Prophet Sulaiman and the Queen of Sheba | Story Night 02 | Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi | EPIC Masjid

Continuing the Story of Prophet Sulaiman

So we're continuing the story of Sulaiman (peace be upon him). And we were at the point where the Queen says that a noble letter has been delivered to me. Now, one of the interesting things about the Quran, as I mentioned last class, the Quran, if you compare it, for example, to the Bible, the Old Testament, the New Testament, anybody who's read the Old New Testament within a page or two, your mind has information overload full of names, full of dates, full of information. The number of people that are mentioned in a story, you forget who's who.

The Quran's Unique Narrative Style

The Quran, how many names are mentioned in the Quran in any story? Hardly any. How many dates? None. How many locations? Hardly any. The Quran tells you the skeletal what you need to know, the moral. The moral is derived without all of the useless information. You know why we don't like studying history as children? Because in history, it's information overload. The Quran has none of that. It has the خلاصة (khulasa), the ثمرة (thamara). It has exactly what you need. And if you ponder over any story, you will be able to derive paragraphs. And the Quran doesn't mention it. And if you don't understand those paragraphs, the story is still understandable, i.e. The Quran tells you what you need to know and hidden within it, you can extrapolate even more information. You don't need to know it, but it's going to add more depth and profundity.

The Queen Receives the Letter

So, for example, when she comes out, the queen comes out and says that a letter has been given to me. As I explained in the last class, the very fact that she has the letter in her hand and not the vizier indicates the letter comes directly to her, indicating Sulaiman has a mechanism of getting to her that no normal human being can have. If you wanted to deliver a letter to any king in the world, could you have the opportunity to do that? If you wanted to deliver a letter to the president, you couldn't do that. How can Sulaiman from another country deliver the letter directly to her, overpassing all of the viziers and ministers because of the power of Allah giving him the هدهد (hoopoe) control?

So she comes out, she tells the people she has the letter and she says the letter says and the letter only quotes two sentences. Obviously, the letter is longer.

The Quran only includes two sentences in the letter. Obviously, the letter will be much longer than this. But these two sentences are all you need to know. Firstly, it is from Sulaiman and it begins بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ. This is the only time in the whole Quran that the بسملة is a verse inside the Quran. You all know this. This is the only time in the whole Quran that the entire بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ is recited inside the surah. Otherwise, بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ is outside the surah.

The Significance of Beginning with Bismillah

So what is so significant? Why is she mentioning this? Because every king, every ruler, every emperor, when they begin a letter, how do they begin it? From the mighty emperor of the seven kingdoms, the lord of the city, the first of his name, this and that, I am this and that, to you lowly person. As for Sulaiman, what does he say? بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ He begins in the name of Allah. What king mentions in the name of Allah? You understand automatically she's shaking. The letter has been delivered to her bed by the hoopoe. And then this letter is saying, this is from a man who's saying, I speak in the name of God. بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ And of course, it must be I am Sulaiman, the Prophet of God. Allah has given you all of these powers. And I am asking you, you had better submit to me. Don't even fight. أَلَّا تَعْلُوا عَلَيَّ Do not be arrogant against me. وَأْتُونِي مُسْلِمِينَ Come to me.

By the way, مُسْلِمِينَ here, do not misunderstand. There is a perfect double meaning. Number one, come to me politically submitting yourself. مُسْلِمِينَ Don't even fight me. Come under my kingdom and you will be a mini confederate within the kingdom. But there is a hidden implication. Come to me accepting Islam. Both meanings are there. وَأْتُونِي مُسْلِمِينَ And this is, by the way, beautifully, you know, summarized in our own shariah when the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to the people that were sent, he was sent out on an expedition. If they submit, excellent. That is their Islam, that is their Islam politically. And if they accept Islam, they are equal to you in faith. If they submit politically, then they have freedom, they will pay the جزية. And if they submit in Islam, they become equal to you. This is the term here, وَأْتُونِي مُسْلِمِينَ.

