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Hazrath Sulaiman

Sulaymaan was one of the prominent Prophets of Allaah. His story,which is an interesting one, is mentioned in the Noble Quran.

Sulaymaan inherited his prophethood and dominion from his fatherDaawood .

In the Quran, Allaah Almighty Says (what means): "And We hadcertainly given to Daawood and Sulaymaan knowledge, and theysaid: 'Praise [is due] to Allaah, who has favoured us over many ofHis believing servants.' And Sulaymaan inherited Daawood. Hesaid: 'O People! We have been taught the language of birds, wehave been given from all things. Indeed, this is an evidentbounty.' And gathered for Sulaymaan were his soldiers of the jinnand men and birds, and they were [marching] in rows." [Quran:

27:15-17]

After his father's death, Sulaymaan became king. He begged Allaahfor a kingdom of the stature that none after him would have, and Allaah

granted him his wish. Besides wisdom, Allaah had blessed Sulaymaanwith many abilities. He could command the winds and understand and talkto birds and animals. Allaah directed him to teach both men and jinn tomine the earth and extract its minerals to make tools and weapons. Healso favoured him by giving him a mine of copper, which was a rare metalin that era.

Indeed, this entire story is related in the Quran as follows, the meaning ofwhich is: "And to Daawood We gave Sulaymaan. An excellentservant, indeed he was one who repeatedly turned back [toAllaah]. [Mention] when there were exhibited before him in theafternoon the poised [standing] racehorses. And he said: 'IndeedI gave preference to the love of good [things] over theremembrance of my Lord until it [i.e., the sun] disappearedinto the curtain [of darkness].' [He said]: 'Return them to me,'and set about striking [their] legs and necks. And We certainlytried Sulaymaan and placed on his throne a body; then hereturned. He said: 'My Lord! Forgive me and grant me a

kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me. Indeed,You are the Bestower.' So We subjected to him the windblowing by his command, gently, wherever he directed, And[also] the devils [of jinn] every builder and diver. And othersbound together in shackles. [We said]: 'This is Our gift, sogrant or withhold without account.' And indeed, for him isnearness to Us and a good place of return." [Quran: 38:30-40]

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One day, Sulaymaan gathered his army, which had different battalionsof men, jinn, birds, and animals, and marched them to Askalon (inPalestine). While they were passing through a valley, an ant saw theapproaching army and cried out to warn the other ants saying (whatmeans): "Enter your dwellings that you not be crushed by

Sulaymaan and his soldiers while they perceive not." [Quran:27:18] Sulaymaan hearing the cry of the ant, smiled. He was gladthat the ant knew him to be a Prophet who would not intentionally harmAllaah's creation. He thanked Allaah for saving the ants' lives.

Allaah the Almighty narrated (what means): "And gathered forSulaymaan were his soldiers of the jinn and men and birds, andthey were [marching] in rows until, when they came upon thevalley of the ants, an ant said: 'O ants! Enter your dwellings thatyou not be crushed by Sulaymaan and his soldiers while theyperceive not.' So [Sulaymaan] smiled, amused at her speech, andsaid: 'My Lord! Enable me to be grateful for Your favour which

You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and dorighteousness of which You approve. And admit me by Your mercyinto [the ranks of] Your righteous servants'" [Quran: 27:17-19]

In Jerusalem, on a huge rock, Sulaymaan built a beautiful temple todraw the people to worship Allaah. Today, this building is known as theDome of the Rock. From there, a large band of followers joined Sulaymaan

on pilgrimage to the Holy Mosque in Makkah. After they hadcompleted their Hajj, they travelled to Yemen and arrived in the city of

Sana'a. Sulaymaan was impressed by the clever method of

channelling water all over the cities that the Yemenis deployed. He waskeen to build similar water systems in his own country but did not haveenough springs.

He set out to find a hoopoe bird, which could detect water under theground. He sent signals all over for the hoopoe to call on him, but it wasnowhere to be found. In anger, he declared that unless the bird had agood reason for its absence, he would punish it severely.

The hoopoe eventually came and explained to Sulaymaan the reasonfor its delay. "I have discovered something of which you are not aware. Ihave come from Sheba (Saba') with important news," said the bird.

Sulaymaan became curious, and his anger subsided. The birdcontinued: "Saba' is ruled by a queen who has plenty of everything,including a splendid throne. But in spite of all this wealth, Satan hasentered her heart and the hearts of her people. She rules their mindscompletely. I was shocked to learn that they worship the sun instead ofAllaah, the Almighty."

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To check the hoopoe's information, Sulaymaan sent a letter to thequeen with the bird. He instructed the bird to remain hidden and toobserve everything it saw.

The hoopoe dropped the letter in front of the queen and flew away tohide. She excitedly opened and read its content (which means): "Indeed,it is from Sulaymaan, and indeed. It is [i.e., reads]: 'In the Nameof Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, Be nothaughty with me but come to me in submission [as Muslims].'"[Quran: 27:30-31]

The queen of Sheba, upon receiving the letter from Sulaymaan was

very disturbed and hurriedly summoned her advisors. They reacted as toa challenge, for they felt that there was someone challenging them,hinting at war and defeat, and asking them to submit to his conditions.

