Lecture No.3
This is a transcription of a lecture by Sayyed Usama Alattar. You can listen to it from here:
http://www.4shared.com/audio/tePLTzku/soleimanpart3.html
The story of Prophet Solomon(as) and the city of Saba':
Prophet Solomon(as) used to take care of every detail in his society because he was the king.
( Some people ask us: does the Holy Quran talk about anything else beside telling us stories? Does the Quran talk about leadership?
Of course. When the Qur'an is telling us a story, it is not only for the sake of telling a story. There are so many wisdoms that we can learn from this story).
The Holy Qur'an tells us that Prophet Solomon(as) was a king, a leader who had great characteristics to be followed. He had a good communication among all his subjects, all over the place.
" و تفقد الطير فقال مالي لا أرى الهدهد أم كان من الغائبين(20)
لأعذبنه عذاباً شديداً أو لأذبحنه أو ليأتيني بسلطان مبين(21)
فمكث غير بعيد فقال أحطت بما لم تحط به و جئتك من سبإ بنبإ يقين(22)
إني وجدت امرأة تملكهم و أوتيت من كل شيء و لها عرش عظيم(23)
وجدتها و قومها يسجدون للشمس من دون الله و زين لهم الشيطان أعمالهم فصدهم عن السبيل فهم لا يهتدون(24)
ألا يسجدوا لله الذي يخرج الخبء في السماوات و الأرض و يعلم ما تخفون و ما تعلنون(25)
الله لا إله إلا هو رب العرش العظيم(26)
قال سننظر أصدقت أم كنت من الكاذبين(27)
اذهب بكتابي هذا فألقه إليهم ثم تول عنهم فانظر ماذا يرجعون(28)
قالت يا أيها الملأ إني ألقي إلي كتاب كريم(29)
إنه من سليمان و إنه بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم(30)
ألا تعلوا علي و أتوني مسلمين(31)
قالت يا أيها الملأ أفتوني في أمري ما كنت قاطعة أمراً حتى تشهدون(32)
قالوا نحن أولوا قوة و أولوا بأس شديد و الأمر إليك فانظري ماذا تأمرين(33)
قالت إن الملوك إذا دخلوا قرية أفسدوها و جعلوا أعزة أهلها أذلة و كذلك يفعلون(34)
و إني مرسلة إليهم بهدية فناظرة بم يرجع المرسلون(35)
فلما جاء سليمان قال أتمدونن بمال فما آتاني الله خير مما آتاكم بل أنتم بهديتكم تفرحون(36)
ارجع إليهم فلنأتينهم بجنود لا قبل لهم بها و لنخرجنهم منها أذلة و هم صاغرون(37)
سورة النمل
Prophet Solomon( as) was looking around and missed one of the birds. " Why do not I see the hoopoe? Is he absent today?" he said. ( Another characteristic in the leader is that he takes a look around and makes sure that everything in his society is running smoothly. He takes care of every subject in his kingdom even the birds!). " I am going to punish him with a severe punishment, or I shall even kill him" he continued.( And because he is the leader, he had to teach other people in the society to be responsible.)
Why did he say so?
This hoopoe had a job. He was responsible for a certain thing in his society. His job was to look for water and tell the other workers to get it out. When he does not do his job properly, what is going to happen? The society is dependent one on another. This is how we run as human beings in a society. Every person has a role in the society. There is nothing called a small role or a big role or somebody is a doctor and somebody collects trash. Each person contributes to society. They are equal in that sense.
The hoopoe used to contribute, and now it is missing. He cannot go missing without a reason. If he is, then, he deserves to be punished.
" أو ليأتيني بسلطان مبين"= "I will punish him unless he has a good excuse" said prophet Solomon(as)
( He does not take a free judgment on his subjects. He gives them the chance to explain themselves.)
" فمكث غير بعيد فقال أحطت بما لم تحط به" = Prophet Solomon( as) waited not too long. The hoopoe came back and spoke to prophet Solomon( as) and said" Prophet Solomon, I have news and carry information that even you do not know about."
( Even though he is the leader, the hoopoe has a good relationship with him that he spoke to him in such a manner. He is a very easygoing person.)
" و جئتك من سبأ بنبأ يقين" = " I have just come back from Saba' with certain news" The hoopoe continued.
How can prophet Solomon( as) not know of what the bird knows?
The knowledge given to the prophets comes from Allah( swt). If Allah decides not to give them certain knowledge, they will not have an idea about it unless Allah gives it to them. He gives them the knowledge to test them. He is trying to tell prophet Solomon( as)" Despite the great authority you have, there are still some things on earth that you do not know about".
The bird continued about the news:
إني وجدت امرأة تملكهم و أوتيت من كل شيء و لها عرش عظيم""
1- I found a woman as a leader.( At their age, it was rare to have a woman as a leader or as a queen)
2- She has everything.
3- She has a large throne.
So interesting!
Solomon's throne was a great one. It is said that he had two lions sitting down in the throne. Whenever prophet Solomon( as) wants to sit on the throne, the lions would stretch their arms. So, prophet Solomon( as) uses the arms of the lions as steps. His throne was made of gold, jewelry, diamond, silver, masterpiece, etc. Peacocks open their tails to shade him from the sun. Birds are the ones who bring his crown. Yet, the hoopoe was surprised by the throne of Balqees, the queen of Saba'.
What is the sad news?
وجدتها و قومها يسجدون للشمس من دون الله و زين لهم الشيطان أعمالهم فصدهم عن السبيل فهم لا يهتدون""
= "I found her and her tribe doing sojood( kneeling) to the sun instead of Allah (swt). They were worshiping the sun, not Allah. Shaitan ( Daemon) made their bad deeds and acts appear good to them. Because of that, they could not find the true path. They will never be guided."
The hoopoe was surprised " Do not they kneel to Allah?! Do not they worship Allah( swt), the one who knows all the secrets in the heavens and the earth. Allah has the great throne."
( Loqman(as) said" Remember Allah constantly, for Allah knows about everything even a seed of mustard that is in a rock or hidden in somewhere in heaven or earth, Allah knows about it and will get it out . Allah knows every single detail we hide or show").
Do we think about Allah in the same way this bird thinking about Allah?! Allah knows everything about us, and in the day of judgment, it will all be presented for us.
Solomon(as) does not neglect what the smallest one of his subjects says.
" قال سننظر أصدقت أم كنت من الكاذبين"= " We are going to see whether you are telling the truth or not. We have to do some investigation. What you brought to us is a serious matter."
( A characteristic in the great leader: before you have any judgment, investigate. Do not come to conclusions. Be patient. Find out the truth then act and the best way to know the truth is to establish communication between you and the other person. This is exactly what Solomon(as) decided to do.)
اذهب بكتابي هذا فألقه إليهم ثم تول عنهم فانظر ماذا يرجعون(28)""= Prophet Solomon( as) told the hoopoe " Take this book of mine( a letter) and give it to them and hide somewhere. See how they react to my letter."
