask her husband, Muhammad, for money: “If you need something, come and ask me.”<ref>{{Bukhari|7|62|119}}.</ref>
===Gog and Magog in the Bible===


However, Muhammad did not marry Hafsah for her father’s money, for it seems he already had virtually unhampered access to Umar's wealth, since Umar was one of the most willing to spend his wealth "in the way of Allah".<ref>Guillaume/Ibn Ishaq 216.</ref>
The story of Gog and Magog being let loose at the end of the world, on Judgement Day, can be found in the Book of Revelation. We are told that they will swarm across the earth and surround the "camp of God's people" who have been gathered together in the "city he loves" (namely Jerusalem). This writing dates to the second half of the 1<sup>st</sup> century.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.amazon.com/Before-Jerusalem-Fell-Dating-Revelation/dp/0930464206/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385273746&sr=8-1|title= Before Jerusalem Fell|publisher= Powder Springs, Georgia: American Vision|author= Kenneth Gentry|isbn= 0-930464-20-6|date= 1989|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=6FAookts4MUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false|title= The Book of Revelation|publisher= Cambridge: Eerdman's|author= Robert Mounce|pages=15-16|date= |archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref>


Ultimately, it becomes clear that Muhammad could not and did not provide any form of special welfare to Hafsah.
{{Quote|Revelation 20:7-9|When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.<ref name="NIV1">New International Version of the Bible.  Zondervan 1971. [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2020&version=NIV Rev 20:7-19].</ref> }}


====Zaynab bint Khuzayma====
===Dating the Syriac Legend===


Zaynab’s husband was killed at Badr; he was Ubayda ibn Al-Harith, the first Muslim to die in battle.<ref>Guillaume/Ibn Ishaq 506.</ref> She should have been available for remarriage by late July 624. But she did not marry Muhammad for another seven months.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:82. “He married her in Ramadan at the beginning of the 31st month of the ''Hijra''.”</ref> So there is no reason to believe she had fallen into any sort of immediate destitution. Islamic chronicle further buttress this point.
The Alexander Legend was composed by a Mesopotamian Christian probably in Amid or Edessa. It was written down in 629-630 CE after the victory of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius over the Sasanian king Khusrau Parvez. Dr. Reinink, a Near East philogist and scholar, highlights the political agenda of the legend which is clearly written as a piece of pro-Byzantine propaganda. Its purpose was probably to win the separated Syrian Christians back to a union with the church at Constantinople.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=PtxOXRlPMA0C|title= Gog and Magog in Early Eastern Chrisitan and Islamic Sources|publisher= BRILL|author= Ed. Emeri J. van Donzel, Andrea Barbara Schmidt|page= 18|date= 2010|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref>


Zaynab had plenty of family in Medina. At her funeral, just eight months after her marriage to Muhammad, “three of her brothers” were present.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:82.</ref> Her deceased husband Ubayda also had two brothers, Al-Tufayl and Al-Husayn, who had accompanied him to Medina<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 218.</ref> and had fought with him at Badr.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 328.</ref> Furthermore, Zaynab was on good terms with her pagan relatives in Mecca. Her cousin Qubaysa ibn Amr made the journey out to [[Medina]] so that he could arrange her marriage to Muhammad,<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref> even though this could have easily been done by one of her brothers in Medina.
===Dating the Qur'anic Verses===


Zaynab was from the wealthy Hilal tribe,<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918; {{Tabari|9|p. 138}}.</ref> and it seems that her branch of the family had as much money as any of them. This family, it appears, also never stopped supporting her; and hence, there was always someone to ensure her subsistence. As we have seen, Muhammad was impecunious and could not afford to feed his wives and even perhaps himself properly.
According to the traditional Muslim narrative, Al-Kahf (The Cave) was generally revealed in Mecca, except verse 28 and verses 83-101 which were revealed in Medina.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://tanzil.net/pub/ebooks/History-of-Quran.pdf|title= The History of the Quran|publisher= Al-Tawheed|author= Allamah Abu Abd Allah al-Zanjani, Mahliqa Qara'i (trans.)|page=34|date= |archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref> Based on this information, the story of Dhul-Qarnayn, contained in verses 83-101, would be dated to after the Hijra in June 622 CE and before Muhammed's death in June 632 CE; a more specific date is difficult to ascertain with any certainty from the Islamic narrative. Since the community of Muslims in Mecca were far from well known outside of Arabia, the possibility of their story influencing Christians in Syria is extremely remote. The Syriac work also contains no references to the Arabic phrases used in the Qur'anic account, which would be expected if the Syrian story was using that as its source.<ref name="VanBladel" /> On the question of dependency, it is clear that the composition of the Syriac legend predates the Qur'an according to the traditional narrative and certainly that is the direction in which the influence must have flowed.


Whatever may have been Zaynab's motive in marrying Muhammad, it seems unlikely that money played any sort of important role. Indeed, once again, it appears more plausible that Muhammad's financial circumstances would have, through his strengthened link to Zaynab's family, improved as a result of this marriage.
===Spread of the Syriac Legend to Arabia===


====Hind (Umm Salama) bint Abi Umayya====
The popularity of the Syriac legend of Alexander is evidenced by its inclusion in other works soon after its composition. The "Song of Alexander", composed a few years later but before the Arab conquest of Syria sometime between 630 CE and 636 CE. The Syriac apocalypse, "De Fine Munid" composed between 640 CE and 683 CE and the "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius" composed around 692 CE.<ref name="VanBladel" /> Since the work was composed as a piece of propaganda, its intentional dissemination makes sense of its rapid adoption and popularity in the region. This would have included Christian Arabs of the Ghassanid.  It is even possible that early Muslim followers heard the story of the Syrian legend during their raids on Mu'ta on the borders of Syria around September 629 CE.<ref name="VanBladel" />


Hind was born into the wealthy Makhzum clan of the Quraysh, and her husband, Abdullah ibn Abdulasad, was a second cousin from the same clan.<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 132}}.</ref> Since their family rejected them when they became Muslims,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 169, 170.</ref> it is not clear whether they were still wealthy when, ten years later, they arrived in Medina; but it is known that they owned the camels that transported them.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 213-214.</ref>
===Views of Modern Scholars===


Abdullah died from battle wounds in November 625.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 175}}; Bewley/Saad 8:61.</ref> Hind wanted to pledge never to remarry so that they might be reunited in Paradise; but the dying Abdullah would not accept the pledge.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:62.</ref> The very fact that Hind believed she would not want to remarry suggests that she was not worried about poverty. It was thus quite possible that Abdullah had some savings to leave to his widow. She was pregnant,<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:66: “When I gave birth to Zaynab, the Messenger of Allah came and proposed to me.” There is some confusion here, as both Hind's daughters appear to have been sometimes known as Zaynab, although the first was originally named Barrah and the second Durrah. Obviously, Hind is here referring to her younger daughter.</ref> so if she needed to generate extra income, perhaps she planned to hire herself out as a wet nurse. However, neither of these options appear to have been her primary intention.
It is clear that all the major elements of the Alexander story were in place by the 4<sup>th</sup> century, predating both the Qur'anic and the Syriac account by hundreds of years. Their reliance upon common sources for these elements is also clear. In effect, the story of Dhul-Qarnayn in the Qur'an is simply another example of the widespread inclusion of Alexander folklore into the stories and traditions of the religious groups in the Middle East. Rebecca Edwards in a address to the American Philological Association in 2002 states:


As soon as Hind was free to remarry (18 March 626)<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:61.</ref> she received a marriage-proposal from Abu Bakr. Then she received a proposal from Umar. Then she received a proposal from Muhammad. She refused all of them. Muhammad then came to visit in person.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:63.</ref> In Hind’s own words: “When my ''idda'' was over, Allah’s Messenger asked to come to see me '''while I was tanning a hide I had. I washed my hands clean of the tanning solution''' and asked him to come in ...”<ref>Ahmad ibn Hanbal, cited in Ibn Kathir, ''Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya''. Translated by Le Gassick T. (2000). ''The Life of the Prophet'', p. 123. Reading, U.K.: Garnet Publishing.</ref> Like Sawdah, Hind was a tanner. Muhammad happened to call on her while she was working to support her children, which suggests that she had already established, by this point, a workable source of income. This is further buttressed by the fact that she comfortably rejected the marriage proposals of the three men who were, arguably, the most powerful around her at the time.
{{Quote||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. The denial of Alexander's identity as Dhul-Qarnayn is the denial of a common heritage shared by the cultures which shape the modern world--both in the east and the west.<ref>Rebecca Edwards. "Two Horns, Three Religions. How Alexander the Great ended up in the Quran". American Philological Association, 133<sup>rd</sup> Annual Meeting Program (Philadelphia, January 5, 2002)</ref>}}


When Muhammad repeated his marriage-proposal, Hind gave him a string of reasons for why she wanted to refuse, and he left her house disappointed. Muhammad had, in fact, to argue her out of her excuses and propose a third time before she finally accepted him.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:63.</ref> They were married on or before 6 April 626.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:61.</ref> This raises the question of whether Hind truly wanted to marry Muhammad or whether she simply gave in to the pressure from the most powerful man in the community. Regardless of why she changed her mind, her on-principle reluctance to remarry indicates that she had been managing quite well on her own, and that she had felt no compelling or even trifling reason to get married.
==Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander in Islamic Sources==


====Zaynab bint Jahsh====
While the Qur'an and Hadith never explicitly identify Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander, a number of Islamic scholars and commentators have endorsed this view. This was especially true in the early centuries after the founding of Islam when the legends of Alexander were still widely known and popular. In more recent years, some prominent scholars have also supported the connection between Alexander and Dhul-Qarnayn of the Qur'an.


Zaynab bint Jahsh was a career-woman. She was a tanner and leather-worker who was well able to support herself.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:74, 77.</ref> She lived under the protection of her two brothers, Abu Ahmad and Abdullah.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 214-215.</ref> She had no need to remarry unless she chose. It is even said that she proposed marriage to Muhammad and that she offered not to take any dower.<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref>
===Early Islamic Scholars===


If this story is true, Muhammad declined the offer. He told Zaynab that she had a “duty” to marry his son Zayd because that was what “Allah and his apostle” wished for her.<ref>{{Quran|33|36}}.</ref> At first she refused, and was supported in her refusal by her brother Abdullah.<ref>[http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=33&tAyahNo=36&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2/ Jalalayn's ''Tafsir'' on Q33:36.]</ref> However, when Abdullah was killed in the battle of Uhud,<ref>Guillaume/Ibn Ishaq 607.</ref> at about this time, Zaynab was talked into marrying Zayd.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 180}}.</ref> Zayd divorced her within two years, after which, according to Muhammad, Allah commanded her to marry Muhammad himself.<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918; {{Bukhari|9|93|516}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 180-181}}.</ref>
The Sirat Rasul Allah of Ibn Ishaq, circa 761 CE, mentions that Dhul-Qarnayn was of Egyptian and Greek origins, a fairly good description of Alexander who came from Macedonia in Greece, conquered Egypt, named a city after himself in Egypt and declared himself a god there.


Muhammad’s inability to provide for his growing family was not as serious for Zaynab as for some of his other wives. She continued to work at her leather-crafts after her marriage, and she gave away all her profits in alms.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:74, 77.</ref>
{{Quote|Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah|
A man who used to purvey stories of the foreigners, which were handed down among them, told me that Dhul-Qarnayn was an Egyptian whose name was Marzuban bin Mardhaba, the Greek.<ref>Ibn Ishaq; Guillaume, Alfred, ed. (2002). "The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah". Oxford University Press. pp. 138–140. ISBN 978-0-19-636033-1.</ref>}}
Although it is agreed that Zaynab was economically independent, modern historians sometimes claim that she might have had a social or moral need to remarry. One writes, “Before Islam, the Arabs did not allow divorcees to remarry,”<ref>Abdallati, H. ''Islam in Focus'', pp.177-179, cited in “Rebuttal to Sam Shamoun’s Article Muhammad’s Multiplicity of Marriages” in ''Answering Christianity''.</ref> and that her divorce “made her unfit to marry a status conscious Arab.”<ref>[http://www.scribd.com/doc/133159128/The-Real-Men-of-the-Renaissance-Badreddine-Belhamissi/ Aly, A. (1999). ''The Real Men of the Renaissance'', p. 26. Belhamissi.]</ref> However, there is no evidence that the Arabs forbade divorced women to remarry. On the contrary, Abu Sufyan’s favourite wife, Hind bint Utbah, had been a divorcée.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:165; Al-Suyuti, ''Tarikh al-Khulafa''. Translated by Jarrett, H. S. (1881). ''History of the Caliphs'', pp. 200-201. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society.</ref> Abu Sufyan's clan, the Umayyads, had been the dominant clan of the Quraysh even before Abu Sufyan became the high chief of Mecca;<ref>E.g., see Guillaume/Ishaq 82.</ref> what was socially acceptable for the Umayyads was, by definition, acceptable for everyone. Muhammad did not marry Zaynab to rescue her from social disapprobation; rather, he created significant social disapprobation in order that he might marry her, for while remarriage was not taboo, marrying ones daughter-in-law (even through adoption), evidently was.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 9}}. "The ''Munafiqun'' made this a topic of their conversation and reviled the Prophet, saying, 'Muhammad prohibits (marriage) with the (former) wives of one's own sons, but he married the (former) wife of his son Zayd.'"</ref>


====Rayhanah bint Zayd====
Tafsir al-Jalalayn, a classical Sunni tafsir of the Qur'an, composed by Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli in 1459 CE identifies Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander.