The Queen Seeks Counsel

So the letter explains who Sulaiman is. It is something that is terrifying her because she sees the power of Sulaiman simply by the delivery and the message of the letter. This is what the Quran is telling us. She hasn't seen Sulaiman, she hasn't seen the army, but everything is basically shaking her to the core.

So she comes out, she says, O my people, O my ملأ, O my viziers, أَفْتُونِي فِي أَمْرِي. Give me a fatwa. Tell me what I should do. مَا كُنتُ قَاطِعَةً أَمْرًا حَتَّىٰ تَشْهَدُونِ. You know, I never undertake a decision until you all bear witness and tell me what I should do.

By the way, Allah is praising the way she ruled. She's not ruling like a tyrant. She's not ruling like a dictator. She's ruling with consultation. And the Quran is very clear. The people admired her and she was beloved to her people. Why? Because one of the reasons because she's taking them into account. She's clearly a wise ruler. The Quran is praising that leadership. One of the reasons she's being praised is because she is not a dictator. She is taking into account the opinions of the people and then doing شورى. And Allah says in the Quran with regards to the Muslims,

And the way they decide something is by شورى, by consultation. This is what Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala wants from us. And this is what the Queen of Sheba does.

The Advisors' Response

So the ملأ, the viziers, they haven't seen the hoopoe. They haven't seen Sulaiman. They are not as in awe of Sulaiman as Bilqis is, right? I say Bilqis, remember last time I said the name is from إسرائيليات, it doesn't matter. The Queen of Sheba is more precise to say. We don't know her name. So they say,

We are a people of military might and we have resolve and training. Not only do we have weapons, we have experience. نَحْنُ أُولُو قُوَّةٍ We have the weapons, the armor, the force. وَأُولُو بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ And we have resolve and training. We have everything we need. Who is this person to threaten us? Why should we surrender? And generally speaking, when you ask the military leaders what they should do, generally it's war. That's the way they think. That's the way they're ingrained.

But still look at the respect they have.

But we leave the matter to you, so you decide whatever you want. Notice the respect here. They're kind of hinting, winking. They're saying, well, don't forget, we have a mighty army, we've never been defeated. Don't forget we have experience. So all of this is at your disposal. Meaning, why would we want to be subservient? And such is the reality of all civilizations. No civilization wants to be subservient to another. So they're hinting at freedom, at fighting. But then they say, listen, you are our trusted leader. We trust you whatever decision you take. وَالْأَمْرُ إِلَيْكِ فَانظُرِي مَاذَا تَأْمُرِينَ

The Queen's Wise Strategy

Notice her wisdom. She takes neither of the two. Neither submission nor war. She tries a new tactic. A tactic that an experienced politician would know. And that is delay. Let's see what happens. She said that we will send them a هدية. We will send them lots of gifts, right? And let us see what the messengers come back with.

Two hidden messages and meanings here. Number one, let's see if we can bribe them. If they want wealth and power and whatnot, what if we give them expensive gifts and save them the hassle of war? We're safe, they're safe. Placate them. And number two, by sending delegates, by sending people that are gonna take the gifts, these are also gonna double as spies. Let us really see what his strength is. Let us see this kingdom. Let our, and that's why she says, let us wait, بِمَا يَرْجِعُ الْمُرْسَلُونَ Let us wait. When the emissaries come back, they're gonna update us.

So there's a dual meaning here. Firstly, and of course the third meaning is to stall. Firstly, let's see if we can bribe them, but not be explicit. Let's say it's a هدية. And by the way, all gifts that are given, whether they have actual conditions or not, there are implications. When a kingdom gives a gift, when a country gives a gift to another gift, either there's an explicit contract or there's an implicit understanding. Nobody just gives gifts for free. So when she says, I'm gonna give them a magnificent amount of gift, means there's a quid pro quo. I'll give you this and then you just leave us alone. Or let us really see, maybe they're all bluffing this. And at the very least, we stall. We get time because time is always beneficial. You never know, things might happen when you stall.