The hoopoe did what Solomon(as) ordered him to do. When the queen read the letter, she realized that there was something interesting in the letter. The first thing she did was that she had called for a meeting and said
" قالت يا أيها الملأ إني ألقي إلي كتاب كريم(29)إنه من سليمان و إنه بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم(30) ألا تعلوا علي و أتوني مسلمين(31)"
= " O' my people.. my ministers.. I have received a letter that is honorable. It is from Solomon(as) and starts with the name of Allah, The beneficent the merciful. Do not become so mighty and powerful against me. Be humble. Come to me as Muslims."
( Note: Islam is not a religion that is first introduced by prophet Mohammad( pbuh). Islam is the same religion that was taught by Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, David, Solomon, Moses, Jesus and by Mohammad( peace be upon them). It is one message coming from Allah. There is no difference in the message of God. As Muslims, we believe in all the prophets as much as we believe in prophet Mohammad(pbuh)).
What does she do?
قالت يا أيها الملأ أفتوني في أمري ما كنت قاطعة أمراً حتى تشهدون(32)
= She asked her ministers about what she shall do. "Advice me. I am not going to make any decision unless you are all witnessing to my decision and you all approve it." she said.
What was their advice?
قالوا نحن أولوا قوة و أولوا بأس شديد و الأمر إليك فانظري ماذا تأمرين(33)
They said "We are people of power and perseverance. We are powerful and strong and we can fight. But, you have the final say. See what you recommend."
Even though the majority of them have the opinion of fighting, she disagreed with them. She had a different opinion.
" قالت إن الملوك إذا دخلوا قرية أفسدوها و جعلوا أعزة أهلها أذلة و كذلك يفعلون(34)"
She said" Whenever the kings get into a city, they destroy it because wordly kings usually think of increasing their power. Anybody stands in their way, they will kill them and destroy the whole city. The leaders in the society will become weak, servants and slaves. And that what will happen to us." ( she is very wise)
( Note: The majority of them agreed to fight and she was a minority. This tells us that just because the majority takes a vote in something, this does not mean that it is a right decision. This is really interesting because when it comes to khilafa (leadership) of Ali bin Abi Talib(as), people say that the majority of the society there voted to have the first khalifa as the successor of the prophet. Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, Salman Alfaresi, and Abu Ther Alghafari contested. Ibn Abbas came to the second khalifa and said" Just because your guys voted to have the first one as the successor does not mean that your guys made the right choice. Majority does not mean the right choice. Your guys neglected the choice of Allah and the Quran.
Allah(swt) said = " إنما وليكم الله و رسوله و الذين آمنوا الذين يقيمون الصلاة و يؤتون الزكاة و هم راكعون(55)" المائدة " your leaders are Allah, his messenger and the believers who gave the charity while they are in the state of kneeling." The one who gave charity while he was in the state of kneeling was Imam Ali bin Abi Talib. It is the decision of Allah( swt) to make Ali bin Abi Talib the successor of the prophet.)
What did she suggest?
و إني مرسلة إليهم بهدية فناظرة بم يرجع المرسلون(35)""
She said" I am going to send them a gift and I will wait to see their reaction. If he were truly a king, kings always love presents."
She sent him 500 slaves ( males and females) dressed in gold and silver and they carry boxes of gold, jewelry and diamonds. Any king would have been pleased with her present. She told the ambassador to see his reaction. If he gets pleased with the present, this means that he is a king who has no other interest but to satisfy his desire and conquer more lands. If he rejects her present, this means that he is truly a man of God.
How did Solomon(as) react when he gave him the gift?
" فلما جاء سليمان قال أتمدونن بمال فما آتاني الله خير مما آتاكم بل أنتم بهديتكم تفرحون(36)"
He said" You are sending me some money?! whatever Allah has given me is much greater than what you have given me. It is you who enjoy this present. You really want to see what I have. Look at my kingdom."
The ambassador looked around and was really surprised. Solomon is served by jinns, animals talk to him, etc.
ارجع إليهم فلنأتينهم بجنود لا قبل لهم بها و لنخرجنهم منها أذلة و هم صاغرون(37)" "
Solomon( as) told the ambassador" Go back to them. We shall come with an army that they cannot stand in its face, a mighty army. They shall come out of it very weak and humiliated because they disobeyed the word of God."
Beautifully, he did not say we will go and kill them, he said their power will be taken from them and they will be very weak because they disobeyed Allah(swt).
( When Muslims decided to conquer Persia during the time of the second khalifa, they took the daughters of the king of Persia as prisoners of war. They brought them back to Medina and wanted to sell them. When Imam Ali bin Abi Talib(as) heard of that, he became upset and he rushed to the mosque. He told the second khalifa" How can you deal with the king's daughters in this way?! You cannot sell them as prisoners of war. They were the king's daughters. You have to give them respect even though that their father was a bad guy and fought against Islam. He got killed but his daughters had no sin. They were not partners in the crime to punish them. In addition, they were the king's daughters. They are not treated like other people." The second khalifa asked" What shall I do?" Imam Ali said" Set them free and ask them if they want to get married to anyone." Indeed, they were two daughters. One of them chose to get married to Imam Hassan( as) and the other chose Imam Hussain( as). The one who got married to Imam Hussain, later, she gave birth to Imam Alsajjad(as). She died when she was giving birth to Imam Alsajjad( as). So he was born as an orphan.
This is to tell us that Islam is a great religion which respects each and every person.)
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
The Story of Prophet Solomon( as) -2-
Lecture No.2
( This is a transcription of a lecture by Sayyed Usama Alattar. You ca listen to it from here:http://www.4shared.com/audio/0S4Seo8z/soleimanpart2.html
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Prophet Solomon(as) prayed to Allah to grant him a kingdom that he did not want anyone else to have because he wanted to show himself as a prophet of Allah who will establish justice on earth. Unlike those tyrants before him like Pharaoh who used to oppress people. He wanted to spread justice without any misconception.
What did Allah(SWT) give him to build this kingdom?1- Allah gave him the power to control the wind. He could order the wind to carry him and the wind did whatever he wished.An interesting thing here: Prophet Solomon(as) used to travel in seconds or minutes a journey which usually takes months. This is to establish communication because he is a king and he has a big kingdom which he must take care of. One of the important things to establish justice all across the whole kingdom is to have good communication with every part in that kingdom. To have this kind of communication , Allah(SWT) gave him the ability to command the wind. So, if anything happens at any part of the world, he just can order the wind to take him to that part and immediately he would be carried to it.
It is said that one day, Solomon(as) was sitting down and next to him was his minister. A person came and entered into his setting and sat down. He was staring at the minister and the minister got upset. Then, this person got up and said:" Assalam alaikum" and left. The minister asked prophet Solomon(as) " Who was this person?"
- " This was the angel of death."
- " The angel of death?!"
- " Yes."
- " Why was he staring at me?"
- " I do not know."
The minister was scary and said" Solomon, please, get me out of here. Take me to India." Solomon(as) ordered the wind to carry the minister all the way to India. The next day, the angel of death came to visit prophet Solomon(as) again and prophet Solomon(as) asked him " Why were you staring at that man? You scared him."
- " I was surprised." replied the angel.
- " What was surprising you?"
- " God ordered me to go to India and take the life of that person there. That was where he was going to die, but he was sitting next to you. Few moments later, I had to go to India. I was surprised how I was going to see him in India while he was sitting next to you. Anyway, I had to leave to do my job. So. I went to India.. I was waiting for the moment.. and at the exact time, I found him coming to me carried by the wind.. and that was where I took his life and now he is buried in India."
