At a glance
- Era
- Pre-Islamic Arabia
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Contested: This record includes matters on which scholars differ. The speaker's views are labelled as his, and other views are marked where no cited source yet exists.
Place in the story
- ProphetScriptural
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Overview
Dhu'l-Kifl is a Qur'anic figure named twice — among the patient with Job, Ishmael and Idris, and among 'the righteous' with Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah and Lot. Ibn Kathir counts him among the prophets in the commentators' reading 1.
In classical tafsir
Al-Tha'labi records that Dhu'l-Kifl was Bishr son of Ayyub, sent as messenger to the Romans' land after his father, who undertook to suffice his people in judgment and govern them justly — hence the name; he dwelt in Syria until he died aged ninety-five 2. Ibn Kathir lists him among the righteous, and reports the naming came from his undertaking to suffice the people 1.
In modern scholarship
Dhu'l-Kifl's identity is not fixed to a single figure in the early Islamic sources; academic theories identify him with Ezekiel or other biblical figures — John Walker argued the Ezekiel identification in The Muslim World 3, and the Encyclopaedia of Islam sums up that the identity remains unsettled 4.
Opinions on the question
First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference
A prophet to the majority of commentators; some say a righteous man who undertook judgment
More opinions (1)
Academic viewSecondary opinion
Identity unestablished; variously identified with Ezekiel or other biblical figures
People and things also explored
Abraham and the one who argued with him about his Lord· al-Amin, the Trustworthy (the Prophet's title before his mission)· Delivery of the message and the limit of the Prophet's charge· Raising the foundations of the House: who built the Ka'ba· The religious bequest: submission until death· Badr as a sign and a lesson· Belief in the messengers without distinction· The completion of the final message of earlier ones
Sources
- Tafsir Ibn Kathir
- Tha'labi, Qisas al-Anbiya' (edition under OCR, not yet verified)
- John Walker, 'Who is Dhul-Kifl?', The Muslim World xvi
- G. Vajda, 'Dhu'l-Kifl' in the Encyclopaedia of Islam
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Dhu'l-Kifl”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/dhu-l-kifl/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.