Rewrite the entire text below in detail, but do it in bullet points. Mention everything, even Quran verses and Hadithes. Also add some more good arguments to counter Hijab's attempt to refute the mistake based on the context:

''Hijabs' claim that this verse is only metaphorical or metaphysical and not literal is the most common defense tactic used by Muslim apologists trying to defend this ridiculous and insane verse. Hijab doesn’t even mention Dhul-Qarnayn, but merely describes him as a character in the Quran Verse. Therefore he complete doges another big problem in the Quran, namely Dhul-Qarnayn, who is suppose to be Alexander the Great according to middle eastern legends, being describes as a devout Muslim, when in reality he was a pagan.


But lets start from the beginning.
The verses 18:86 and 18:90 in Surah al-Kahf of the Qur’an have generated considerable controversy. These verses are part of a larger episode, verses 18:83-101, which narrate the story of Dhu’l Qarnayn, or “Possessor of the two horns”. The passage states that Allah granted Dhu’l Qarnayn power over all things and he used this power to embark on three journeys to strange lands inhabited by different peoples, culminating in a prophecy about the end of times. The controversy surrounding verses 86 and 90 arises from the perception of Muslims that they imply that Allah asserts the sun sets and rises in physical locations and specifically that the sun sets in a muddy spring. While several people have written about these verses, few have addressed the issue in great detail, and therefore, there is a need for more research.

This article aims to present the different interpretations of these verses, along with the evidence supporting them. It also offers new arguments to provide further insight into the matter. The paper will then critically examine each interpretation before reaching its conclusion.

The Surah al-Kahf 83-101 provides a detailed account of Dhu’l Qarnayn’s journey. He was granted power by Allah, who gave him the means to control everything on earth. During his travels, he visited unusual places inhabited by various people. At the end of his journeys, he predicted what would happen in the end-times. Verses 86 and 90 are part of this narration. In verse 86, Dhu’l Qarnayn reaches the place where the sun sets and discovers that it sets in a spring of murky water. In verse 90, he arrives at the place where the sun rises and finds that there is no covering for the people there against the sun. He leaves them as they are, knowing that Allah will take care of them.

This paper will examine each interpretation of verses 86 and 90 and provide arguments in support of each. It will also scrutinize these interpretations critically to arrive at a conclusion.
The Qur’an uses two words to refer to the east and west, al mashriq (east) and al maghrib (west). Al mashriq is derived from the verb ashraqa, which means to rise or shine. It refers to the place or time where the sun rises or shines and is used to mean the east in many verses of the Qur’an. On the other hand, al maghrib means the west or western and is usually translated as such in the Qur’an. Gharb and sharq are adjectival forms of maghrib and mashriq respectively, meaning western or of the west, and eastern or of the east respectively.

In verse 18:86, alshshamsi (of the sun) is added to maghriba to mean the place of sunset. Lane's Lexicon of classical Arabic, an authoritative source, states that maghrib originally signified the place or point of sunset, which is the meaning when alshshamsi is added. However, this is not used in other instances of maghrib in the Qur'an, and alshshams is not even used with maghrib when it means the west anywhere in the hadith. Similarly, in verse 18:90, matliAAa alshshamsi means the place of the sunrise. However, matliAA, with or without alshshams, is not used to mean east anywhere else in the Qur’an nor in the hadith.

If verse 18:90 was about the east, then al mashriq or al sharq would likely have been used instead of matliAAa alshshamsi. Every verse in the Qur’an that uses maghrib to mean west also uses mashriq to mean east. The verse would probably also replace tatluAAu with tashruqu for aesthetic reasons if it were about the east. The Lexicon gives no indication that matliAA, with or without alshshamsi, or related words like talaAAa, can be used in an idiom meaning the east.

The phrase matliAAi alshshamsi is used in Sahih Muslim to mean “of sunrise,” literally meaning the direction of the rising-place of the sun. In the very next hadith, the phrase is translated as qibala almashriqi, meaning the direction of the east. 