Sulaiman's Reaction to the Gifts

So, فَلَمَّا جَاءَ سُلَيْمَانَ When the gifts came to Sulaiman, her tactic severely backfired because Sulaiman did not give a third option of send me gifts. Sulaiman said, you have no option but to surrender. One option, politically or religiously, this is implied. Both are there, but politically on the very least. You have no, because as I said last time, you can't have two superpowers in the same region. When Sulaiman hears of another superpower, there's no way. It's either me or you, one of the two, and it's not gonna be you, it'll be me.

So when the gifts come, and it was said that she sent camouflages of gold and of spices and of exotic things of Yemen and leather, things that would impress any emperor and ruler. And there were lots of slaves and lots of this being sent. When Sulaiman sees all of this, he becomes enraged and angry. And he shouts out,

Are you dare going to dangle your money in front of me? أَتُمِدُّونَنِ بِمَالٍ You want to placate me, bribe me with your money? For what Allah has given me is better than what He has given you. Meaning both religiously and the wealth that I have, both is better than you, primarily religiously. You're not gonna... Because obviously, we said about this that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself was approached by his uncle Abu Talib, right? And Abu Talib said, we will give you everything. What did he say? He said, if they were to put the sun in my right hand, the moon in my left hand, meaning if they were to give me the world, you cannot bribe sincere people. You cannot bribe the Prophets of Allah. And when you try to do so, you get the reaction of Sulaiman, how dare you? How insulting! You think I'm doing this for money? أَتُمِدُّونَنِ بِمَالٍ

Sulaiman's Ultimatum

So now, he gets angry at them. And he threatens them. And he says, ارْجِعْ إِلَيْهِمْ Get away, go back. Get away, I'm not gonna accept a penny from you. فَلَنَأْتِيَنَّهُمْ بِجُنُودٍ لَّا قِبَلَ لَهُم بِهَا We're gonna send an army. They will never be able to repel that army. وَلَنُخْرِجَنَّهُم مِّنْهَا أَذِلَّةً And we're going to expel them. And they are humiliated.

So Sulaiman threatens them with an army. And he says, we're gonna get rid of all of you.

The Queen's Decision to Submit

Now, the reality here, the Quran doesn't mention the next step, but it's understood. Because then Sulaiman, the next ayah says, Sulaiman says, قَالَ يَا أَيُّهَا الْمَلَأُ O my viziers, O my ملأ, O my gathering, who will bring me her throne before she comes in submission?

There's a missing paragraph. By missing, I mean it's understood. And that is, as soon as Sulaiman became angry, the messengers would have sent a quick messenger back to the queen, saying, oh my God, he's angry, we messed up, he's gonna invade. The queen panics, and she starts traveling to Jerusalem to submit politically. She has agreed. This is not mentioned in the Quran, but it's understood. Because the next verse says, قَالَ يَا أَيُّهَا الْمَلَأُ O my ملأ, O my gathering, who's gonna bring me her throne before she comes مُسْلِمِينَ, meaning submitting politically. Not Islam here, it's not the Islam.

The Queen's Swift Response

Which clearly indicates, she has panicked, she is now coming. And this is a power play. When one ruler rushes to the other, clearly the ruler that is rushing is the weaker one. And the ruler that is being visited is the more stronger one. So she's acquiesced, she's agreed. The messengers would have sent back, we have seen his army, we have seen his kingdom, there is no way we can fight it. The fact that she panics so quickly, the fact that she makes this decision, the fact that she's on her way instantaneously, all of this we get from the Quran that the messengers understood the power of Sulaiman, and they conveyed this to the queen. And they said, there is no way we can fight this army, we had better try another tactic, submission. So she comes with an entourage, her royals, and she is going to now directly come and beg Sulaiman, I'm so sorry, we messed up, and we are submitting to you. She does not want an invasion. She does not want an invasion.

