سدِ ذوالقرنین اور مفسرین کرام کی آراء

Syed Zul qunain and the Opinions of the Exegetes

Abstract

In Surah "Al-Kahf (The Cave), the story of a God-fearing and just ruler and conqueror Zul-Qarnain has been related in answer to the questions put by the disbelievers of Makkah as a test, along with the stories of the "Sleepers of the Cave" and "Moses and Khidr". The identification of this Zul-Qarnain has always been a matter of controversy. Early commentators of the Quran thought that he was Alexander the Great but the characteristics of Zul-Qarnain described in the Qur'an does not corroborate this idea. Now the commentators in general are inclined to believe that Zul-Qarnain was Cyrus, an ancient king of Iran. Another controversy regarding Zul-Qarnain relates to the three military expeditions he undertook. This story has given rise to yet another continued controversy that concerns about the identification and location of the wall built by him. This articles tries to answer these questions in the light of the findings of the following commentators of the Holy Quran: Maulana Maudoodi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Peer Karam Shah Al-Azhari, Maulana Abd-ur-Rahman Kailani, Maulana Abd-ul-Majid Daryabadi, Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlvi, Maulana Hifz-ur-Rahman Sewharvi, Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi, and Ghulam Warith Engineer. Some recent geographical discoveries have also been referred to in this connection.