\nSolomon\ninherited David’s prophethood and dominion. This was not a material\ninheritance, as prophets do not bequeath their property. It is given\naway to the poor and needy, not to their relatives. Prophet Muhammad\n(pbuh) said: “The prophets’ property will not be inherited, and\nwhatever we leave is to be used for charity.” (Sahih\nAl-Bukhari).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAnd\nindeed We gave knowledge to David and Solomon, and they both said:\n“All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has preferred us\nabove many of His believing slaves!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAnd\nSolomon inherited (the knowledge of) David. He said: “O mankind!\nWe have been taught the language of birds, and on us have been\nbestowed all things. This, verily, is an evident grace (from Allah).”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAnd\nthere were gathered before Solomon his hosts of jinns and men, and\nbirds, and they were all set in battle order (marching forwards). (Ch\n27:15-17 Quran).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAfter\nhis father’s death, Solomon became king. He begged Allah for a\nkingdom such as none after him would have, and Allah granted his\nwish. Besides wisdom, Allah had blessed Solomon with many abilities.\nHe could command the winds and understand and talk to birds and\nanimals. Allah directed him to teach both men and jinns to mine the\nearth and extract its minerals to make tools and weapons. He also\nfavored him with a mine of copper, which was a rare metal in those\ndays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nDuring\nhis time horses were the common mode of transportation. They were\nvery essential for defense, to carry soldiers and cart provisions and\nweapons of war. The animals were well cared for and well trained. One\nday Solomon was reviewing a parade of his stable. The fitness, beauty\nand posture of the horses fascinated him so much that he kept on\nstroking and admiring them. The sun was nearly setting, and the time\nfor the middle prayer was passing by. When he realized this, he\nexclaimed: “I surely love the finer things of life than the\nservice of my Lord! Return them to me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAlmighty\nAllah revealed:\nAnd to David We gave Solomon. How excellent a slave! Verily, he was\never oft returning in repentance (to Us)!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWhen\nthere were displayed before him, in the afternoon, well-trained\nhorses of the highest breed (for jihad in Allah’s cause). And he\nsaid: “Alas! I did love the good (these horses) instead of\nremembering my Lord (in my ‘Asr prayer)” till the time was over,\nand the sun had hidden in the veil of the night. Then he said: “Bring\nthem (horses) back to me.” Then he began to pass his hand over\ntheir legs and their necks (till the end of the display).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAnd\nindeed We did try Solomon and We placed on his throne Jasadan (a\ndevil, so he lost his kingdom for a while) but he did return (to his\nthrone and kingdom by the Grace of Allah and he did return) to Allah\nwith obedience and in repentance. He said: “My Lord! Forgive me,\nand bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other\nafter me. Verily, You are the Bestower.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSo,\nWe subjected to him the wind, it blew gently to his order\nwhithersoever he willed, and also the devils from the jinns including\nevery kind of builder and diver, and also other bound in fetters.\n(Saying of Allah to Solomon): “This is Our gift, so spend you or\nwithhold, no account will be asked.” And verily, he enjoyed a\nnear access to Us, and a good final return Paradise. (Ch38:30-40\nQuran).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nOne\nday Solomon gathered his army, which had different battalions of men,\njinns, birds, and animals. He marched them to the country of Askalon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWhile\nthey were passing through a valley, an ant saw the approaching army\nand cried out to warn the other ants: “Run to your homes!\nOtherwise, unaware, Solomon and his army might crush you!”\nSolomon, hearing the cry of the ant, smiled. He was glad that the ant\nknew him to be a prophet who would not intentionally harm Allah’s\ncreation. He thanked Allah for saving the ants’ lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAllah\nthe Almighty narrated: And\nthere were gathered before Solomon his hosts of jinns and men, and\nbirds, and they all were set in battle order (marching forwards).\nTill, when they came to a valley of the ants, one of the ants said:\n“O ants! Enter your dwellings, lest Solomon and his hosts crush\nyou, while they perceive not.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSo\nhe (Solomon) smiled, amused at her speech and said: “My Lord!\nInspire and bestow upon me the power and ability that I maybe\ngrateful for Your Favors which You have bestowed on me and on my\nparents, and that I may do righteous good deeds that will please You,\nand admit me by Your Mercy among Your righteous slaves.” (Ch\n27:17-19 Quran).