Lives of the Prophets - Prophet Suleiman*
Life of Suleiman*
Suleiman's* Understanding of the Speech of
Birds and other animals
Allah says, "O ye people! We have been
taught the speech of birds." (AI Naml: 16) That is to say Suleiman*
managed to understand the language of birds and used to express to people
whatever they wished to convey. Ibn Kathir states: Suleiman* was able to
comprehend not just the language of birds, he could also understand the
language of other animals as well as different kinds of creatures. To prove
this, he next says, " 'And on us has been bestowed (a little) of all
things' " i.e. he was granted everything that a king would need namely,
soldiers, equipment, Jinns, people, birds, beasts, science, and expression
"And this is indeed Grace manifest (from Allah)" which means Allah's
Grace on us is evident and obvious.
Suleiman* heard the ant warning his colony
about the approaching army of Suleiman* and he understood its speech, and
smiled out of joy and happiness for being solely chosen by Allah to be let in
on this.
Some other gifts of Suleiman*
InshaAllah, we will detail these more in
coming sessions but Suleiman* also had command over the wind (that enabled
swift travel) and was blessed with a fountain of molten brass.
Masjid / Temple of Suleiman
A brief mention about the ‘Temple of Suleiman*’.
As Muslims we do not recognise this because any Prophet of Allah would not
build a ‘Temple’ but would rather be instructed to develop a Mosque / Masjid as
a place of prayer and remembrance. We already learned that Dawud* was praying
in his Mihrab. Bani Israel was using the ‘Farthest Masjid’ that our beloved
Prophet* referred to.
The Kaaba was built by Ibrahim* / Ismail* in
Mecca as the first House of worship and the second masjid / mosque was built by
Yaqub* (Jacob) 40 years later. It was upon these foundations that Dawud* would
pray and later Suleiman* would extend. This is where our Prophet* lead the
prayer of all the Prophets during his night journey.
The Wisdom of
Suleiman*
Suleiman* was
granted wisdom from Allah and would brought up in the special household of
Dawud* under his expert guidance. We already did some of the stories of his
wisdom during the ‘Courtroom Session’ where Dawud* would pass judgement on a
matter and he would be right in that judgement. However, Suleiman* would also
make a suggestion to the same case and come to a slightly different conclusion
and this would also be a correct interpretation of the Law but would be a
better solution which his father would accept.
One of the learning
points from this for us today is that not many laws in Islam are monolithic and
only interpretable in one fashion, but that there is always a flexibility in
how to interpret the Shariah on many issues and this necessarily leads to
Muslims being tolerant an able to accept other ways of doing things. The only
necessities are that the intention is correct and the method to derive the laws
/ interpretations are correct and not subject to whim – something Allah
mentioned to Dawud*.
There are many
examples in Islam and the life of our Prophet* about this – hence we should not
obsess about far apart feet are in prayer or the exact position of the hands,
etc.
Suleiman* considers
the evidence
"And remember Dawud*
and Suleiman*, when they give judgment in the matter of the field into which
the sheep of certain people had strayed by night: We did witness their
judgment. To Suleiman* We inspired the (right) understanding of the matter: to
each (of them) we gave Judgment and Knowledge."
It was recounted by
many narrators that those people had a vineyard, wherein the sheep of the other
people had spread, i.e. trespassed on by night and ate up all its plants.
They raised their
case to Dawud* and he awarded the owner of the field the sheep themselves in
compensation for his damage.
When they went out
and met Suleiman*, he asked them, "what did the Prophet of Allah
rule?" They answered, "He ruled so and so."
He said, "Had
it been up to me, I would have ordered the sheep to be handed to the owners of
the vineyard to benefit from its yield and profit until the owners of the sheep
have restored the vineyard of the other people to its previous condition, and
then they could have their sheep back."
When Dawud* was
informed of this, he approved it.
*Hence – both
judged with the facts and made correct decisions but one was closer to justice
than the other. It is important not just to have a Just Law (Shariah) but also
a Just Judge (with Iman) who applies the Law appropriately. Throughout the many
centuries of Islam and the Islamic State Muslims have grown up with the idea of
variations in application of the Shariah and this has led to tolerance of
different opinions as Islam is not a monolith and Shariah is more than simply
the Hudood. There is no territory today that applies Islam even though they may
claim to.
The child to be
chopped in half
Abu Huraira said,
that the Messenger of Allah* said, "Two women had their sons with them,
and suddenly a wolf passed by snatching one of the two boys.
Thus they fought
over the other.
The elder said,
'The wolf took your son', and the younger said, 'No, it took yours.'
They raised their
case to Dawud*, who ruled that he was the elder's.
They went out and
met Suleiman*, who said, 'Bring me a knife and I will cut him into two, for
each to take a half.
'The younger
thereupon said, 'Do not, may Allah have mercy on you, he is her son.
Thus, he ruled that
the child was hers. " [Bukhari, Muslim]
*Hence – the
element of surprise from Suleiman* allowed him to assess who really loved the
child and would rather give him up than have him killed.
The Story of Suleiman*
with the Horses
Allah says in Surah
Saad: "To Dawud* we gave Suleiman* (for a son)" and he was a Prophet
"how excellent in Our service! Ever did he tum when (to Us)!"
