ABSTRACT
And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say, “I will recite to you about him a report.”1
(Q 18:83)
Dhū l-Qarnayn is a historical character who played a crucial role in the history of various regions of the world as well as in many writings by classical and modern exegetes. For many Malays, his name also brings to mind their heritage and historical background. Malay legends and epics date back many centuries and comprise key elements of Malay history. Many such accounts are narrated in the form of Hikayat (folk prose or stories), which provide ethical and social lessons through a combination of religious Islamic figures and traditions within Malay social culture. Some narratives pertain to Muḥammad, his household, and companions. For instance, Hikayat Nabi Mengajar Anaknya Fatimah (The Story of the Prophet Teaching His Daughter Fāṭima) presents many prophetic recommendations to Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ in her conjugal life with ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib.2 There are also some stories translated from Persian into Malay, including the stories of Muḥammad Ḥanafiyya3 or Persian heroes, such as Amir Hamza.4 Another Malay folk tale profoundly influenced by Qurʾanic stories, the ḥadīth, and other Asian legends is Hikayat Dzuʾl-Karnain or Iskandar Zulkarnain. This is estimated to date back to the fifteenth century,5 and is found in the form of a manuscript that was copied by Muhammad Cing Saʿidullāh, a scribe working at the General Secretariat of Batavia, in 1830.6 The story introduces Alexander the Great as a conqueror who endeavored to convert people to the faith of Abraham’s God.7 Alexander the Great, Iskandar, Sekandar, and Zülkdender are different names for this ancient universalized figure originally from the West who displayed various attributes such as a ‘destroyer’ or a ‘builder’ according to the diverse interpretations. Some groups (such as historians, archaeologists, sculptors, geographers, literary figures, exegetes) have portrayed him as having possessed broad territory in the East and the West. The Egyptians have also singled him out for exceptional attention, and named the city of Alexandria (al-Iskandariyya) on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea after him. In contrast, the Iranian public highlights his affiliation
with a list of betrayers; in Persian tradition he was a foreign invader who destroyed, for one, the ancient capital Persepolis.8 Nonetheless, Hikayat Iskandar Zulkarnain belongs to the category of Muslim heroic literature. It was written based on events prior to the Islamic period but includes Qurʾanic references.9 This Hikayat additionally addresses the relationship between Alexander and Khiḍr along with Alexander’s method of ruling.10 It also considers the immense influence of Muslim tradition on Malay literature (e.g., Hikayat Iskandar Dzulkarnain), relating it to the events and details of Alexander’s life. It differs from the heroes’ stories in the Indian epics which mention Alexander facing giants and supernatural creatures. As scholars suggest, “Alexander is portrayed as a propagator of Islam.”11 In Malay historiography, genealogy is of particular importance and it is claimed that the ancestral background of the Kings of Malacca can be traced to Alexander the Great. Mohd. Taib Bin Osman states, “While Alexander was on his journey to the East, he married the daughter of a great Hindu King, Raja Khida Hindi, and it was from this matrimonial alliance that the ancestor of the kings of Malacca came about.”12 As such, Alexander the Great holds a prominent position among Malaysians, and, as Broadbent says,
Many Malaysians, when asked about Alexander the Great, will say, “Alexander? Isn’t he the dude who brought Islam to Malaysia?” I had to unravel the conundrum that Alexander lived and died nine centuries before Muhammad, and was connected with the Islamisation of Malaysia!13
