Prophet Daniel (Daniyal) AS is not mentioned by name in the Holy Quran, but his story is well-documented in Islamic traditions and historical accounts (narrated by Ibn Kathir, Ibn Abi Al-Dunya, and others). He lived during the time of the Israelites' captivity in Babylon. After Nebuchadnezzar (Bukhtanasar) destroyed Jerusalem, he took many intelligent and noble children of Israel as captives to Babylon (modern-day Iraq); among them was Daniel.
Ibn Abi Al-Dunya narrated the following famous incident. The king, Nebuchadnezzar, captured two fierce lions and threw them into a pit. He then brought Daniel and threw him into the pit with them to be devoured. However, the lions did not pounce on him; rather, they became tame and remained calm as Allah wished.
Daniel remained in the pit for some time. When he desired food and drink, Allah revealed to Prophet Jeremiah (Aramaya), who was in Sham (Palestine/Syria): “Prepare food and drink for Daniel.” Jeremiah said: “O Lord, I am in Jerusalem while Daniel is in Babylon (Iraq). How shall I reach him?” Allah revealed to him: “Do what I have commanded you to do, and I shall send you one who will carry you and what you have prepared.”
Jeremiah prepared the food, and Allah sent something (an angel or a miraculous transport) that carried him until he arrived at the brink of the pit in Babylon. Daniel looked up and asked: “Who is this?” He answered: “I am Jeremiah.” Daniel asked: “What brought you?” He answered: “Your Lord sent me to you.” Daniel said: “And so my Lord has remembered me?” He said: “Yes.”
Centuries later, during the Caliphate of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the Muslims were expanding their territories. Yunus Ibn Bakeer reported that Abul Aa’lia said: “When Tastar (Shushtar in Persia) was invaded, we found in the treasure house of the governor, Al-Harmazan, a bed on which lay a dead man. At his bedside was a holy script.”
The Muslims took the scripture to Umar Ibn Al Khattab. He called Ka’b al-Ahbar (a learned scholar of the Torah who converted to Islam), and he translated it into Arabic. Abul Aa’lia said: “I was the first Arab to read it. I read it as I read the Qur’an.” When asked what was in it, he replied: “Life history, annals, songs, speech, and prophecies of what is to come.”
The discovery of the body caused a stir. Abul Aa’lia was asked: “And what did you do with the man?” He said: “We dug thirteen separate graves on the river bank. At nightfall, we buried him in one of them and leveled all the graves to mislead the people so they would not tamper with him.”
When asked why the people kept the body exposed, he explained: “When the sky was cloudless for them, they went out with his bed, and it rained.” The people believed the body brought blessings and rain. When asked who they thought the man was, he replied: “A man called Daniel.” When asked how long he had been dead, he said: “Three hundred years.” Amazingly, nothing on his body had changed except a few hairs on the back of his head; for the earth does not consume the bodies of the Prophets.
Ibn Abu Dunya reported that Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari (the general who conquered Tastar) wrote to Umar describing the discovery. Umar replied: “Send the scripture to us, send some of the ointment found with him, tell the Muslims who are with you to use it, share the dirhams among them, and leave the ring for you.”
Umar ordered a secret burial to prevent the people from worshipping the grave or treating it as an idol. It is related that Abu Musa told four of the captives to dam the river and dig a grave in the middle of the riverbed. He buried Daniel there, and then let the river flow over it again. The captives were then executed (or sworn to secrecy in other narrations) so that no one except Abu Musa knew the exact location of the grave.
Ibn Abu Dunya reported that a unique ring was seen on the hand of Ibn Abu Barda Ibn Abu Musa. The gem of the ring was carved with an image of two lions with a man between them, whom the lions were licking affectionately. Abu Barda explained the history of this ring:
The chain of citation regarding the body found in Tastar is considered good. However, there is a historical debate regarding the timeline. If the body found had been dead for only 300 years before the time of Umar, he would not be a prophet, as there is no prophet between Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad (pbuh). However, it is more likely that the body had been preserved for much longer (perhaps 800+ years), placing him correctly in the timeline of the Babylonian captivity (around 600 BC), which aligns with the Biblical accounts of Daniel. Based on the preservation of his body (a characteristic of Prophets) and the miracles associated with him, the majority of scholars consider him to be the Prophet Daniel (Daniyal) AS.