The Qur’an, Dajjal and the Jasad
CHAPTER FIVE
The Jasad the Jinn and
the Death of Solomon مﻼﺴﻟا ﻪﻴﻠﻋ
It appears to be an almost universally held view that Solomon pbuh died while sitting, perhaps, on his throne, and that it was his dead physical body which eventually collapsed after some earthworms had spent what must have been an endless amount of time gnawing away at the bottom of his staff. Our view is that it was the Jasad who was sitting on the throne ever since Solomon died, and that he was using the Minsa-ah of his staff for backward and forward travel in ‘time’ in order to present to the Jinn live images of Solomon.
However, when Dabbat al-Ard consumed the Minsa-ah of Solomon’s staff, the Jasad lost the capacity to present to the Jinn those live images of Solomon which showed him sitting on his throne and moving about. It was those images of Solomon which collapsed and disappeared when that Minsa-ah of the staff was consumed, and not Solomon’s physical body, and only then did the Jinn realize that the person sitting on the throne all this while was not Solomon but, rather, someone else.
W e now turn once more to the Jasad who was shown sitting on Solomon’s throne; this time, however, the Qur’an directs us to the occasion of Solomon’s death. Allah Most High had ordered the Jinn to work for Solomon pbuh and had warned them of severe punishment if they ever disobeyed him:
(Qur’an, Saba, 34:12)
And among the Jinn there were some that had been ordered to work for Solomon by Allah’s leave, and whichever of them deviated from Our command, him would We let taste suffering through a blazing flame.
The Qur’an identified those Jinn as Shayatin, or Satanic Jinn, and went on to inform us of other Jinn who served Solomon pbuh while shackled in chains:
(Qur’an, Sad, 38:37-38)
And among the Jinn who were ordered to work for Solomon were multitude of Shayatin who worked as builders and divers—and others linked together in fetters.
We now turn to that moment in time when Solomon pbuh died, and the Jinn were unaware that he was dead—hence they kept on working until Dabbat al-Ard, or a creature of the earth, came along to so consume the Minsa-ah of Solomon’s staff that live images of Solomon collapsed. Only then did the Jinn realize that Solomon was dead and that had they known it they would not have kept on working for so long in vain.
There are many commentators of the Qur’an who explain that it was Solomon’s dead body which collapsed; hence they offer an explanation of the verse to the effect that Solomon died while sitting on his throne and holding on to his staff. Some commentators locate his death to have occurred elsewhere than while sitting on his throne: (Qur’an, Saba, 34:14)
There are many today who cannot access the Qur’an other than through a translation, and this is what they learn from some English translations:
Muhammad Asad’s translation of the above verse:
Yet [even Solomon had to die; but] when We decreed that he should die, nothing showed them that he was dead except an earthworm that gnawed away his staff. And when he fell to the ground, those invisible beings [subservient to him] saw clearly that, had they but understood the reality which was beyond the reach of their perception, they would not have continued [to toil] in the shameful suffering [of servitude].
Here is his commentary of the verse:
This is yet another of the many Solomonic legends which had become an inalienable part of ancient Arabian tradition, and which the Qur’an uses as a vehicle for the allegorical illustration of some of its teachings. According to the legend alluded to above, Solomon died on his throne leaning forward on his staff, and for a length of time nobody became aware of his death: with the result that the jinn, who had been constrained to work for him, went on labouring at the heavy tasks assigned to them. Gradually, however, a termite ate away Solomon’s staff, and his body, deprived of support, fell to the ground. This story—only hinted at in its outline—is apparently used here as an allegory of the insignificance and inherent brittleness of human life and of the perishable nature and emptiness of all worldly might and glory.(Qur’an, Saba, 34:14)
It is incredible that Asad should declare of a passage of the Qur’an that it has no factual reality, but rather, that it is a legend that Allah Most High chose to use in order to teach a lesson. Asad had to adopt this quite improper view since he clearly dismissed the possibility that Solomon pbuh could have been dead for a long period of time without the Jinn knowing about it, and that it was only when the earthworms had gnawed sufficiently at the bottom of the staff that it lost its balance and collapsed, that Solomon’s body also collapsed.
