Cyrus The Great in The Quran

Cyrus The Great In The Quran

Cyrus the Great in the Qur'an is a theory that holds that the character of Dhul-Qarnayn, mentioned in the Qur'an, is in fact Cyrus the Great. Dhul-Qarnayn (Arabic for "the two-horned") is mentioned in the Qur'an. The story of Dhul-Qarnayn appears in sixteen verses of the Qur'an, specifically the 16 verses 18:83-98 (Al Kahf). There is extensive ongoing debate on who exactly was the historical character of Dhul-Qarnayn. Some classical Muslim scholars believed that Dhul Qarnayn is Alexander the Great in the Qur'an. However, in recent years, alternative theories supporting other explanations have become dominant. The most prominent of these is the theory that Dhul-Qarnayn was none other than Cyrus the Great of Achaemenid Persia. This theory has been endorsed by such scholars as Maududi, Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, the Indian minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Allameh Tabatabaei, and Naser Makarem Shirazi, among others.