Rayhanah was a member of the [[Jews|Jewish]] [[Banu Qurayza|Qurayza]] tribe,<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 164-165}}.</ref> whom Muhammad besieged in 627. When the tribe surrendered, Muhammad determined that the Banu Qurayzah's every adult male should be decapitated, every woman and child, [[Slavery|enslaved]], and all the tribe's property forfeit to the Islamic state.<ref>Guillaume/Ibn Ishaq 689-692.</ref> It is thus true that Rayhanah was widowed, impoverished, and a slave, but only because Muhammad had her husband executed and proceeded to appropriate her wealth and person. Indeed, at the very moment Muhammad approved of Banu Qurayzah's brutal sentence, Rayhanah had become Muhammad's legal property. Already, one sees how difficult it would be to maintain that Muhammad's acquisition of Rayhanah was the product of his financial liberality, let alone benevolence.
{{Quote|Tafsir al-Jalalayn|And they, the Jews, question you concerning '''Dhū’l-Qarnayn, whose name was Alexander'''; he was not a prophet. Say: ‘I shall recite, relate, to you a mention, an account, of him’, of his affair.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=83&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageID=2|title= Tafsir al-Jalalayn: Surah 18, Ayah 83|publisher= Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought|author=Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli, Feras Hamza (trans.)|date= 2013|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Faltafsir.com%2FTafasir.asp%3FtMadhNo%3D0%26tTafsirNo%3D74%26tSoraNo%3D18%26tAyahNo%3D83%26tDisplay%3Dyes%26UserProfile%3D0%26LanguageID%3D2&date=2013-11-24|deadurl=no}}</ref>}}


Indeed, if Muhammad had made enquiries about how to help the Qurayza slaves, he would have quickly realized that Rayhanah was among the least destitute, for she was only a Quraziya by marriage. By birth she belonged to the Nadir tribe,<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 164-165}}.</ref> who were currently residing in the date-farms of Khaybar.<ref> Guillaume/Ishaq 437-438.</ref> Thus, if Muhammad sought to provide for Rayhanah, he could have released her to return her own family. The Nadir were making every effort to assist the surviving Qurayza. In fact, they searched the Arabian slave-markets and they bought back as many Qurayza women and children as they found there.<ref>Cited in [http://www.kister.huji.ac.il/content/massacre-ban%C5%AB-quray%E1%BA%93-re-examination-tradition?lang=english/ Kister, M. J. (1986). The Massacre of the Banū Qurayẓa: A Re-Examination of a Tradition. ''Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 8'', 61-96.]</ref> Since Rayhanah was a Nadriya by birth, her tribe would certainly have ransomed her too if only she had been for sale.
Another influential Tafsir author who endorsed the identify of Alexander is the Indian scholar Shah Waliullah (1763 CE).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=jbVWRp56XxsC|title= Al-Fawz al-Kabir fi Usul al-Tafsir|publisher= Islamic Book Trust|author= Shah Waliullah (1763)|date= 2013|page= 27|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref>


But Muhammad had selected Rayhanah for himself. Even while she showed “repugnance towards Islam” and refused to marry him, he kept her enslaved as his personal concubine.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 466.</ref>
===Modern Islamic Scholars===


The massacre of the Banu Qurayzah had substantially fattened the Muslim treasury, a large portion of which Muhammad was personally entitled to,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 466.</ref> and he thus would have had no trouble maintaining his family at this point. Although Aisha claims, as noted above, that he failed to be consistent in doing this even hereafter, he would have, at least in theory and per his own law, had the means to support his wives. It is also nearly certain that the Muslim men no longer outnumbered the women, as the acquisition of hundreds of female slaves<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 466.</ref> should have amply redressed the gender imbalance.
One of the most prominent modern scholars to defend the fidelity between Dhul-Qarnayn and Alexander the Great is the famous Qur'anic translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali.  Yusuf Ali gives a detailed defense of the Alexander theory in the Appendix of his commentary on the Qur'an, including assertions that the Qur'an accurately depicts an historical account of Alexander and not a legendary one.


There is therefore at least some justification for the claim that, from 627 onwards, Muhammad was in a position to provide a home for the “excess women” who were unable to marry monogamously. What remains to be established, however, is whether or not the particular women whom he married were the ones who would have been otherwise left destitute.
{{Quote|The Noble Quran's Commentary, appx. 6, p. 738. |Personally, '''I have not the least doubt that Dhu al Qarnayn is meant to be Alexander the Great''', the historic Alexander, and not the legendary Alexander, of whom more presently.  My first appointment after graduation was that of Lecturer in Greek history.  I have studied the details of Alexander's extraordinary personality in Greek historians as well as in modern writers, and have since visited most of the localities connected with his brief but brilliant career. Few readers of Quranic literature have had the same privilege of studying the details of his career.  It is one of the wonders of the Quran, that, spoken through an Ummi's (illiterate) mouth, it should contain so many incidental details which are absolutely true.<ref name="YusufAli"> Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Ali, "The Noble Quran's Commentary", appx. 6, p. 738.</ref>}}


====Juwayriyah bint Al-Harith====
==Reconstructing the Historical Alexander==


Juwayriyah was in a similar situation to Rayhanah. She had become widowed because Muslim raiders had killed her husband.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:83.</ref> Like Rayhanah, Juwayriyah had family members who would have happily purchased/ransomed her given the opportunity. Juwayriyah, in fact, knew that the raiders had only carried off a fraction of her tribe’s wealth and that they had only killed a few of the men. Her father, the chief, had survived the raid, and he was willing and able to pay the ransom set on her head.<ref>Ibn Hisham note 739.</ref>
While legendary accounts of Alexander's life dominated Europe and the Middle East for almost two thousands years, eventually more historical biographies about his life were unearthed. This included information about Alexander as a polytheist, Zeus worshiping pagan and insight into his personal and sexual preferences. Such historical facts about Alexander the Great became well known only after the Renaissance period (1300-1600 CE) when Greek documents from the 2<sup>nd</sup> century were rediscovered. 


However, Muhammad, as with Rayhanah, refused to ransom or sell Juwayriyah. Instead, he gave Juwayriyah one of two options: the choice of marrying himself or marrying another Muslim.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 629; Ibn Hisham note 918; {{Tabari|39|pp. 182-183}}.</ref>
These included the "Anabasis Alexandri" or "the Campaigns of Alexander" by Arrian. It is generally considered the most important source on Alexander the Great. Written in the 2<sup>nd</sup> century, it gives a detailed history of Alexander's military complains and is based on early sources that are now lost. The other is the "Life of Alexander" and two orations "On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great" , by the Greek historian and biographer Plutarch of Chaeronea.  This work detailed much of Alexander's personal life, desires, motivations, and other personal insights.<ref name="Plutarch">Plutarch (1919). Perrin, Bernadotte, ed. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0243 "Plutarch, Alexander"]. Perseus Project. Retrieved December 6, 2011.</ref>


====Ramlah (Umm Habiba) bint Abi Sufyan====
===Polytheism===


Ramlah and her first husband, Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh, were among the early converts to Islam who emigrated to Abyssinia in 615.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 146; {{Tabari|39|p. 177}}.</ref> “They were safely ensconced there and were grateful for the protection of the ''Negus'' [King]; could serve Allah without fear; and the ''Negus'' had shown them every hospitality.”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 148.</ref> It is not known how the exiles earned their living, but they must have found a means of subsistence, for they all stayed at least four years. Forty of them returned to Arabia in 619, only to discover that Mecca was still not a safe place for Muslims.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 167-168.</ref> After the Muslim victory at Badr in 624, however, the exiles realized that they would be safe in Medina, and they began to leave for Arabia in small groups.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 527-529.</ref> About half of them remained in Abyssinia, Ramlah and Ubaydullah among them.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 527.</ref> There is no obvious reason why they could not have gone to Medina, where all of Ubaydullah’s siblings lived,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 214-215. Ubaydullah’s eldest brother was married to Ramlah’s sister.</ref> so presumably their continuation in Abyssinia was voluntary.
Alexander the Great was a polytheist who believed in the pantheon of Greek gods, the dominant religious belief at the time of the 4<sup>th</sup> century BCE in Macedon Greece and throughout most of the Mediterranean. When his army first invaded Asia, Alexander dedicated the lands of his conquests to the gods. He visited the Oracle at Delphi and sought prophecies about his future. After his death, Alexander apparently left instructions in his will for a monumental temple to Athena be built at Troy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lkYFVJ3U-BIC |title= A Companion to Ancient Macedonia|publisher= John Wiley & Sons|author= Joseph Roisman, Ian Worthington|date= 2010|isbn=1-4051-7936-8|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref>


Ubaydullah died in Abyssinia.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:68.</ref> This should not have made much difference to Ramlah’s economic position. If he had been running some kind of business, she could have taken it over; and if he had had any savings, she would have inherited them. In fact he was known to have been an [[Alcohol|alcoholic]],<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:68: “He gave himself over to drinking wine until he died.”</ref> so it is possible that she had already needed to fend for herself for several years. She had chosen to remain in Abyssinia rather than join her family in Medina, so presumably she could have continued to do whatever she was doing indefinitely. Widowhood now gave her the option of remarriage. There were twelve single men in the community but only four single women, of whom two were elderly, so, it is reasonable to conclude that Ramlah and her teenage daughter could have easily found suitors had they wished to marry.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 526-527. This list shows that the group also included four married couples and six children under 13.</ref>
===Son of Zeus-Ammon===
[[File:Zeus Ammon.png|right|thumb|200px|A terracotta cast of Zeus Ammon with ram horns. 1st century CE. Alexander is depicted with similar ram horns in coins as a reference to his deity.]]
Muhammad’s marriage proposal arrived on the day Ramlah completed her 130-day waiting-period.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:68. “When my waiting period came to an end, I was aware of the messenger of the ''Negus'' at the door … She said, ‘The King says to you that the Messenger of Allah has written to him to marry you to him.’”</ref> She was so pleased that she gave her silver bracelets, anklets and rings as gifts to the messenger.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:69.</ref> The ''Negus'' himself hosted the proxy-wedding feast, gave Ramlah presents of perfume and underwrote her dower.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:69.</ref> He appears to have misunderstood how much dower a bride of Ramlah’s station expected, for he gave her 400 ''dinars''<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 133}}.</ref> (about £20,000) when the usual sum was only 400 ''dirhams''<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918.</ref> (about one-tenth of this). All these details indicate that the ''Negus'' had protected his Muslim guests very well and that they were in no danger of destitution as long as he had his eye on them.
Alexander appears to have believed himself a deity, or at least sought to deify himself.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Great-Hellenistic-Peter-Green/dp/0753824132/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385374702&sr=8-1|title= Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age|publisher= London: Phoenix|author=  Peter Green|date= August 7, 2008|isbn=978-0-7538-2413-9|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref> Olympias, his mother, always insisted to him that he was the son of Zeus,<ref name="Plutarch" /> a theory apparently confirmed to him by the oracle of Amun at Siwa in Libya.<ref name="Plutarch" /> Shortly after his visit to the oracle, Alexander began to identify himself as the son of Zeus-Ammon and often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father.  This god, an amalgamation of both the Greek god Zeus and the Egyptian god Ammon was often depicted with ram horns on his head. Subsequent currency depicted Alexander adorned with similar rams horn as a symbol of his divinity.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Alexander-Great-Greek-Roman/dp/0415394511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385374897&sr=8-1|title= The Legend of Alexander the Great on Greek and Roman Coins|publisher= Routledge|author= Karsten Dahmen|date=  February 23, 2007|isbn=0-415-39451-1|archiveurl= |deadurl=no}}</ref>


Muhammad must have heard from the returned emigrants about their lives in Abyssinia, so he had no false impression that Ramlah was in need of “rescuing”. In fact, even if she had needed to be rescued, there is no real reason why she would have had to marry Muhammad; she could have simply gone to Medina and lived with her family. Furthermore, if Muhammad had for some reason believed that Ramlah needed to marry, and to marry himself, as a matter of survival, this opens the question of why he did not also propose marriage to the other two widows. They were elderly and of the peasant class,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq pp. 179, 526-528. The details here show that the two ladies had been married to a pair of brothers, i.e. were probably of a similar age. One of them was the older sister of the mother of Ramlah’s foster-mother. Hence she must have been ''at least'' 30 years, and more likely 40 years, older than Ramlah, who was then 35. The family is described as “freed”, i.e. ex-slaves.</ref> but this should not have mattered to someone who prioritized providing welfare over the youth, beauty, rank or wealth of his marital prospects.
===Personal Relationships and Sex Life===


Ultimately, and once again, there is no reason to believe Muhammad married Ramlah to improve, let alone rectify, her financial standing.  
Alexander had two wives : Roxana, daughter of a Greek nobleman, and Stateira II, a Persian princess and daughter of Darius III of Persia. He fathered at least two sons, Alexander IV of Macedon with Roxana and Heracles of Macedon from his mistress Barsine.<ref name="Plutarch" /> Alexander's sexuality has been the subject of speculation and controversy. Alexander may have been bisexual, and while no ancient sources state that Alexander had homosexual relationships, many historians have speculated that Alexander's relationship with Hephaestion, his life long friend and companion, was of a romantic nature.<ref>Ogden, Daniel (2009). "Alexander's Sex Life". In Heckel, Alice; Heckel, Waldemar; Tritle, Lawrence A. [http://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Great-A-New-History/dp/1405130822 "Alexander the Great: A New History"]. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 1-4051-3082-2.</ref>