What Asad did not know was that Allah Most did not resort to any recycled legend, and it was his incapacity to understand the Qur’an that led him to make that false comment concerning Allah Most High.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali renders the verse as follows:
Then, when We decreed (Solomon's) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down, the Jinn saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating Penalty (of their Task).
Here is his commentary:
This allegory illustrates three points: (1) however great and glorious human power and grandeur may be, it is only for a time, and it may fade away even before people know of its decline; (2) the most remarkable events may be brought to light, not by a flourish of trumpets, but by a humble individual, unknown and unseen, who works imperceptibly and undermines even so strong a thing as a staff, on which a great man may lean; (3) work done by men merely on the basis of brute strength or fear, as in the case of the Jinns, will not endure. This is brought up in strong contrast against the Power and Majesty of Allah, which will endure, which cannot be sapped, and which can only be fully appreciated by a training of the will and heart. In the same way, in David's story above, his mighty strength as a warrior, (see 2:251), and his skill in making armour are only to be valued when used, as it was used, in the service of Allah, in righteous works (34:11). The Jinns looked upon their work as a Penalty, and so it became to them. The people who worked at the Temple of Solomon as the People of David worked and gloried in their work as a thanksgiving to Allah, and their work became sanctified.
The Jinns knew nothing of hidden secrets; they only saw the obvious, and had not even the significance of the little worm that slowly gnawed away Solomon's staff.
Marmaduke Pickthall has this translation:
And when We decreed death for him, nothing showed his death to them save a creeping creature of the earth which gnawed away his staff. And when he fell the Jinn saw clearly how, if they had known the unseen, they would not have continued in despised toil.
Elementary common sense is enough for us to realize that if a King of a ruling State in the world were to have died in private space his family members and servants would quickly discover his death. If, on the other hand, he died in public space, such as while sitting on his throne, it would not take as long as an hour before his death was discovered. It is impossible that he could have remained dead on his throne or anywhere else for even an entire day with no one realizing that he was dead. A King who is sitting on his throne in a public hall would not only be in the presence of his court, but would also have security staff that would be constantly monitoring him to assure his safety. Such security staff would recognize within minutes that something had happened to him, and would investigate. A King in private space would have family members who would approach him, and so too his servants and other staff. A King cannot remain for endless hours without being served with a meal; hence it would be impossible that his death would not soon be discovered.
It appears to be an almost universally held view that Solomon died while sitting, perhaps, on his throne, and that it was his dead physical body which eventually collapsed after some earthworms had spent what must have been an endless amount of time gnawing away at the bottom of his staff. Our view is that it was the Jasad who was sitting on the throne ever since Solomon died, and that he was using the Minsa-ah of his staff for backward and forward travel in ‘time’ in order to present to the Jinn live images of Solomon.
However, when Dabbat al-Ard consumed the Minsa-ah of Solomon’s staff, the Jasad lost the capacity to present to the Jinn those live images of Solomon which showed him sitting on his throne and moving about. It was those images of Solomon which collapsed and disappeared when that Minsa-ah of the staff was consumed, and not Solomon’s physical body, and only then did the Jinn realize that the person sitting on the throne all this while was not Solomon but, rather, someone else.
Who, then was sitting on Solomon’s throne all this while since he died, and who deceived the Jinn to work for him while they believed that they were working for Solomon pbuh? Our answer is that Dajjal, the Jasad, was sitting on the throne. Indeed he is still sitting on the throne even as this book is being written.
We therefore recognize that Dajjal would continue to deceive the Jinn until Dabbat al-Ard, or a creature of the earth, so consumes Solomon’s staff that it destroys its Minsa-ah, or miraculous capacity which made it possible for the Jasad to present to the Jinn live images of a Solomon pbuh.
Dajjal is therefore profiting up to this day from evil work being done for him by the Shayatin of the Jinn, and this partially explains Jerusalem’s ascendancy to center-stage in the world as this book is being written.
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