Prophet Dhul-Kifl (AS) – Among the Patient حضرت ذوالکفل علیہ السلام – صبر کرنے والوں میں

Dhul-Kifl (AS) appears in the Quran only twice, and in both places Allah mentions him briefly, as one name in a line of honoured servants. Yet these two brief mentions carry great weight, because the praise they contain comes from Allah Himself.

The first is in Surah Al-Anbiya, the surah of the prophets. After telling of Ayyub's patience and healing, Allah says: 'And [mention] Ismail and Idris and Dhul-Kifl; all were of the patient. And We admitted them into Our mercy. Indeed, they were of the righteous' (Al-Anbiya 21:85-86). Three statements are made about Dhul-Kifl here. He was among the patient (as-sabirin). He was admitted into Allah's mercy. And he was among the righteous (as-salihin). The placement is also meaningful: he is mentioned immediately after Ayyub, the model of patience, and together with Ismail, who offered himself for sacrifice, and Idris, whom Allah raised to a high station.

The second is in Surah Sad, in a passage where Allah commands the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to remember the great servants of the past. After Ibrahim, Ishaq and Yaqub, Allah says: 'And remember Ismail, al-Yasa' and Dhul-Kifl, and all are among the outstanding' (Sad 38:48). The word used, al-akhyar, means the best, the chosen, the most excellent. Once again Dhul-Kifl stands beside Ismail, and now also beside al-Yasa' (Elisha), another prophet about whom the Quran says little.

Is Dhul-Kifl a prophet? The majority of scholars, including Ibn Kathir, hold that he was. Their reasoning is straightforward: he is named only in lists of prophets, the surrounding verses speak of prophets, and it would be strange to insert a non-prophet into such company without comment. A minority, including some early authorities cited by Ibn Jarir at-Tabari, held that he was a righteous man, a just ruler or judge, but not a prophet. Ibn Kathir reports both views and inclines to the first, while acknowledging that the matter is not certain. Muslims therefore commonly add 'alayhis-salam' after his name, as with the other prophets.

What do the verses tell us about his character? Patience, above all. In the Quran sabr is not passive endurance; it is the active strength to hold firm in obedience, to refrain from sin, and to bear hardship without complaint against Allah. To be counted among 'the patient' alongside Ayyub and Ismail is to be counted among those who passed severe tests. The Quran does not tell us what Dhul-Kifl's tests were, but it tells us that he passed them.

The verses also tell us something about the purpose of mentioning him. Allah instructs the Prophet ﷺ to 'remember' these servants (Sad 38:45-48). Remembrance here is not merely recalling a story; it is holding up a model. Even a prophet whose story is unknown is a model, because what matters is the verdict Allah gave on him. A believer who reads 'all were of the patient… they were of the righteous' learns that this verdict, and not fame or a detailed biography, is the real measure of a life.

The name Dhul-Kifl is a title rather than a personal name. 'Dhu' means 'the one with' or 'the possessor of', and 'kifl' has several meanings in Arabic: a portion or share, a double share, and a guarantee or responsibility that one takes upon oneself (the same root gives kafalah, sponsorship or guardianship). So the title can be read as 'the one with a portion', 'the one with a double share', or 'the one who took on a responsibility'. The commentators connect each reading to a different explanation of his life, and none of them is confirmed by the Quran or an authentic hadith.

The best-known account is reported by Ibn Jarir at-Tabari and Ibn Kathir from early authorities such as Mujahid. It says that when al-Yasa' (Elisha) grew old, he wished to appoint a successor to lead the Children of Israel and asked: who will guarantee me three things – to fast by day, to stand in prayer by night, and never to become angry? A young man stood up and accepted. Al-Yasa' asked again on other days, and each time the same man accepted, so he was appointed. Iblis then set out to make him angry. He came to him disguised as a poor old man at the time of his midday rest, day after day, with a long, tangled complaint, interrupting his only sleep. The man listened patiently, gave him appointments and kept them, and never lost his temper, until Iblis gave up. Because he 'guaranteed' (takaffala) these things and fulfilled them, he was called Dhul-Kifl.

This story is beautiful and its lesson is sound, but it must be told honestly: it is a report from the Successors and from the lore of the Children of Israel, without a chain going back to the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn Kathir himself presents it as something narrated, not as established fact. It may be read as illustration of the patience for which the Quran praises Dhul-Kifl, but not as his confirmed biography.

