Stories of the Prophets,
stories of the Prophets,
peace be upon them.
May Allah's blessings
followed by
peace
be upon the best of all creation,
all of them.
Those of firm resolve,
their status
is exalted.
The story of Sulayman (Solomon),
peace be upon him.
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds,
and may peace and blessings
be upon our Prophet Muhammad,
and upon his family and Companions,
all of them.
To proceed:
The Prophet of Allah, Sulayman,
peace be upon him,
was deeply devoted to striving
in the path of Allah
and spreading monotheism throughout the earth.
We have already covered his calling
of Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba,
until she embraced Islam.
We also covered
his inspection of the noble, swift
horses,
prepared for striving in Allah's cause.
But when they distracted him from the prayer
and the remembrance of his Lord until the sun had set
beneath the horizon,
he slaughtered them, offering them
as food for the needy.
Then Sulayman,
peace be upon him, said,
"Tonight I will surely go round to
a hundred of my wives,
each of whom will bear a knight
who will fight in the path of Allah."
But he did not say,
peace be upon him, "if Allah wills,"
out of mere forgetfulness.
This does not mean that he
had failed to entrust the matter to Allah
in his heart; rather, he simply forgot
to utter "if Allah wills"
with his tongue.
This incident was a trial
for Sulayman, peace be upon him,
from Allah Almighty, and a test.
After he had gone round to them,
none of them became pregnant
except for one woman,
and she gave birth to only a half-formed child.
So the midwives brought
it to him
as he sat upon his throne,
and they placed it before
him so that he might see it.
Our Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, swore
that had the Prophet of Allah,
Sulayman, peace be upon him,
made the exception in his speech
and said, "If Allah
wills," Allah would have blessed him
with those one hundred knights,
just as he had intended,
and they all would have fought in the path of
Allah. Sulayman, peace be upon him, realized
his mistake,
and knew that his oversight
in mentioning Allah and deferring
all will to Him
was the reason he was not granted
the sons who would fight in
the path of Allah. So he turned
in repentance to Allah,
prostrating humbly before Him,
imploring his Lord to bestow
forgiveness upon him,
and to grant him a kingdom
such as would not belong to anyone after him,
which he would use as an aid
to establish the religion throughout the earth.
So Allah answered
his supplication,
and granted him in place of the horses
the wind, both gentle and stormy,
carrying him and those
with him wherever he willed.
And He granted him in place of
the knights
the subjugation of the jinn
and the devils,
who carried out whatever works he desired.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"Indeed,
you will never leave anything
out of fear of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious,
except that Allah will give you
something better than it."
Al-Hasan al-Basri,
may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"When Sulayman slaughtered the horses
out of wrath for the sake of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious,
Allah compensated him
with something better and faster:
the wind,
whose morning journey was a month's travel,
and whose afternoon journey was a month's travel."
That is, its journey in the first half of
the day covered the distance of an entire month
by the ordinary pace
of people,
and its journey in the latter half of the day
was likewise a month's travel.
Thus, in a single day,
it covered the distance of
two months' journey.
It was also reported that Sulayman,
peace be upon him, had a wooden platform
upon which was placed
everything he required
for the affairs of the kingdom:
horses, camels, tents,
and soldiers.
Then he would command the wind to bear it,
so it would sweep beneath it,
carry it,
lift it up, and travel with it.
It blew softly
and gently whenever he willed,
or became a raging,
swift, and forceful gale
whenever he willed,
while the birds shaded him from the heat
to wherever he willed
across the earth.
Allah Almighty said:
"And We certainly tried
Sulayman and placed
upon his throne a body;
then he turned in repentance.
He said, 'My Lord,
“He said: My Lord! Forgive me and bestow on me sovereignty such as shall not belong to any after me. Lo! Thou art the Bestower.” (38:35)
a kingdom that will not belong
to anyone
after me.
Indeed, You are
the Bestower.'
So We subjected to him
the wind blowing
by his command, gently,
wherever he directed,
and the devils:
every builder
and diver,
and others bound
in fetters.
'This is Our gift,
so bestow
or withhold
without account.'
And indeed, for him
in Our presence
is a near access and a good
place of return."
And Allah subjected the jinn
and the devils to serve Sulayman,
peace be upon him,
as laborers doing whatever he
wished, never slacking
nor defying his obedience.
