Chester_Beatty_T_414_fol_94v_Danyal_and_Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: دانيال, ''Dānyāl'') is usually considered by

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s in general to have been a

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

and according to

Shia Muslim Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

he was a prophet. Although he is not mentioned in the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

, nor in hadith of

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

, Sunni Muslim reports of him are taken from '' Isra'iliyyat'', which bear his name and which refer to his time spent in the den of the lions. There are debates, however, that go on about Daniel's time of preaching and while in reports of Shia Islam from the Shia Imams he is considered as a prophet, some

s from other branches of Islam believe that he was not a prophet but a saintly man. Some Muslim records suggest that a book regarding apocalyptic revelations was found in a coffin, which is supposed to have contained the remains of Daniel, which was brought to light at the time of the

Muslim conquest The Muslim conquests, Muslim invasions, Islamic conquests, including Arab conquests, Arab Islamic conquests, also Iranian Muslim conquests, Turkic Muslim conquests etc. *Early Muslim conquests **Ridda Wars **Muslim conquest of Persia ***Muslim conq ...

of Tustar, and buried again at the request of

Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...

Background

Muslim tradition has retained some records of the two figures named Daniel in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Ezekiel and the second being the visionary who lived at the time of the captivity in

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

, whose life was chronicled in the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. It is ostensibly a narrative detailing the experiences and Prophecy, prophetic visions of Daniel, a Jewish Babylonian captivity, exile in Babylon ...

, canonized in the current

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

has shaped the figure in a similar way to that of the prophet Idris, as he is considered to have been a revealer of future mysteries, coupled with one who excelled in scientific matters. However, other scholars reject the differentiating and treat both Daniel the Elder and Daniel as one and the same. Also Ibn Tayymiyyah in his book Al Jawaab as Saheeh writes a lot about Daniel writing and foretelling

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

Daniel in Muslim literature

Muslim tradition recounts that it was Daniel who preached in

, exhorting the people to return to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

. He lived during the reign of

Cyrus Cyrus () is a Persian-language masculine given name. It is historically best known as the name of several List of monarchs of Iran, Persian kings, most notably including Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC. It remains wid ...

, and taught this prince the unity of God and the true religion of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Key events from Daniel's life which are recounted in

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

are the presence of Daniel and his companions in the court of Nebuchadnezzar; Nebuchadnezzar's dreams; the friction between Daniel and his detractors and his miraculous delivery from the den of the lions; and Belshazzar's feast and the deciphering of the mysterious writing. Other events from the

, such as Susanna and the Elders, play no part in tradition. One legend that is not found in

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

tradition but appears in Muslim writings is that of

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

meeting Daniel. A similar event involving Habakkuk and Daniel, however, is to be found in '' Lives of the Prophets''.''A-Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism'', Wheeler, ''Habbakuk'' Ibn Abi Al-Dunya narrated the following, based on a chain of citations: Danyal also appears in ''The Thousand and One Nights''. On Night 394, in the tale of ‘The Pious Jewish Woman’ he appears as a 12-year-old boy who mediates in the case of a woman falsely accused of adultery. The book refers to him as a prophet.

In Shia Islam

Once one of the close companions of the 6th Shia Imam

Ja'far al-Sadiq Ja'far al-Sadiq (; –765) was a Muslim hadith transmitter and the last agreed-upon Shia Imam between the Twelvers and Isma'ilis. Known by the title al-Sadiq ("The Truthful"), Ja'far was the eponymous founder of the Ja'fari school of Isla ...

known as Jabir al-Ju'fi reported: A shrine known as Tomb of Daniel in Susa,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, is considered by Shia Muslims to be his sacred resting place and is visited by pilgrims. Daniel Barry Kent

Bibliography

* Emil G. Hirsch and M. Seligsohn (1906)
Daniel
'' Jewish Encyclopedia''; citing: **Tabari, ''Chronigue'' (French transl. by Zotenberg), i. 44, 496, 503, 571, ii. 283; **Mas'udi, ''Les Prairies d'Or'' (ed. B. de Meynard), ii. 128; ** Barthélemy d'Herbelot, ''Bibliothèque Orientale'', s.v. *'Balkhi, ''al-Badwa wa'l-Tarikh'', ii, 156 f./144; 165/150 sq.; iii, 114 f./ 118 f. and c.f. index *Thalabi, Ara'is al-Madjalis'', 198 - 202

References

{{Muslim saints Hebrew Bible people in Islam

Background

Daniel in Muslim literature

In Shia Islam

See also

Bibliography

References