(The lesson: You cannot escape from death. Even prophet Solomon(as) could not escape from death and he had an interesting story with the angel of death. We will come to it later.)One day, prophet Solomon(as) took his army( 300000 men on his right hand side, and 300000 gins on his left hand side) and he commanded the wind to raise everybody and he commanded the birds to shade them from the sun. The wind carried them across the lands and the waters to a degree that they can touch the water. (What exciting life they had!). Some people around him started to wonder what a great kingdom prophet Solomon(as) had. When prophet Solomon(as) heard this, he said to them
" لتسبيحة واحدة خير من ملكي هذا كله " which means "Praising Allah once is much better than the entire kingdom of mine". This is because this materialistic kingdom is not going to be eternal but when you praise Allah and pray to Him with sincerity, this prayer is kept for eternity in your book of records.
2- The second thing Allah(SWT) gave prophet Solomon(as) was the ability to capture the devils. They started working for him.(The devils could be either human beings or jinns as well. Some people are worse than devils. They murder and kill millions of people and they do not care. They do not have any mercy. They are worthless.. There are some people who work with their friends and tell them always to do evil things.)
It is said that prophet Moses(as) came to the Pharaoh one day and said to him" Pharaoh, believe in Allah and my message and I guarantee you will keep your kingdom. You will stay as the king. In addition, you will enter paradise.. You will not lose anything" Pharaoh said" Let me think about this serious offer. Give me some time to think about it"
He went and consulted one of his ministers called Haman. Haman said" Are you crazy? Moses is trying to fool you.. Right now, you are the lord.. People pray to you and worship you.. Moses wants you to worship his lord.. Then, you will be humiliated by Moses.. Why will you submit to Moses' wishes?"
Look at this kind of friends and be careful. Because of Haman, Pharaoh rejected the offer. Otherwise, he was considering it. And what happened was that both of them were punished and drowned.
What jobs did the devils do for prophet Solomon(as)?- " و الشياطين كل بناء و غواص" Some of them were building things for him. The others were swimming under the oceans and the seas digging pearls. That is because a big kingdom requires a lot of money to be generated.
- "و آخرين مقرنين في الأصفاد"The devils who did not want to work for prophet Solomon(as) will be jailed. So, no evil in that society anymore.
3- The third thing Allah(SWT) gave prophet Solomon(as) :" هذا عطاؤنا فامنن أو أمسك بغير حساب"Allah says "This is what we are giving you, Solomon. You can give as much as you want, or you can take back. What we have given you is limitless. As long as you establish justice, give money and do not worry about it.
4- Fourthly,
" و إن له عندنا لزلفى و حسن مآب(40)" ص = Indeed, when he comes back to us, he would be given a great place. He was a good man.
5- Fifthly," و لقد آتينا داود و سليمان علماً و قالا الحمد لله الذي فضلنا على كثير من عباده المؤمنين(15) " سورة النمل= We have given both David and Solomon knowledge and they said Thank you, Allah, the one who favoured us amongst many of his believers servants.
David and Solomon(as) prayed to Allah for giving them the knowledge which they were really happy for it and remembered to thank Allah for it because knowledge is power. Solomon(as) must have knowledge to be a great leader to establish the society he wishes. To know about economics, politics, military and leadership in addition to the knowledge of the religious affairs.
A lot of people forget about Allah if they are given a blessing or anything they ask for. A lot of scientists think that they are the ones who come up with the ideas. They are independent and they are inventing and discovering. Allah says " علم الإنسان ما لم يعلم" which means you are just a means to this knowledge. Allah taught the human beings things they did not know of or think about. God is the teacher and people are the users of this knowledge.
6- The sixth thing Allah gave to prophet Solomon(as) :"و ورث سليمان داود و قال يا أيها الناس عُلِّمنا منطق الطير و أوتينا من كل شيء إن هذا لهو الفضل المبين(16) "سورة النملSolomon inherited David and became the next caliph. In this verse, Solomon said " we have been taught the language of the birds and we have been given of everything. Allah made the entire world at our disposal" Indeed, this is the great blessing of Allah. He admits that this is Allah's blessing to him.
" و حُشِر لسليمان جنوده من الجن و الإنس و الطير فهم يوزعون(17)" سورة النملThe army of Solomon(as) consisted of jinns, human beings, and birds. It was so large. This indicates the greatness of this kingdom.
So, Solomon(as) knows the language of different animals. Whenever birds speak, he can understand their language and communicate with them. What is interesting here is that birds have language and they can converse like us.
" و ما من دابة في الأرض و لا طائر يطير بجناحيه إلا أمم أمثالكم(38)" سورة الأنعام = "There is no animal on the land, nor bird flies in the skies with its wings except they are nations like you." In another verse, Allah says that everything praises Allah but we do not understand them.
One day, a draught( not much rain) came. Solomon (as) said" Let us go and pray to Allah to send some rain for us" When he wanted to pray, he heard an ant saying" O' Allah, do not punish us with some of the sins of the children of Adam. Bless us with your mercy and shower us with your rain." ( إلهي لا تأخذنا بذنوب ابن أدم)
When Solomon heard this, he said to his men" We do not have to do the prayer anymore. God made something else to pray for us. Let us go back." God accepted the prayer of that little ant and shower them with rain. That is how merciful Allah is.
One day, Solomon(as) picked up an ant and asked the ant" How much do you eat per year?" That ant said" Three grains of rice." Solomon(as) took the ant and put it in a jar and provided it with three grains of rice and closed the jar and said" I will see you next year, ant." He went. Then, came back after a year. He found it eating just one and a half grains of rice. Solomon(as) was upset and said" Ant, did you lie to me? I asked you how much you eat, you said three grains of rice a year.. I came and found you eating just one and a half!" The ant was very smart. She said " You asked how much I eat when I am out there in the wild. In the wild, Allah never forgets me.. He always gives me what I need.. I need three grains of rice per year, and I am sure and certain that God will provide me with three grains of rice every year.. You took me and put me in a jar that has no any escape out and put three grains of rice with me.. What if you forgot me?! I am going to die.. so, I thought about this and I thought of going in a diet. So, if you forgot about me, I would not die.. At least I have enough food to keep me for another year and I was hopeful that Allah makes you remember me."" حتى إذا أتوا على واد النمل قالت نملة يا أيها النمل ادخلوا مساكنكم لا يحطمنكم سليمان و جنوده و هم لا يشعرون(18) فتبسم ضاحكاً من قولها و قال رب أوزعني أن أشكر نعمتك التي أنعمت علي و على والدي و أن أعمل صالحاً ترضاه و أدخلني برحمتك في عبادك الصالحين(19)"
When Solomon(as) and his huge army was looking for some place or valley, the leader of the ants witnessed his coming and said" O' ants, Danger is coming. Go into your homes. I am afraid Solomon(as) and his army would destroy you. They would run you over. They are not going to be aware of you." The wind carried the voice of this ant to Solomon(as). He smiled when he heard her. He called upon the ant and asked her" Do not you know that I am a just leader?"
