Ezekiel (possible)

ذُو الْكِفْلِ

The Man of Responsibility — The Patient One

📍 Region

Near East (possibly Syria/Iraq)

⏳ Period

Between Musa and Dawud

📖 Mentions

2× in the Quran

✦ Summary

Dhul-Kifl is briefly mentioned in the Quran among the patient and virtuous prophets. His precise identity is debated: some scholars identify him with Ezekiel, others with Elisha, or with an otherwise unknown prophet. His title means "the one who took on a responsibility" or "the one doubled in reward," indicating a promise kept to Allah.

patiencepromisejusticeresponsibilityQuran

Chapter 1 — The Promise and the Responsibility

Islamic traditions report that Dhul-Kifl received his name after making a solemn commitment before Allah: to pray a hundred rak'ahs a day, to fast permanently, and to judge with absolute justice, never giving in to anger. He kept this promise his entire life. One tradition tells how Iblis repeatedly tried to make him break his commitment by coming to complain to him in the form of an old man at the time of his afternoon nap — Dhul-Kifl, deprived of sleep, still kept his promise never to judge in anger. Allah rewarded him by mentioning him among the best of servants.

📖 Quranic verse

﴾ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِدْرِيسَ وَذَا الْكِفْلِ ۖ كُلٌّ مِّنَ الصَّابِرِينَ ﴿

Wa Ismā'īla wa Idrīsa wa Dhā l-Kifli kullun mina ṣ-ṣābirīn

🇫🇷 Et Ismaïl, Idris et Dhul-Kifl — tous étaient du nombre des patients

🇬🇧 And Ishmael, Idris and Dhul-Kifl — all of them were of the patient

Al-Anbiya 21:85

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💡 Lessons

🌱Keeping a promise made to Allah is in itself a prophetic act worthy of eternal remembrance.

🔥Patience is not passivity — it is active faithfulness to one's commitments despite trials.

💎Even prophets little mentioned in the Quran testify that every virtuous soul matters before Allah.

📜 Sources

Quran · Tafsir Ibn Kathir · Qisas Al-Anbiya · Al-Bidaya wal-Nihaya · Sahih Al-Bukhari · Sahih Muslim

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