====Safiyah bint Huyayy====
==Modern Views and Controversies==
===Cyrus the Great===
Recent historical and archaeological evidence clearly points to the real Alexander of Macedon as a polytheistic pagan who fashioned himself after Greek and Egyptian gods. The more recent questions about Alexander's sexuality and personal relationships also raises serious problems for anyone who believes he was a follower of Islam.  Based on this information, some Islamic apologists and theologians have constructed alternative theories to the identity of Dhul-Qarnayn.  The most prominent alternative theory among modern apologists is that Dhul-Qarnayn was Cyrus the Great of Persia. This theory has been advanced by  Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi,<ref name="Maududi">{{cite web|url= http://www.islamicstudies.info/result.php?sura=18&verse=83|title= Tafsir Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an|publisher= |series= Surah 18 Ayah 83|author= Maududi|date= 1972|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islamicstudies.info%2Fresult.php%3Fsura%3D18%26verse%3D83&date=2013-11-22|deadurl=no}}</ref> Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,<ref name="Azad"> Baljon , Johannes Marinus Simon. [http://books.google.com/books?id=IOEUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA33 "Modern Muslim Koran Interpretation: (1880 - 1960)"]. pp. 32-33. 1961.  Relates a typical defense by Azad of the Cyrus theory by explaining first why Alexander should be rejected based on the historical Alexander and not the legendary one.</ref> Allameh Tabatabaei,<ref>Allameh Tabatabae. Tafsir al-Mizan Vol 26 </ref> and Naser Makarem Shirazi.<ref>Naser Makarem Shirazi. Bargozideh Tafseer-i Nemuneh, Vol 3, p. 69</ref>


[[Safiyah]] was a prisoner of war whom Muhammad captured at the siege of Khaybar.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 511.</ref> She, like Rayhanah and Juwayriyah, was only a widow because Muhammad and his companions had killed [[Kinana|her husband]] (who, unlike Rayhanah and Juwayriyah's husbands, had been tortured prior to his execution), and, like Rayhanah, was poor because the Islamic state had appropriated her people's wealth at Khaybar.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 515.</ref><ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 521-523.</ref> However, her poverty had not reached the level of absolute destitution, for many of her relatives were still alive in Khaybar. They had persuaded Muhammad to let them remain on the land and farm the dates in exchange for giving him half the revenues.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 515.</ref> If Safiyah had remained in Khaybar, she too could have farmed dates.
It is important to note that these rejections of Alexander as Dhul-Qarnayn are primarily motivated by theological concerns and are not based on any convincing evidence. As we shall see, the claims of Cyrus the Great being Dhul-Qarnayn are far weaker than the obvious connection to the legendary stories of Alexander. Proponents of this theory, however, pre-suppose that the Qur'an is relaying an accurate, historical story and thus never take into consideration the possibility that the story is based on myth and folklore.


The idea that Safiyah “needed” to marry Muhammad because her high rank meant “it would be inappropriate for her to be assigned to anyone other than the Prophet”<ref>[http://www.ispi-usa.org/muhammad/appendix2.html/ “The Prophet’s Marriages and Wives”] in Akhter, J. (2001). ''The Seven Phases of Prophet Muhammad’s Life''. Chicago: IPSI.</ref> seems to assume that Safiyah “needed” to be taken prisoner, unlike the remainder of khaybar folk who were allowed to remain free. Furthermore, Muhammad did not need to take prisoners, for he had already won the war and taken control of the city. The Jews in Khaybar had no further means to fight back, had surrendered unconditionally, and Muhammad did not need hostages to ensure their future cooperation.
===Turning-point of Alexander as Dhul-Qarnayn===


Once Muhammad had decided that Safiyah was his hostage, he had to feed and shelter her, and there was no welfare-related reason to marry her; he had to provide for her material needs regardless. The idea, as some put it, that “this marriage protected her from humiliation”<ref>[http://www.al-islam.org/muhammad-yasin-jibouri/8.htm/ Al-Jibouri, Y. T. “Marriages of the Prophet” in ''Muhammad''. Qum, Iran: Ansariyan Publications.]</ref> shows a strange perception of what is “humiliating”. Safiyah might not have liked to be a domestic slave or a commoner’s concubine, but she surely would have found these options less humiliating than being married to the man who had just killed her husband. Safiyah’s husband was not, as is sometimes claimed, “killed during the battle of Khaybar”;<ref>E.g., [http://www.al-islam.org/muhammad-yasin-jibouri/8.htm/ Jibouri].</ref> rather, his torture and execution had been specifically ordered by Muhammad and, this too, ''after'' the declaration of truce.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 515.</ref>
In the first few centuries after the founding of Islam, there was little controversy in identifying Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander. Alexander's deeds and exploits were almost universally admired. However this slowly changed after the Renaissance in the 16<sup>th</sup> century when proper archaeological and historical methods were first applied to the life of Alexander the Great.


Muhammad’s family – not only his wives and descendants, but his extended family too – lived off the wealth of Khaybar for the rest of their lives.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 521-523.</ref> Since Safiyah represented the leading family of Khaybar,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 437-438.</ref> there is a very real sense in which Muhammad’s whole clan was living at her expense. Muhammad was not providing for Safiyah; it was she and her people, rather, who provided for him and his family.
Once an accurate picture of the historical Alexander emerged, Christians and Jews easily discarded the legends of Alexander as a believing king.  Since these accounts were not present in the Bible, rejecting Alexander as a Greek pagan held no theological consequences for them.  Muslims, on the other hand, are forced to defend these accounts because the stories found their way into the Qur'an. While some Muslims have embraced Alexander and rejected modern scholarship around his historical identify,<ref>A brief defense of Alexander against Cyrus by a Muslim apologist can be viewed [http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.answering-christianity.com%2Fking_cyrus.htm&date=2013-11-25 here].</ref> most apologists have gone the other way and decided to accept that Alexander was a pagan but reject his association with Dhul-Qarnayn.


====Maymunah bint Al-Harith====
===Rejection of Alexander===


Maymunah was never poor; she was born into the bourgeois Hilal tribe.<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918; {{Tabari|9|p. 135}}.</ref> After her husband died, she became the house guest of her married sister, Lubabah.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:94: “Al-‘Abbas ibn al-Muttalib married her to him. He took care of her affairs.”</ref> Lubabah’s husband was Muhammad’s uncle, Abbas ibn Abdulmuttalib, who was “one of the richest of the Banu Hashim.”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 114.</ref> He “used to go often to the Yaman to buy aromatics and sell them during the fairs”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 113.</ref> and was also apparently a banker: “he had a great deal of money scattered among the people.”<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 309-310.</ref> Maymunah offered to marry Muhammad without taking any dower.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:97: “Maymuna bint al-Harith was the woman who gave herself to the Messenger of Allah.” Also: “‘Amra was asked whether Maymuna was the one who gave herself to the Messenger of Allah. She said, ‘The Messenger of Allah married her for 500 ''dirhams'' and the guardian for her marriage was al-‘Abbas ibn al-Muttalib.’”</ref> Muhammad agreed, but this was not acceptable to Abbas, who unexpectedly provided Maymunah with a dower anyway.<ref>Ibn Hisham note 918 says the dower was 400 ''dirhams'', like that of all Muhammad’s other wives. Bewley/Saad 8:97 says it was 500 ''dirhams'', in keeping with Ibn Saad’s other traditions that Muhammad’s wives received 12½ ounces of silver. The higher sum is from the later histories, suggesting that the chroniclers adjusted it for inflation.</ref>
Since most early Muslim scholars and commentators believed that Dhul-Qarnayn was Alexander, any defense of the Cyrus theory is first obligated to state why Alexander should be rejected from consideration.<ref name="Azad" /> Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, one of the first to advance the theory of Cyrus, gives a typical justification for his rejection of Alexander by appealing to the historical man as an unrighteous polytheist:


It has never been entirely clear why Muhammad married Maymunah. What is clear, however, is that she was not poor or homeless and so was not in need of any form of rescuing.
{{Quote|Modern Muslim Koran Interpretation: (1880 - 1960), p. 32|When treating the Dhul-Qarnayn story, Azad beings by setting forth that it follows from verse 82/83 that the hero's epithet was familiar to the Jews, being an expression used by the questioners.  Then, he must have been a righteous (see verse 86/87) and godly (see verses 87/88, 94/95 and 97/98) sovereign.  In other words, he cannot represent Alexander the Great: "That man was neither godly, nor righteous, nor generous towards subjected nations; moreover, he did not build a wall"<ref name="Azad"/>}}


====Mariyah bint Shamoon====
The apologist insists that the only possible connection to Alexander must be to the historical man. On this basis, it is easy to agree that the historical Alexander is not portrayed in the Qur'anic story, as he does not fit the description at all. However, the legendary Alexander is a perfect fit. He is portrayed as a godly and righteous man, he shows generosity to the people harassed by the Huns, and he builds a wall of iron and brass. While these legendary stories were popular in the 7<sup>th</sup> century, they are virtually unknown outside of academic circles today. Maulana Azad simply ignores these facts and never considers the possibility that these verses are about a legendary figure and not the Alexander of history.


In one sense, Mariyah was poor. She was a slave in Egypt, and the Governor sent her to be a slave in Arabia, as a personal gift to Muhammad, from one head-of-state to another.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 653.</ref> She possessed nothing of her own. She was, indeed, herself property.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 194}}. “He had intercourse with her by virtue of her being his property.”</ref>
===Two Horns===
[[File:Cyrushorns.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Sketch of a relief of Cyrus.]]
In order to connect Cyrus to the epithet Dhul-Qarnayn (i.e. man with two-horns), proponents of this theory have pointed to reliefs found at the tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae, Iran.  In these depictions of Cyrus, a set of horns can be seen at the bottom of an elaborate head dress.  However, the horns are extremely small and difficult to identify. When you compare this to the prominent placement of horns in Alexander coins and the depiction of Zeus-Ammon, upon which the Alexander coins are based, the horns on the Cyrus relief pale by comparison. We have no other physical engravings or any other archaeological evidence that connects Cyrus with the epithet "two horns".


Muhammad sent his delegation to the Governor of Egypt in the final month of 6 A.H. (April or May 628).<ref>{{Tabari|8|p. 98}}.</ref> It was 7 A.H. by the time the Governor responded by sending Mariyah to Medina,<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:148.</ref> but presumably he did this fairly soon after receiving the delegation. So Mariyah was probably in Medina by the summer of 628. It is not certain what services Mariyah performed for Muhammad’s household in exchange for being fed and sheltered. It is never indicated that she sang or danced or similar. Rather, the statement “The Messenger of Allah was alone with his slavegirl Maria in Hafsa’s room”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:149.</ref> suggests that Mariyah did housework for Hafsah, much as Barira did for Aisha.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 496.</ref> Whatever the arrangement was, it saved Mariyah from destitution. However, if Muhammad's intentions were to save her from destitution, he could have manumitted her and sent her back to her family in Egypt. But he did not do this.
===Questions from the People of the Book===


It was several months, perhaps over a year, before Muhammad took Mariyah as his concubine. Her son was born between 25 March and 22 April 630.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:149.</ref> This suggests that her month alone with Muhammad, when he refused to speak to his official wives,<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:136-137.</ref> was around July 629. The wives’ strong reaction to the situation<ref>See the story in Bewley/Saad 8:49. It is also told in {{Bukhari|3|43|648}}, although Mariyah’s part in the story is minimised.</ref> indicates that they had only just found out that the housemaid had become a concubine - that is, she had not been a concubine for very long. So in this preceding year before becoming his concubine, Mariyah had nevertheless lived at Muhammad’s expense; and she continued to live at his expense afterwards.
Another attempt to connect Cyrus to Dhul-Qarnayn comes from an analysis of the events that prompted the revelation of the Qur'anic story in the first place. The story begins in verse 83 by stating that someone has asked Muhammad about the story of Dhul-Qarnayn:


Mariyah did not, it would appear, “need” to be Muhammad’s concubine.An entire year had passed, demonstrating that it was possible for her to live in his household without having sex with him. Indeed, it was not until one night that the prophet was supposed to sleep with Hafsah, when she had become suddenly unavailable due to a family emergency, that [[Muhammad's Just In Time Revelations#Muhammad and Mary the Copt|Muhammad encountered Mariyah in Hafsah's empty household and decided to initiate intercourse with her]].
{{Quote|{{Quran|18|83}}|'''They ask thee''' concerning Zul-qarnain. Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story."}}


====Mulaykah bint Kaab====
The "they" in question is often identified as Jews, or sometimes generally as the [[People of the Book|People of the Book]], living near Mecca who use the question as a test of Muhammad's prophet-hood


Not much is known about Mulaykah’s background, but her father appears to have been at least a minor chief. Although he was killed in battle in January 630,<ref>{{Tabari|8|p. 187}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 165}}; Bewley/Saad 8:106.</ref> Mulaykah had plenty of other relatives to care for her. One of these was a cousin from the Udhra tribe, and he wanted to marry her.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 165}}; Bewley/Saad 8:106.</ref>
{{Quote|The Meaning of the Qur'an, Introduction to Chapter 18|This Surah was sent down in answer to the three questions which the mushriks of Makkah, in consultation with the people of the Book, had put to the Holy Prophet in order to test him. These were: (1) Who were "the Sleepers of the Cave"? (2) What is the real story of Khidr? and (3) What do you know about Dhul-Qarnayn? As these three questions and the stories involved concerned the history of the Christians and the Jews, and were unknown in Hijaz, a choice of these was made to test whether the Holy Prophet possessed any source of the knowledge of the hidden and unseen things.<ref name="Maududi18">{{cite web|url= http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/maududi/introductions/mau-18.php|title= Tafsir Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an|publisher= |author= Maududi|date= 1972 |series= Introduction to Chapter 18|archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usc.edu%2Forg%2Fcmje%2Freligious-texts%2Fmaududi%2Fintroductions%2Fmau-18.php&date=2013-11-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>}}


So Mulaykah’s family did not give her to Muhammad because she was at risk of starvation or because there was nobody else to care for her. They did it because they had offended Muhammad by resisting his invasion of Mecca<ref>{{Tabari|8|p. 187}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 165}}; Bewley/Saad 8:106.</ref> and they hoped to appease him quickly by giving him a pretty girl.
Some Apologists argue that the identity of Dhul-Qarnayn must have been well known to the Jews and should therefore be found in the Bible. However, no justification is ever given as to why only the Bible is considered and not other literature used by Jews and Christians of the 7<sup>th</sup> century.  This includes the Talmud, apocryphal books, and other non-canonical writings. In fact, this very account refers to another non-canonical story, [[Seven Sleepers of Ephesus in the Quran|the Sleepers of the Cave]], which is a 5<sup>th</sup> century legend popular in both Syria and Arabia. In point of fact the Alexander Romance was well known to both Christian and Jewish audiences in late antiquity, so the assumption that the story is well known to the audience of this verse once again points to the Alexander Romance.  