- " Yes, I do. I know that, o' prophet of God" She said
- "So, why were you worried I am going to crash you? Why did you call your tribe to hide?"
- "I got worried that if my tribe of ants witnesses you with your entire huge army, they would start forgetting about Allah and thinking of you. They would be taken by your great kingdom. I did not want them to have doubts in their minds."
(What a faithful ant!!!)
- " O' my lord, grant me the ability and the blessing to thank you"
The great kingdom and the huge army meant nonsense to prophet Solomon(as). He did not care about them at all unless he pleased Allah.
" و أن أعمل صالحاً ترضاه و أدخلني برحمتك في عبادك الصالحين"= " O' Allah, make me do good deeds that you will be pleased with and make me enter into your mercy among the good doers of your servants."
Imam Ali bin Abi-Talib (as) was on his way to the battle of Siffeen which was against Moawiah. One of his companions came by his tent and found Imam Ali was busy fixing his shoe. The shoe had so many holes and he was fixing each one and everyone of them. Imam Ali(as) asked his companion" How much do think this shoe is worth?" The companion looked at the shoe and said" This shoe is full of holes. It is worthless." Imam Ali said" Be aware that this shoe of mine that you were saying it is worthless actually is worth more to me than being the caliph of Muslims, unless I establish justice and stop evil and fight oppression. That is my goal. Being a caliph is not my goal."
Unlike Moawiah, when Moawiah became the leader, the first sermon he said,
"أيها الناس إني ما قاتلتكم لتصوموا, و لا لتصلوا, و لا لتحجوا, قاتلتكم لأتأمر عليكم"
" People, I did not fight you so that you can go and pray or fast or do hajj.. I do not really care about that.. I fought against you to become your leader and now I have achieved my goal. So, whomever is going to be pleased with us and accept me as the leader, we will bless him and shower him with our blessings, and whomever is going to go against us, he......."
This is the people who do not follow Allah and do not care about His message.
( This is a transcription of a lecture by Sayyed Usama Alattar. You ca listen to it from here:http://www.4shared.com/audio/0S4Seo8z/soleimanpart2.html
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Prophet Solomon(as) prayed to Allah to grant him a kingdom that he did not want anyone else to have because he wanted to show himself as a prophet of Allah who will establish justice on earth. Unlike those tyrants before him like Pharaoh who used to oppress people. He wanted to spread justice without any misconception.
What did Allah(SWT) give him to build this kingdom?1- Allah gave him the power to control the wind. He could order the wind to carry him and the wind did whatever he wished.An interesting thing here: Prophet Solomon(as) used to travel in seconds or minutes a journey which usually takes months. This is to establish communication because he is a king and he has a big kingdom which he must take care of. One of the important things to establish justice all across the whole kingdom is to have good communication with every part in that kingdom. To have this kind of communication , Allah(SWT) gave him the ability to command the wind. So, if anything happens at any part of the world, he just can order the wind to take him to that part and immediately he would be carried to it.
It is said that one day, Solomon(as) was sitting down and next to him was his minister. A person came and entered into his setting and sat down. He was staring at the minister and the minister got upset. Then, this person got up and said:" Assalam alaikum" and left. The minister asked prophet Solomon(as) " Who was this person?"
- " This was the angel of death."
- " The angel of death?!"
- " Yes."
- " Why was he staring at me?"
- " I do not know."
The minister was scary and said" Solomon, please, get me out of here. Take me to India." Solomon(as) ordered the wind to carry the minister all the way to India. The next day, the angel of death came to visit prophet Solomon(as) again and prophet Solomon(as) asked him " Why were you staring at that man? You scared him."
- " I was surprised." replied the angel.
- " What was surprising you?"
- " God ordered me to go to India and take the life of that person there. That was where he was going to die, but he was sitting next to you. Few moments later, I had to go to India. I was surprised how I was going to see him in India while he was sitting next to you. Anyway, I had to leave to do my job. So. I went to India.. I was waiting for the moment.. and at the exact time, I found him coming to me carried by the wind.. and that was where I took his life and now he is buried in India."
(The lesson: You cannot escape from death. Even prophet Solomon(as) could not escape from death and he had an interesting story with the angel of death. We will come to it later.)One day, prophet Solomon(as) took his army( 300000 men on his right hand side, and 300000 gins on his left hand side) and he commanded the wind to raise everybody and he commanded the birds to shade them from the sun. The wind carried them across the lands and the waters to a degree that they can touch the water. (What exciting life they had!). Some people around him started to wonder what a great kingdom prophet Solomon(as) had. When prophet Solomon(as) heard this, he said to them
" لتسبيحة واحدة خير من ملكي هذا كله " which means "Praising Allah once is much better than the entire kingdom of mine". This is because this materialistic kingdom is not going to be eternal but when you praise Allah and pray to Him with sincerity, this prayer is kept for eternity in your book of records.
2- The second thing Allah(SWT) gave prophet Solomon(as) was the ability to capture the devils. They started working for him.(The devils could be either human beings or jinns as well. Some people are worse than devils. They murder and kill millions of people and they do not care. They do not have any mercy. They are worthless.. There are some people who work with their friends and tell them always to do evil things.)
It is said that prophet Moses(as) came to the Pharaoh one day and said to him" Pharaoh, believe in Allah and my message and I guarantee you will keep your kingdom. You will stay as the king. In addition, you will enter paradise.. You will not lose anything" Pharaoh said" Let me think about this serious offer. Give me some time to think about it"
He went and consulted one of his ministers called Haman. Haman said" Are you crazy? Moses is trying to fool you.. Right now, you are the lord.. People pray to you and worship you.. Moses wants you to worship his lord.. Then, you will be humiliated by Moses.. Why will you submit to Moses' wishes?"
Look at this kind of friends and be careful. Because of Haman, Pharaoh rejected the offer. Otherwise, he was considering it. And what happened was that both of them were punished and drowned.
What jobs did the devils do for prophet Solomon(as)?- " و الشياطين كل بناء و غواص" Some of them were building things for him. The others were swimming under the oceans and the seas digging pearls. That is because a big kingdom requires a lot of money to be generated.
- "و آخرين مقرنين في الأصفاد"The devils who did not want to work for prophet Solomon(as) will be jailed. So, no evil in that society anymore.
3- The third thing Allah(SWT) gave prophet Solomon(as) :" هذا عطاؤنا فامنن أو أمسك بغير حساب"Allah says "This is what we are giving you, Solomon. You can give as much as you want, or you can take back. What we have given you is limitless. As long as you establish justice, give money and do not worry about it.
4- Fourthly,
" و إن له عندنا لزلفى و حسن مآب(40)" ص = Indeed, when he comes back to us, he would be given a great place. He was a good man.
5- Fifthly," و لقد آتينا داود و سليمان علماً و قالا الحمد لله الذي فضلنا على كثير من عباده المؤمنين(15) " سورة النمل= We have given both David and Solomon knowledge and they said Thank you, Allah, the one who favoured us amongst many of his believers servants.
David and Solomon(as) prayed to Allah for giving them the knowledge which they were really happy for it and remembered to thank Allah for it because knowledge is power. Solomon(as) must have knowledge to be a great leader to establish the society he wishes. To know about economics, politics, military and leadership in addition to the knowledge of the religious affairs.