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIn\nJerusalem, on a huge rock, Solomon built a beautiful temple to draw\nthe people to worship Allah. Today this building is known as “The\nDome of the Rock.” From there, a large band of followers joined\nSolomon on pilgrimage to the Holy Mosque in Mecca. After they had\ncompleted their hajj, they traveled to Yemen and arrived in the city\nof San’a. Solomon was impressed by their clever method of channeling\nwater all over their cities. He was keen to build similar water\nsystems in his own country but did not have enough springs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHe\nset out to find the hoopoe bird, which could detect water under the\nground. He sent signals all over the hoopoe to call on him, but it\nwas nowhere to be found. In anger, he declared that unless the bird\nhad a good reason for its absence, he would punish it severely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nhoopoe eventually came to Solomon and explained the reason for its\ndelay. “I have discovered something of which you are not aware.\nI have come from Sheba (Sab’a) with important news.” Solomon\nbecame curious, and his anger subsided. The bird continued: “Sab’a\nis ruled by a queen named Bilkis (Bilqis), who has plenty of\neverything, including a splendid throne. But in spite of all this\nwealth, Satan has entered her heart and the hearts of her people. She\nrules their minds completely. I was shocked to learn that they\nworship the sun instead of Allah the Almighty.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nTo\ncheck the hoopoe’s information, Solomon sent a letter to the queen\nwith the bird. He instructed the bird to remain hidden and to watch\neverything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nhoopoe dropped the letter in front of the queen and flew away to\nhide. She excitedly opened and read it: “Verily!\nIt is from Solomon, and verily! It reads: ‘In the Name of Allah, the\nMost Beneficent, and Most Merciful; be you not exalted against me,\nbut come to me as Muslims (true believers who submit with full\nsubmission).'” ( Ch 27:30-31 Quran).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nqueen was very disturbed and hurriedly summoned her advisors. They\nreacted as to a challenge, for they felt that there was someone\nchallenging them, hinting at war and defeat, and asking them to\nsubmit to his conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThey\ntold her that they could only offer advice, but it was her right to\ncommand action. She sensed that they wanted to meet Solomon’s\ninvasion threat with a battle. However, she told them: “Peace\nand friendship are better and wiser; war only brings humiliation,\nenslaves people and destroys the good things. I have decided to send\ngifts to Solomon, selected from our most precious treasure. The\ncourtiers who will deliver the gifts will also have an opportunity to\nlearn about Solomon and his military mighty.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSolomon’s\nreconnaissance team brought him the news of the arrival of Bilkis’\nmessengers with a gift. He immediately realized that the queen had\nsent her men on a probing mission thus, he gave orders to rally the\narmy. The envoys of Bilqis, entering amidst the well-equipped army,\nrealized that their wealth was nothing in comparison to that of the\nkingdom of Solomon’s palace floors, which were made of sandalwood and\ninlaid with gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThey\nnoticed Solomon surveying his army, and they were surprised at the\nnumber and variety of soldiers, which included lions, tigers, and\nbirds. The messengers stood in amazement, realizing that they were in\nfront of an irresistible army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nenvoys marveled at the splendor surrounding them. They eagerly\npresented their queen’s precious gifts and told Solomon that the\nqueen wished that he would accept them as an act of friendship. They\nwere shocked by his reaction: he did not even ask to open the covers\nof the containers! He told them: “Allah hagiven me plenty of\nwealth, a large kingdom, and prophethood. I am, therefore, beyond\nbribery. My only objective is to spread the belief in Tawheed, the\nOneness of Allah.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHe\nalso directed them to take back the gifts to the queen and to tell\nher that if she did not stop her kind of worship he would uproot her\nkingdom and drive its people out of the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nqueen’s envoys returned with the gifts and delivered the message.\nThey also told her of the wonderful things they had seen. Instead of\ntaking offense, she decided to visit Solomon. Accompanied by her\nroyal officials and servants, she left Sheba, sending a messenger\nahead to inform Solomon that she was on her way to meet him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSolomon\nasked the jinns in his employ whether anyone among them could bring\nher throne to he palace before she arrived. One of them said; “I\nwill bring it to you before this sitting is over.” Solomon did\nnot react to this offer; it appeared that he was waiting for a faster\nmeans. The jinns competed with each other to please him. One of them\nnamed Ifrit said: “I will fetch it for you in the twinkling of\nan eye!