Other identifications have been proposed. Some reports, mentioned in the chapter on Ayyub, say that Dhul-Kifl was Bishr, a son of Ayyub, who took on his father's mission after him. Others identify him with the Biblical prophet Ezekiel (Hizqil), whose name in some traditions is linked with 'Kifl'; a shrine near the town of Al-Kifl in Iraq, south of Babylon, has long been venerated as the tomb of Ezekiel and associated by some with Dhul-Kifl. Still others have linked him with figures from outside the Israelite tradition. None of these identifications rests on authentic evidence. Ibn Kathir lists several of them and concludes that the matter is uncertain. The most accurate position is to say that we do not know.

A further report must be treated with particular care. Jami' at-Tirmidhi (2496) contains a narration about a man of the Children of Israel named al-Kifl who was steeped in sin, who once was about to commit adultery with a needy woman, saw her weeping in fear of Allah, abandoned the sin, repented, and died that night, and on his door was found written: 'Allah has forgiven al-Kifl'. Scholars have pointed out that its chain contains weakness, and, more importantly, that it concerns a man named al-Kifl, not Dhul-Kifl, and describes a sinner rather than a prophet. It should not be told as the story of this prophet.

Why does Allah leave so much unknown? The scholars note that the Quran is not a book of history but of guidance. Where the details of a prophet's life carry a lesson, Allah gives them, as with Musa and Yusuf. Where the lesson lies simply in the verdict – 'patient, righteous, among the best' – Allah gives the verdict and leaves the rest. Filling the silence with invented detail would add nothing to the guidance and might distort it.

If we set aside everything uncertain about Dhul-Kifl, we are left with a handful of words from Allah: patient, righteous, among the best, admitted into His mercy. It is a small biography, but there is hardly a greater one. Many people famous in history would give everything they ever achieved for a single one of those words from their Lord.

The first lesson of his story, then, is about the measure of a life. Allah did not preserve the details of Dhul-Kifl's work, his community, his trials or his death. He preserved His own judgement on him. The Prophet ﷺ said: 'Allah does not look at your appearance or your wealth, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds' (Sahih Muslim 2564). Dhul-Kifl is the Quran's clearest example of a servant known to Allah and almost unknown to us, and his honour is in no way diminished by our not knowing.

The second lesson is about patience. Every reading of his name points to the same quality: the one who took on a responsibility and kept it, the one who received a double portion of reward for his endurance. Whether or not the story of the man who guaranteed never to become angry is about him, it fits the Quranic verdict perfectly. The Prophet ﷺ said: 'The strong man is not the one who overcomes others in wrestling; the strong man is the one who controls himself when he is angry' (Sahih al-Bukhari 6114; Sahih Muslim 2609). And he said: 'No one has been given a gift better and more comprehensive than patience' (Sahih al-Bukhari 1469; Sahih Muslim 1053).

The third lesson is about keeping commitments. If 'kifl' means a responsibility taken on oneself, then the title itself praises a man who fulfilled what he promised. The Quran describes the believers as 'those who are, to their trusts and their promises, attentive' (Al-Mu'minun 23:8), and commands, 'And fulfil every commitment; indeed, the commitment is ever [that about which one will be] questioned' (Al-Isra 17:34). A believer who accepts a duty – at work, in the family, in the community – and carries it out faithfully, without complaint and without seeking praise, is walking in the path for which Dhul-Kifl is remembered.

The fourth lesson is about honesty in what we teach. The history of Dhul-Kifl shows how quickly silence is filled with stories, identifications and shrines. Muslim scholars like Ibn Kathir took care to report these as reports, and to mark what is established and what is not. That care is itself part of the religion: the Prophet ﷺ warned, 'It is enough of a lie for a person to relate everything he hears' (Sahih Muslim 5). To say 'Allah knows best' where knowledge ends is not a weakness in our account of the prophets but a mark of respect for them.

Finally, Dhul-Kifl is a comfort for those who live quiet lives. Most believers will never be famous; their patience will be seen by few, their duties carried out without witnesses, their names forgotten within a few generations. The Quran assures them, through the example of this prophet, that none of it is lost. Allah knows them, records their patience, and can admit them into His mercy and count them among 'the righteous' and 'the best', as He did for Dhul-Kifl.