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A figure named in two verses of the Qur'an and regarded as a prophet by the majority of Muslim scholars. His name combines dhu, “owner, possessor”, with kifl, which means “portion, lot; peer, likeness; surety”; Dhu al-Kifl thus means “the one of the portion, the lot, or the surety”.
In Surat al-Anbiya (21/85) it is said: “And Ishmael, Idris and Dhu al-Kifl — all were of the patient”; and in Surat Sad (38/48): “And remember Ishmael, al-Yasa' and Dhu al-Kifl — all were of the best.” The Qur'an gives no further information about him.
The source notes that his being mentioned alongside prophets in these verses shows that Dhu al-Kifl is neither an attribute nor an epithet but a prophet, and therefore a historical person. On these grounds Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and Ibn Kathir concluded that he was a prophet. The view of the Successors 'Abd Allah b. al-Harith al-Hashimi and al-Hasan al-Basri, adopted by the majority, points the same way.
There are many reports about his life and person, yet apart from al-Tirmidhi and Ahmad b. Hanbal the reliable hadith collections contain nothing about him. Works of exegesis and of the stories of the prophets, by contrast, contain many differing reports, which tie the name Dhu al-Kifl to his faithfully fulfilling a charge he had taken upon himself. According to a report from Mujahid, when the prophet al-Yasa' grew old he sought a successor who would fast by day and pray by night for three days and not grow angry in disputed matters; each time a young man came forward saying he would meet these conditions, and he met them without yielding to Satan's temptation, thereby earning the name Dhu al-Kifl. In reports transmitted from Ibn 'Abbas the same succession is tied to a prophet of the Children of Israel who had also been given kingship, or to a king or judge who, shortly before his death, called out: “Who will take my place and never grow angry?”; the one who answered prayed by night, fasted by day, judged among the people with justice and was called Dhu al-Kifl. The atlas records these reports as “this is what the sources transmit”.
Differing Scholarly Views
Prophet or righteous servant — The source records that this point is disputed. According to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and Mujahid, Dhu al-Kifl was not a prophet but a righteous servant who earned God's praise; according to Abu Musa he took over the good works of a righteous man who prayed 100 prayers a day after that man died, and was so named because he too prayed 100 prayers every day. According to 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas he was the successor of a king-prophet, or of a judge or king whose name was synonymous with justice. In the view of 'Abd Allah b. al-Harith al-Hashimi and al-Hasan al-Basri, adopted by the majority, he was a prophet, the conclusion also reached by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and Ibn Kathir. The atlas lists this record among the prophets with that majority view, without concealing the others.
Name, epithet or attribute — Some hold that the word is used of all prophets and denotes not one individual but everyone wholly devoted to God (Muhammad Asad). Fakhr al-Din al-Razi considers both possibilities, name and epithet, and finds the name more likely. In a view recorded by Mawdudi, Dhu al-Kifl is an epithet, just as Dhu al-Nun is Jonah's and Dhu al-Ayd is David's. The source concludes from the context of the verses that the word is not an attribute.
With which prophet he is identified — In the commentaries Dhu al-Kifl has been identified with Bishr son of Job, Joshua son of Nun, Zechariah, al-Yasa' (Elisha), Ezekiel and even the Buddha; it has also been claimed that he is one of five prophets whom God names with two names, the second Qur'anic name of Elijah. According to the source he cannot be al-Yasa' or Zechariah: in Surat Sad (38/48) al-Yasa' is named beside him, and in Surat al-Anbiya Zechariah is named separately after him (21/89); nor is there any indication supporting a link with Elijah or Joshua. Al-Alusi reports that the Jews consider Dhu al-Kifl to be Ezekiel of the Old Testament; Mawdudi says that modern commentators incline to this view although there is no proof for it, and he finds it reasonable. On this view Ezekiel was taken captive in 597 BC under Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, was commissioned as a prophet in the fifth year of his captivity and served as a prophet for twenty-two years. The atlas presents none of these identifications as certain.
The value of the reports — The report transmitted by Ahmad b. Hanbal from 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar — of a man called “al-Kifl” who did not shrink from sin, repented one night and died, and on whose door in the morning were seen the words “God has forgiven al-Kifl” — cannot, according to the source, be applied to the Dhu al-Kifl of the Qur'an: its chain is gharib by the standards of transmission, and the text speaks of a man named Kifl, not Dhu al-Kifl (Ibn Kathir). Brockelmann also mentions a book fabricated in the name of Ka'b al-Ahbar entitled Hadith Dhi al-Kifl.
Burial place — The TDV article does not mention Dhu al-Kifl's grave at all, nor the shrine in the town of al-Kifl in Iraq to which this atlas record is linked; the shrine's attribution to Dhu al-Kifl is not confirmed by this source and remains open to scholarly review. To avoid confusion: the “Kifl” in the view identifying Dhu al-Kifl with the Buddha is Kapilavastu, the Buddha's birthplace — not the town of al-Kifl in Iraq.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) · vol. 44, pp. 569-570, entry “ZÜLKİFL”
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