Can you give some information about Dhul-Qarnayn mentioned in Surah of Al-Kahf?

A Brief Description of the Question: 

Asalamu 'Alaykum, In Surah Al-kahf it is mentioned about Zul-Qarnain, the wall he created for Gog and Magog. I have just gone through Tafsir Of Maulana Maud'udi in it, he states: That the wall of the Caucasus as the wall of Zul-Qarnain. Is it true?? I wanted to know more about it. If I am wrong May Allah forgive Me.

The Answer: 

It is controversial whether the Great Wall of China is seen from outer space or not. There are some astronauts who say it is visible, but there are others who say it is invisible. Although there are detailed and different narrations in the interpretation and Islamic history books about Dhul-Qarnayn and the Great Wall of China, we see, in Badiuzzaman’s Risale-i Nur Collection, the most suitable information which is convenient for the understanding of our century.

There is no certain information about him whether he is a saint or prophet, but Hazrat Badiuzzaman says “he was one of the padishahs (sultan, ruler, sovereign) of Yemen who lived during the time of Hazrat Abraham (peace be upon him) and took lessons from Hazrat Khidr (peace be upon him)”. So with that statement, Badiuzzaman points that he was a saint; but in another statement which is “With the guidance which was fit for a prophet, Dhul-Qarnayn who was Alexander the Great…” (1), it is understood that he points to his prophethood. And in many interpretations, the opinion that he was a prophet prevails.

The Great Wall of China was constructed by Dhul-Qarnayn. According to the expression of the Qur’an, Manchur, Mongolian and Kirghiz tribes that were named as Gog and Magog (Yajuj and Majuj), attacked repeatedly the defenseless and innocent people who were living in India and China and killed them ferociously. Those trouble-making and plundering tribes lived behind Himalaya Mountains. They destroyed almost anything and killed almost anyone in the places where they invaded.

So, Hazrat Dhul-Qarnayn erected the Great Wall of China in order to save the tribes who were living around, from the cruelty and assault of those cruel and barbarian people. In this way, a curtain wall in front of the cruel people and a stone building against their cruelty had been constructed. According to the information in encyclopedias, later, the rulers of China extended this wall and ensured it to exist up to this day by restoring it several times.

“The Great Wall of China which was one of the barriers that Hz. Dhul-Qarnayn constructed and which is accepted as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, still exists in spite of living for thousand of years. It can be read as a long line from the history in an incarnate, petrified and significant way which had been spread to the surface of the earth by human hand.” (2)

There is clear and significant information in Chapter of Al-Kahf (The Surah Al-Kahf) in which the story of Hz. Dhul-Qarnayn is told about how that barrier was constructed. Some of those verses are as follows:

“Then he followed (another) way. Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word. They said: "O Zulqarnain! the Gog and Magog (People) do great mischief on earth: shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect a barrier between us and them? He said: "(The power) in which my Lord has established me is better (than tribute). 

Help me therefore with strength (and labor): I will erect a strong barrier between you and them: "Bring me blocks of iron." At length, when he had filled up the space between the two steep mountain-sides, He said, "Blow (with your bellows)" Then, when he had made it (red) as fire, he said: "Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten lead." Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it.” (3)

Badiuzzaman explains how the Qur’an points the case “with destruction of this barrier the Doomsday will occur, too” in two points:

“As that barrier will be destroyed, so too, will this world will be destroyed. That barrier is as strong as a mountain. However, with destruction of the earth, it may be destroyed. Although time damages it, most of it remains strong.”

There had been constructed many barriers other than the Great Wall of China, which is famous. Among those, some conquerors and strong rulers such as Alexander the Great materially and some prophets and saints morally had followed Dhul-Qarnayn and they had erected barriers in the middle of the mountains and set castles on the mountains which would save the oppressed from the oppressors. They built walls either with their material power or by guiding people and taking measures. 

In addition, one of the kings of Romans built a wall in England, and one of the rulers of Persia on the Caucasus Mountains by the Darbant had constructed barriers like Dhul-Qarnayn in order to stop the plunderer Tatarian people’s attacks.

Footnotes:

(1). Lem’alar (The Flashes), p. 100-101.
(2). ?ualar (The Rays), p. 58-61.
(3). The Surah of Al-Kahf, 92-97.

Mehmed Paksu

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