This marriage ended in divorce after only a few weeks.<ref>{{Tabari|8|p. 187}}; {{Tabari|39|p. 165}}; Bewley/Saad 8:106.</ref> If, in fact, Mulaykah had somehow benefited materially from her marriage to Muhammad, then it would appear that the prophet shortly decided to discontinue this service - however, it is not at all evident that the marriage was materially advantageous in any special way for Mulaykah to begin with.
Another detail about this account is that the audience of the verse is not asked to simply identify Dhul-Qarnayn. If that were the case, the answer would have been something such as "he is Alexander" or "he is Cyrus". The speaker in the verse actually asks the audience to relate a ''story'' about Dhul-Qarnayn. This once again points to a well known narrative about Dhul-Qarnayn, the Alexander Romance.  In order for the audience to know the "right" answer to that question, they must already know the details of this story. This story does not appear anywhere in the Bible; but it does occur, point-by-point and detail-by-detail in the Alexander legend. Therefore, they must be using the Alexander legend as their source for the "right" answer.


====Fatima (''Al-Aliyah'') bint Al-Dahhak====
An argument based on this verse ignores the wide range of stories in circulation by Jews and Christians of the 7<sup>th</sup> century. It projects a modern understanding of the cannon of scripture back upon the people of that time. The Alexander legends were incorporated into the writings and theology of the Jews and Christians in Syria and Arabia, thus it is easy to see why the speaker in the verse expects a well-rehearsed answer.


Fatima’s father was a minor chief, and he was still alive when she married Muhammad.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 570ff shows her father as a military commander of some authority. {{Abudawud|18|2921}} shows that he survived to the caliphate of Umar.</ref> Hence, she was not poor at the time of her marriage to Muhammad.
===Reference in the Bible===


This marriage also ended in divorce after only a few weeks.<ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 138}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 186-188}}; Bewley/Saad 8:100-101.</ref> At this point, Fatima ''became'' poor. Muhammad had no legal obligation to maintain her as the divorce had severed all ties between them. Strictly speaking, she should have returned to her father. But Al-Dahhak settled near Mecca<ref>{{Muwatta|43|17|9}}.</ref> and he left his daughter in Medina.<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 186-188}}; Bewley/Saad 8:100-101.</ref>
Another point brought up in defense of the Cyrus thesis is a passage from the Bible, Daniel 8 that mentions a ram with two horns:


There is no record that Fatima ever remarried; men were forbidden to approach a woman who had once been the wife of the Prophet.<ref>{{Quran|33|53}}.</ref> She had to work for a living. Muslim women were not forbidden to work, but the obligations of the Veil made most kinds of work difficult for them. Fatima eventually set up a business in collecting camel-dung, drying it out and selling it as fuel.<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 186-188}}; Bewley/Saad 8:100-101.</ref> She apparently disliked this work, for she used to complain, “I am wretched! I am miserable!”<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 186-188}}; Bewley/Saad 8:100-101: “She used to collect the camels and say, ‘I am the wretch.’”</ref> But it seems she had difficulty in finding any other kind of work, for she continued working with camel dung all her life. While she lived another fifty years,<ref>{{Tabari|39|pp. 186-188}}; Bewley/Saad 8:100-101.</ref> and therefore did not starve, it is unlikely that this kind of work made for a comfortable life style.
{{Quote|Daniel 8:2-7|In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. I looked up, and there before me was '''a ram with two horns''', standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. '''One of the horns was longer than the other''' but grew up later. I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great. As I was thinking about this, suddenly '''a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west''', crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power.<ref>New International Version of the Bible. Zondervan 1971. [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%208:2-7&version=NIV Dan 8:2-7].</ref>}}


Neither Muhammad nor any other Muslim leader thereafter showed any interest in saving Fatima from her life of poverty that was, in her own words, "wretched" and "miserable".
The meaning of this prophetic vision is explained a few verses later; the identities of the two-horned ram and the one-horned goat are given:


====Asma bint Al-Numan====
{{Quote|Daniel 8:19-21|He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end.  '''The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia'''. The shaggy '''goat is the king of Greece''', and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.}}


Asma was a wealthy princess from Yemen who had lived all her life in luxury.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 189}}. Her tribe, the Kindah, were the rulers of Yemen.</ref> Her father hinted that he found Muhammad’s standard 12½ ounces of silver a “stingy” dower, but was ultimately forced to accept that this was all Asma would be paid.<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 189}}.</ref>
On the one hand, the two-horned ram is associated with Persia, and it conquering foes to the west, north, and south is a reference to Cyrus leading Persia to become a great power in the region. However, linking Cyrus explicitly to both of the "two horns" is problematic. First, the author of Daniel clearly says that the ram represents two kings and not only one king. The implication is that Persia is the longer and newer of the two horns, since Persia was more powerful and rose in ascension later than Media. The horn was a common metaphor for rulers or kings in the Middle East, so this imagery is not unique to Persian kings or Cyrus the Great.  The clear explanation given in the text is that the ram represents the Persia-Media empire in general and not Cyrus in particular. Since the ram was considered a symbol of Persia, this is not a unique depiction.<ref name="Guzik">Guzik, David. "[http://www.studylight.org/com/guz/view.cgi?book=da&chapter=008 Commentary on Daniel 8:1]". "David Guzik's Commentaries on the Bible". 1997-2003 <small>([http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.studylight.org%2Fcom%2Fguz%2Fview.cgi%3Fbook%3Dda%26chapter%3D008&date=2013-11-25 archived])</small>.</ref>


====Amrah bint Yazid====
Another problem with identifying Cyrus as the ram is that the ram is defeated and disgraced by the goat. It is well known that Cyrus was responsible for freeing the Jews from slavery in Babylon<ref>Ezra 1:1-2</ref> and he is always portrayed favorably in the Bible. In the Book of Isaiah, Cyrus is even called God's anointed <ref>Isaiah 45:1</ref> which is the same word used for Messiah or Savior. However, in this prophetic vision, the goat defeats the ram and tramples it, which is completely at odds with how Cyrus is portrayed throughout the rest of Jewish scripture. Again, this clearly shows that the Ram represents Persia as a whole and not Cyrus as an individual. 


Not much is known about Amrah’s background. But this is not really relevant here, as Muhammad divorced her on the first day,<ref>{{Tabari|39|p. 188}}; Bewley/Saad 8:101.</ref> and therefore, whether she was poor or not, he certainly did not provide for her materially.
We must also consider that Cyrus is mentioned explicitly by name 23 times<ref> Chron 36:22-33, Ezra 1:1-8, Ezra 3:7, Ezra 4:3-5, Ezra 5:13-17, Ezra 6:3,14, Isaiah 44:28, Isaiah 45:1,13, Daniel 1:21, Daniel 6:28, Daniel 10:1</ref> in the Bible including other parts of the Book of Daniel; yet he is never given the epitaph of "Two Horns". If the Jews knew Cyrus by this epitaph then one should expect to see it mentioned in at least one of these verses. Considering that Alexander is said to have two horns in the Alexander legend, this lack of direct reference to Cyrus further weakens this theory.


====Tukanah al-Quraziya====
The horn on the goat is considered by many to be a reference to Alexander the Great. The horn is called "the king of Greece" that comes form the west and charges to the east destroying everything in its path; a basic summary of Alexander's conquest of the Persians. Later in the chapter, we are told that the horn is broken (a reference to Alexander's death) and four horns appear in its place (a reference to the four rulers that divided up Alexander's kingdom).<ref name="Guzik" /> This again provides further evidence that the ram is not Cyrus, as Alexander lived three centuries after Cyrus and the two never fought each other on the battle field.


Like Rayhanah, Tukanah was a prisoner-of-war from the Qurayza tribe.<ref>[http://www.al-islam.org/hayat-al-qulub-vol2-allamah-muhammad-baqir-al-majlisi/ Al-Majlisi, ''Hayat al-Qulub'' vol. 2 chapter 52.] Translation by Rizvi, S. A. H. (2010). ''Life of the Heart''. Qum, Iran: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> She was only poor because Muhammad had embattled her tribe, killed its men and confiscated its property.
===Building a Wall===


Muhammad selected Tukanah as one of his personal slaves. After that he was legally obligated to feed and house her, whether or not she was his concubine. And while the slave life would not have been a glamorous or enriching one, she would still have been living at his expense, even if she was only ever his housemaid. Muhammad, it would appear, did not need to have intercourse with this woman in order to provide for her.
We have no evidence that Cyrus the Great built large walls or was famous for such deeds. In his commentary, Maududi all but admits as much:


====The Other Concubine====
{{Quote|Tafhim al-Qur'an, Introduction to Chapter 18|As regards Gog and Magog, it has been nearly established that they were the wild tribes of Central Asia who were known by different names: Tartars, Mongols, Huns and Scythians, who 'had been making inroads on settled kingdoms and empires from very ancient times. It is also known that strong bulwarks had been built in southern regions of Caucasia, though '''it has not been as yet historically established that these were built by Cyrus'''.<ref name="Maududi18"></ref>}}


Nothing is known about this woman except that she was a domestic maid (a slave) before she became a concubine.<ref>Ibn Al-Qayyim, ''Zaad Al-Maad'' vol. 1 p. 29, cited in Al-Mubarakpuri, S. R. (2002). ''The Sealed Nectar'', pp. 564-565. Riyadh: Darussalam.</ref> So Muhammad had to support her whether he had sex with her or not. Muhammad, it would appear again, did not need to have intercourse with this woman in order to provide for her.
When we compare this to the legendary version of Alexander, who not only built a wall against Gog and Magog but made it of iron and bronze, we have the final piece of evidence that the Legendary Alexander is the person identified as Dhul-Qarnayn in the Qur'an and not Cyrus.


==Leprosy==
==Historicity of the Story==
Leprosy, also known as '''Hansen's disease''' ('''HD'''), is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' and ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''.<ref name="Sasaki_2001">{{cite journal |author=Sasaki S, Takeshita F, Okuda K, Ishii N |title=Mycobacterium leprae and leprosy: a compendium |journal=Microbiol Immunol |volume=45 |issue=11 |pages=729–36 |year=2001 |url = http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/mandi/45/11/729/_pdf |pmid=11791665}}</ref><ref name="new">{{cite web | url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081124141047.htm | title=New Leprosy Bacterium: Scientists Use Genetic Fingerprint To Nail 'Killing Organism'|work=ScienceDaily | date=2008-11-28 | accessdate=2010-01-31}}</ref> Left untreated, leprosy can be progressive, causing permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Contrary to folklore, leprosy does not cause body parts to fall off, although they can become numb or diseased as a result of secondary infections; these occur as a result of the body's defenses being compromised by the primary disease.<ref name="time.com" /><ref name="Kulkarni2008">{{cite book |title = Textbook of Orthopedics and Trauma | edition = 2 | page = 779 | publisher = Jaypee Brothers Publishers | year = 2008 | isbn = 81-8448-242-6, 9788184482423 | author = Kulkarni GS}}</ref> Secondary infections, in turn, can result in tissue loss causing fingers and toes to become shortened and deformed, as cartilage is absorbed into the body.<ref name="time.com">{{cite journal |author= |title=Lifting the stigma of leprosy: a new vaccine offers hope against an ancient disease |journal=Time |volume=119 |issue=19 |page=87 |year=1982 |month=May |pmid=10255067 |doi= |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,925377,00.html}}</ref><ref name="Kulkarni2008" /><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.leprosy.org/leprosy-faqs
|title=Q and A about leprosy
|quote=Do fingers and toes fall off when someone gets leprosy? No. The bacillus attacks nerve endings and destroys the body's ability to feel pain and injury. Without feeling pain, people injure themselves on fire, thorns, rocks, even hot coffee cups. Injuries become infected and result in tissue loss. Fingers and toes become shortened and deformed as the cartilage is absorbed into the body.
|accessdate=2011-01-22
|publisher=American Leprosy Missions
}}</ref>


Prophet [[Muhammad]] taught others to "run away from the leper as one runs away from a lion."<ref>"''Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, '(There is) no 'Adwa (no contagious disease is conveyed without Allah's permission). nor is there any bad omen (from birds), nor is there any Hamah, nor is there any bad omen in the month of Safar, and one should run away from the leper as one runs away from a lion ''" - {{Bukhari|7|71|608}}</ref> He also put an end to two of his relationships with women on account of them being afflicted with leprosy. Amra bint Yazid, whom he divorced in circa 631 before consummating the [[marriage]] when he saw she had symptoms.<ref>Ibn Ishaq, cited in Guillaume, A. (1960). ''New Light on the Life of Muhammad'', p. 55. Manchester: Manchester University Press</ref><ref>Ibn Hisham note 918 (here he has apparently confused her with Asma bint Al-Numan).</ref><ref>{{Tabari|9|p. 139}}; {{Tabari|39|pp. 187-188}}.</ref><ref>Bewley/Saad 8:100-101.</ref> And Jamra bint Al-Harith, whose own father informed Muhammad in circa 631 that she suffered from the disease, whereupon Muhammad broke off the engagement (later chroniclers claim her father lied but arrived home only to find that she really had been afflicted with leprosy).<ref>{{Tabari|9|pp. 140-141}}</ref>
As for the story itself, either in the Romance or in the Qur'an, it would seem to be almost entirely legendary. Besides the fact that Alexander was not a Christian, Muslim, or "believer" of any type all of the adventures of the Romance have no basis in the historical sources available on Alexander. The trope about Alexander damming up Gog and Magog till the end of the world is clearly mythical, feeding into established Judeao-Christian tropes on the end of the world, and has no basis in history or archaeology as there is no giant iron wall anywhere on the earth which is containing an entire nation of people. The very existence of such a wall for the past 2300 years would defy all of logic and science as it is known, and in any event would have been spotted by modern satellite technology, which it has not been.
 