Commentators of the Quran have used knowledge that was not known during the 7th century Arab era. Although there were classical commentators who believed that Dhu'l Qarnayn reached the east and west, there were commentators such as al-Qurtubi and al-Razi who denied this interpretation, based on their knowledge of the world. Their reasoning was not based on linguistic or contextual analysis, but rather on their understanding that the interpretation was impossible. For example, they claimed that the sun was too large to touch or that the concept of the sun setting on people was not realistic. These commentators, however, were not likely to have been known to Muhammad and the earliest Muslim community. This knowledge came to the Arabs after the translation of Ptolemy's Almagest into Arabic in the 8th century CE.

As the worldview of educated Muslims incorporated principles of astrology, including the geocentric, spherical, Aristotelian-Ptolemaic world picture, the meaning of the Quran's tales came to be interpreted in later Islamic tradition not according to the biblical-quranic cosmology, which became obsolete, but according to the Ptolemaic model. This is the interpretation that the Quran is understood to follow today.

Before Islam, the Arabs had a simple yet developed astronomical folklore of a practical nature. They had knowledge of the risings and settings of stars, associated with the cosmical setting of groups of stars and simultaneous heliacal risings of others, which marked the beginning of periods called naw’. Ptolemy's Almagest was translated at least five times in the late eighth and ninth centuries, which introduced Greek planetary models, uranometry, and mathematical methods to the Muslims.

It was common in the early Islamic era for people to believe that the world was flat, and that the sun had literal rising and setting places. Therefore, the commentators were forced by their beliefs to deny the interpretation that Dhu'l Qarnayn reached the east and west, despite its apparent meaning. Their interpretations cannot be taken as evidence that the Quran follows the Ptolemaic model.

The interpretation of the Quranic story of Dhu’l Qarnayn, which involves his journey to the West and East, and the finding of the setting and rising places of the sun, has been controversial. There are several contextual issues in this story. For instance, verse 18:84 states that Allah gave Dhu’l Qarnayn “of everything a means”, but it doesn’t explain the physical locations of the peoples he visited that made it a remarkable achievement. The beginning of verses 18:86 and 18:90 suggest that the intention of Dhu’l Qarnayn was related to the sun, but the purpose of each journey seems to be to find people. Moreover, the wording in verses 18:92-93 and the description of the location that Dhu’l Qarnayn reached suggests a significant problem. The same introductory phrase used to indicate reaching a location is used for reaching a time or an unstated location at a time in the first two instances, but explicitly a location in the third instance. Additionally, different wording is used elsewhere when the time of sunset is meant. The verses could have followed this pattern if they were meant to express the time of sunset and sunrise. The second way the time of sunrise is referred to in the Quran is by using the verb ashraqa, “to (sun)rise” in the form of an active participle or verbal noun. This story is not unique, and similar phrases are used in many places in hadith.

The author discusses the various meanings of balagha and its use in the Qur'an. In verse 68:39, balagha is used to describe the duration of a covenant that is valid until the Day of Judgment. Although it may be used to describe a period of time, it does not refer to an external event that someone other than the one described can also reach. Similarly, in verses 2:231-232, 2:234-235, 6:128, 7:135, 40:67 and 65:2, balagha is used to refer to a term or period of duration. In these cases, the attribute of the person or people described is the quantity of time that has passed since the period began and the point they reach is the term or its end. Balagha refers to a time that is distinguished because something is intended for that time. Therefore, the time interpretation of balagha in 18:86 and 18:90 would suffer from a contextual problem if it were to refer to an external event, like the time of sunset. Finally, the author argues that the alternative interpretation of balagha as "it reached" would not be supported by the common usage of the term in the Qur'an.
This text discusses the interpretation of a verse in the Quran that speaks about the location where the sun sets and rises. The interpretation suggests that it refers to a place that has been reached by the speaker, and this interpretation is supported by several arguments.