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nNo\nsooner had this one – who had the knowledge of the Book – finished\nhis phrase than the throne stood before Solomon. The mission had,\nindeed, been completed in the blinking of an eye. Solomon’s seat was\nin Palestine, and the throne of Bilqis had been in Yemen, two\nthousand miles away. This was a great miracle performed by one of\nthose sitting with Solomon. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nWhen\nBilqis arrived at Solomon’s palace, she was welcomed with pomp and\nceremony. Then, pointing to the altered throne, Solomon asked her\nwhether her throne looked like that one. She looked at it again and\nagain. In her mind she was convinced that her throne could not\npossibly be the one she was looking at, as hers was in her palace;\net, she detected a striking similarity and replied: “It is as if\nit were the very one, and resembles mine in every respect.”\nSolomon judged that she was intelligent and diplomatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHe\nthen invited her into the great hall, the floor of which was laid in\nglass and shimmering. Thinking it was water, as she stepped on the\nfloor, she lifted her skirt slightly above her heels, for fear of\nwetting it. Solomon pointed out to her that it was made of solid\nglass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nShe\nwas amazed. She had never seen such things before. Bilqis realized\nthat she was in the company of a very knowledgeable person who was\nnot only a ruler of a great kingdom but a messenger of Allah, as\nwell. She repented, gave up sun worship, accepted the faith of Allah,\nand asked her people to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIt\nwas finished; Bilqis saw her people’s creed fall apart before\nSolomon. She realized that the sun which her people worshipped was\nnothing but one of Allah’s creatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThe\nsun eclipsed within her for the first time, and her heart was lit by\na never fading light, the light of Islam. Almighty Allah told us this\nstory in the Quran: He\ninspected the birds, and said: “What is the matter that I see\nnot a hoopoe? Or is he among the absentees? I will surely punish him\nwith a severe torment, or slaughter him, unless he brings me a clear\nreason.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nBut\nthe hoopoe stayed not long, he came up and said: “I have grasped\n(the knowledge of a thing) which you have not grasped and I have come\nto you from Sheba with true news. I found a woman ruling over them,\nand she has been given all things that could be possessed by any\nruler of the earth, and she has a great throne. I found her and her\npeople worshipping the sun instead of Allah, and Satan has made their\ndeeds fair seeming to them, and has barred them from Allah’s Way, so\nthey have no guidance.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAl-La\n(this word has two interpretations) [As Satan has barred them from\nAllah’s Way} so that they do not worship (prostrate before) Allah, or\nso that they may worship (prostrate before) Allah, Who brings light\nto what is hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knows what you\nconceal and what you reveal. Allah, La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the\nright to be worshipped but He), the Lord of the Supreme Throne!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \n(Solomon)\nsaid: “We shall see whether you speak the truth or you are one\nof the liars. Go with this letter of mine, and deliver it to them,\nthen draw back from them, and see what answer they return.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nShe\nsaid: “O chiefs! Verily! Here is a delivered to me a noble\nletter. Verily! It is from Solomon and verily! It (reads): ‘In the\nName of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful; Be you not\nexalted against me, but come to me as Muslims (true believers who\nsubmit to Allah with full submission).”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nShe\nsaid: “O chiefs! Advise me in this case of mine. I decide no\ncase till you are present with me.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThey\nsaid: “We have great strength, and great ability for war, but it\nis for you to command; so think over what you will command.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nShe\nsaid: “Verily! Kings, when they enter a town (country), they\ndespoil it, and make the most honorable amongst its people low. And\nthus they do. But verily! I am going to send him a present, and see\nwith what answer the messengers return.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSo\nwhen (the messengers with the present) came to Solomon, he said:\n“Will you help me in wealth? What Allah has given me is better\nthan that which He has given you! Nay, you rejoice in your gift!”\n(Then Solomon said to the chief of her messengers who brought the\npresent): “Go back to them. We verily shall come to them with\nhosts that they cannot resist, and we shall drive them out from there\nis disgrace, and they will be abased.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHe\nsaid: “O chiefs! Which of you can bring me her throne before\nthey come to me surrendering themselves in obedience?”