A lot of people forget about Allah if they are given a blessing or anything they ask for. A lot of scientists think that they are the ones who come up with the ideas. They are independent and they are inventing and discovering. Allah says " علم الإنسان ما لم يعلم" which means you are just a means to this knowledge. Allah taught the human beings things they did not know of or think about. God is the teacher and people are the users of this knowledge.
6- The sixth thing Allah gave to prophet Solomon(as) :"و ورث سليمان داود و قال يا أيها الناس عُلِّمنا منطق الطير و أوتينا من كل شيء إن هذا لهو الفضل المبين(16) "سورة النملSolomon inherited David and became the next caliph. In this verse, Solomon said " we have been taught the language of the birds and we have been given of everything. Allah made the entire world at our disposal" Indeed, this is the great blessing of Allah. He admits that this is Allah's blessing to him.
" و حُشِر لسليمان جنوده من الجن و الإنس و الطير فهم يوزعون(17)" سورة النملThe army of Solomon(as) consisted of jinns, human beings, and birds. It was so large. This indicates the greatness of this kingdom.
So, Solomon(as) knows the language of different animals. Whenever birds speak, he can understand their language and communicate with them. What is interesting here is that birds have language and they can converse like us.
" و ما من دابة في الأرض و لا طائر يطير بجناحيه إلا أمم أمثالكم(38)" سورة الأنعام = "There is no animal on the land, nor bird flies in the skies with its wings except they are nations like you." In another verse, Allah says that everything praises Allah but we do not understand them.
One day, a draught( not much rain) came. Solomon (as) said" Let us go and pray to Allah to send some rain for us" When he wanted to pray, he heard an ant saying" O' Allah, do not punish us with some of the sins of the children of Adam. Bless us with your mercy and shower us with your rain." ( إلهي لا تأخذنا بذنوب ابن أدم)
When Solomon heard this, he said to his men" We do not have to do the prayer anymore. God made something else to pray for us. Let us go back." God accepted the prayer of that little ant and shower them with rain. That is how merciful Allah is.
One day, Solomon(as) picked up an ant and asked the ant" How much do you eat per year?" That ant said" Three grains of rice." Solomon(as) took the ant and put it in a jar and provided it with three grains of rice and closed the jar and said" I will see you next year, ant." He went. Then, came back after a year. He found it eating just one and a half grains of rice. Solomon(as) was upset and said" Ant, did you lie to me? I asked you how much you eat, you said three grains of rice a year.. I came and found you eating just one and a half!" The ant was very smart. She said " You asked how much I eat when I am out there in the wild. In the wild, Allah never forgets me.. He always gives me what I need.. I need three grains of rice per year, and I am sure and certain that God will provide me with three grains of rice every year.. You took me and put me in a jar that has no any escape out and put three grains of rice with me.. What if you forgot me?! I am going to die.. so, I thought about this and I thought of going in a diet. So, if you forgot about me, I would not die.. At least I have enough food to keep me for another year and I was hopeful that Allah makes you remember me."" حتى إذا أتوا على واد النمل قالت نملة يا أيها النمل ادخلوا مساكنكم لا يحطمنكم سليمان و جنوده و هم لا يشعرون(18) فتبسم ضاحكاً من قولها و قال رب أوزعني أن أشكر نعمتك التي أنعمت علي و على والدي و أن أعمل صالحاً ترضاه و أدخلني برحمتك في عبادك الصالحين(19)"
When Solomon(as) and his huge army was looking for some place or valley, the leader of the ants witnessed his coming and said" O' ants, Danger is coming. Go into your homes. I am afraid Solomon(as) and his army would destroy you. They would run you over. They are not going to be aware of you." The wind carried the voice of this ant to Solomon(as). He smiled when he heard her. He called upon the ant and asked her" Do not you know that I am a just leader?"
- " Yes, I do. I know that, o' prophet of God" She said
- "So, why were you worried I am going to crash you? Why did you call your tribe to hide?"
- "I got worried that if my tribe of ants witnesses you with your entire huge army, they would start forgetting about Allah and thinking of you. They would be taken by your great kingdom. I did not want them to have doubts in their minds."
(What a faithful ant!!!)
- " O' my lord, grant me the ability and the blessing to thank you"
The great kingdom and the huge army meant nonsense to prophet Solomon(as). He did not care about them at all unless he pleased Allah.
" و أن أعمل صالحاً ترضاه و أدخلني برحمتك في عبادك الصالحين"= " O' Allah, make me do good deeds that you will be pleased with and make me enter into your mercy among the good doers of your servants."
Imam Ali bin Abi-Talib (as) was on his way to the battle of Siffeen which was against Moawiah. One of his companions came by his tent and found Imam Ali was busy fixing his shoe. The shoe had so many holes and he was fixing each one and everyone of them. Imam Ali(as) asked his companion" How much do think this shoe is worth?" The companion looked at the shoe and said" This shoe is full of holes. It is worthless." Imam Ali said" Be aware that this shoe of mine that you were saying it is worthless actually is worth more to me than being the caliph of Muslims, unless I establish justice and stop evil and fight oppression. That is my goal. Being a caliph is not my goal."
Unlike Moawiah, when Moawiah became the leader, the first sermon he said,
"أيها الناس إني ما قاتلتكم لتصوموا, و لا لتصلوا, و لا لتحجوا, قاتلتكم لأتأمر عليكم"
" People, I did not fight you so that you can go and pray or fast or do hajj.. I do not really care about that.. I fought against you to become your leader and now I have achieved my goal. So, whomever is going to be pleased with us and accept me as the leader, we will bless him and shower him with our blessings, and whomever is going to go against us, he......."
This is the people who do not follow Allah and do not care about His message.
The Story of Prophet Solomon( as) -1-
Lecture No. 1Note: This is a transcription of a lecture by Sayyed Usama Alattar. You can listen to it from here:http://www.4shared.com/audio/I57dv_bU/soleimanpart1.html
The holy Quran is full of stories which contain so much wisdom and blessings for us to take a look at and reflect upon their content. Upon one of the most interesting stories in the holy Quran is the story of prophet Solomon( pbuh). prophet Solomon was very unique and he had very unique circumstances that did not exist to any other prophet before him, nor any other prophet after him. These circumstances are what we shall be looking at and examining over the course of few parts.
If we take a look at the Holy Quran with regards to prophet Solomon(as), we find four parts where the Quran discusses him. He was mentioned by name seventeen times in seven suras in the Holy Quran. If we put them all together, we will come up with a beautiful picture of his life. An interesting picture that implies so much knowledge about things happened in the past, happening currently, and will happen in the future. That is the beautiful style of the Holy Quran.
The four parts discussing prophet Solomon(as) are the following:1- The first part is about his life with his father, prophet David(as).
2- The second part is about his own life after his father. When his father died, he became the messenger of the time and the leader.
3- The third part is about him leaving this world( his death). The Quran rarely talks about the death of the prophets. Usually, we know the deaths of the prophets from Ahadeeth. Prophet Mohammad(pbuh) and the Imams told us about how certain prophets died, yet the Holy Quran mentioned the death of prophet Solomon(as) explicitly which is again quite interesting.
