Stories Of The Quran - IslamBasics

him, Allah reveals to him that with which he defeats and overcomes them.
Thereupon, they said: Muhammad knows what has been revealed to us better
than we do! Then, they asked him about sorcery and Allah revealed His
Statement: {They followed what the Shayatin (devils) gave out (falsely
of the magic) in the lifetime of Sulaiman (Solomon). Sulaiman did not
disbelieve, but the Shayatin (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic
and such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut
and Marut}. And He informed His Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)
that the devils wrote a book about sorcery and soothsaying and buried it under
Sulaiman's throne. Verily, Sulaiman was not knowledgeable about the Unseen.
When he died, the devils got that magic out and deceived the people by saying:
this is the knowledge which Sulaiman used to secretly keep from you. Prophet
Muhammad (Peace be upon him) informed the Jews of that narration and they
went out lowering their heads defeated and humiliated.
Mujahid said pertaining to Allah's Statement: {They followed what the
Shayatin (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic) in the lifetime of
Sulaiman (Solomon). Sulaiman did not disbelieve, but the Shayatin
(devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things that came
down at Babylon to the two angels, Harut and Marut}, the devils used to
listen stealthily to the discussions of the angels and add to what they heard twohundred
lies. Then, Sulaiman seized what they wrote and after his death they
regained it and taught it to the people, it was nothing but blackmagic.
Sa'id Ibn Jubair said: Sulaiman used to look for and capture the magic of the
devils and keep it buried under his throne. The devils could not reach it and thus
they inspired to the people that it is the knowledge with which Sulaiman was
able to overcome the Jinn, the wind, etc., and that it is buried under his own
throne. Afterwards, the people got it out and practiced it. Later, the people of
the Hejaz said: Sulaiman used to practice sorcery. Upon this, Allah the Almighty
revealed His Saying: {They followed what the Shayatin (devils) gave out
(falsely of the magic) in the lifetime of Sulaiman (Solomon). Sulaiman
did not disbelieve, but the Shayatin (devils) disbelieved, teaching men
magic and such things that came down at Babylon to the two angels,
Harut and Marut}. Muhammad Ibn Ishaq Ibn Yasar said: when the devils
knew of the death of Sulaiman, they wrote down types of sorcery (magic) as
thus: to fulfill such and such matters, practice such and such (procedures). They
gathered all these in a book and sealed it with a ring bearing the inscription
found on Sulaiman's ring and titled it with: This is what was written by Asif Ibn
Barkhiya by order of King Sulaiman Ibn Dawud. Then, they buried it under the
throne (of Sulaiman). After some time, the Children of Israel got it out and said:
Verily, Sulaiman ruled over us only with this and they diffused sorcery among the
people. When Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) mentioned Sulaiman Ibn
Dawud as one of the former Messengers sent by Allah the Almighty, the Jews in
Madinah said: Amazingly Muhammad claims that Sulaiman Ibn Dawud was a
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