The Challenge of the Throne

So, Sulaiman then says, and this is the ayah that everybody talks about. By the way, where was her throne? In where? Yemen, right? Her throne was in Yemen. And it was a massive throne. It was, of course, in the middle of the palace, obviously, right? It was in the center room of the palace. And the throne, it was said, was bigger than even the doors because it was constructed in the room. You could not take it out of the doors. She's not traveling with her throne. The throne is in Yemen. And she's going as fast as she can to get to Jerusalem. Will take around minimum three weeks. Minimum three weeks. She's traveling as fast as she can. She doesn't want the army to release from Jerusalem. Because once the army comes, this is a big problem for her. So, she's trying to get there before the army comes out so she can beg forgiveness and reach a peace treaty.

Once Sulaiman hears she's on her way. So, maybe there's a week left or something. Because again, remember, this is couriers coming back and forth. How long would it have taken for her courier to reach her? For her swiftest delivery guy, right? To come all the way down from Jerusalem to Yemen. Tell her the reality. Then for her to prepare. Then for her to start marching. All of this you have to take into account. Now she's marching towards Jerusalem. So, Sulaiman says, "Who is going to bring me her arsh? Her throne, before they come to me in submission?"

The Ifrit of the Jinn

So, the jinn are of many types. And the ifrit, in English they should be called the demons. The ifrit are the worst category of the jinns. And the ifrit are known for two things. Number one, their extreme arrogance and rebellion. They are the worst of the worst. It is rare to find any ifrit that might convert to Islam. Ifrit, by their nature, are the most demonic and evil. So the jinns have multiple species, call it if you will, or tribes. And there's hadith about this as well that there are some of the jinn that fly in the air, some of the jinn that inhabit animals, and there are some of the ifrit. So we know from this and from other evidences that the jinn are multiple, if you like, species, or call it tribes. Some say tribes, some say species, but they're not just one entity. And the ifrit are, number one, the most evil in nature, and number two, the most powerful in force. So the worst of the worst. And they're also the smallest, they're not a larger group, they are a small group.

An ifrit of the jinn said that أَنَا آتِكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَقُومَ مِن مَقَامِكَ وَإِنِّي عَلَيْهِ لَقَوِيٌّ أَمِينٌ Basically, if you let me go from your chains, oh Sulaiman, because remember, Allah had given Sulaiman power over the jinn. The jinn were, in ways we don't understand, chained to Sulaiman. We don't know how, but somehow they were in the control of Sulaiman. So this jinn is saying, free me, let me go, and I promise you I am قوي and أمين. I am strong and I'm trustworthy, I'll do this for you. Let me go and I will bring back the throne before you stand up from your gathering. So Sulaiman had a gathering, it would last until dhuhr, then he would take a nap. So this gathering, let's say from 9am to 12, let's say, right, 9 to 12. So the jinn says, give me two hours basically. Before you finish your gathering and go back to your siesta, give me two hours and I will have the throne in front of you.

The Physical Powers of the Jinn

Now, I have a longer lecture about the jinn. I gave it here at Epic and also gave it in my previous masjid, another similar talk and I went over some of the characteristics of the jinn. And of the characteristics of the jinn, which is very clear, not only from this ayah but from lived human experience and from other realities as well, of the characteristics of perhaps some of the jinn, not all of them. Perhaps only the ifrit, we don't know. I've never interviewed a jinn about their qualifications and what not, but some of the jinn, and definitely the ifrit, they have the power to do what? Listen to this carefully, oh physics majors, where are you? They have the power, Allah has given them a physical power, it's not supernatural. A physical power to take something that is material, like a table, convert it into energy, their substance, transport it as energy and then reproduce it as material. Einstein, E equals MC squared, this is the concept. Energy and matter are interchangeable. We know this now physically, it's completely understandable even though we don't know how to do it, we cannot do it, it is done by the creation of Allah, it is done in other existences, the black hole and the sun and all, Allah has created things that do things like this, and so the jinn seem to have, or at least some of them, seem to have this energy, right? It also appears, sorry this potential, it also appears they cannot do this to organic life, they can only do this to inorganic, so beam me up Scotty, if you know that reference, doesn't seem to be jinn capable, if you don't know the reference, don't worry about it, don't google it, but the jinn are able to do inorganic, at least some of them, they can take something.

