An engraving of Ezekiel, by Gustave Dore (c. 1866), who remains the most commonly identified figure with Dhul-Kifl.

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Dhul-Kifl, or Zul-Kifl, (Arabic: ذو الكفل ; meaning: The Twin) (ca. 1600?–1400? BCE), is an Islamic prophet who has been identified with various Hebrew Bible prophets, most commonly Ezekiel.^[1] It is believed that he lived for roughly 75 years and that he preached in what is modern day Iraq. Dhul-Kifl is believed to have been exalted by God to a high station in life and is chronicled in the Qur'an as a man of the "Company of the Good.^[2] Although not much is known of Dhul-Kifl from other historical sources, all the writings from classical commentators, such as Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Kathir, speak of Dhul-Kifl as a prophetic, saintly man who remained faithful in daily prayer and worship.^[3]

Dhul-Kifl in the Qur'an[link]

Dhul-Kifl is mentioned in the following Qur'anic verses:

And (remember) Isma'il, Idris, and Zul-kifl, all (men) of constancy and patience.
We admitted them to Our mercy: for they were of the righteous ones.

—Qur'an, sura 21 (Al-Anbiya), ayah 85–86^[4]

And commemorate Isma'il, Elisha and Zul-Kifl: Each of them was of the Company of the Good.

—Qur'an, sura 38 (Sad), ayah 48^[5]

In both cases, Dhū'l-Kifl is mentioned in the context of a list of Qur'anic prophets, including many others not mentioned in the ayat quoted above.

Etymology[link]

The name Dhul Kifl literally means "the one with a kifl", using a type of name where dhū ("possessor of") precedes some characteristically associated feature.^[6] Such names were used of other notable figures in the Qur'an, for example Dhū'l-Nūn "the one with the fish", referring to Jonah, and Dhū'l-Qarnayn "he of the two horns". Kifl is an archaic Arabic word meaning "double" or "duplicate", from a root meaning "to double" or "to fold"; it was also used for a fold of cloth. The name is generally understood to mean "one of a double portion". Some scholars have suggested that the name means "the man with the double recompense" or rather "the man who received recompense twice over",^[7] that is to say that it is a title for Job, as his family was returned to him according to the Qur'an and the Book of Job.^[8]

Identifications[link]

Ezekiel[link]

Some are of the opinion that Dhul Kifl could be Ezekiel. When the exile, monarchy, and state were annihilated, a political and national life was no longer possible. In the absence of a worldly foundation it became necessary to build a spiritual one and Ezekiel performed this mission by observing the signs of the time and deducing his doctrines from them. In conformity with the two parts of his book, his personality and his preaching are alike twofold, and the title Dhul Kifl means "the one to double" or "to fold".

Abdullah Yusuf Ali, in his Qur'anic commentary says:

Dhul-Kifl would literally mean "possessor of, or giving, a double requital or portion"; or else, "one who used a cloak of double thickness," that being one of the meanings of Kifl. The commentators differ in opinion as to who is meant, why the title is applied to him. I think the best suggestion is that afforded by Karsten Niebuhr in his Reisebeschreibung nach Arabian, Copenhagen, 1778, ii. 264–266, as quoted in the Encyclopedia of Islam under Dhul-Kifl. He visited Meshad 'All in 'Iraq, and also the little town called Kifl, midway between Najaf and Hilla (Babylon). Kefil, he says, is the Arabic form of Ezekiel. The shrine of Ezekiel was there, and the Jews came to it on pilgrimage. If we accept "Dhul al Kifl" to be not an epithet, but an Arabicised form of "Ezekiel", it fits the context, Ezekiel was a prophet in Israel who was carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar after his second attack on Jerusalem (about B.C. 599). His Book is included in the English Bible (Old Testament).^[9] He was chained and bound, and put into prison, and for a time he was dumb. He bore all with patience and constancy, and continued to reprove boldly the evils in Israel. In a burning passage he denounces false leaders in words which are eternally true: "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken......".^[10]

—Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary^[11]

Although these identifications are the popular opinion, it is to be noted that Dhul-Kifl is alternatively identified with either Joshua, Obadiah or Isaiah.

See also[link]

• Biblical narratives and the Qur'an
• Legends and the Qur'an
• Prophets of Islam
• Stories of the Prophets

Further reading[link]

• Thalabi, Ara'is al-Madjalis, Cairo edition 1371, 155
• J. Horovitz, Koranische Untersuchungen, 113
• Harawi, K. al-isharat ila ma'rifat al-Ziyarat, ed. J. Sourdel-Thomine, 76
• Guide des lieux de Pelerinage, tans. J. Sourdel-Thomine, 76, Damascus 1957, 174

References[link]

External links[link]

• Story of Dhul-Kifl (Ezekiel)
• Ezekiel (Hizqeel)
• Dhu'l Kifl Shrine