===Historical Claims in the Hadith===
 
The historical nature of the story in the Islamic narrative is affirmed by the following Sahih Hadith by Bukhari which relates that Muhammad viewed this wall (here called a dam) holding back Gog and Magog as a real structure that was facing immanent demise. In this account, he also reiterates that the wall's destruction will bring about death and destruction of the land when the tribes held behind it are let loose.
 
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|9|88|249}}|Narrated Zainab bint Jahsh:
 
That one day Allah's Apostle entered upon her in a state of fear and said, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah! Woe to the Arabs from the Great evil that has approached (them). Today a hole has been opened in the dam of Gog and Magog like this." The Prophet made a circle with his index finger and thumb. Zainab bint Jahsh added: I said, "O Alllah's Apostle! Shall we be destroyed though there will be righteous people among us?" The Prophet said, "Yes, if the (number) of evil (persons) increased."}}
 
===Great Wall of Gorgan===
 
The Great Wall of Gorgan is sometimes offered as a possible candidate for the wall built by Dhul-Qarnayn. Made of clay from the local soil, the wall is called the Red Snake due to the color of its bricks. The wall is 195 km (121 mi) long and interspersed with forts. It covers an area between the Caspian Sea and the mountains of northeastern Iran. Dr. Kiani, who led an archaeological team in 1971, believed that the wall was built during the Parthian Empire (247 BCE–224 CE), and that it was restored during the Sassanid era (3<sup>rd</sup> to 7<sup>th</sup> century CE).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.shca.ed.ac.uk/staff/academic/esauer/pubs/iranian_walls.pdf|title= The enigma of the red snake: revealing one of the world’s greatest frontier walls|publisher= Current World Archaeology|series= No. 27|pages= 12-22|author= Omrani Rekavandi, H., Sauer, E., Wilkinson, T. & Nokandeh, J. (2008)|date=February/March 2008 |archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shca.ed.ac.uk%2Fstaff%2Facademic%2Fesauer%2Fpubs%2Firanian_walls.pdf&date=2013-11-25|deadurl=no}}</ref>
 
This wall cannot be same as the one described in the story of Dhul-Qarnayn for a number of reasons. First, it is made of bricks not iron and brass. It also does not cover an area between two mountains. The story in the Qur'an says that the wall built by Dhul-Qarnayn holds back a tribe but this wall in northern Iran is not holding back anyone; it is in a state of disrepair.  The Qur'an also says the wall of iron will not be destroyed until the Day of Judgement; if that is true, then this cannot be the wall described in Surat 18 unless the prophecy has failed. Finally, even its earliest dating of 247 BC puts it almost three centuries after the reign of Cyrus the Great (576–530 BC) and almost a century after Alexander the Great (356–323 BC).
 
===Caspian Gates of Derbent===
 
Derbent, a city on the other side of the Caspian Sea from the Great Wall of Gorgon is located just north of the Azerbaijani border. Historically, it occupied one of the few passages through the Caucus mountains and it has often been identified with the word 'gate'. Fortresses and walls have been built at this location probably dating back thousands of years. The historical Caspian Gates were not built until the reign of Khosrau I in the 6<sup>th</sup> century, long after Alexander, but they likely were attributed to him in the following centuries. The immense wall had a height of up to twenty meters and a thickness of about 3 meters when it was in use.
 
This wall cannot be the same as the one in the Qur'an because it is not built between two mountains. The walls near Derbent were built with the Caspian sea as one border. In his comments on Derbent, Yusuf Ali mentions, that "there is no iron gate there now, but there was one in the seventh century, when the Chinese traveler Hiouen Tsiang saw it on his journey to India. He saw two folding gates cased with iron hung with bells".<ref name="YusufAli" /> Again, if this gate is the same as the one in the Qur'anic story thenthe revelation of the gate holding back Gog and Magog must have failed since they did not rampage over the nations nor bring about judgement day. Additionally, the solitary claim of a single eye witness from the 7<sup>th</sup> century is suspect at best. One should expect a massive structure would have left copious amounts of archaeological evidence, but rather of Alexander of the Two-Horns and his Great Wall all that is to be found are legends and folktales.


==See Also==
==See Also==


*[[Muhammads Marriages of Political Necessity]]
{{Hub4|Category:Dhul-Qarnayn|Dhul-Qarnayn}}
*[[Ages of Muhammads Wives at Marriage]]
 
{{Hub4|Cosmology|Cosmology}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
 
[[Category:Dhul-Qarnayn]]
[[Category:Muhammad]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Muhammad's wives and concubines]]
[[Category:Marriage]]
[[Category:Child Marriage]]
[[Category:Criticism of Islam]]
[[Category:Sacred history]]
[[Category:Sacred history]]
[[Category:Qur'an]]
[[Category:Christian tradition]]

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Alexander the Great depicted with horns on a silver tetradrachm of Lysimachos, circa 297-281 B.C.

The story of Dhul-Qarnayn (in Arabic ذو القرنين, literally "The Two-Horned One", also transliterated as Zul-Qarnain or Zulqarnain) is found in the 18th Surah of the Qur'an, al-Kahf (the Cave). While he is never mentioned explicitly by name, the story is clearly based upon a legendary account of Alexander the Great. For centuries, most Muslim historians and Qur'anic commentators endorsed the identity of Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander, though some also proposed alternatives. In recent years, this identification of Dhul-Qarnayn has become particularly problematic and controversial for Muslim scholars, as the Qur'an's understanding of Alexander differs remarkably from the image of him in history as a Greek pagan who fashioned himself as a god. This has prompted some apologists to create and advance alternative theories that identify Dhul-Qarnayn as other prominent historical kings, most notably Cyrus the Great. These alternative theories, though, have major deficiencies and fall short of the strong parallels between the Qur'anic story and legends of Alexander that date to the early 7th century. The theory that Dhul-Qarnayn is some other figures such Cyrus the Great has little evidence in its favor compared to the overwhelming evidence that the story is actually based on a legendary version of Alexander. The story in the Qur'an in fact parallels a medieval Syriac legend of Alexander quote closely; both narratives portray him as a believing king who traveled the world and built a barrier of iron which holds back the tribes of Gog and Magog until Judgement Day. Almost every major element of the Qur'anic story can be found in Christian and Jewish folklore about Alexander which dates back hundreds of years prior to the time of Prophet Muhammad. Most early Muslim commentators and scholars identified Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander the Great, and some modern ones do too. Historical and Archaeological evidence, though, quite plainly reveal that the real Alexander was a polytheistic pagan who believed he was the literal son of Greek and Egyptian gods. In addition, the story speaks of a giant wall built by Dhul-Qarnayn to hold back the nations of Gog and Magog, yet today, there is no such giant wall of iron and brass between two mountains that is holding back a tribe of people; it likely never existed and was originally a legendary embellishment of the original Alexander legend.

Background

The gargantuan conquests of Alexander the Great, stretching from Macedonia in the West to the river Indus in the East, left an indelible mark on all the regions where his troopers trode. Alexander founded cities, declared himself a god and the son of a god, solved the famous Gordian knot, initiated a new chapter in the history of civilizational exchange and spread Greek Hellenic culture far and wide. Dying at 33 of either alcohol overdose or perhaps poisoning, his legend quickly became larger than life. First Jews and then Christians claimed his as their own, though according to Theodore Theodor Nöldeke the origin of their Alexander Romances was actually a Pahlavi Persian Alexander romance (though probably written by a Syriac-speaking Christian) [1]. As the legend of Alexander spread, so to did the claims of his miraculous deeds grow in scope and size.

Historical vs Legendary Alexander

The Dhul-Qarnayn of the Qur'an is the Alexander of legend, not as some authors have asserted the Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC) of hisory[2]. Instead, it is based entirely upon legendary stories of Alexander which bare little resemblance to the Alexander of history. In particular, the Qur'an parallels a Syriac legend where Alexander is portrayed as a monotheistic king who awaits the second coming of the Messiah and the end of the world.[3]

It has been well understood for many centuries that legendary accounts of Alexander's life began shortly after his death in 323 BC. These were popular across most of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Persia and even India and China. In the subsequent centuries after his death, the historical accounts of Alexander were largely forgotten and legendary accounts of his deeds and adventures replaced them in popular folklore. It is these legendary depictions of Alexander that would have been known in the 7th century and not the historically accurate accounts of his life. It was not until the Renaissance in the 16th century that the first historical accounts of Alexanders life were rediscovered and investigated.

Parallels to the Syriac Legend

In 1889, the renowned scholar and philologist, Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge, translated five Alexander stories from Syriac manuscripts into English. One of these stories was a legend that detailed the exploits of Alexander, the son of Philip the Macedonian, and how he traveled to the ends of the world, made a gate of iron, and shut behind it the Huns so they might not come forth to spoil the land.[3] The parallels between this story and the story of Dhul-Qarnayn in the Qur'an are detailed below.

Two Horns

Alexander in the Syriac legend is described as having horns on his head. An Ethiopic variation of the story refers to Alexander as "the two horns".[3] Coins depicting Alexander with ram horns on his head were first minted shortly after his death. By the 1st century BC, silver coins depicting Alexander with ram horns were used as the primary currency in Arabia. Imitation coins were issued by an Arab ruler named Abi'el who ruled in the south-eastern region of the Arabian Peninsula and other minting of these coins occurred throughout Arabia for another thousand years.[4] This connection of Alexander with two-horns was widely known across the region at the time.

And king Alexander bowed himself and did reverence, saying, "0 God, Lord of kings and judges, thou who settest up kings and destroyest their power, 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;[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 146

Established with Power

At the beginning of the Syriac legend, Alexander says a prayer to God that he might be given power from heaven to rule over the kingdoms of the earth. The Qur'anic story, speaking from the perspective of Allah, says that he has given Alexander power on earth.

Give me power from thy holy heavens that I may receive strength greater than [that of] the kingdoms of the world and that I may humble them, and I will magnify thy name, O Lord, for ever, and thy memorial shall be from everlasting to everlasting, and I will write the name of God in the charter of my kingdom, that there may be for Thee a memorial always.[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 146
Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends.
Quran 18:84

Journey to the Fetid Sea

The first destination for the hero in both the Syriac and Qur'anic stories is a place near the setting of the sun. The Syriac legend identifies this location as Oceanus, a mythical sea believed to encircle a flat earth. In both accounts, the water is described as being muddy or fetid.

"As to the thing, my lord, which thy majesty (or thy greatness) desires to go and see, namely, upon what the heavens rest, and what surrounds the earth, the terrible seas which surround the world will not give thee a passage'; because there are eleven bright seas, on which the ships of men sail, and beyond these there is about ten miles of dry land, and beyond these ten miles there is the fetid sea, Oceanus (the Ocean), which surrounds all creation.

And they put ships to sea and sailed on the sea four months' and twelve days, and they arrived at the dry land beyond the eleven bright seas.[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 145-147
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."
Quran 18:85-86

Dr. Kevin Van Bladel, professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, states in his comparison of the two stories, that the water at the place where the sun sets is 'fetid' in both texts, a coincidence of two uncommon synonyms (Syriac saryâ, Arabic hami'a).[5] Similar connections can be found in Islamic poetry contemporary to the time of Muhammad. Muhammad ibn Ishāq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār recorded many pre-Islamic Arabic poems in his Sirat Rasul Allah (Biography of Muhammad); This included a poem about Dhul-Qarnayn that he claims was composed by a pre-Islamic king of ancient Yemen. Here we can see that the sun sets into a pool of water that is described as being both muddy and fetid, a perfect linking of the two adjectives in both the Qur'anic and Syriac stories.