Now, from this ayah as well, one can surmise, listen to this, this is a physical capability of the jinn, right? Allah has given them this power, but just like, every one of us can physically lift some weight, but not all of us can, you know, lift heavy weights, right? It's each one has a different, so, maybe every one of us here can bench press, I don't know, 50, 100, not everybody can bench press, what's the world limit? 400, 500, 600? Who is the world limit? Where are the gym guys? What's the maximum you can bench press? That's ever been done? Nobody knows? There's not a single gym bro in the entire, where are the alt-akhs here, man? They must be the ones who, anyways, astaghfirullah, okay, so I don't know what it is, whatever is the, let's say 500, right? Let's just say 500, can everybody do 500? Obviously not, but do you understand if you meet some big bodybuilder who goes, I can do 500, you might be impressed, but is it supernatural? Is it something that you don't understand? I'm asking you. It's clear, right? So, it seems to be that the capacity to do this is like a physical spectrum, and this, the fact that only one ifrit of the entire jinn under the control of Sulaiman says, I can do this, seems to indicate this is like the max of the max.

I.e., imagine if somebody comes in, like the biggest in the whole human history, bodybuilders, and I can do a thousand pounds bench press. While you can understand it, you've never seen it, and you're skeptical, right? So, you get it that if there's really big guy who can do it, maybe some 7 foot tall, massive bodybuilder, you get it, but it is still impressive. This is the max of the max. This appears to be the case right here. That, this is a physical talent, a physical strength that Allah has given the jinn the capacity, but it requires strength from that jinn. And so the ifrit is basically the strongest of the entire jinn is saying, give me an hour or two, and I'll be able to do it. Because realize, understand what's happening here. That chair, not only is it locked, not only is it super heavy, it has to be transported from Yemen to Jerusalem. Even a plane could not do it in an hour or two, right? He's not gonna physically bring the chair and you're gonna see it flying in the air, over you know, the entire Arabian peninsula. He is going to do what jinns do, and that is, take it as matter, bring it all the way back, and then bring it out, back again. And that's gonna take a while. So, the ifrit says, give me an hour or two, give me three hours, and I'll do it.

The One with Knowledge of the Book

The one who had knowledge of the book says, I will bring it to you in the twinkling of an eye. And it is understood here that Sulaiman gave him. Why would he not give him when the jinn is saying a few hours, and the other one is saying, the twinkling of an eye.

When he saw it established in front of him, he said, this is from Allah's blessings in order to test me if I'm thankful or not. Whoever is thankful, is thankful for himself. وَمَن شَكَرَ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَن كَفَرَ Whoever is ungrateful, then Allah is not in need of his services.

Who Was the One with Knowledge?

Now, the question everybody asks in every Mufassir, in every book of explanation, who is this one that had been given knowledge? There is many opinions. I'll quickly go over them and I'll give you my opinion in the end. The most common opinion found in the books of Tafsir is that this was a pious saint. And they have some names, Balaam, and this and that and this pious saint, he had a secret knowledge of Allah's divine name, اسم الله الأعظم, the greatest name of Allah. And he invoked that name, and lo and behold, the throne was in front of Sulaiman.

I do not think this is the case at all. The story should be dismissed. Even though it is found in many books of Tafsir, with respect, I don't hold this. Why? The story is, in my opinion, theologically problematic. How can a Prophet's follower have more knowledge than the Prophet? It does not make any sense. And in fact, this idea that, I'm going to be technical, a Wali has more power than a Nabi, it is not something that we Muslims affirm. A Wali does not have more powers than a Nabi. Some interpretations of Islam wanted to hold this, that a Wali could be more powerful than a Nabi. And they used this story But we don't believe this, and I don't believe this. How can a follower of a Prophet have more knowledge than the Prophet himself? It doesn't make any sense to me.

