The True Identity and Lessons of Leadership

This brings us to the Day of Judgement in general. Now, who is this Dhū al-Qarnayn? Literally: qarn means a horn, so qarnayn is the dual, the double horn, or two horns. And generally the notion of two horns calls up the notion of the devil; but this man is far from being the devil. Dhū means the possessor of two horns, the one who bears two horns.

Some have tried to claim that this is Alexander, taking it from the notion that he was so supreme a ruler, with everything beneath him, that he must have been Alexander, since Alexander is said to have been among the greatest of rulers, with the largest expanse of land. Allah (swt) knows best; the difficulty is that Alexander, of Macedonia, was in fact not a believer, whereas this one, Dhū al-Qarnayn, is a believer. And the point is that one might go to great depths to work out who he was, but it would be a waste of time, since it adds nothing to the purpose for which the story is told here. It is not to work out who he was, what he looked like, what he wore or what his favourite food was, but is rather about the matter of holding rule.

The counsel in this case, then, is upon rule. And, as has been said, the story of Mūsā (peace be upon him) has for its chief aspect the trial of knowledge: that having too much data, too much knowledge, gives a man a superiority complex, and this happens a great deal. There are many who suppose themselves to know a great deal, the ʿulamāʾ among them; and the challenge for them is that they should not look down upon others, nor suppose themselves superior to others, nor humiliate others, nor denigrate others, and should act by the wisdom of their knowledge.

So there is the trial of religion, of faith; the trial of wealth; the trial of knowledge; and the last, the trial of leadership, of rule, of authority.