Conquered kings thronged his court, East and west he ruled, yet he sought Knowledge true from a learned sage. He saw where the sun sinks from view, In a pool of mud and fetid slime.[6]
The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah

Punishment of Wrongdoers

The Qur'anic story next gives the reader a cryptic speech by Dhul-Qarnayn where he says that "whoever does wrong" will be sent back to the Lord (i.e. killed). The Syriac legend gives a much fuller account; it explains that Alexander asked for criminals to be sent to the shore of the fetid sea to test a rumor that anyone who approaches the sea dies. When the prisoners drop dead, Alexander notes that it is good that those already "guilty of death should die". Not only is there a direct parallel between the stories, but the Syriac legend helps makes sense of the short and cryptic Qur'anic version of the story.

And Alexander and his troops encamped, and he sent and called to him the governor who was in the camp, and said to him, "Are there any men here guilty of death?" They said to him, "We have thirty and seven men in bonds who are guilty of death." And the king said to the governor, "Bring hither those evil doers." And they brought them, and the king commanded them and said, "Go ye to the shore of the fetid sea, and hammer in stakes that ships may be tied thereto, and prepare everything needful for a force about to cross the sea." And the men went, and came to the shore of the sea. Now Alexander thought within himself, "If it be true as they say, that everyone who comes near the fetid sea dies, it is better that these who are guilty of death should die," and when they had gone, and had arrived at the shore of the sea, they died instantly.[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 147-148
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).
Quran 18:87

Sun Rises on People with No Cover

After leaving the muddy sea, The Qur'an tells us that Dhul-Qarnayn travels to the east where the sun rises. The author then conveys an odd and cryptic detail that the people living there have "no covering protection against the sun"; however, it gives no further explanation as to what that means. Again, the Syriac legend not only has an expanded, parallel account but it helps clarify the Qur'anic story. The reader is told that the people who live near the location where the sun "enters the window of heaven" (i.e. rises above the flat earth) must seek cover because the sun is much closer to the ground and its rays burn the people and animals there.

So the whole camp mounted, and Alexander and his troops went up between the fetid sea and the bright sea to the place where the sun enters the window of heaven; for the sun is the servant of the Lord, and neither by night nor by day does he cease from his travelling. The place of his rising is over the sea, and the people who dwell there, when he is about to rise, flee away and hide themselves in the sea, that they be not burnt by his rays; and he passes through the midst of the heavens to the place where he enters the window of heaven; and wherever he passes there are terrible mountains, and those who dwell there have caves hollowed out in the rocks, and as soon as they see the sun passing [over them], men and birds flee away from before him and hide in the caves, for rocks are rent by his blazing heat and fall down, and whether they be men or beasts, as soon as the stones touch them they are consumed.[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 148
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.
Quran 18:89-90

Travel to the Valley between Two Mountains

On his final journey, the Qur'an tells us that Dhul-Qarnayn traveled to a valley between two mountains. The Syriac legend tells us that Alexander heads north and likewise arrives at a plain between mountains. Here he sets up his camp near a mountain pass.

And Alexander said, " Let us go forth by the way to the north "; and they came to the confines of the north, and entered Armenia and Adarbaijan and Inner Armenia And they crossed over the country of TurnAgios, and BethPardia, and Beth-Tekil, and Beth-Drubil, and Beth-Katarmen, and Beth-Gebul, and Beth-Zamrat Alexander passed through nil these places; and he went and passed mount Musas and entered a plain which is Bahi-Lebta, and he went and encamped by the gate of the great mountain.[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 149
Then followed he (another) way, Till, when he came between the two mountains, he found upon their hither side a folk that scarce could understand a saying.
Quran 18:92-93

Gog and Magog Spoil and Ravage the Land

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12th century map by the Muslim geographer Al-Idrisi (south up). "Yajooj" and "Majooj" (Gog and Magog) appear in Arabic script on the bottom-left edge of the Eurasian landmass, enclosed within dark mountains. Note that the earth is encircled by water that corresponds to the ocean at the end of the world in the Alexander Legend.

The Syriac legend then states that Alexander meets with people who live near the mountain pass. These natives tell of a tribe, the Huns, who live beyond the pass. These Huns spoil and ravage the land and then return back to their lands on the other side of the mountain. The legend identifies the first two kings of this tribe as Gog and Magog, the exact same names used in the Qur'anic account.

Alexander said, "This mountain is higher and more terrible than all the mountains which I have seen." The old men, the natives of the country, said to the king: "Yea, by your majesty, my lord the king, neither we nor our fathers have been able to march one step in it, and men do not ascend it either on that side or on this, for it is the boundary which God has set between us and the nations within it" Alexander said, "Who are the nations within this mountain upon which we are looking? "The natives of the land said, " They are the Huns." He said to them, " Who are their kings?" The old men. said: "Gog and Magog..."

Alexander said to the natives of that country," Have they come forth to spoil in your days?" The old men answered and said to the king: "May God establish thy kingdom and thy crown, my lord the king! These fortresses which have been overturned in our lands and in the lands of the Romans, have been overthrown by them; by them have these towers been uprooted; when they go forth to spoil, they ravage the land of the Romans and of the Persians, and then they enter their own territory."[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, pp. 149-150, 152
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?"
Quran 18:94

Build a Barrier

After speaking with the people about Gog and Magog, Alexander says he will build a barrier (a wall or dam) between the people and the tribes that harass them. Both stories record Alexander proclaiming this in a speech.

When Alexander had heard what the old men said, he marveled greatly at the great sea which surrounded all creation; and Alexander said to his troops, " Do ye desire that we should do something wonderful in this land?" They said to him, "As thy majesty commands we will do." The king said, "Let us make a gate of brass and close up this breach."[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 153
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
Quran 18:95

Made of Iron and Brass

Another similarity between the two stories is that the wall will be made of both iron and brass. Here the Qur'anic translators use different words for the second metal: "lead" (Yusif Ali), "copper" (Pickthall), "brass" (Shakir) but the connection with the Syriac legend is apparent.

And Alexander commanded and fetched three thousand smiths, workers in iron, and three thousand men, workers in brass And they put down brass and iron, and kneaded it as a man kneads when he works clay. Then they brought it and made a gate, the length of which was twelve cubits and its breadth eight cubits. And he made a lower threshold from mountain to mountain, the length of which was twelve cubits;[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 153
"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 [brass]."
Quran 18:96

Cannot be Breached

After constructing the barrier, the Syriac legend says that it is very difficult to penetrate and the Huns will not be able to dig under it. A similar phrase is used in the Qur'an to convey that the barrier is very difficult to pass.

He fixed the gate and the bolts, and he placed nails of iron and beat them down one by the other, so that if the Huns came and dug out the rock which was under the threshold of iron, even if footmen were able to pass through, a horse with its rider would be unable to pass, so long as the gate that was hammered down with bolts stood.[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 153
Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it
Quran 18:97

Destroyed at the End of Times

An often overlooked aspect of the story of Dhul-Qarnayn is that it ends with a prophetic prediction of the wall being destroyed and the tribes of Gog and Magog surging and destroying everything in their path. In particular, it notes that this will occur on the day of Judgement when the "trumpet is blown" and the people of the world are gathered together to account for their sins. The Syriac legend also ends with a similar prophecy that likewise occurs when the nations have been gathered together at the end of times.

And the Lord will gather together the kings and their hosts which are within this mountain, and they shall all be assembled at His beck, and shall come with their spears and swords, and shall stand behind the gate, and shall look up to the heavens, and shall call upon the name of the Lord,"saying, 'O Lord, open to us this gate.' And the Lord shall send His sign from heaven and a voice shall call on this gate, and it shall be destroyed and fall at the beck of the Lord, and it shall not be opened by the key which I have made for it. And a troop shall go through this gate which I have made, and a full span shall be worn away from the lower threshold" by the hoofs of the horses which with their riders shall go forth to destroy the land by the command of the Lord;[3]
The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version, p. 154
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.
Quran 18:98

The connection with the destruction of the wall and the end of times is further explained in the classic Qur'anic tafsir by Ibn Kathir.

(We shall leave some of them to surge like waves) meaning mankind, on that day, the day when the barrier will be breached and these people (Ya'juj and Ma'juj) will come out surging over mankind to destroy their wealth and property. As-Suddi said: "That is when they emerge upon the people." All of this will happen before the Day of Resurrection and after the Dajjal, as we will explain when discussing the Ayat: (and As-Sur [the trumpet] will be blown.) As-Sur, as explained in the Hadith, is a horn that is blown into. The one who will blow into it is (the angel) Israfil, peace be upon him, as has been explained in the Hadith quoted at length above, and there are many Hadiths on this topic.[7]
Tafsir Ibn Kathir, "The Barrier restrains Them, but It will be breached when the Hour draws nigh"

Views of Modern Scholars

Van Bladel in his book sums up the relation between the Qur'an and the Romance:

Thus, quite strikingly, almost every element of this short Qur'anic tale finds a more explicit and detailed counterpart in the Syriac Alexander Legend. In both text the related events are given in precisely the same order.

As it is, the correspondences shown earlier are still so exact that it is obvious in comparison that the two texts are at least connected very closely. They relate the same story in precisely the same order of events using many of the same particular details.[5]
The Alexander legend in the Qur‘an 18:83-102, p. 182

Dating the Alexander Legend

The parallels between the Syriac Legend and the Qur'an are quite striking and there is no other logical conclusion other than they share a common source. As to the question of dependency, in chronological terms the Qur'an must be dependent on the Syriac version, but there are in fact multiple common streams of stories which might have influenced both.

While the Syriac texts available relate a more or less specific version of the Alexander Romance, many aspects of this legend draw from earlier materials. Similar stories of Alexander pre-date both the Qur'an and Syriac legends by many centuries including folklore found in earlier Christian and Jewish writings. Parallels to the ancient Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical story of Gog and Magog can be clearly identified in the story as well.

Epic of Gilgamesh

One of the earliest and most influential stories, the Epic of Gilgamesh was written sometime before 2000 BCE. In one of the tablets of his many adventures, Gilgamesh travels far to the east, to the mountain passes at the ends of the earth. He slays mountain lions, bears and other wild animals. Eventually he comes to the twin peaks of Mount Mashu at the end of the earth, from where the sun rises. Here he finds a large gate, guarded by scorpion-people who protect the sun and forbidden anyone to enter through the gate without their permission.[8]

It is in this very ancient mythology, that we have the basic outline of the adventure found in the Qur'an and the Alexander legends: a powerful hero, who travels from west to east, the setting and rising of the sun, two mountains and a gate.

Early Jewish Legends

The Jewish historian Josephus (37-100 CE), records in his two books legendary stories of Alexander that were known to the Jews of the first century. In his first book, "The Antiquities of the Jews", he mentions that the tribes of Magog are called the Scythians by the Greeks. In his second book, "The Wars of the Jews", he further details that these people are held behind a wall of iron that has been built by Alexander the Great. In this legend, Josephus relates that Alexander allows the tribes of Magog to come out from behind the wall and create havoc in the land. Here is a very clear connection of Alexander to an iron gate and the tribes of Magog being prevented from plundering the land. This shows that local folklore already contained the basic backbone of the Alexander story almost six centuries before the story found in the Qur'an.

Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians.[9]
The Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, Ch6, v1
Now there was a nation of the Alans, which we have formerly mentioned some where as being Scythians and inhabiting at the lake Meotis. This nation about this time laid a design of falling upon Media, and the parts beyond it, in order to plunder them; with which intention they treated with the king of Hyrcania; for he was master of that passage which king Alexander [the Great] shut up with iron gates. This king gave them leave to come through them; so they came in great multitudes, and fell upon the Medes unexpectedly, and plundered their country.[10]
The Wars Of The Jews, Book VII, Ch7, v4

Early Christian Legends

As early as the 399 CE, local stories of Alexander building a wall against the Huns had made their way into Christian writings as well. St. Jerome, an early church father, writes about rumors of attacks against Jerusalem by invaders from the north. He refers to these invaders as Huns who live near the gate that was built by Alexander.

For news came that the hordes of the Huns had poured forth all the way from Mæotis (they had their haunts between the icy Tanais and the rude Massagetæ; where the gates of Alexander keep back the wild peoples behind the Caucasus); and that, speeding here and there on their nimble-footed horses, they were filling all the world with panic and bloodshed.[11]
Letters of St. Jerome, Letter 77

Gog and Magog in the Bible

The story of Gog and Magog being let loose at the end of the world, on Judgement Day, can be found in the Book of Revelation. We are told that they will swarm across the earth and surround the "camp of God's people" who have been gathered together in the "city he loves" (namely Jerusalem). This writing dates to the second half of the 1st century.[12][13]

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.[14]
Revelation 20:7-9

Dating the Syriac Legend

The Alexander Legend was composed by a Mesopotamian Christian probably in Amid or Edessa. It was written down in 629-630 CE after the victory of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius over the Sasanian king Khusrau Parvez. Dr. Reinink, a Near East philogist and scholar, highlights the political agenda of the legend which is clearly written as a piece of pro-Byzantine propaganda. Its purpose was probably to win the separated Syrian Christians back to a union with the church at Constantinople.[15]

Dating the Qur'anic Verses

According to the traditional Muslim narrative, Al-Kahf (The Cave) was generally revealed in Mecca, except verse 28 and verses 83-101 which were revealed in Medina.[16] Based on this information, the story of Dhul-Qarnayn, contained in verses 83-101, would be dated to after the Hijra in June 622 CE and before Muhammed's death in June 632 CE; a more specific date is difficult to ascertain with any certainty from the Islamic narrative. Since the community of Muslims in Mecca were far from well known outside of Arabia, the possibility of their story influencing Christians in Syria is extremely remote. The Syriac work also contains no references to the Arabic phrases used in the Qur'anic account, which would be expected if the Syrian story was using that as its source.[5] On the question of dependency, it is clear that the composition of the Syriac legend predates the Qur'an according to the traditional narrative and certainly that is the direction in which the influence must have flowed.

