Last week I had a 'Kisah Nabi-Nabi' phase and went to search for the chronicles of the 25 main prophets. Yes, very pious of me. But I was bored, and I wanted the true version for once. I was tired of reading Christian depictions of our prophets, (especially the last one). I really do try to see them from their point of view, but oftentimes I was left wanting at how obscure and incomplete their descriptions were. So, tired of being the understanding open-minded Muslim I am, I went and search for the Qur'anic version, which is what I should have done in the first place, really.
The first prophet that piqued my interest was a certain King Solomon, which turned out to be a descendent of King David of Israel. I made the mistake of reading the Christian version which spelled out King David (of David and Goliath's fame) as very devoted to his God, had three sons, one of whom was Solomon, but was denied the privilege of building a temple for his God, a privilege reserved for his heir Solomon. His two sons fued for the throne, knowing Solomon would be heir. A lot of stuff happened, King David died in sadness, Solomon succeeded him and his two other sons were either sentenced to death or died in the fighting.
Of course, King Solomon is none other than the Prophet Sulaiman who went on to rule the greatest kingdom on Earth, commanded d'jinns, understood birds and had his armies rode wind instead of horses. And yes, he also 'conquered' the Queen of Saba' (Sheba) with his palace of mirror. Either way, his gift was that he was a very wise man and ruled a kingdom that was unprecedented, and no other would exist after his. The Christian version is the same so far, except for the part of his latter years. They said he died a corrupted man who had over 700 wives and 300 concubines from his diplomatic marriages. Because he loved his wives, he gave in and let them build their temples of worship for their deities and even partake in their worship, thus turning his back on his own God. Therefore he died a pagan.
I was unhappy with this, so I searched for the Qur'anic version. Prophet Sulaiman AS had been blessed with a 'miraculous life, thus a miraculous death'. On the day of his death, he was praying in a small mosque on top of a hill, overseeing a construction work done by the djinns and humans. He leaned forward on his cane and died in the middle of prayer, but the djinns and humans didn't know he died, and thought he was still watching, so they continued working. It was only 40 days later when termites had eaten through his cane that he fell forward and they found out that he had died for some time. If you ask me, it is a fitting death for someone so revered.
And while I was at it, I checked up on his dad King David too. And 'lo and behold - it's the Prophet Daud AS! I was shocked for not realizing the Arabic equivalent. Needless to say I was appaled at myself! Furthermore, the story of 'David and Goliath' was in fact, true. Different name, but true nonetheless. David was 9 years old at the time, and 'Goliath' was a big war general. He was not born royalty. At that time he was serving the army of the King of Israel. After his deed in battle against 'Goliath' the King married him to his daughter, thus making him future king. Interesting eh? They should have included such interesting stories during our various Friday tazkirahs at school. But nooo scolding people who don't wear scarves outside of school seemed more important! :P
Another interesting history bit that intrigued me was that of Mary Magdalene. After The Da Vinci Code, I did a lot of research on her, but in vain. It was only last week that I bothered to re-check Prophet Isa AS's full background, or as full as it can go. The Qur'an only says as much about the lives of the prophets because it stresses its role a religious text, not a historical one - fair enough. Anyway. Other than his mother, there are no prominent females mentioned around him. But it was itneresting how they mentioned that Mary Magdalene could have been a former prostitute. There is an incident with him and a prostitute.
The priests of Moses' teachings in Prophet Isa's time tried to make him admit that he was turning his back from Moses' teachings. The sentence for prostitution was stoning, and they had a prostitute to sentence. They asked him if he would sentence her himself if he was truly a believer in Moses' teachings. They were expecting him to refuse, thus admitting his heresy, but Isa already knew their intentions. So, instead he said, "If this woman is sinful, than only those among us who have not sinned shall sentence her". The priests were unhappy (admitting they had not sinned would be heresy), and Isa walked away. The prostitute, grateful to him, threw herself at his feet, and washed his feet with her tears. At this, Isa turned to his followers and said, in a way "and you said you loved me." Previously they were saying how much they loved and adored him, you see. But then this woman came and washed his feet with her tears.
Could that woman be the so-called Mary Magdalene? The Qur'an or hadith didn't mention her name, and if she became a disciple later on. I think it's safe to assume she became a believer and nothing more. The Christian version on the other hand, said nothing of her washing his feet. Whatever it is, Prophet Isa was unmarried and chaste up till his ascension. The disciple who volunteered to take his place for the execution was promised to be his companion in the afterlife, and nothing more was said either in the Qur'an or hadith, about what happened after the Roman soldiers took him away to be crucified. It is a tad unnecessary to go into details, but still, I like details. The point is that you get the message across. Frustrating, but that's life.
Another interesting bit I found out was the Prophet Muhammad SAW's treatment of the Nasrani and Yahudi (Jews and Christians) when they came to Makkah during his time. He gladly shared half the mosque with them to let them perform their prayer their own way and even warned his followers (if you're a Muslim, that's you by the way) "if you intentionally harm the (Jews and Christians), then, during Judgement Day, I will not count you as among my followers". So everyone, play nice!
I know Muslims in general hold grudges against Jews and thus, Israel in general. But unless you're out there in the battlefield, there is nothing you can do but pray for your Muslim bretheren. Going all suicide bombing at public places will earn you a direct flight to Hell. And thus, condoning such behaviors, if the targets are civilians not involved in the war, makes you an accomplice. I am not an expert in such things, but remember your Prophet's words!
And in case you've forgotten, out of the 25 main prophets, only about 4 of them are Arabs. The others were all Jews. ...Well, looking at the Jews today, it made sense why so many Prophets had been sent their way.
Digging is fun. I go dig more! Ta'ra!
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