4- The fourth part is about what happened after his life.
As we go over these parts , we will discuss some of the wisdoms, great aspects and accomplishments of this great prophet.
The first part:
This part is mentioned in Surat Al-anbiya:
" و داود و سليمان إذ يحكمان في الحرث إذ نفشت فيه غنم القوم و كنَّا لحكمهم شاهدين( 78) ففهمناها سليمان و كلاّ آتينا حكماً و علماً و سخرنا مع داود الجبال يسبحن و الطير و كنَّا فاعلين(79)" الأنبياء.There is a beautiful incident that took place during the time of prophet David and Solomon(as):There was a shepherd whose sheep escaped and managed to get into a farm and ate everything there. All the crop was destroyed; whatever seeds or fruits that the farmer was growing was all destroyed by these sheep. The next day, the farmer got up and saw what happened and said" Oh my God.. what has happened?! My farm..! my food..! my living..! my business..! all have been destroyed.."
So, he came to Prophet David(as) and said to him: " O' David, the prophet of Allah.. This is what has happened.. This shepherd's sheep came to my land and ate everything. I would like you to judge between me and that shepherd."
prophet David(as) said:" Well, if we calculate the total damage that was done to your farm, it will be equal to the amount of the sheep the shepherd owns. So, what I claim to do is I ask the shepherd to pass on his sheep to you and that will be equivalent in the amount of the crops destroyed"
Prophet Solomon(as) was there at that time and he was still a young man. At that stage, he turned to his father and said: " O' prophet of Allah, why do not you take it easy a little bit from this shepherd?" Prophet David(as) said:" What do you recommend, my son?" Prophet Solomon(as) said: We want to compensate him for the loss of his crops.. Instead of giving all the sheep and turning the ownership of the sheep to the farmer, we shall give the sheep to the farmer for one year only to benefit from their wool, milk, and their business.. whatever business comes from the sheep for one whole year will be equivalent to the amount of damage that was done to the crops"
So, there were two possibilities and the end result is the same end result. Both prophet David and Solomon(as) wanted to compensate the farmer for the amount of loss. Using prophet Solomon's suggestion; the shepherd can work in the farm trying to fix it and within one year, he can return the farm back to the farmer and the farmer will return the sheep back to the shepherd.
- David(as) was a prophet.. Solomon(as) suggested something to him.. Did this mean that David(as) made a mistake in his judgment???The answer is NO. This is for two reasons:
First, Allah (SWT) said " و كنا لحكمهم شاهدين" which means" We are witnessing their judgments". In Arabic language, David and Solomon is dual, not plural. Whereas, the word" لحكمهم" is plural. So, the pronoun" their" refers not to prophet David and Solomon, but to all prophets. Allah is overlooking the prophets and guiding them.
Second, as Imam Albaqir, the fifth Imam ,mentioned, prophet David( as) who was the prophet and the king of that time wanted to discuss the issue with his son to tell people that the best and appropriate person to come after him is his son, Solomon. He is most knowledgeable and what proves this is that the way that he judged the situation is the way prophet David( as) would have judged the situation as well guided by Allah(SWT).
All prophets demonstrated who will follow them. Even Moses(as) informed people that Aaron(as) is the one who takes care of people's affairs after him. This leads us to an interesting question:
If prophets David, Solomon and Moses appointed a successor after them, would prophet Mohammad(pbuh) not appoint a successor after him??! Did the prophet fail in demonstrating to people who will be coming after him??!Actually, if we read the history carefully without bias, we find that indeed the prophet has indicated to people several times in many occasions that Ali bin Abi-Talib(as) will be his successor to the extent that the question was not IF Ali bin Abi-Talib(as) is going to be made the successor of the prophet and declared as a successor. The question was WHEN the prophet declared Ali bin Abi-Talib(as) as his successor. Thus, on the day of Ghadeer, people were not shocked because they knew that.
So, this is about the first part in which David( as) used to bring Solomon(as ) towards his court. He used to get him to participate and have discussions with him. And this is to pave the way after him, Solomon(as) will be the next leader and indeed that happened and Solomon became the next caliph.The Second part:The second part is about the life of prophet Solomon himself which was unique and fascinating.
" و وهبنا لداود سليمان نعم العبد إنه أوَّاب(30)" سورة ص.In this verse, Allah(SWT) described Solomon as a great worshiper and a one who used to return to Allah . The Quran beautifully claims this because some people, unfortunately, tried to say that David(as) committed adultery and the result of that unlawful relationship was Solomon(as). Allah (SWT) wants to deny that because prophets of God do not commit sins. They are all pure. Secondly, you cannot have Solomon who is a prophet to be a son of a sin. That does not make sense. That is why Allah( SWT) said'' We have granted Solomon to David and he was a great worshiper'' , he is not a sinner or a son of a sinner.
."إذ عرض عليه بالعشيِّ الصافنات الجياد(31)" سورة ص
After his father's death, Solomon became the leader and he tried to prepare an army to fight a war to spread the message of God and peace. At that time, the best tool for fighting was horses. Those horses have two characteristics: they are in a shape that they are ready to fight and they run very fast.
" فقال إني أحببت حب الخير عن ذكر ربي حتى توارت بالحجاب(32)" سورة ص.In this verse, Solomon(as) said" I love this great blessing( the horses), but not for the sake of them. I loved them because Allah would like me to use these horses to spread His message."
حتى توارت بالحجاب means" until it was gone". This verse created a debate among the scholars. What was IT gone??There are two stories:1- Some people said that Solomon (as) was sitting down observing the horses. There was a trainer massaging them to make them feel comfortable . Solomon(as) enjoyed seeing the show of the horses feeling comfortable. So, he asked the trainer to repeat the show because he would like to thank Allah(SWT) for giving him such great tools that can help him to spread His message.
2- The second story: Solomon (as) was so fascinated by these horses until the sun started to come down and set, and yet he prayed his salat. So, he requested Allah to bring back the sun to be able to do his salat.This second idea is not accepted because you cannot find a prophet who would
forget about his salat. Prophets are sinless, pure. So, the probability of the second story happening is not likely. The most probable is the first one. He enjoyed the show so much so he asked for them to come back.
" و لقد فتنا سليمان و ألقينا على كرسيه جسداً ثم أناب(34)" سورة ص.
It is said that one day, one of prophet Solomon's wives was pregnant with a son. She gave birth to a child, but unfortunately the child was born dead. And it is said that the reason for that is that Solomon(as) said" I am going to have relationships with my spouses and each of them will deliver a boy for me and I am going to use that boy for the sake of Allah to help me fight and spread His message."
What he forgot to say is the phrase" Inshallah"= if Allah wills. Then Allah(SWT) wanted to tell him " Solomon.. You do not make that decision, I make it for you..Yes.. When you pray to me, I help you and give you.. If you want to have sons, I give you, but it is not you who makes the decision. I make it.."
" قال رب اغفر لي و هب لي ملكاً لا ينبغي لأحد من بعدي إنك أنت الوهاب(35)" سورة ص.Then, he said" o' my God. Forgive me and grant me a kingdom that cannot be achieved by anyone else. Indeed, you are the one who grants( You are the giver)" Again, he did not sin. Prophets in general ask for forgiveness from Allah if they feel that they have done less than what Allah(SWT) expected from them.
