The best of stories: The story of Dawud and Sulayman

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

This is the second piece in the series. Please read the first one here.

And (remember) Dawud (David) and Sulaiman (Solomon), when they gave judgement in the case of the field in which the sheep of certain people had pastured at night and We were witness to their judgement. And We made Sulaiman (Solomon) to understand (the case), and to each of them We gave Hukman (right judgement of the affairs and Prophethood) and knowledge. And We subjected the mountains and the birds to glorify Our Praises along with Dawud (David), And it was We Who were the doers (of all these things).And We taught him the making of metal coats of mail (for battles), to protect you in your fighting. Are you then grateful?And to Sulaiman (Solomon) (We subjected) the wind strongly raging, running by his command towards the land which We had blessed. And of everything We are the All-KnowerAnd of the Shayatin (devils) (from the jinns) were some who dived for him, and did other work besides that; and it was We Who guarded them. [Surah Anbiyah 78-82].

Dawud and Sulayman were not only Prophets (i.e religious leaders), they were also political leaders and both of them were sent to Bani Israel. Prophet Dawud was Prophet Sulayman’s father.

The sheep of a Shepard grazed on the pasture of a farmer and so the case was brought to the court of the kings.

Their verdicts were as follows;

Dawud – The owner of the grapes should keep the sheep

Sulayman – He decided to give the grapes to the owner of sheep let him tend to the grapes while the owner of grapes benefit from sheep until the grapes have grown as they were, then they swap back.

Both of the kings were given wisdom and knowledge but for this case, Sulayman was also given understanding. Allah praised Sulayman but did not condemn Dawud. He instead caused the birds and mountains to praise his achievements (he made armour ). Allah blessed us by teaching Dawud for our sake… Imagine a world without armour which in my opinion was the inspiration behind bullet-proof vests. Sulayman was really powerful you know, he was given control of the wind and jinns and could understand animals too.

Lessons and Reflections

• Allah was a witness over their decisions – As much as some of us are bosses of others and so think of ourselves as above the law, Allah is the boss of bosses and is ALWAYS in control.
• Understanding is a gift from Allah – With knowledge should come humility. Different people with same resources in the same situation giving the same chance will produce different results. Allah is the All-Knower.
• No one has all the answers all the time and whatever answers we think we have, Allah has all the POWER all the TIME.
• There is a grey area to everything – Things are not always black or white; right or wrong. Dawud’s answer was not explicitly stated as wrong and Allah never condemned him.
• Allah asks if we would be grateful. A very important question….would we?

Action points

• Allah is the boss and the fear of Him should guide my every action. I shouldn’t break set rules because I can get away with it. I should always remember the day when I would face disciplinary in the court of Allah.
• As a student of knowledge, I should be humble. My knowledge whatever I think of it is a gift from Allah.
• Someone’s answer or opinion might not be appropriate or what I want to hear but I should never condemn it.