"Behold, there
were brought before him, at eventide, horses of the highest breeding, and swift
offoot; And he said, 'Truly do I love the love of Good, with a view to the glory
of my Lord '-until (the sun) was hidden in the veil (of Night):" (Saad:
32)
Some scholars say
that Suleiman* was so engrossed in the inspection of his fine horses that he
completely forgot to perform his Asr prayer before the sunset (not deliberately).
Upon missing the
'Asr prayer, he said, " 'Bring them back to me.' "Then he fell to
slashing (their) legs and their necks with his sword. Some scholars say that
there is no fault in the horses for Suleiman* to miss his prayer so he may not
have killed the horses but merely passed his hand over them and vowed never to
be distracted again.
Main Topic: The Hour
The Coming of the Hour Is Sudden
A moment will come when every living thing
will cease to exist. All forms of life will end. Allah says, “everything on it will perish.”
Everything on the face of the earth will die.
And Allah says: “They await only but a single
shout which will seize them while they are disputing.” It will come so suddenly
that while people are discussing and disputing, everything will stop. Now
there’s no time to advise your family or take care of unfinished business.
Allah says, “Then they will not be able to
make bequest, nor will they return to their family.”
It comes so suddenly that The Prophet* says
in the hadith, “The Hour will arrive when two men are discussing a deal. One
man will be selling a piece of cloth to the other, but the Hour will arrive and
they will not even have time to wrap up that piece of cloth or sell it. The
Hour will come when a man is going back home with fresh milk from his camel,
but he will not be able to taste it. And the Hour will arrive when one will
raise the food to his mouth, but he will not be able to put it in his mouth.”
As Soor
How will it happen? It will be blown with as-soor.
It is mentioned in the Qur’an in many
places. It is a trumpet or a horn. The Angel Israfeel is holding it.
The Prophet* said, “The eyes of the angel
are fixed on the throne of Allah, because he is afraid the command will come
and he will not have time to turn his sight. So he has fixed his eyes on the Throne,
waiting for the command to come. His eyes are like two bright stars.” When The
Prophet* saw this with his own eyes, he lost any appetite for this world. So he
said, “How can I enjoy myself? How can I have any entertainment in this world
when the angel has put the horn in his mouth and he has leaned his head
forwards, and he has opened up his ears, waiting for the moment when the
command will come, so he will blow in the horn?”
When will the Horn be Blown?
The Prophet* says, “The greatest and the
best day the sun has risen over is the day of jumu’ah (Friday). In that day,
Adam was created. In that day, he entered into Jannah. And in that day, he was
driven out of Jannah. And on that day the Hour will occur.” The Hour is the day
of judgement.
The Prophet* says in another hadith, “All of
the days were presented to me. So I saw the day of Friday, it looked like a
white mirror – very bright and clean – but in the middle there was a dark spot.
So I asked what was the dark spot and I was told that it was the Hour.”
“The best day the sun has risen over is
Friday. On that day, Adam was created. On that day, he came down to earth. On
that day, Allah accepted his repentance. On that day, he died. On that day the
Hour will occur.” What’s new in this hadith? The rest of the hadith tells the
response of the animals. The Prophet* says, “Every animal is worried on the day
of jumu’ah – from the time of fajr because they know that is when the Hour will
occur, except Jinn and humans.”
We are the only creation that is asleep and
unaware. We are heedless and continue to do everything on Jum’ah as if this
Hour is something that will never occur.
How many Times will the Horn be blown?
Some scholars say that there will be two
shouts. One shout that will destroy everything that is living (as sa’aq), and
then another shout that will revive everything again (al ba’ath).
Some scholars say that there are three
blowings. One is al faza – it will strike fear in all of the hearts. The second
is sa’aq and the third is al ba’ath.
The Exceptions – those that will not perish
with the trumpet
Allah says, “And the trumpet will be blown,
and all who are on the earth will swoon away, except him whom Allah wills. Then
it will be blown a second time and behold, they will be standing, looking on.”
The ayah gives an exception. Some scholars
say hoor al-ayn; some say the servants in jannah; some say jibra’eel, mika’eel
and israfeel; some say the angels who are carrying the throne; some say the
shuhadaa`; and on and on. Al-Qurtubi says, “The right opinion is that there is
no evidence to support any of this. All of them are possible.” We don’t need to
dwell too much on this. What we need to know, we already know – we are not one
of those who are excluded. We don’t need to theorize and hypothesize, because
we don’t need to know. This is a very, very important principle in Islam – we
should always be practical and know the information that will help us.
When a Bedouin came into the masjid and
asked the Prophet*, “When is the Hour?” He came in and interrupted the Prophet*
when he was giving a speech. The Prophet* kept on going and didn’t give him any
attention. The man insisted and asked a second and a third time. By now, the
sahabah are upset and want him to calm down. They thought that The Prophet* is
not responding because he doesn’t like the question. When The Prophet* was done
with his speech, he said, “Where is the one who was asking about the Hour?” He
then asked the Bedouin, “What have you prepared for it?” The man then said, “I
did not prepare for it a lot of fasting and prayer, but I have prepared for it
with love for Allah and His Messenger.” The Prophet* said, “You will be with
the ones that you love.”
Why do we want to know? We should know the
information that will help us. A lot of times, we waste our times on issues
that will not benefit us or add to our good deeds. That is knowledge that does
not benefit. The Prophet* said, “O Allah, we want from You knowledge that will
benefit us and we seek refuge in You from the knowledge that does not benefit
us.”
InshaAllah, we make du’a that we also have
love for Allah and the Prophet* and are also with the ones we love on the Day
of Judgment. Ameen