They made for him
whatever he willed of sanctuaries—
which are fine places for worship
and dignified assembly halls—
and they made for him
sculptures,
meaning carved images upon the walls,
which was permissible
in their religious law and creed.
They also made for him
basins like reservoirs,
which were massive troughs
in which water was gathered
so that animals,
birds, and others
could drink from them,
as well as firmly anchored cooking pots,
which were enormous cauldrons
wherein food was prepared,
so huge that they remained stationary,
never moved from
their proper places.
And among the jinn and devils,
there were those whom Solomon (peace be upon him) subjugated
for construction work,
so they built whatever he wished for him
of houses and palaces.
And among them were those whom he commanded to dive
into the seas,
extracting the jewels found there,
pearls,
and other precious things that cannot be found
anywhere else.
And the matter was left to Solomon
(peace be upon him),
to grant favor to whomever of them he wished
by releasing them,
or to withhold whomever he wished.
And whoever among them disobeyed his command,
Solomon would punish them
in this world by shackling them
in chains
and exiling them to remote islands and seas;
while in the Hereafter,
Allah will make them taste the torment
of the Blaze.
And just as Allah made iron pliable
for David (peace be upon him),
fashioning from it whatever he wished,
Allah likewise caused to flow
for Solomon (peace be upon him)
the spring of molten copper,
which is melted brass.
It was made to flow for him over the distance of a three days'
journey,
just as a spring of water flows,
and it was in the land of Yemen.
It was narrated that copper
had never melted for anyone before him,
and indeed, people today
only benefit from it
through what Allah Almighty brought forth
for Solomon (peace be upon him).
Qatadah said:
"Allah caused a spring to flow for him
which he could use for whatever
he wished, as a sign
of his prophethood."
Allah Almighty said:
"And to Solomon [We subjected]
the wind—its morning stride was a month's journey,
and its evening stride was a month's journey.
And We caused to flow for him
a spring of molten copper.
And of the jinn
were those who worked before
him by the permission of his Lord.
And whoever of them
deviated from Our command,
We will make him taste of the punishment
of the Blaze.
They made for him
whatever he wished
of sanctuaries,
statues,
basins
like reservoirs,
and stationary cooking pots.
'Work, O family of David,
in gratitude!'
And few
of My servants are grateful."
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah
(may Allah be pleased with him),
from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
who said:
"An 'ifrit of the jinn
suddenly escaped and came at me last night
to interrupt my prayer,
but Allah gave me power over him.
So I seized him and wanted
to tie him to one of the pillars
of the mosque
so that in the morning all of you
could look at him,
and so that the children
of the people of Medina could play with him.
But then I remembered the supplication of my brother Solomon:
'My Lord, grant me
a kingdom such as shall not belong
to anyone after me.'
So I sent him away disgraced."
Allah,
the Exalted and Majestic, in His profound wisdom, willed
to test the people,
so He sent down to the land of Babylon,
in Iraq,
two angels:
Harut and Marut,
who taught magic to the people.
And no one
would come to them wishing
to learn the knowledge of magic from them
except that they advised him, saying:
"We are only
a trial, so do not disbelieve
by learning magic from us."
So some would turn back,
while others would learn
magic from them,
and thus magic spread among
the people.
The devils were also
teaching magic to the people.
So when Solomon
(peace be upon him) came
and Allah subjected to him the jinn
and the devils, he began
to fight against magic and sorcerers.
He would seize whatever
they possessed of occult knowledge, books,
spells, and talismans,
and bury them under his throne,
where the devils
dared not approach.
Then, when he passed
away (peace be upon him),
the devils dug up what was beneath
his throne
and falsely claimed against him
that he only controlled the jinn
and devils by means of this
magic; so they accused him
of disbelief—refuge is sought with Allah.
And the Jews continued
to consider him a disbeliever,
until Allah Almighty exonerated him
in the Noble Qur'an.
Allah Almighty said:
"And they followed
what the devils recited
during the reign of Solomon.
And Solomon did not
disbelieve, but
the devils
disbelieved,
teaching the people
magic
and teaching the people
magic and that which
was revealed to the two angels
in Babylon, Harut
and Marut.
