Aristotle lived three hundred years before Jesus—peace be upon him. He served as a minister to Alexander, the son of Philip the Macedonian, and it is that Alexander whose era marks the chronology of the Romans and the Greeks; the Jews and the Christians likewise reckon their dates by him.

This Alexander is not the Dhu al-Qarnayn mentioned by Allah in His Book. Some people have imagined that Aristotle was Dhu al-Qarnayn’s vizier because they noticed that the latter is called Alexander and that this one is also sometimes called Alexander, so they presumed the two to be identical—an idea embraced by Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and a group with him.

The reality is otherwise: this idolatrous Alexander—whom Aristotle served—came long after that earlier figure. He did not build the barrier, nor did he reach the lands of Gog and Magog. The well-known Roman calendar is dated from the time of this Alexander whose retinue included Aristotle.

Among the various categories of polytheists—whether the idolaters of the Arabs, of India, of Greece, or others—there are those who exert themselves in the pursuit of knowledge, ascetic discipline, and worship. Yet if they do not follow the messengers, do not believe in what the messengers brought, do not confirm their reports, and do not obey their commands, then such people are neither believers nor friends of Allah. Instead, devils attach themselves to them and descend upon them, enabling them to disclose certain matters to the public and to perform extraordinary feats akin to sorcery. They belong to the same class as soothsayers and sorcerers upon whom the devils descend.

Allah the Exalted said: “Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend? They descend upon …”