And also by the way, all of these opinions are in the books of Tafsir. None of them is from the Prophet ﷺ. We don't know. The Prophet ﷺ did not comment on this. So we have to surmise. And all of these opinions are found. I'm not bringing anything new. These are all opinions in the classical books. So the first opinion, it is a human who had a divine knowledge, the knowledge of the divine name of Allah, and he utilized it. This is problematic for multiple reasons. Of them, where would he get this knowledge from? علم من الكتاب If the Kitab is the Tawrah, if the Kitab is the Zabur, upon whom was the Zabur revealed? Dawood and Sulaiman. How would a follower of the one upon whom the book was revealed know more than the one upon whom the book was revealed? Again, so I can go on and on. I have a whole bunch of things about this.

The Nature of Miracles and Karamatul Awliya

Obviously, this class I've given in a much longer seminars that I've taught in other places, so I have to summarize here. Another problem that comes, listen to this, a technical theological issue. Do we believe in the miracles of the saints, called karamatul awliya? Yes or no? Yes. We believe in the karamatul awliya. There are miracles that Allah blesses pious people with. I believe this. We should all believe this. We know this from the sunnah, the seerah, that pious people get karamat.

However, listen to this carefully, can a wali do a mini miracle on demand or is it a gift from Allah that Allah gives when Allah wants to give? You see the difference between the two. Can a wali snap his fingers and fly in the air? Listen to me carefully, and I know some other movements and strands don't like this, that's their interpretation, but I'm a firm believer in this. Anybody who produces a miracle on demand either that person is a fraud or he's using black magic.

Fraud meaning it's a trick like magicians you know they pull it out of a when a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat this is neither black magic nor jinn, it's just secret chambers. This is like deceit. Anybody who does supernatural actions on demand other than a prophet because the prophets that's what makes them a prophet. Prophets, Allah has given them that power, that's what makes them a prophet so he could do things Isa resurrected the dead, he's a prophet.

Any other human being if he can do a miracle on show, on performance then I'm sorry either he is using tricks mirrors, illusions, hidden strings which is what the magic shows we watch and of course these magic shows they're not real, they're not haram, it's entertainment but understand there's no actual sihr there right, when they do the cards all this either he's using these techniques or infinitely worse much worse it involves sihr. Sihr can be done on demand because if you listen to my talks sihr is a transaction you buy the trick from the jinn it's a very natural thing, completely normal the jinn has the power to lift you up so you've paid the jinn how do you pay the jinn? Via your worshipping of the jinn, via services to the jinn you pay the jinn and when you say lift me up, you can't see the jinn the jinn will physically pick up the person and in your eyes because you cannot see the jinn he's floating in the air that type of deceit either there are tricks and mirrors or whatever or there's jinn involved it is not possible for a normal mortal for me and you, for a wali to snap his fingers and say Allah give me this and it's going to happen to me, no Allah gives miracles when Allah chooses to do so not when the person demands that's not right, nobody has that power, is that clear?

Examining Different Opinions on the One with Knowledge

So the very notion that this person is a human who has a knowledge that Sulaiman does not have, from beginning to end every aspect of the story falls apart doesn't make any sense, so I dismiss that. A second opinion is that so the second opinion is similar to the first, I'll just quickly mention it that it is some type of righteous person who's not necessarily knowing the name of Allah but he had some extra knowledge of the book of the Zabur that allowed him access to the angelic world and allowed him access to utilize the angels to bring the throne to Jerusalem and once again I say if Sulaiman wanted to use the angels he didn't have to ask his mala he's a prophet if he wanted to use the angels there is no need for him to ask his gathering, so this to me also makes no sense and also by the way no book of Allah teaches men to go to the angels this is not what we are taught, we go to Allah so for me, this is not a man at all.