But the two angels did not teach anyone unless they said,
“And follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind magic and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut. Nor did they (the two angels) teach it to anyone till they had said: We are only a temptation, therefore disbelieve not (in the guidance of Allah). And from these two (angles) people learn that by which they cause division between man and wife; but they injure thereby no-one save by Allah's leave. And they learn that which harmeth them and profiteth them not. And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew.” (2:102)
'We are only
a trial,
so do not disbelieve.'
And from them people learn
that by which they cause separation
between a man and his wife.
But they do not
harm
by it
anyone
except by the permission of Allah.
And the people learn
what harms them
and does not benefit them.
And certainly,
they knew that whoever purchased it
would have in the Hereafter
no share of good.
And wretched is that for which they sold
themselves,
if they only
knew."
Solomon
(peace be upon him)
was keen to attend the judicial assemblies
of his father David (peace be upon him),
to witness his judging
among the people.
He would sometimes suggest
to his father that
had he been the judge in that
case, he would have ruled differently
from how David had ruled.
The Noble Qur'an mentioned
the case of the cultivated field
in this regard, when sheep pastured
in it at night;
and its summary is
that two men entered
upon David (peace be upon him):
one of them was the owner
of the crops, and the other
was the owner of the sheep.
The owner of the crops said:
"O Prophet of Allah,
"This man's sheep wandered
into my crops by night,
leaving nothing behind."
So Dawud (peace be upon him) ruled
in favor of the crop owner,
awarding him his opponent's sheep in compensation
for destroying his harvest.
But as the two litigants were leaving,
they met Sulayman
(peace be upon him),
and informed him of his father's verdict.
He remarked,
"Had I been the judge,
I would have ruled differently."
Word of this reached Dawud
(peace be upon him),
so he summoned him and asked,
"How would you have judged?"
He replied,
"I saw a verdict far more beneficial to both parties:
hand over the sheep
to the crop owner
so he may benefit from them,
and hand over the damaged land to the owner of the sheep
to cultivate and care for it
until it is restored to its original state.
Then, each party
shall return to the other
what was placed under his care;
the crop owner will reclaim
his land, and the shepherd
his sheep."
Dawud (peace be upon him) was deeply impressed by this,
and adopted it as his judgment.
Allah Almighty said:
﴿And [mention] Dawud and Sulayman,
when they gave judgment
concerning the field, when the sheep
of the people pastured therein
by night,
and We were
to their judgment
witness.
And We made Sulayman
to understand it,
and to each of them
We gave judgment
and knowledge.
And We subjected along with
Dawud the mountains,
praising [Allah], and the birds;
and We were
the doers [thereof].
And We taught him
the making of coats of armor
for you to protect you
from your battle;
so are
you grateful?
And to Sulayman
[We subjected] the wind,
blowing forcefully,
proceeding by his command
toward the land which We had blessed;
therein,
and We were,
of all things,
Knowing.
And of the devils
were those who dived for him
and did work
other than that;
and We were
of them guardians.﴾
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
also narrated to us
another striking example
of judicial discernment.
Al-Bukhari
and Muslim both recorded in their Sahihs
from a hadith of Abu Hurayrah
(may Allah be pleased with him),
that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
say:
"There were two women,
each having her infant son with her.
A wolf came
and snatched away the child of one of them.
So one said to her companion,
'It was only your son that it took!'
While the other said,
'No, it was only your son that it took!'
They brought their dispute
before Dawud,
and he awarded the surviving child to the elder woman.
They then went out to
Sulayman ibn Dawud and informed him of the ruling.
He said,
'Bring me a knife,
that I may split him between the two of them!'
At that, the younger woman cried out,
'Do not do so,
may Allah have mercy on you!
He is her son!'
So he awarded the child to the younger woman."
Before the passing of Sulayman
(peace be upon him),
he undertook the reconstruction
of Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem),
which the Prophet of Allah Ya'qub
(peace be upon him) had built
centuries prior.
He used to enter it
to seclude himself in worship and prayer,
remaining inside for a month, two months,
a year, or two years,
or sometimes less
or more,
taking in with him his food
and drink.
Then, one day, he (peace be upon him)
entered the sanctuary,
and stood in prayer, leaning
upon his staff.
He passed away in that state,
yet the jinn remained unaware
of his death.
They continued to perform
the arduous labor
they had performed throughout his life,
gazing upon him
and assuming he was still alive.
They did not suspect anything amiss regarding his prolonged stay
without coming out to the people,
because of his accustomed lengthy prayers in the past.
