Dhu l-Kifl

Tomb of Dhu l-Kifl (2019)

Dhu l-Kifl ( Arabic ذو الكفل, DMG Ḏū l-Kifl , also Dhul-Kifl ) is a person named in the Koran who is identified by the interpreters with various biblical figures or is interpreted as an extra-biblical person of exemplary piety.

Koranic mentions

There are two Quranic passages that mention Dhu l-Kifl, each within a group of three:

• “And (further) Ishmael , Idrīs and Dhū l-Kifl. All belonged to those who are patient. "( Sura 21.85 )

• “And remember Ishmael, Elisha and Dhū l-Kifl! All belong to the pious. ”( Sura 38:48 )

Surname

Various interpretations are suggested for the name:

• Man of happiness
• The one with the guarantee
• Who gave the guarantee
• The one with the doubling.

Design tradition

In the Muslim tradition, Dhu l-Kifl is often, but not always, understood as a prophet. For the interpretation as a prophet it is asserted that he is mentioned together with two other prophets. Alternatively, Dhu l-Kifl can simply be an outstanding Muslim because of his patience, as he is mentioned in sura 21 together with Ishmael and Idris, whose outstanding quality is patience.

The meaning of the name “The one with the doubling” establishes a connection to Job , who after suffering twice receives what has been lost from God. Since Job was mentioned in Sura 21:84, some commentators identify the Dhu l-Kifl mentioned in the following verse with Bishop  /بشر / Bišr , an imaginary son of Job.

Among the biblical persons, Dhu l-Kifl is preferably equated with Ezekiel , but also with Joshua , Elijah and Zacharias . As-Suyūtī lists these interpretations, but offers as an alternative that Dhu l-Kifl was an exemplary devout who performed 100 prostrations a day .

Tomb

In Iraq , near the city of Hilla , is the village of al-Kifl. The tomb of the prophet Ezekiel has been venerated here by Jews since the 10th century. Muslims have been locating the grave of Dhu l-Kifl here since the 12th century, which is where the village got its name. In principle, Jews and Muslims recognize each other that this site is also sacred to the other religion; in practice, Jews were (and are) sometimes prevented from visiting the grave.

The location of the shrine on the traditional route of the Hajj caravans from Iraq and Iran alone guaranteed it great respect in the Islamic world, as the Jewish traveler Petachja von Regensburg wrote in the 12th century: "Every Ishmaelite who came to the place of Mohammed [ = Medina ] travels, goes to the tomb of Ezekiel and gives a gift and a donation for Ezekiel, makes a vow and prays: Our Lord Ezekiel, when I return I will give you this and that. "

Carsten Niebuhr visited the holy place during his Arab trip in 1766 and described it as follows:

“Kefil is the Hebrew name of Ezekiel [= Ezekiel], whose grave is visited here by hundreds of Jews every year. ... They must be satisfied that they are allowed to go on pilgrimage here. In the chapel of the prophet under a tower, one sees nothing more than a walled up grave. The owner or protector of this sanctuary is an Arab family who have a nice little mosqué with a minor ... In the season when the Jews make pilgrimage here, it is not uncommon for Arabs to come to wish them good luck, or rather gifts from ask them. "

- Carsten Niebuhr : travel description to Arabia and other surrounding countries, part 2, Copenhagen 1778, p. 265

literature

• Christfried Böttrich , Beate Ego , Friedmann Eißler: Elijah and other prophets in Judaism, Christianity and Islam . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-525-63396-0 .
• Brannon M. Wheeler: Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis . Continuum, London / New York 2002. ISBN 0-8264-4957-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Christfried Böttrich, Beate Ego, Friedmann Eißler: Elia and other prophets in Judaism, Christianity and Islam , Göttingen 2013, p. 142.
2. ↑ Heribert Busse : Art. Dhū l-Kifl . In: Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Ed.): Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān.
3. ↑ Andrew Rippin : Art. Dhū l-Kifl . In: Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Everett Rowson (eds.): Encyclopaedia of Islam , 3rd edition.
4. ^ Brannon M. Wheeler: Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis , London / New York 2002, p. 161.
5. ↑ Aviva Schussman: The Prophet Ezekiel in Islamic Literature: Jewish Traces and Islamic Adaptions . In: Michael E. Stone, Theodore A. Bergren (Eds.): Biblical Figures Outside the Bible . Trinity Press International, Harrisburg 1998, pp. 316-339, here pp. 330f.
6. ^ Martin Jacobs: Reorienting the East: Jewish Travelers to the Medieval Muslim World . University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2014, p. 119.
7. ↑ digitized version