Spread of the Syriac Legend to Arabia

The popularity of the Syriac legend of Alexander is evidenced by its inclusion in other works soon after its composition. The "Song of Alexander", composed a few years later but before the Arab conquest of Syria sometime between 630 CE and 636 CE. The Syriac apocalypse, "De Fine Munid" composed between 640 CE and 683 CE and the "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius" composed around 692 CE.[5] Since the work was composed as a piece of propaganda, its intentional dissemination makes sense of its rapid adoption and popularity in the region. This would have included Christian Arabs of the Ghassanid. It is even possible that early Muslim followers heard the story of the Syrian legend during their raids on Mu'ta on the borders of Syria around September 629 CE.[5]

Views of Modern Scholars

It is clear that all the major elements of the Alexander story were in place by the 4th century, predating both the Qur'anic and the Syriac account by hundreds of years. Their reliance upon common sources for these elements is also clear. In effect, the story of Dhul-Qarnayn in the Qur'an is simply another example of the widespread inclusion of Alexander folklore into the stories and traditions of the religious groups in the Middle East. Rebecca Edwards in a address to the American Philological Association in 2002 states:

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. The denial of Alexander's identity as Dhul-Qarnayn is the denial of a common heritage shared by the cultures which shape the modern world--both in the east and the west.[17]

Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander in Islamic Sources

While the Qur'an and Hadith never explicitly identify Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander, a number of Islamic scholars and commentators have endorsed this view. This was especially true in the early centuries after the founding of Islam when the legends of Alexander were still widely known and popular. In more recent years, some prominent scholars have also supported the connection between Alexander and Dhul-Qarnayn of the Qur'an.

Early Islamic Scholars

The Sirat Rasul Allah of Ibn Ishaq, circa 761 CE, mentions that Dhul-Qarnayn was of Egyptian and Greek origins, a fairly good description of Alexander who came from Macedonia in Greece, conquered Egypt, named a city after himself in Egypt and declared himself a god there.

A man who used to purvey stories of the foreigners, which were handed down among them, told me that Dhul-Qarnayn was an Egyptian whose name was Marzuban bin Mardhaba, the Greek.[18]
Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah

Tafsir al-Jalalayn, a classical Sunni tafsir of the Qur'an, composed by Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli in 1459 CE identifies Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander.

And they, the Jews, question you concerning Dhū’l-Qarnayn, whose name was Alexander; he was not a prophet. Say: ‘I shall recite, relate, to you a mention, an account, of him’, of his affair.[19]
Tafsir al-Jalalayn

Another influential Tafsir author who endorsed the identify of Alexander is the Indian scholar Shah Waliullah (1763 CE).[20]

Modern Islamic Scholars

One of the most prominent modern scholars to defend the fidelity between Dhul-Qarnayn and Alexander the Great is the famous Qur'anic translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali. Yusuf Ali gives a detailed defense of the Alexander theory in the Appendix of his commentary on the Qur'an, including assertions that the Qur'an accurately depicts an historical account of Alexander and not a legendary one.

Personally, I have not the least doubt that Dhu al Qarnayn is meant to be Alexander the Great, the historic Alexander, and not the legendary Alexander, of whom more presently. My first appointment after graduation was that of Lecturer in Greek history. I have studied the details of Alexander's extraordinary personality in Greek historians as well as in modern writers, and have since visited most of the localities connected with his brief but brilliant career. Few readers of Quranic literature have had the same privilege of studying the details of his career. It is one of the wonders of the Quran, that, spoken through an Ummi's (illiterate) mouth, it should contain so many incidental details which are absolutely true.[21]
The Noble Quran's Commentary, appx. 6, p. 738.

Reconstructing the Historical Alexander

While legendary accounts of Alexander's life dominated Europe and the Middle East for almost two thousands years, eventually more historical biographies about his life were unearthed. This included information about Alexander as a polytheist, Zeus worshiping pagan and insight into his personal and sexual preferences. Such historical facts about Alexander the Great became well known only after the Renaissance period (1300-1600 CE) when Greek documents from the 2nd century were rediscovered.

These included the "Anabasis Alexandri" or "the Campaigns of Alexander" by Arrian. It is generally considered the most important source on Alexander the Great. Written in the 2nd century, it gives a detailed history of Alexander's military complains and is based on early sources that are now lost. The other is the "Life of Alexander" and two orations "On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great" , by the Greek historian and biographer Plutarch of Chaeronea. This work detailed much of Alexander's personal life, desires, motivations, and other personal insights.[22]

Polytheism

Alexander the Great was a polytheist who believed in the pantheon of Greek gods, the dominant religious belief at the time of the 4th century BCE in Macedon Greece and throughout most of the Mediterranean. When his army first invaded Asia, Alexander dedicated the lands of his conquests to the gods. He visited the Oracle at Delphi and sought prophecies about his future. After his death, Alexander apparently left instructions in his will for a monumental temple to Athena be built at Troy.[23]

Son of Zeus-Ammon

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A terracotta cast of Zeus Ammon with ram horns. 1st century CE. Alexander is depicted with similar ram horns in coins as a reference to his deity.

Alexander appears to have believed himself a deity, or at least sought to deify himself.[24] Olympias, his mother, always insisted to him that he was the son of Zeus,[22] a theory apparently confirmed to him by the oracle of Amun at Siwa in Libya.[22] Shortly after his visit to the oracle, Alexander began to identify himself as the son of Zeus-Ammon and often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father. This god, an amalgamation of both the Greek god Zeus and the Egyptian god Ammon was often depicted with ram horns on his head. Subsequent currency depicted Alexander adorned with similar rams horn as a symbol of his divinity.[25]

Personal Relationships and Sex Life

Alexander had two wives : Roxana, daughter of a Greek nobleman, and Stateira II, a Persian princess and daughter of Darius III of Persia. He fathered at least two sons, Alexander IV of Macedon with Roxana and Heracles of Macedon from his mistress Barsine.[22] Alexander's sexuality has been the subject of speculation and controversy. Alexander may have been bisexual, and while no ancient sources state that Alexander had homosexual relationships, many historians have speculated that Alexander's relationship with Hephaestion, his life long friend and companion, was of a romantic nature.[26]

Modern Views and Controversies

Cyrus the Great

Recent historical and archaeological evidence clearly points to the real Alexander of Macedon as a polytheistic pagan who fashioned himself after Greek and Egyptian gods. The more recent questions about Alexander's sexuality and personal relationships also raises serious problems for anyone who believes he was a follower of Islam. Based on this information, some Islamic apologists and theologians have constructed alternative theories to the identity of Dhul-Qarnayn. The most prominent alternative theory among modern apologists is that Dhul-Qarnayn was Cyrus the Great of Persia. This theory has been advanced by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi,[27] Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,[28] Allameh Tabatabaei,[29] and Naser Makarem Shirazi.[30]

It is important to note that these rejections of Alexander as Dhul-Qarnayn are primarily motivated by theological concerns and are not based on any convincing evidence. As we shall see, the claims of Cyrus the Great being Dhul-Qarnayn are far weaker than the obvious connection to the legendary stories of Alexander. Proponents of this theory, however, pre-suppose that the Qur'an is relaying an accurate, historical story and thus never take into consideration the possibility that the story is based on myth and folklore.

Turning-point of Alexander as Dhul-Qarnayn

In the first few centuries after the founding of Islam, there was little controversy in identifying Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander. Alexander's deeds and exploits were almost universally admired. However this slowly changed after the Renaissance in the 16th century when proper archaeological and historical methods were first applied to the life of Alexander the Great.

Once an accurate picture of the historical Alexander emerged, Christians and Jews easily discarded the legends of Alexander as a believing king. Since these accounts were not present in the Bible, rejecting Alexander as a Greek pagan held no theological consequences for them. Muslims, on the other hand, are forced to defend these accounts because the stories found their way into the Qur'an. While some Muslims have embraced Alexander and rejected modern scholarship around his historical identify,[31] most apologists have gone the other way and decided to accept that Alexander was a pagan but reject his association with Dhul-Qarnayn.

Rejection of Alexander

Since most early Muslim scholars and commentators believed that Dhul-Qarnayn was Alexander, any defense of the Cyrus theory is first obligated to state why Alexander should be rejected from consideration.[28] Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, one of the first to advance the theory of Cyrus, gives a typical justification for his rejection of Alexander by appealing to the historical man as an unrighteous polytheist:

When treating the Dhul-Qarnayn story, Azad beings by setting forth that it follows from verse 82/83 that the hero's epithet was familiar to the Jews, being an expression used by the questioners. Then, he must have been a righteous (see verse 86/87) and godly (see verses 87/88, 94/95 and 97/98) sovereign. In other words, he cannot represent Alexander the Great: "That man was neither godly, nor righteous, nor generous towards subjected nations; moreover, he did not build a wall"[28]
Modern Muslim Koran Interpretation: (1880 - 1960), p. 32

The apologist insists that the only possible connection to Alexander must be to the historical man. On this basis, it is easy to agree that the historical Alexander is not portrayed in the Qur'anic story, as he does not fit the description at all. However, the legendary Alexander is a perfect fit. He is portrayed as a godly and righteous man, he shows generosity to the people harassed by the Huns, and he builds a wall of iron and brass. While these legendary stories were popular in the 7th century, they are virtually unknown outside of academic circles today. Maulana Azad simply ignores these facts and never considers the possibility that these verses are about a legendary figure and not the Alexander of history.

Two Horns

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Sketch of a relief of Cyrus.

In order to connect Cyrus to the epithet Dhul-Qarnayn (i.e. man with two-horns), proponents of this theory have pointed to reliefs found at the tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae, Iran. In these depictions of Cyrus, a set of horns can be seen at the bottom of an elaborate head dress. However, the horns are extremely small and difficult to identify. When you compare this to the prominent placement of horns in Alexander coins and the depiction of Zeus-Ammon, upon which the Alexander coins are based, the horns on the Cyrus relief pale by comparison. We have no other physical engravings or any other archaeological evidence that connects Cyrus with the epithet "two horns".

Questions from the People of the Book

Another attempt to connect Cyrus to Dhul-Qarnayn comes from an analysis of the events that prompted the revelation of the Qur'anic story in the first place. The story begins in verse 83 by stating that someone has asked Muhammad about the story of Dhul-Qarnayn:

They ask thee concerning Zul-qarnain. Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story."
Quran 18:83

The "they" in question is often identified as Jews, or sometimes generally as the People of the Book, living near Mecca who use the question as a test of Muhammad's prophet-hood

This Surah was sent down in answer to the three questions which the mushriks of Makkah, in consultation with the people of the Book, had put to the Holy Prophet in order to test him. These were: (1) Who were "the Sleepers of the Cave"? (2) What is the real story of Khidr? and (3) What do you know about Dhul-Qarnayn? As these three questions and the stories involved concerned the history of the Christians and the Jews, and were unknown in Hijaz, a choice of these was made to test whether the Holy Prophet possessed any source of the knowledge of the hidden and unseen things.[32]
The Meaning of the Qur'an, Introduction to Chapter 18

Some Apologists argue that the identity of Dhul-Qarnayn must have been well known to the Jews and should therefore be found in the Bible. However, no justification is ever given as to why only the Bible is considered and not other literature used by Jews and Christians of the 7th century. This includes the Talmud, apocryphal books, and other non-canonical writings. In fact, this very account refers to another non-canonical story, the Sleepers of the Cave, which is a 5th century legend popular in both Syria and Arabia. In point of fact the Alexander Romance was well known to both Christian and Jewish audiences in late antiquity, so the assumption that the story is well known to the audience of this verse once again points to the Alexander Romance.

Another detail about this account is that the audience of the verse is not asked to simply identify Dhul-Qarnayn. If that were the case, the answer would have been something such as "he is Alexander" or "he is Cyrus". The speaker in the verse actually asks the audience to relate a story about Dhul-Qarnayn. This once again points to a well known narrative about Dhul-Qarnayn, the Alexander Romance. In order for the audience to know the "right" answer to that question, they must already know the details of this story. This story does not appear anywhere in the Bible; but it does occur, point-by-point and detail-by-detail in the Alexander legend. Therefore, they must be using the Alexander legend as their source for the "right" answer.

An argument based on this verse ignores the wide range of stories in circulation by Jews and Christians of the 7th century. It projects a modern understanding of the cannon of scripture back upon the people of that time. The Alexander legends were incorporated into the writings and theology of the Jews and Christians in Syria and Arabia, thus it is easy to see why the speaker in the verse expects a well-rehearsed answer.