Thus, after his death,
they continued working before him
for an entire year,
gripped by absolute dread
and awe of him,
until a termite ate through his staff—
the wooden rod
upon which he leaned—
and his body collapsed to the ground.
Only then did it become clear,
and the people realized with certainty,
that the jinn had been lying
to them in claiming
to possess knowledge of the unseen.
For had they truly known the unseen,
they would have recognized the death
of Sulayman (peace be upon him)
and not languished in humiliating
torment throughout all that
time.
Allah Almighty said:
﴿And when We decreed
for him death, nothing
indicated to them his death
except a creature of the earth
nothing indicated to them
his death
except a creature
of the earth eating
his staff.
But when he fell,
it became clear to the jinn
that if they had
known the unseen,
“And when We decreed death for him, nothing showed his death to them save a creeping creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. And when he fell the jinn saw clearly how, if they had known the Unseen, they would not have continued in despised toil.” (34:14)
humiliating [torment].﴾
Noble brothers,
the Prophet of Allah
Sulayman (peace be upon him) is mentioned
in the Holy Qur'an
seventeen times,
and his story offers us numerous
lessons and moral insights.
Foremost among them
was his exceptional governance
of his realm.
He inherited from Dawud (peace be upon him)
a faith-based stewardship,
a formidable state,
and a unified kingdom;
he preserved it,
fortified it,
expanded its borders,
annexed new lands to it,
and established the law of Allah within it.
He brought prosperity to the people
and guided them
along the path of Allah's pleasure.
Under his reign, the kingdom of the Children of Israel
reached
its absolute zenith, pinnacle, and golden age.
But after his death,
the kingdom began to unravel,
and the people strayed
away from Allah's pleasure,
they pursued the path of disobedience to Him,
and their affair ultimately ended
with the demise of this state.
Inspecting the subjects and the troops
is among the duties
of those in authority,
as is punishing the violators
among them without showing leniency
in that regard,
while also allowing the absent person an excuse
and exercising deliberation
before passing judgment upon him,
just as Solomon (peace be upon him) did
with the hoopoe.
Solomon's steadfastness (peace be upon him)
upon the true principle:
for when there came to him
the messenger of the Queen of Sheba bearing gifts,
he said to him:
"Do you provide me with wealth?
Yet what Allah has granted me
is far better!"
Thus, this response makes clear to us
his firmness upon his creed
and his principle,
his disregard for worldly allurements,
the immense strength that he
possessed,
and his intensifying protective jealousy
for the religion of Allah,
which they sought to barter
for a fleeting worldly gain.
For he was not among those kings
who are seduced by gifts,
nor deterred
from pursuing noble heights by praise
or flattery.
If the power of created beings
can reach the extent of bringing
the throne of the Queen of Sheba from Yemen
to the Holy Land
in the blink of an eye
through the power of the Creator, Mighty and Majestic,
then the subjugation of the jinn
and the devils
shall not be granted to any human
after Solomon (peace be upon him).
Whoever claims to possess that
is either
a liar in his claim,
or he is exchanging
mutual benefits with them
after having disbelieved
in Allah the Exalted,
practicing sorcery
with the devils aiding him in that.
Solomon (peace be upon him) gave precedence
in his supplication to seeking
forgiveness over seeking kingship,
in order to indicate
that it was of paramount importance to him,
and to demonstrate
that seeking forgiveness
is a cause for opening the doors
of good fortune in this world.
Solomon (peace be upon him) sought
worldly dominion and kingship—
despite their insignificance
compared to the Hereafter
and its eternal bliss—
only because he intended thereby
to serve the religion of Allah the Exalted,
raise His Word high
in the earth,
be empowered to render rights
unto their rightful owners,
spread justice among the people,
grant redress to the wronged,
aid the needy,
and implement the law of Allah
in the most complete manner.
The jinn possess no knowledge
of the unseen;
for after Solomon (peace be upon him) passed away
while standing leaning upon his staff,
they did not know—
that is, the jinn did not realize his death—
until after
a creature of the earth ate away his staff
and he fell to the ground.
This discourse shall be continued,
if Allah wills.
And Allah knows best.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds,
and may Allah send blessings and peace
upon our Prophet Muhammad,
and upon his family and companions,
all together.
Stories of the Prophets.