Dhul-Qarnayn and the Christian Syriac Legend of Alexander - Dr. Tommaso Tesei

Tommaso Tesei is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Duke Kunshan University. Before joining DKU he was a Patricia Crone member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and a Polonsky research fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in Jerusalem. His academic interests mostly center on the emergence of the Islamic movement and faith tradition, and on the consequential establishment of new religious and political authorities in the context of the late antiquity of the Near East. His forthcoming monograph, entitled the Syriac Legend of Alexander’s Gate (under contract with Oxford University Press), examines a branch of apocalyptic traditions which are fundamental to understand the social and political setting from which the early Islamic community emerged and in which it shaped its identity.

References
The prophecy of Ḏū-l-Qarnayn (Q 18:83-102) and the Origins of the Qurʾānic Corpus
Academia.Edu page
Books on Amazon
Van Bladel 2008 The Alexander Legend in the Qur'an 18:83-102

[TheGoodOldNas]

Hello my friend! Thanks for this interview and it is wonderful stumbling upon your channel. Also are you an ibadi, I see that is in your twitter bio (just curious but cool!)

[gtb]

What a great interview! I was most fascinated to hear how Tommaso's views are moving towards an earlier sixth C Neshana, and his wrestling with whether it may have included the water of life element found in the metrical homily and whether the DQ pericope reflects his reconstructed sixth C Neshana or the 7th redaction. When he mentions that the Neshana author removed existing elements (as well as combined them), I'm guessing this relates to his paper on 18:60-65 where he theorizes that it omits a failed attempt by Alexander to reach paradise beyong the edge of the world. Can't wait to learn more about Tommaso's book and future work on the subject and see what influence it has.

[roshlew]

Wow.. that was very informative.
Also interview Thomas Alexander who has done extensive research on Syriac Christian lectionaries origins of Quran..

[controlledopposition]

Oh my goodness! Your 🎙 sounds wonderful! You really bought a new one?

[internchangelabosa]

Terron makes a point that the majority of classical scholars believe Dhul Qarnayn to have been Alexander...this is not what i found it seems to be a split decision with many of the classcial scholars outright denying it. Mujahid and Imam Ali both dont mention anything but make comments on it.

[commenter]

Peace be upon Alexander Dhul Qarnayn, the monotheist conqueror chosen by Allah.

“After the death of Darius, Alexander [the Great] annexed the empire of Darius to his own kingdom, and ruled Iraq, Asia Minor, al-Rum, Syria, and Egypt. Following the death of Darius, he reviewed his army; it is said that he found the army to consist of 1, 400, 000 men; of these 800, 000 were of his own force, and 600, 000 were from the (old) force of Darius. It is reported that on the day he ascended the throne (as king of Persia) he said, "ALLAH granted us triumph over Darius and granted us the opposite of Darius's threats.” Alexander destroyed the cities, fortresses, and fire temples of the Persians. He slew their priests, and he burned their books and the archives of Darius. Appointing some of his aides as governors over the empire of Darius, he marched on toward India where he slew its king and conquered its capital.”

[Al-Tabari’s Tarikh, The Account of Darius [Dara] the Elder and His Son Darius the Younger. How He Perished, and the Account of Alexander (Dhu-l-Qarnayn), p. 94].

[oay]

When was this Syriac Romance of Alexander composed? 635AD?

[stevenv]

Very interesting, Mr. Poole I wonder how you don't see this as a theological problem for you. I have seen some Muatazilites say that it doesn't matter if it historically true as long as it is theologically true. Is that your view?

Also I was hoping for someone to go into the reasons for why the Quran influencing the Syriac legend is not likely as the dating is in question for the Alexander romance in Syriac.

[coldtreasure]

Or maybe the Syriac Alexander legend is copying the Quran... for those that aren't aware the Alexander legend in its current form is from an 18th century manuscript! That is eleven centuries after the Qur'an. Some generously give this work a very early date of around the year 630 after hijra and even with this date the chapter of the calf which includes the story predates the Alexander legend by eight years since the chapter was revealed before the migration to Medina.

Note: The Orthodox opinion isn't that he's Alexander the Great! from the early days of Islam scholars have differed in regards to the identity of the dhul Qarnan and the most Orthodox opinion is that he wasn't Alexander!

See Farid Response's "Abdullah Sameer: Alexander is Dhu Al-Qarnayn"

[enigma]

Alexander the Great is Dhul Qarnayn yo