Although the Bible mentions the points of the compass north, south, east and west, the Bible never uses such terms as northwest, northeast, southwest or southeast. Therefore when Daniel speaks of the king (or ruler, or conqueror) from the north and the king from the south, the direction to which he refers could be northeast or northwest from Jerusalem (the place from which all such directions emanate), or southwest or southeast from Jerusalem. Hence, the king from the north could mean Rome, i.e., Roman Catholicism, or Moscow, the hotbed of atheism. Likewise, the king of the south could be Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, or several other countries – ALL OF WHICH ARE ISLAMIC nations. When I say the focal point from which these directions are given is Jerusalem, it is because all the prophets that give such directions use Jerusalem as their point of reference even though they might be captives in Babylon when speaking of Israel’s enemies. Therefore, when Jeremiah or Ezekiel while captives in Babylon mention the enemy from the north, they do not mean north of Babylon, they mean north of Jerusalem! “Thus says the Lord God, ‘This is Jerusalem. I have set it in the midst (or center, the focal point) of the nations and countries that are round about her” (Ezekiel 5:5). And this verse does not merely mean nations that actually border Israel, but any nation north, south, east or west of Israel. And, like I mentioned, the Bible knows nothing about such precise directions as northwest, northeast, etc.
Personally, I believe the king of the north in Daniel 11 refers to Roman Catholicism and the king of the South refers to Islam. I have written before in other articles how I believe both Roman Catholicism and Islam are mentioned and spoken of in the Book of Revelation.
Roman Catholicism predates Islam by many centuries. Roman Catholicism learned to adapt and survive long before Mohammad arrived on the scene. Rome also learned long ago how to embrace various aspects of other religions, even rank pagan religions, in order to bolster her number of adherents as well as to survive. In the Middle Ages Rome was also more than willing to slaughter tens of thousands in order to assure her survival when threatened by Protestantism.
I have also pointed out in other articles how the bitter enemies Pilate and Herod “were made friends together” at the time of Jesus Christ’s arrest and crucifixion. (See Luke 23:12). Roman Catholicism and Islam are bitter enemies and have been so for centuries. This generation will probably be long gone before these two antagonistic religions join forces and form an unholy alliance, but happen it will in order to fulfill Daniel’s prophecies and the prophecies of John the apostle in the Book of Revelation.
I hope this helps in your study of the Book of Daniel.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley