338. The torso on the throne of Prophet Sulaiman.
Most of the translators have presented this verse (38:34) as follows:
Indeed we subjected Sulaiman to an ordeal, then he returned to our fold.
But we present our version as follows:
“We subjected Sulaiman to a trial, and threw him on his throne as a lifeless body, he then reformed himself”. He said “Oh my Lord! Forgive me, and grant me a reign, the like of which one nobody gets after me. You are the most Magnanimous”.
This verse and the one after, says Prophet Sulaiman committed an error and later sought redemption for it.
Most of the exegetes have rendered only lies and imaginary stories regarding this verse.
The Almighty says he subjected Sulaiman to a trial, but these people as explanation say Sulaiman made a grave mistake and the Almighty tested him as a result.
What was the sin committed by him?
Some say he equated the Almighty to some other.
Some say he indulged in sexual intercourse with his wife while she was undergoing her monthly periods.
Some say he went into hiding for three days without delivering verdicts on cases submitted to him by people.
Some others have written as he has delivered a judgment favoring his relative.
There are several similar stories written on this subject.
There are no authentications provided for any of these stories. Other than quoting some Ikrima, or some Mujahid, or someone else, we do not find any reference
While explaining “We threw a lifeless body on his throne” these people render all kinds of imaginary stories.
These people refer to the lifeless body as shaitan and say since Sulaiman made a mistake, Allah made the shaitan to occupy his throne is their explanation.
And further in their explanation, say that Sulaiman was wearing a ring, and he remained as the ruler, only as long as the ring was with him. One day Sulaiman removed the ring, and handed it over to his wife and went to take a bath, knowing this a Shaitan by the name of Sakr approached her taking the form of Sulaiman and took hold of the ring, as result the ruling of the country changed to the hands of the Shaitan who ruled for forty days, later the power to rule was transferred by Allah to Sulaiman, thus goes the story.
The word jassad in Arabic is translated as torso by these people, whereas in fact it means a human body and does not refer to a torso which is defined as a headless human body.
A human body contains nerves, flesh bones etc. the shaitan does not have all these. These people are unaware of even the fact that such a word is not used to denote shaitan.
Can Satan take the form of a prophet, when Satan takes the form of a prophet and starts ruling a country people will obey the ruler, and believe in the guidance he professes. Would Allah misguide people when a prophet is alive.
These exegetes did not ponder whether power to rule a country can be contained in a finger ring.
These exegetes have given such horrible explanations to verses of the Quran.
If these are imaginary stories, then what are the facts?
Is it a must that an incident must be the background for revelation of this verse. If we analyze this verse properly without looking for any incident as its background, we can arrive at a proper understanding of the same.
To understand the phrase “we subjected Sulaiman to trial” does not require any background stories, Allah can test his subject in many ways. He can do it with granting riches to him or by snatching his riches or by bestowing good health on him or by spoiling the same.
It is clear when one understands that Prophet Sulaiman was subjected to a test.
What is the explanation for the phrase “ we placed a torso on his throne”? Before going into the explanation of the phrase let’s examine whether the use of the word ‘torso’ is correct. The usage of the word torso is wrong, the correct word is ‘body’.
It can be either translated as ‘we placed a body on his throne’, or ‘we placed him as a body on his throne’. Taking the latter translation would make us avoid all confusions with wild stories about Prophet Sulaiman.
A mistake cannot be pointed out to Sulaiman by placing a dead body on his throne, and placement of a dead body would not necessarily send a message pointing out some wrong by him.
Let’s take the case of a terminally ill person on his deathbed. When discussing a terminally ill person’s health, we would remark that only his body is present without any significant life in him. This kind of parlance is common in most languages of the world.
We put Sulaman as a lifeless body on the throne , he was supposed to sit and rule.
Let’s take the understanding on these lines, it is being said in the Quran, Prophet Sulaiman was subjected to tribulation. We can understand it from this verse. The explanation is, he was afflicted with a severe illness, rendering him immobile and making him unable to perform his duties as a ruler, like a lifeless body.
We tested Sulaiman (as a result of which his bodily functions were affected) rendering him similar to a lifeless body on the throne.
This is very clear and without any confusion.
What does “he then returned to our fold” mean.
The word “to our fold” is not in the original text. The word used here is “Anaba” meaning returning to the earlier state. The word ‘to our fold’ is unnecessary here, it should be as ‘he returned to his earlier state. Now let’s look at the full version of the verse.
“We tested Sulaiman, and placed him on the throne lifeless, then he came back to his earlier state.
Do we need all kinds of imaginary stories to explain this verse, belying the fact that the Quran is easy to comprehend?