Solomon(as) prayed to Allah to give him a kingdom that no one have the same. Why did he ask for that?- He wanted people around him to feel that he is not one of those tyrant, mighty leaders like Pharaoh who had a large kingdom, a huge army, money, and everything, but he was doing that by force. He was forcing the other slaves to work for him, to build his castle, etc. Solomon(as) did not want people to feel the same way as if he is the king and they are the slaves. He wanted people to believe in his message, to believe in him as a prophet, not just as a mighty king.
- He did not want anyone else to have a power that was so strong to oppose him. He wanted to control all those who wanted to misguide other people like Pharaoh. Thus, they all submit to Allah.
It is said in Ahadeeth that Allah (SWT) said to prophet Solomon (as) " I am going to give you that kingdom. However, there shall be somebody else after you who will have a kingdom greater than yours." Prophet Solomon (as) wondered" O' my lord. Who is that person?" "That will be the twelfth descendent of the last prophet( Mohammad bin Alhassan Almahdi)"
This shows that the kingdom of Almahdi is great. Thus, Allah(SWT) indicates the kingdom of prophet Solomon (as) to tell people that if he made this kingdom once, he can make it twice for Almahdi (as).
May Allah(SWT) hasten the reappearance of Imam Mehdi(as)
The holy Quran is full of stories which contain so much wisdom and blessings for us to take a look at and reflect upon their content. Upon one of the most interesting stories in the holy Quran is the story of prophet Solomon( pbuh). prophet Solomon was very unique and he had very unique circumstances that did not exist to any other prophet before him, nor any other prophet after him. These circumstances are what we shall be looking at and examining over the course of few parts.
If we take a look at the Holy Quran with regards to prophet Solomon(as), we find four parts where the Quran discusses him. He was mentioned by name seventeen times in seven suras in the Holy Quran. If we put them all together, we will come up with a beautiful picture of his life. An interesting picture that implies so much knowledge about things happened in the past, happening currently, and will happen in the future. That is the beautiful style of the Holy Quran.
The four parts discussing prophet Solomon(as) are the following:1- The first part is about his life with his father, prophet David(as).
2- The second part is about his own life after his father. When his father died, he became the messenger of the time and the leader.
3- The third part is about him leaving this world( his death). The Quran rarely talks about the death of the prophets. Usually, we know the deaths of the prophets from Ahadeeth. Prophet Mohammad(pbuh) and the Imams told us about how certain prophets died, yet the Holy Quran mentioned the death of prophet Solomon(as) explicitly which is again quite interesting.
4- The fourth part is about what happened after his life.
As we go over these parts , we will discuss some of the wisdoms, great aspects and accomplishments of this great prophet.
The first part:
This part is mentioned in Surat Al-anbiya:
" و داود و سليمان إذ يحكمان في الحرث إذ نفشت فيه غنم القوم و كنَّا لحكمهم شاهدين( 78) ففهمناها سليمان و كلاّ آتينا حكماً و علماً و سخرنا مع داود الجبال يسبحن و الطير و كنَّا فاعلين(79)" الأنبياء.There is a beautiful incident that took place during the time of prophet David and Solomon(as):There was a shepherd whose sheep escaped and managed to get into a farm and ate everything there. All the crop was destroyed; whatever seeds or fruits that the farmer was growing was all destroyed by these sheep. The next day, the farmer got up and saw what happened and said" Oh my God.. what has happened?! My farm..! my food..! my living..! my business..! all have been destroyed.."
So, he came to Prophet David(as) and said to him: " O' David, the prophet of Allah.. This is what has happened.. This shepherd's sheep came to my land and ate everything. I would like you to judge between me and that shepherd."
prophet David(as) said:" Well, if we calculate the total damage that was done to your farm, it will be equal to the amount of the sheep the shepherd owns. So, what I claim to do is I ask the shepherd to pass on his sheep to you and that will be equivalent in the amount of the crops destroyed"
Prophet Solomon(as) was there at that time and he was still a young man. At that stage, he turned to his father and said: " O' prophet of Allah, why do not you take it easy a little bit from this shepherd?" Prophet David(as) said:" What do you recommend, my son?" Prophet Solomon(as) said: We want to compensate him for the loss of his crops.. Instead of giving all the sheep and turning the ownership of the sheep to the farmer, we shall give the sheep to the farmer for one year only to benefit from their wool, milk, and their business.. whatever business comes from the sheep for one whole year will be equivalent to the amount of damage that was done to the crops"
So, there were two possibilities and the end result is the same end result. Both prophet David and Solomon(as) wanted to compensate the farmer for the amount of loss. Using prophet Solomon's suggestion; the shepherd can work in the farm trying to fix it and within one year, he can return the farm back to the farmer and the farmer will return the sheep back to the shepherd.
- David(as) was a prophet.. Solomon(as) suggested something to him.. Did this mean that David(as) made a mistake in his judgment???The answer is NO. This is for two reasons:
First, Allah (SWT) said " و كنا لحكمهم شاهدين" which means" We are witnessing their judgments". In Arabic language, David and Solomon is dual, not plural. Whereas, the word" لحكمهم" is plural. So, the pronoun" their" refers not to prophet David and Solomon, but to all prophets. Allah is overlooking the prophets and guiding them.
Second, as Imam Albaqir, the fifth Imam ,mentioned, prophet David( as) who was the prophet and the king of that time wanted to discuss the issue with his son to tell people that the best and appropriate person to come after him is his son, Solomon. He is most knowledgeable and what proves this is that the way that he judged the situation is the way prophet David( as) would have judged the situation as well guided by Allah(SWT).
All prophets demonstrated who will follow them. Even Moses(as) informed people that Aaron(as) is the one who takes care of people's affairs after him. This leads us to an interesting question:
If prophets David, Solomon and Moses appointed a successor after them, would prophet Mohammad(pbuh) not appoint a successor after him??! Did the prophet fail in demonstrating to people who will be coming after him??!Actually, if we read the history carefully without bias, we find that indeed the prophet has indicated to people several times in many occasions that Ali bin Abi-Talib(as) will be his successor to the extent that the question was not IF Ali bin Abi-Talib(as) is going to be made the successor of the prophet and declared as a successor. The question was WHEN the prophet declared Ali bin Abi-Talib(as) as his successor. Thus, on the day of Ghadeer, people were not shocked because they knew that.
So, this is about the first part in which David( as) used to bring Solomon(as ) towards his court. He used to get him to participate and have discussions with him. And this is to pave the way after him, Solomon(as) will be the next leader and indeed that happened and Solomon became the next caliph.The Second part:The second part is about the life of prophet Solomon himself which was unique and fascinating.
" و وهبنا لداود سليمان نعم العبد إنه أوَّاب(30)" سورة ص.In this verse, Allah(SWT) described Solomon as a great worshiper and a one who used to return to Allah . The Quran beautifully claims this because some people, unfortunately, tried to say that David(as) committed adultery and the result of that unlawful relationship was Solomon(as). Allah (SWT) wants to deny that because prophets of God do not commit sins. They are all pure. Secondly, you cannot have Solomon who is a prophet to be a son of a sin. That does not make sense. That is why Allah( SWT) said'' We have granted Solomon to David and he was a great worshiper'' , he is not a sinner or a son of a sinner.
