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Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance: Difference between revisions
Dhul-Qarnayn and the Alexander Romance (view source)
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===Dating the Qur'anic Verses=== | ===Dating the Qur'anic Verses=== | ||
According to the traditional Muslim narrative, Al-Kahf (The Cave) was | According to the traditional Muslim narrative, Al-Kahf (The Cave) was revealed in Mecca.<ref>There was an opinion that the Dhu'l Qarnayn verses of Surah al-Kahf were revealed in Medina, though Abd al Kafi lists this as having a weak narration and says that the majority view is that the whole surah is Meccan in his عدد سور القرآن وآياته وكلماته وحروفه وتلخيص مكية ومدنية See [https://cdn.quranpedia.net/attachments/documents/BOOK_25431_1.pdf here, p. 292 ff.] and {{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> Van Bladel dismisses the possibility that the Quran could be a source for the Syriac legend.<ref name="VanBladel" /> 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 far more expansive 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. Tesei concurs with van Bladel's arguments here.<ref name="Tesei2013" /> | ||
===Spread of the Syriac Legend to Arabia=== | ===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 Apocalpyse of Pseudo-Ephrem composed between 640 CE and 683 CE and the "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius" composed around 692 CE.<ref name="VanBladel" /><ref>{{cite book |date=2010 |last1=van Donzel |first1=Emeri |last2=Schmidt |first2=Andrea |title=Gog and Magog in Early Eastern Christian and Islamic Sources: Sallam's Quest for Alexander's Wall |publisher=Leiden: Brill |pages=25–31 |isbn=9789004174160}}</ref> 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" /> | The popularity of the Syriac legend of Alexander is evidenced by its inclusion in other works soon after its composition: The Syriac "Song of Alexander" (also known as the metrical homily or poem about Alexander), composed a few years later but before the Arab conquest of Syria sometime between 630 CE and 636 CE; The Syriac Apocalpyse of Pseudo-Ephrem composed between 640 CE and 683 CE and the "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius" composed around 692 CE.<ref name="VanBladel" /><ref>{{cite book |date=2010 |last1=van Donzel |first1=Emeri |last2=Schmidt |first2=Andrea |title=Gog and Magog in Early Eastern Christian and Islamic Sources: Sallam's Quest for Alexander's Wall |publisher=Leiden: Brill |pages=25–31 |isbn=9789004174160}}</ref> 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" /> | ||
===Views of Modern Scholars=== | ===Views of Modern Scholars=== | ||
It is clear that | It is clear that major elements of the Alexander story predate 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: | ||
{{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>}} | {{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>}} | ||