The first argument is based on similar word usage in the Quran. Al maghrib and al matliAA can be used as an ism makan, which is a noun referring to the place of the action of the verb from whose root it is derived. The Muslim translators M. Khan / M. al-Hilali, M. Ali, M. Pickthall, M.S. Ali, and M.H. Shakir translate maghriba alshshamsi and matliAAa alshshamsi as “the setting place of the sun” and “the rising place of the sun”, respectively. In the only other verses in the Quran that refer to the place of sunset, maghrib is used, while matliAA is not used elsewhere in the Quran to mean the place of sunrise.

The second argument is based on hadith that concern the behavior of the sun. The words used in 18:86 and 18:90 are also used in hadith that refer to the setting or rising place of the sun, using maghrib or matliAA followed by the suffix –ha or –ki in reference to alshshamsu. For example, Sahih Muslim 1:294 states that “the sun rises from the place of its setting”. Sahih Muslim 1:297 commands the sun to “rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting”. Maghribiha and maghribiki can only mean the sun’s setting-place. Similarly, matliAAa alshshamsi means the rising-place of the sun in Sahih Muslim Book 1, Number 91 and in Sunan Al-Nasa-I.

In conclusion, the interpretation that the verse in the Quran refers to a place reached by the speaker is supported by similar word usage in the Quran and by hadith that concern the behavior of the sun.

The text discusses the interpretation of a Quranic verse about the location of the sun's rising and setting. The interpretation suggests that the verse refers to a place that has been reached by the speaker, and this interpretation is supported by several arguments.

The first argument is based on similar word usage in the Quran. Al-maghrib and al-matliAA can be used as ism makan, a noun referring to the place of the action of the verb from whose root it is derived. Several Muslim translators, including M. Khan/M. al-Hilali, M. Ali, M. Pickthall, M.S. Ali, and M.H. Shakir, translate maghriba alshshamsi and matliAAa alshshamsi as "the setting place of the sun" and "the rising place of the sun," respectively. In the only other verses in the Quran that refer to the place of the sunset, maghrib is used, while matliAA is not used elsewhere in the Quran to mean the place of sunrise.

The second argument is based on hadith that concern the behavior of the sun. The words used in 18:86 and 18:90 are also used in hadith that refer to the setting or rising place of the sun, using maghrib or matliAA followed by the suffix –ha or –ki in reference to alshshamsu. For example, Sahih Muslim 1:294 states that "the sun rises from the place of its setting." Sahih Muslim 1:297 commands the sun to "rise up and emerge out from the place of your setting, and it will rise from the place of its setting." Maghribiha and maghribiki can only mean the sun’s setting-place. Similarly, matliAAa alshshamsi means the rising-place of the sun in Sahih Muslim Book 1, Number 91, and in Sunan Al-Nasa-I.

The text then discusses compatibility with contemporary beliefs. The article mentions how Christian theologians in the region of Syria in the sixth century CE shared the view that the Earth was flat and the sky or heaven was like a tent above the Earth, based on their reading of the Hebrew scriptures. This was a rival view to that of the churchmen of Alexandria who supported the Ptolemaic view of a spherical Earth surrounded by celestial spheres. The text argues that Muhammad's interpretation of the Quranic verse would have been influenced by the contemporary beliefs of early Muslims.

The text then provides an example of a hadith graded Sahih by Dar-us-Salam and with a chain of narration graded as Sahih by al-Albani. It is from Sunan Abu Dawud, book XXV - Kitab Al-Ahruf Wa Al-Qira’at (Book of Dialects and Readings Of The Qur’an). The hadith mentions a conversation between Abu Dharr and the Prophet Muhammad about the location of the sunset. Even if one doubts that this is an authentic report about Muhammad, it is certainly further evidence that early Muslims understood 18:86 to mean a literal setting place. The possibility that Muhammad ever claimed a different interpretation thus further diminishes.

The text also mentions numerous Sahih hadith that state that the sun rises and sets between the horns of Satan, and how the hadith supports the belief of early Muslims that the Quranic verse refers to a literal location of the sun's rising and setting.''