Reference in the Bible

Another point brought up in defense of the Cyrus thesis is a passage from the Bible, Daniel 8 that mentions a ram with two horns:

In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great. As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power.[33]
Daniel 8:2-7

The meaning of this prophetic vision is explained a few verses later; the identities of the two-horned ram and the one-horned goat are given:

He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end. The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.
Daniel 8:19-21

On the one hand, the two-horned ram is associated with Persia, and it conquering foes to the west, north, and south is a reference to Cyrus leading Persia to become a great power in the region. However, linking Cyrus explicitly to both of the "two horns" is problematic. First, the author of Daniel clearly says that the ram represents two kings and not only one king. The implication is that Persia is the longer and newer of the two horns, since Persia was more powerful and rose in ascension later than Media. The horn was a common metaphor for rulers or kings in the Middle East, so this imagery is not unique to Persian kings or Cyrus the Great. The clear explanation given in the text is that the ram represents the Persia-Media empire in general and not Cyrus in particular. Since the ram was considered a symbol of Persia, this is not a unique depiction.[34]

Another problem with identifying Cyrus as the ram is that the ram is defeated and disgraced by the goat. It is well known that Cyrus was responsible for freeing the Jews from slavery in Babylon[35] and he is always portrayed favorably in the Bible. In the Book of Isaiah, Cyrus is even called God's anointed [36] which is the same word used for Messiah or Savior. However, in this prophetic vision, the goat defeats the ram and tramples it, which is completely at odds with how Cyrus is portrayed throughout the rest of Jewish scripture. Again, this clearly shows that the Ram represents Persia as a whole and not Cyrus as an individual.

We must also consider that Cyrus is mentioned explicitly by name 23 times[37] in the Bible including other parts of the Book of Daniel; yet he is never given the epitaph of "Two Horns". If the Jews knew Cyrus by this epitaph then one should expect to see it mentioned in at least one of these verses. Considering that Alexander is said to have two horns in the Alexander legend, this lack of direct reference to Cyrus further weakens this theory.

The horn on the goat is considered by many to be a reference to Alexander the Great. The horn is called "the king of Greece" that comes form the west and charges to the east destroying everything in its path; a basic summary of Alexander's conquest of the Persians. Later in the chapter, we are told that the horn is broken (a reference to Alexander's death) and four horns appear in its place (a reference to the four rulers that divided up Alexander's kingdom).[34] This again provides further evidence that the ram is not Cyrus, as Alexander lived three centuries after Cyrus and the two never fought each other on the battle field.

Building a Wall

We have no evidence that Cyrus the Great built large walls or was famous for such deeds. In his commentary, Maududi all but admits as much:

As regards Gog and Magog, it has been nearly established that they were the wild tribes of Central Asia who were known by different names: Tartars, Mongols, Huns and Scythians, who 'had been making inroads on settled kingdoms and empires from very ancient times. It is also known that strong bulwarks had been built in southern regions of Caucasia, though it has not been as yet historically established that these were built by Cyrus.[32]
Tafhim al-Qur'an, Introduction to Chapter 18

When we compare this to the legendary version of Alexander, who not only built a wall against Gog and Magog but made it of iron and bronze, we have the final piece of evidence that the Legendary Alexander is the person identified as Dhul-Qarnayn in the Qur'an and not Cyrus.

Historicity of the Story

As for the story itself, either in the Romance or in the Qur'an, it would seem to be almost entirely legendary. Besides the fact that Alexander was not a Christian, Muslim, or "believer" of any type all of the adventures of the Romance have no basis in the historical sources available on Alexander. The trope about Alexander damming up Gog and Magog till the end of the world is clearly mythical, feeding into established Judeao-Christian tropes on the end of the world, and has no basis in history or archaeology as there is no giant iron wall anywhere on the earth which is containing an entire nation of people. The very existence of such a wall for the past 2300 years would defy all of logic and science as it is known, and in any event would have been spotted by modern satellite technology, which it has not been.

Historical Claims in the Hadith

The historical nature of the story in the Islamic narrative is affirmed by the following Sahih Hadith by Bukhari which relates that Muhammad viewed this wall (here called a dam) holding back Gog and Magog as a real structure that was facing immanent demise. In this account, he also reiterates that the wall's destruction will bring about death and destruction of the land when the tribes held behind it are let loose.

Narrated Zainab bint Jahsh: That one day Allah's Apostle entered upon her in a state of fear and said, "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah! Woe to the Arabs from the Great evil that has approached (them). Today a hole has been opened in the dam of Gog and Magog like this." The Prophet made a circle with his index finger and thumb. Zainab bint Jahsh added: I said, "O Alllah's Apostle! Shall we be destroyed though there will be righteous people among us?" The Prophet said, "Yes, if the (number) of evil (persons) increased."
Sahih Bukhari 9:88:249

Great Wall of Gorgan

The Great Wall of Gorgan is sometimes offered as a possible candidate for the wall built by Dhul-Qarnayn. Made of clay from the local soil, the wall is called the Red Snake due to the color of its bricks. The wall is 195 km (121 mi) long and interspersed with forts. It covers an area between the Caspian Sea and the mountains of northeastern Iran. Dr. Kiani, who led an archaeological team in 1971, believed that the wall was built during the Parthian Empire (247 BCE–224 CE), and that it was restored during the Sassanid era (3rd to 7th century CE).[38]

This wall cannot be same as the one described in the story of Dhul-Qarnayn for a number of reasons. First, it is made of bricks not iron and brass. It also does not cover an area between two mountains. The story in the Qur'an says that the wall built by Dhul-Qarnayn holds back a tribe but this wall in northern Iran is not holding back anyone; it is in a state of disrepair. The Qur'an also says the wall of iron will not be destroyed until the Day of Judgement; if that is true, then this cannot be the wall described in Surat 18 unless the prophecy has failed. Finally, even its earliest dating of 247 BC puts it almost three centuries after the reign of Cyrus the Great (576–530 BC) and almost a century after Alexander the Great (356–323 BC).

Caspian Gates of Derbent

Derbent, a city on the other side of the Caspian Sea from the Great Wall of Gorgon is located just north of the Azerbaijani border. Historically, it occupied one of the few passages through the Caucus mountains and it has often been identified with the word 'gate'. Fortresses and walls have been built at this location probably dating back thousands of years. The historical Caspian Gates were not built until the reign of Khosrau I in the 6th century, long after Alexander, but they likely were attributed to him in the following centuries. The immense wall had a height of up to twenty meters and a thickness of about 3 meters when it was in use.

This wall cannot be the same as the one in the Qur'an because it is not built between two mountains. The walls near Derbent were built with the Caspian sea as one border. In his comments on Derbent, Yusuf Ali mentions, that "there is no iron gate there now, but there was one in the seventh century, when the Chinese traveler Hiouen Tsiang saw it on his journey to India. He saw two folding gates cased with iron hung with bells".[21] Again, if this gate is the same as the one in the Qur'anic story thenthe revelation of the gate holding back Gog and Magog must have failed since they did not rampage over the nations nor bring about judgement day. Additionally, the solitary claim of a single eye witness from the 7th century is suspect at best. One should expect a massive structure would have left copious amounts of archaeological evidence, but rather of Alexander of the Two-Horns and his Great Wall all that is to be found are legends and folktales.

See Also

  • - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Dhul-Qarnayn
  • Cosmology - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Cosmology

References

  1. ↑ Encyclopedia of Islam Volume IV E. J. Bril 1997, p. 127
  2. ↑ For example, Amar Ellahi Lone completely ignores the Alexander Legends of the 4th-7th century and focuses on a historical account of Alexander. Baha'eddin Khoramshahi rejects Alexander based solely on his historical identity. And Khalid Jan gives background information on the historical Alexander and why he is not a fit to the Qur'anic story. Expresses no knowledge of the Alexander legends.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge, "The History of Alexander the Great, Being the Syriac Version of the Pseudo-Callisthenes, Volume 1", The University Press, 1889, http://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_Alexander_the_Great_Being.html?id=_14LmFqhc8QC. 
  4. ↑ "The impact of Alexander the Great’s coinage in E Arabia" at culrute.gr.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Van Bladel, Kevin, “The Alexander legend in the Qur‘an 18:83-102″, in "The Qur’ān in Its Historical Context", Ed. Gabriel Said Reynolds, New York: Routledge, 2007.
  6. ↑ Ibn Ishaq; Guillaume, Alfred, ed. (2002) [?-767 AD]. "The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah". Oxford University Press. pp. 138–140. ISBN 978-0-19-636033-1.
  7. ↑ Tafsir Ibn Kathir. Ch 18: "The Barrier restrains Them, but It will be breached when the Hour draws nigh". Full text at qtafsir.com
  8. ↑ Maureen Gallery Kovacs (trans.), "Epic of Gilgamesh: Tablet IX", Academy for Ancient Texts, I998 (archived), http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab9.htm. 
  9. ↑ Flavius Josephus, William Whiston (trans.), "The Antiquities of the Jews: Book I, Ch6, v1", Project Gutenberg, accessed November 24, 2013 (archived), http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2848/2848-h/2848-h.htm#link2HCH0006. 
  10. ↑ Flavius Josephus, William Whiston (trans.), "The Wars Of The Jews: Book VII, Ch7, v4", Christian Classics Ethereal Library, accessed November 24, 2013 (archived), http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/war-7.htm. 
  11. ↑ Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley. From "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series", Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <Letters of St. Jerome: Letter 77 (archived)>.
  12. ↑ Kenneth Gentry, "Before Jerusalem Fell", Powder Springs, Georgia: American Vision, ISBN 0-930464-20-6, 1989, http://www.amazon.com/Before-Jerusalem-Fell-Dating-Revelation/dp/0930464206/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385273746&sr=8-1. 
  13. ↑ Robert Mounce, "The Book of Revelation", Cambridge: Eerdman's, pp. 15-16, http://books.google.com/books?id=6FAookts4MUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
  14. ↑ New International Version of the Bible. Zondervan 1971. Rev 20:7-19.
  15. ↑ Ed. Emeri J. van Donzel, Andrea Barbara Schmidt, "Gog and Magog in Early Eastern Chrisitan and Islamic Sources", BRILL, p. 18, 2010, http://books.google.com/books?id=PtxOXRlPMA0C. 
  16. ↑ Allamah Abu Abd Allah al-Zanjani, Mahliqa Qara'i (trans.), "The History of the Quran", Al-Tawheed, p. 34, http://tanzil.net/pub/ebooks/History-of-Quran.pdf. 
  17. ↑ Rebecca Edwards. "Two Horns, Three Religions. How Alexander the Great ended up in the Quran". American Philological Association, 133rd Annual Meeting Program (Philadelphia, January 5, 2002)
  18. ↑ Ibn Ishaq; Guillaume, Alfred, ed. (2002). "The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah". Oxford University Press. pp. 138–140. ISBN 978-0-19-636033-1.
  19. ↑ Jalal ad-Din al-Mahalli, Feras Hamza (trans.), "Tafsir al-Jalalayn: Surah 18, Ayah 83", Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, 2013 (archived), http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=18&tAyahNo=83&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageID=2. 
  20. ↑ Shah Waliullah (1763), "Al-Fawz al-Kabir fi Usul al-Tafsir", Islamic Book Trust, p. 27, 2013, http://books.google.com/books?id=jbVWRp56XxsC. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Ali, "The Noble Quran's Commentary", appx. 6, p. 738.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Plutarch (1919). Perrin, Bernadotte, ed. "Plutarch, Alexander". Perseus Project. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  23. ↑ Joseph Roisman, Ian Worthington, "A Companion to Ancient Macedonia", John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 1-4051-7936-8, 2010, http://books.google.com/books?id=lkYFVJ3U-BIC. 
  24. ↑ Peter Green, "Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age", London: Phoenix, ISBN 978-0-7538-2413-9, August 7, 2008, http://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Great-Hellenistic-Peter-Green/dp/0753824132/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385374702&sr=8-1. 
  25. ↑ Karsten Dahmen, "The Legend of Alexander the Great on Greek and Roman Coins", Routledge, ISBN 0-415-39451-1, February 23, 2007, http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Alexander-Great-Greek-Roman/dp/0415394511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385374897&sr=8-1. 
  26. ↑ Ogden, Daniel (2009). "Alexander's Sex Life". In Heckel, Alice; Heckel, Waldemar; Tritle, Lawrence A. "Alexander the Great: A New History". Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 1-4051-3082-2.
  27. ↑ Maududi, "Tafsir Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an", Surah 18 Ayah 83, 1972 (archived), http://www.islamicstudies.info/result.php?sura=18&verse=83. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Baljon , Johannes Marinus Simon. "Modern Muslim Koran Interpretation: (1880 - 1960)". pp. 32-33. 1961. Relates a typical defense by Azad of the Cyrus theory by explaining first why Alexander should be rejected based on the historical Alexander and not the legendary one.
  29. ↑ Allameh Tabatabae. Tafsir al-Mizan Vol 26
  30. ↑ Naser Makarem Shirazi. Bargozideh Tafseer-i Nemuneh, Vol 3, p. 69
  31. ↑ A brief defense of Alexander against Cyrus by a Muslim apologist can be viewed here.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Maududi, "Tafsir Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an", Introduction to Chapter 18, 1972 (archived), http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/maududi/introductions/mau-18.php. 
  33. ↑ New International Version of the Bible. Zondervan 1971. Dan 8:2-7.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Guzik, David. "Commentary on Daniel 8:1". "David Guzik's Commentaries on the Bible". 1997-2003 (archived).
  35. ↑ Ezra 1:1-2
  36. ↑ Isaiah 45:1
  37. ↑ Chron 36:22-33, Ezra 1:1-8, Ezra 3:7, Ezra 4:3-5, Ezra 5:13-17, Ezra 6:3,14, Isaiah 44:28, Isaiah 45:1,13, Daniel 1:21, Daniel 6:28, Daniel 10:1
  38. ↑ Omrani Rekavandi, H., Sauer, E., Wilkinson, T. & Nokandeh, J. (2008), "The enigma of the red snake: revealing one of the world’s greatest frontier walls", Current World Archaeology, No. 27, pp. 12-22, February/March 2008 (archived), http://www.shca.ed.ac.uk/staff/academic/esauer/pubs/iranian_walls.pdf. 
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