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAn\nIfrit (strong) from the jinns said: “I will bring it to you\nbefore you rise from your place (council). And verily, I am indeed\nstrong, and trustworthy for such work.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nOne\nwith whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: “I will bring it\nto you within the twinkling of an eye!” then when Solomon saw it\nplaced before him, he said: “This is by the Grace of my Lord, to\ntest me whether I am grateful or ungrateful! And whoever is grateful,\ntruly, his gratitude is for the good of his ownself, and whoever is\nungrateful, he is ungrateful only for the loss of his ownself.\nCertainly! My Lord is Rich (Free of all wants), Bountiful!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nHe\nsaid: “Disguise her throne for her that we may see whether she\nwill be guided (to recognize her throne), or she will be one of those\nnot guided.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSo\nwhen she came, it was said to her: “Is your throne like this?”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nShe\nsaid: “It is as though it was the very same.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAnd\nSolomon said: “Knowledge was bestowed on us before her, and we\nwere submitted to Allah (in Islam as Muslims before her).”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAnd\nthat which she used to worship besides Allah has prevented her from\nIslam, for she was of a disbelieving people.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nIt\nwas said to her: “Enter As-Sarh” (a glass surface with\nwater underneath it) or a palace, but when she saw it, she thought it\nwas a pool, and she tucked up her clothes, uncovering her legs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSolomon\nsaid: “Verily, it is Sarh paved smooth with slab of glass.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nShe\nsaid: “My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself, and I submit (in\nIslam), together with Solomon, to Allah, the Lord of the Alamin\n(mankind, jinns, and all that exists).” (Ch 27:20-44 Quran)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSolomon’s\npublic work was largely carried out by the jinns. This was a\npunishment for their sins of making people believe that they were\nall-powerful, knew the unseen, and could foresee the future. As a\nprophet, it was Solomon’s duty to remove such false beliefs from his\nfollowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nSolomon\nlived amidst glory, and all creatures were subjected to him. Then\nAllah the Exalted ordained for him to die. His life and death were\nfull of wonders and miracles; thus, his death harmonized with his\nlife and glory. His death, like his life, was unique. The people had\nto learn that the future is known neither by the jinns, nor by the\nprophets, but by Allah alone. Solomon’s effort in this direction did\nnot end with his life, for even his death became an example. He was\nsitting holding his staff, overseeing the jinns at work in a mine. He\ndied sitting in this position. For a long time no one was aware of\nhis death, for he was seen sitting erect. The jinns continued with\ntheir sand toil, thinking that Solomon was watching over them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nMany\ndays later, a hungry ant began nibbling Solomon’s staff. It continued\nto do so, eating the lower part of the staff, until it fell out of\nSolomon’s hand, and his great body fell to the ground. People hurried\nto him, realizing that he had died a long time ago and that the jinns\ndid not perceive the unseen, for had the jinns known the unseen, they\nwould not have kept working, thinking that Solomon was alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \nAllah\nthe Exalted revealed: And\nWe caused a fount of molten brass to flow for him, and there were\njinns that worked in front of him by the Leave of his Lord, and\nwhosoever of them turned aside from Our Command, We shall cause him\nto taste of the torment of the blazing Fire.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThey\nworked for him what he desired, (making) high rooms, images, basins\nas large as reservoirs, and (making) cauldrons fixed (in their\nplaces). “Work you, O family of David, with thanks!” But\nfew of My slaves are grateful.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \nThen\nwhen we decreed death for him (Solomon), nothing informed them\n(jinns) of his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept\nslowly gnawing away at his stick, so when he fell down, the jinns saw\nclearly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have stayed\nin the humiliating torment. (Ch 34:12-14 Quran).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Solomon inherited David’s prophethood and dominion. This was not a material inheritance, as prophets do not bequeath their property. It is given away to the poor and needy, not to their relatives. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “The prophets’ property will not be inherited, and whatever we leave is to be used for charity.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari). 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