A third opinion which is really bizarre and you find it actually this is a cryptic reference to none other than Sulaiman himself so it's as if Allah is talking about Sulaiman in the third person, so so when the Ifrit says it'll take me a few hours it is as if the Quran is saying Sulaiman says I'll do it in a millisecond and he wanted to show the jinn that he is more powerful by the power of Allah while theologically that is fully plausible the words don't seem to reference Sulaiman, it's as if Sulaiman is having a conversation with himself so when he saw it he said الحمد لله Allah is giving no, it doesn't make, if you read the section go read it, it's very convoluted to read in Sulaiman right? it's as if Sulaiman is speaking to himself in the third person, he replies to himself in the third person, it's really convoluted it's not a simple reading, so how many opinions is this? Three, all three of them are saying man man man Ba'lam or a random person or Sulaiman I don't believe it was a man.

Number four, it is none other than Jibreel disguised as a person in the audience plausible but again why go through the Mala if you want to, and then why does Allah say قال الذي عنده علم من الكتاب this does not make it a reference of Jibreel so yeah, you find this opinion I don't find it to be plausible.

My Preferred Position: A Learned Jinn

What is the position that I find to be the most plausible? InshaAllah you'll be intrigued by it, and if you don't like it, it's okay, you don't have to refute me in long videos and whatnot, it's just an opinion guys, it's okay it's okay to have different opinions it's all there in the books, no big deal learn to read and understand Islam has always had multiple groups and positions out there, this is an opinion you find it, and Ibn Ashur references it in his own manner, much more eloquently indirectly, he has a modified version, but this opinion is there, listen to this opinion.

To me, this cannot be a man, it cannot be a human being, because human beings do not have the power to transport massive objects from one place to another, Allah did not give us that power, Allah did give the jinn that power for them it is a natural power just like it is natural for us to physically lift things, it is natural for the jinn to do so, but this therefore is a jinn قال الذي, a one, someone man or jinn is not referenced so I say it is a jinn قال الذي عنده علم من الكتاب, Ibn Ashur says, علم من الكتاب is not the Zabur because had it been the Zabur nobody has more knowledge of it than Dawud and Sulaiman علم من الكتاب Ibn Ashur says is knowledge that is derived from experience and books what we call secular knowledge what we call knowledge of experience, knowledge of derivation somebody who had studied we would say in our world, studied the sciences I don't know what you would call it in that world but we would say in our world, somebody would study so, what is being referenced here, Ibn Ashur says that this is somebody who had acquired knowledge via studying from books and Allah is indicating that knowledge is more powerful than brute force and this is a jinn therefore that has acquired knowledge to tap into his physical power in a way that is stronger than the brute force of the physical power of the ifrit.

The Power of Knowledge Over Brute Force

Let me give you an example in the bodybuilding world, the guy can lift how much? 500 a basic physics student first year, give him some pulleys, some levers, some basic equipment and he can easily lift a thousand fifteen hundred, weaker guy, nerdy, geeky guy with glasses something similar to me when I had glasses, okay, you give him a little bit of knowledge and the tools and he can lift more than the bodybuilder because he has is that clear? So to me it's clear that what is being referenced is a jinn, not an ifrit not a demonic jinn maybe an average, a geeky jinn okay, maybe a nerdy jinn a jinn that is interested in knowledge, he might not be physically strong, but he has knowledge from the books knowledge from the books and that is why when Sulaiman sees it, he is not astonished because had it been a human Sulaiman would have said, wait, how did you get this here? What gave you this power? But if it's a jinn, you understand the jinn has the potential to bring physical matter elsewhere, right? And so Sulaiman when he sees it, he says الحمد لله, Allah has blessed me to testify I am thankful or not.

Conclusion

Now brothers and sisters, the time is late do you want me to go to part 3 next week? I can do that as well I don't want to go late for you guys so InshaAllah tomorrow is a work day I went a long time here I will pause here, I was hoping to finish but jinn talk leads to more jinn talk so we conclude InshaAllah and we'll come back next week and InshaAllah we'll finish the story of Sulaiman.

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.