They told her that they could only offer advice, but it was her right tocommand action. She sensed that they wanted to meet Sulaymaan'sthreat of invasion with a battle. However, she told them: "Peace andfriendship are better and wiser; war only brings humiliation, enslavespeople and destroys everything that is good. I have decided to send giftsto Sulaymaan, selected from our most precious treasures. The courtierswho will deliver the gifts will also have an opportunity to learn aboutSulaymaan and his military might."

Sulaymaan's 'reconnaissance team' brought him the news of the arrival ofthe queens messengers with gifts. He immediately realised that thequeen had sent her men on a probing mission and, therefore, gave ordersto rally his army. The envoys of the queen, entering amidst the well-

equipped army of Sulaymaan realised that their wealth was nothing incomparison to that of the kingdom of Sulaymaan, in which the floors of hispalace were made of sandalwood and inlaid with pure gold. They noticed

Sulaymaan surveying his army, and were amazed at the number andvariety of soldiers, which included lions, tigers, and birds. The messengersstood awestruck, realising that they were in front of an irresistible army.

The envoys marvelled at the splendour surrounding them. They eagerly

presented their queen's precious gifts and told Sulaymaan that thequeen wished that he would accept them as a token of friendship. Theywere shocked by his reaction: he did not even ask to open the covers ofthe containers! He told them: "Allaah has given me plenty of wealth, a

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large kingdom, and prophethood. I am, therefore, beyond bribery. My onlyobjective is to spread belief in Tawheed - the Oneness of Allaah."

He also directed them to take the gifts back to the queen and to tell herthat if she did not stop her type of worship (i.e., the worship of the sun) hewould uproot her kingdom and drive its people out of the land.

The queen's envoys returned with the gifts and conveyed the message.They also told her of the wonderful things they had seen. Instead of taking

offence, she decided to visit Sulaymaan . Accompanied by her royalofficials and servants, she left Saba', sending a messenger ahead to

inform Sulaymaan that she was on her way to meet him.

Sulaymaan asked the jinn in his employment whether anyone amongthem could bring her throne to his palace before she arrived. One of them

said: "I will bring it to you before this sitting is over." Sulaymaan did

not react to this offer; it appeared that he was waiting for a faster means.The jinn competed with each other to please him. One of them said: "I willfetch it for you in the twinkling of an eye!"

No sooner had this one, who had knowledge of the Book, finished his

statement that the throne stood before Sulaymaan . The mission had,indeed, been completed in the blinking of an eye. Sulaymaan's seat wasin Palestine, and the throne of the queen had been in Yemen, twothousand miles away. This was a great miracle performed by one of the

soldiers of Sulaymaan .

When the queen arrived at Sulaymaan's palace, she was welcomed withpomp and ceremony. Then, pointing to the altered throne, Sulaymaanasked her whether her throne looked like it. She looked at it again andagain. In her mind she was convinced that her throne could not possiblybe the one she was looking at, as hers was in her palace; yet, shedetected a striking similarity and replied: "It is as if it were the very one,

and resembles mine in every respect." Sulaymaan judged that shewas intelligent and diplomatic.

He then invited her into the great hall, the floor of which was laid in glassand shimmering. Thinking it was water, as she stepped on the floor, she

lifted her skirt slightly above her heels, for fear of wetting it. Sulaymaanpointed out to her that it was made of solid glass.

She was amazed. She had never seen such things before. The queenrealised that she was in the company of an erudite person who was notonly the ruler of a great kingdom, but also a messenger of Allaah. Sherepented, gave up sun worship, accepted the faith of Allaah, and askedher people to do the same.

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Thus, the queen saw her people's creed fall apart before Sulaymaan .She realised that the sun which her people worshipped was nothing butone of Allaah's

Sulaymaan lived amidst glory, and all creatures were subjected to

him. Then Allaah, the Exalted, ordained for him to die. His life and deathwere full of wonders and miracles; thus, his death harmonised with his lifeand glory. His death, like his life, was unique. The people had to learn thatthe future is known neither by the jinn, nor by the Prophets, but by AllaahAlmighty alone.

Sulaymaan's effort in this direction did not end with his life, for evenhis death became an example. He was sitting holding his staff, overseeingthe jinn at work in a mine. He died sitting in this position. For a long time,no one was aware of his death, for he was seen sitting erect. The jinn

continued with their sand toil, thinking that Sulaymaan was watching

over them.

Many days later, a little worm began nibbling on Sulaymaan's staff. Itcontinued to do so, eating the lower part of the staff, until it fell out ofSulaymaan's hand, and his great body fell to the ground. People hurried tohim, and upon reaching his body realised that he had died a long time agoand that the jinn did not perceive the unseen, for had the jinn known theunseen, they would not have kept working, thinking that Sulaymaan wasalive.

Regarding this, Allaah the Exalted revealed (what means): "And to

Sulaymaan [We subjected] the wind its morning [journey wasthat of] a month, and We made flow for him a spring of [liquid]copper. And among the jinn were those who worked for him bythe permission of his Lord. And whoever deviated among themfrom Our command - We will make him taste of thepunishment of the Blaze. They made for him what he will ofelevated chambers, statues, bowls like reservoirs, andstationary kettles. [We said]: 'Work, O family of Daawood, ingratitude.' And few of my servants are grateful. And when Wedecreed for him [i.e., Sulaymaan] death, nothing indicated tothem [i.e., the jinn] his death except a creature of the earth

eating his staff. But when he fell, it became clear to the jinnthat if they had known the unseen, they would not haveremained in humiliating punishment." [Quran: 34:12-14]