Tammuz

In the Quran, a figure called Dhul-Qarnayn appears. The name means "he of the Two Horns". He is described as a great and righteous ruler who built a long wall to keep Yajuj and Majuj from attacking the people of the west. There is disagreement among Muslims if he was a prophet or not. Here is the verses about him in the Quran:

And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnain. Say: "I shall recite to you something of his story." Verily, We established him in the earth, and We gave him the means of everything. So he followed a way. Until, when he reached the setting place of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of black muddy (or hot) water. And he found near it a people. We (Allâh) said (by inspiration): "O Dhul-Qarnain! Either you punish them, or treat them with kindness." He said: "As for him (a disbeliever in the Oneness of Allâh) who does wrong, we shall punish him; and then he will be brought back unto his Lord; Who will punish him with a terrible torment (Hell). "But as for him who believes (in Allâh's Oneness) and works righteousness, he shall have the best reward, (Paradise), and we (Dhul-Qarnain) shall speak unto him mild words (as instructions)." Then he followed another way, until, when he came to the rising place of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We (Allâh) had provided no shelter against the sun. So (it was)! And We knew all about him (Dhul-Qarnain). Then he followed (another) way, until, when he reached between two mountains, he found, before (near) them (those two mountains), a people who scarcely understood a word. They said: "O Dhul-Qarnain! Verily! Ya'jûj and Ma'jûj (Gog and Magog) are doing great mischief in the land. Shall we then pay you a tribute in order that you might erect a barrier between us and them?" He said: "That (wealth, authority and power) in which my Lord had established me is better (than your tribute). So help me with strength (of men), I will erect between you and them a barrier. "Give me pieces (blocks) of iron," then, when he had filled up the gap between the two mountain-cliffs, he said: "Blow," till when he had made it (red as) fire, he said: "Bring me molten copper to pour over it." So they [Ya'jûj and Ma'jûj (Gog and Magog)] were made powerless to scale it or dig through it. (Dhul-Qarnain) said: "This is a mercy from my Lord, but when the Promise of my Lord comes, He shall level it down to the ground. And the Promise of my Lord is ever true." - 18:83-98

There is disagreement both among Western scholars and Muslims about which historical person that is Dhul-Qarnayn. What can be said is that Dhul-Qarnayn was a figure in Arabic folklore and legends long before Islam, and thus was a figure known to the Arabs.

One suggestion is that Cyrus the Great, an ancient Persian king, was the same as Dhul-Qarnayn. This theory is being endorsed mainly by Iranian Muslim scholars.

Another is that Dhul-Qarnayn was a contemporary with Ibrahim (i.e Abraham) and thus lived about 2000 B.C.E.

There are also ancient Arabian kings as candidates for Dhul-Qarnayn. The Pharaoh Narmer has also been released as a candidate.

The most common suggestion, and the most likely one, is that Dhul-Qarnayn is Alexander the Great. The passage of the Quran is very similar to some passages of the Alexander Romance, and that Yajuj and Majuj would then be the Scythians, because Alexander built gates in Caucasus to keep them out. And Alexander was also often depicted on coins with two horns, explaining the name Dhul-Qarnayn. And in the Syriac version of a Christian legend, Alexander enclosed Gog and Magog behind a gate between two mountains, i.e similarly to the Quranic account. In addition to this, the early Muslim scholars identified Dhul-Qarnayn with Alexander the great, thus the case that Dhul-Qarnayn and Alexander are the same is very strong.

This means that the Quran potrays a polytheist as a devout Muslim, which is simply wrong. Even if Dhul-Qarnayn is not Alexander the Great, it is still wrong. Cyrus the Great wasn't a Muslim, he was a Zoroastrian, thus separated from Abrahamism. And unless you buy the Muslim view that Adam was the first Muslim, it is easy to discard that the ancient Arabian kings or Pharaoh Narmer were Muslims, or even monotheists. The Arabian kings were probably polytheists of one sort or another, and Narmer adhered to Egyptian polytheism, and as he was a Pharaoh, he was considered a god by his people.

This is a monumental error in the Quran, and an evidence pointing not to a divine, but to a wholly human origin.