In Surat al Kahf Allah mentioned four stories and one of them is the story of Dhul Qarnayn. Why does Allah Almighty tell us about Dhul Qarnayn? The story of Dhul Qarnayn appears in Surat al Kahf and is an answer to one of the three questions posed by Quraysh to the Prophet (peace be on him) to challenge whether he was truly the Messenger of God or not. They had sent a delegation from Makkah to Yathrib to ask the Jewish Rabbis to give them some questions which would throw him, and thereby disprove that he was a prophet. These questions were what is the nature of the soul, which Allah Almighty answered in Surat al Isra. They asked him about the People of the Cave, which forms the first story of Surat al Kahf, from which it takes its name. The last question was the story of the ruler who used to travel on great expeditions. The revelation came with information about Dhul Qarnyan, who was a great leader, which Allah outlined in 14 verses in the Quran. وَيَسۡـئَلُوۡنَكَ عَنۡ ذِى الۡقَرۡنَيۡنِ​ ؕ قُلۡ سَاَ تۡلُوۡا عَلَيۡكُمۡ مِّنۡهُ ذِكۡرًا ؕ‏  (O Muhammad), they ask you about Dhu al-Qarnayn. Say: “I will give you an account of him.” (18:83) Who was Dhul Qarnayn? Dhul Qarnayn means in Arabic: the one with two horns. There are various conjectures among scholars of Tafsir about who he was, and some have suggested that he was Alexander the Great (died 323BC) who used to wear helmet with two horns, originated in Macedonia, was tutored by Aristotle and went on to conquer the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, the Middle East, and parts of Asia in a remarkably short period of time. However this cannot be correct as Dhul Qarnayn was a righteous believer, who worshipped … Continue reading Dhul Qarnayn and the qualities of the ideal leader