."إذ عرض عليه بالعشيِّ الصافنات الجياد(31)" سورة ص
After his father's death, Solomon became the leader and he tried to prepare an army to fight a war to spread the message of God and peace. At that time, the best tool for fighting was horses. Those horses have two characteristics: they are in a shape that they are ready to fight and they run very fast.
" فقال إني أحببت حب الخير عن ذكر ربي حتى توارت بالحجاب(32)" سورة ص.In this verse, Solomon(as) said" I love this great blessing( the horses), but not for the sake of them. I loved them because Allah would like me to use these horses to spread His message."
حتى توارت بالحجاب means" until it was gone". This verse created a debate among the scholars. What was IT gone??There are two stories:1- Some people said that Solomon (as) was sitting down observing the horses. There was a trainer massaging them to make them feel comfortable . Solomon(as) enjoyed seeing the show of the horses feeling comfortable. So, he asked the trainer to repeat the show because he would like to thank Allah(SWT) for giving him such great tools that can help him to spread His message.
2- The second story: Solomon (as) was so fascinated by these horses until the sun started to come down and set, and yet he prayed his salat. So, he requested Allah to bring back the sun to be able to do his salat.This second idea is not accepted because you cannot find a prophet who would
forget about his salat. Prophets are sinless, pure. So, the probability of the second story happening is not likely. The most probable is the first one. He enjoyed the show so much so he asked for them to come back.
" و لقد فتنا سليمان و ألقينا على كرسيه جسداً ثم أناب(34)" سورة ص.
It is said that one day, one of prophet Solomon's wives was pregnant with a son. She gave birth to a child, but unfortunately the child was born dead. And it is said that the reason for that is that Solomon(as) said" I am going to have relationships with my spouses and each of them will deliver a boy for me and I am going to use that boy for the sake of Allah to help me fight and spread His message."
What he forgot to say is the phrase" Inshallah"= if Allah wills. Then Allah(SWT) wanted to tell him " Solomon.. You do not make that decision, I make it for you..Yes.. When you pray to me, I help you and give you.. If you want to have sons, I give you, but it is not you who makes the decision. I make it.."
" قال رب اغفر لي و هب لي ملكاً لا ينبغي لأحد من بعدي إنك أنت الوهاب(35)" سورة ص.Then, he said" o' my God. Forgive me and grant me a kingdom that cannot be achieved by anyone else. Indeed, you are the one who grants( You are the giver)" Again, he did not sin. Prophets in general ask for forgiveness from Allah if they feel that they have done less than what Allah(SWT) expected from them.
Solomon(as) prayed to Allah to give him a kingdom that no one have the same. Why did he ask for that?- He wanted people around him to feel that he is not one of those tyrant, mighty leaders like Pharaoh who had a large kingdom, a huge army, money, and everything, but he was doing that by force. He was forcing the other slaves to work for him, to build his castle, etc. Solomon(as) did not want people to feel the same way as if he is the king and they are the slaves. He wanted people to believe in his message, to believe in him as a prophet, not just as a mighty king.
- He did not want anyone else to have a power that was so strong to oppose him. He wanted to control all those who wanted to misguide other people like Pharaoh. Thus, they all submit to Allah.
It is said in Ahadeeth that Allah (SWT) said to prophet Solomon (as) " I am going to give you that kingdom. However, there shall be somebody else after you who will have a kingdom greater than yours." Prophet Solomon (as) wondered" O' my lord. Who is that person?" "That will be the twelfth descendent of the last prophet( Mohammad bin Alhassan Almahdi)"
This shows that the kingdom of Almahdi is great. Thus, Allah(SWT) indicates the kingdom of prophet Solomon (as) to tell people that if he made this kingdom once, he can make it twice for Almahdi (as).
May Allah(SWT) hasten the reappearance of Imam Mehdi(as)
Monday, 7 February 2011
You Can Commit Sins Under These conditions
A man came to Imam Ali( AS) and said to him" Oh, Ali.. My self leads me to commit sins and disobey Allah.. Advice me, please"Imam Ali said" If you want to commit a sin, commit it.. but, under five conditions"The man said" Ok, tell me about them"
Imam Ali( AS) said" If you want to commit a sin, go and hide yourself in a place where Allah cannot see you"
The man said" Glory to Allah, How can I hide myself from Allah and He sees everything and knows everything..?!"
Then, Imam Ali said" Glory to Allah, Are not you ashamed of disobeying Allah while He sees you?"
The man silenced.
Then, he said" Tell me more"
Imam Ali said" If you want to disobey Allah, disobey Him.... but, not on his earth.."
The man said" Glory to Allah, Where should I go and everything in the universe is His possession?!"
Imam Ali said" Are not you ashamed of disobeying Him while you live on His earth?"
The man said" Tell me more"
Imam Ali said" If you want to disobey Allah, do not eat from what He provides you with"
The man said" How can I do so and all the gifts are from Him?!"
Imam Ali said" Are not you ashamed of disobeying Him while He feeds you and provides you with water and keeps your strength?!"The man said" Tell me more"
Imam Ali said" Disobey Allah.. but, if the angel of death comes to take out your life, do not allow him to do so"
The man said" Glory to Allah, do I have a power to stop him.. And he is the one who will take out the lives of all people, jinns and angels?!"
Then, Imam Ali said" Disobey Allah.. but, when you are given the book which consists of all of your deeds in this life, pretend that you did not commit such sins"
The man said" Glory to Allah, what about the angels who write all that I do?!"Then, the man cried deeply and went repeating the same phrase" What about the angels who write all that I do?!"
Imam Ali( AS) said" If you want to commit a sin, go and hide yourself in a place where Allah cannot see you"
The man said" Glory to Allah, How can I hide myself from Allah and He sees everything and knows everything..?!"
Then, Imam Ali said" Glory to Allah, Are not you ashamed of disobeying Allah while He sees you?"
The man silenced.
Then, he said" Tell me more"
Imam Ali said" If you want to disobey Allah, disobey Him.... but, not on his earth.."
The man said" Glory to Allah, Where should I go and everything in the universe is His possession?!"
Imam Ali said" Are not you ashamed of disobeying Him while you live on His earth?"
The man said" Tell me more"
Imam Ali said" If you want to disobey Allah, do not eat from what He provides you with"
The man said" How can I do so and all the gifts are from Him?!"
Imam Ali said" Are not you ashamed of disobeying Him while He feeds you and provides you with water and keeps your strength?!"The man said" Tell me more"
Imam Ali said" Disobey Allah.. but, if the angel of death comes to take out your life, do not allow him to do so"
The man said" Glory to Allah, do I have a power to stop him.. And he is the one who will take out the lives of all people, jinns and angels?!"
Then, Imam Ali said" Disobey Allah.. but, when you are given the book which consists of all of your deeds in this life, pretend that you did not commit such sins"
The man said" Glory to Allah, what about the angels who write all that I do?!"Then, the man cried deeply and went repeating the same phrase" What about the angels who write all that I do?!"
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