Ep. 07: Under the Rule of Prophet Dawud AS | The History of Al Quds

After defeating Jalut, Dawud (AS) eventually becomes the king of Bani Isra’il and of that land. [“Thereupon by Allah’s leave they put the unbelievers to flight, and David killed Goliath, and Allah granted him dominion and wisdom, and imparted to him the knowledge of whatever He willed. And were it not that Allah repelled some people with another, the earth would surely be overlaid with mischief. But Allah is Bounteous to the people of the world (and thus extirpates mischief).” Surah Al-Baqarah: 251] Some sources mention that Talut changed his mind about passing on the kingdom to Dawud (AS) and that he wanted to keep it for his own sons, some mention a power struggle between him and Dawud (AS), but it is difficult to rely on these sources, especially when Allah (SWT) has praised Talut on the words of Shamwil (AS). [“And their Prophet said to them: “Indeed Allah has sent forth Sault (Talut) as your king. They said: ‘By what right shall he rule over us when we are more worthy than he to dominion, for he is not very wealthy?’ He said: ‘Allah has chosen him over you and has endowed him abundantly with both intellectual and physical capacities. Allah indeed has the power to bestow dominion upon whomsoever He wills. Allah is All-Resourceful, All-Knowing.’” Surah Al-Baqarah: 247] “Allah (SWT) has chosen him over you.” Meaning over the rest of Bani Isra’il. So, when Allah (SWT) had given him strength and knowledge; the logical conclusion is that this person would be guided by Allah (SWT) and guided by that knowledge and would do the right thing. In fact, it’s safe to say that Allah (SWT) had brought Talut as someone who brought things under order and organized Bani Isra’il in preparation for Dawud (AS) to become king. As Allah (AWJ) says, [“and Allah granted him dominion and wisdom and imparted to him the knowledge of whatever He willed.” Surah Al Baqarah: 251] Allah (SWT) gave Dawud (AS) that kingdom, and he gave him wisdom and taught him from whatever he wanted to teach him.

So, Dawud (AS) now becomes the first prophet who is also a king, He was from the lineage of Yahudah, or Judah, and previously, the kingdom would be through one bloodline, and prophethood would be from another, and now they were united in one person. There is a great deal about Dawud (AS) in the Qur’an and also in the hadith of Nabi (SAW). Our focus in this series is primarily about the land of Al-Aqsa, of Al-Quds, so we are more concerned with what efforts Dawud (AS) made for that land and those people, and what he did in his capacity for Al-Quds. So, Allah (SWT) gave Dawud (AS) the directive to be the judge and to establish justice. [“(We said to him) ‘O David, We have appointed you vicegerent on earth. Therefore, rule among people with justice and do not follow (your) desire lest it should lead you astray from Allah’s Path. Allah’s severe chasetisement awaits those who stray away from Allah’s Path, for they had forgotten the Day of Reckoning.’” Surah Sad: 26] “O Dawud, we have made you a vicegerent in this world; a custodian of power in this world. Amongst your other responsibilities of ruling the people and looking after their needs, you also need to make decisions based on justice and fairness.

So, Dawud (AS) implemented a system of justice for these people. He was the ultimate judge [“And We strengthened his kingdom and endowed him with wisdom and decisive judgement.” Surah Sad: 20] Allah (SWT) gave him rulership, wisdom, and also the ability to make final decisions; excellent final decisions. This is one tafsir of Faslul Khitab where he would make a decision that would be decisive in the sense that it ended the dispute, it was based on fairness and justice, and it restored order to those people. There are some examples of this in the Qur’an as well; there is one incident about people who approach Dawud (AS) while he was busy in his worship. [“Has the story of the litigants reached you of those who entered his private chambers by climbing over the wall?” Surah Sad: 21 “As they came upon David and he was frightened of them they said ‘Be not afraid. We are just two litigants: one of us has committed excess against the other. So judge rightly between us, and be not unjust; and guide us to the Right Way.’” Surah Sad: 22] These were two people who had a dispute and were trying to access Dawud (AS) while he was in worship at Bayt Al-Maqdis and they somehow managed to climb over the walls and enter. He was startled, and they said, “We are just two disputants; one has oppressed or hurt the other.” The claimant said, “Behold, this is my brother; he has ninety-nine ewes and I have only one ewe. He says, ‘Give me the one that you have.’, and he has been very harsh with me in his manner of addressing me.” Dawud (AS) said [“David said: ‘He has certainly wronged you in seeking to add your ewe to his ewes; and indeed, many who live together commit excesses, one to the other, except those that believe and act righteously; and they are but few.’ (While so saying) David realized that it is We Who have put him to test; therefore, he sought the forgiveness of his Lord, and fell down, bowing and penitently turning (to Him).” Surah Sad: 24] “He has been unfair to you by asking you to give up that one sheep that you have, and instead of sufficing with the ninety-nine, he wants to take yours as well. And this happens amongst partners, where one partner tries to usurp or take over the share of the other.” Now, at this point, there are many Isra’iliyyat stories that are told about Dawud (AS). Most of them have no basis for them. As per the rules of examining stories that have been passed down from Bani Isra’il, one of the principles is that if it coincides with something or if it is affirmed by something in our religious texts, in Qur’an, in Hadith, or through our principles of our deen, then there is no harm in taking them. Then there are those which are in direct contradiction with something in Qur’an or hadith or it contradicts with one of the principles of deen. So, about these, we are not to relate them or believe in them. One of the principles of deen is that the anbiyaa are incapable of committing any major sin. So, these Isra’iliyyat, regarding this particular incident, where they say that Dawud (AS) was interested in a woman and wanted to marry her so he sent off her husband to battle, he came back victorious, he sent him again, and again like this numerous times until that man was killed and Dawud (AS) married his wife, and Allah (SWT) was admonishing Dawud (AS) because he already had so many wives and he wanted this person’s wife as well is absolutely incorrect and baseless. We cannot accept it, by virtue of our belief in the prophets, and what Allah (SWT) has said about those prophets, so Dawud (AS) is amongst those, regarding whom Allah (SWT) has said, he is from the Muhsineen, counting the prophets that were from the progeny of Nuh (AS). [“And We bestowed upon Abraham (offspring) Ishaq (Isaac) and Ya’qub (Jacob) and each of them did We guide to the right way as We had earlier guided Noah to the right way; and (of his descendants We guided) Dawud (David) And Sulayman (Solomon), Ayyub (Job), Yusuf (Jacob), Musa (Moses), And Harun (Aaron). Thus do We reward those who do good.” Surah Al-An’am: 84] And he is amongst those prophets about which Allah (SWT) has said were guided by Allah (SWT) and whom you should follow. So this is one clear example that these anbiyaa (AS) were not misguided. Dawud (AS) is amongst them. Similarly, Allah (SWT) talks about the knowledge and wisdom of Dawud (AS), and of the piety and all of his achievements and accomplishments. These narrations come into direct contradiction with all of that material, therefore we do not accept them. What some Mufassireen have said is that it is possible that Dawud (AS) wanted to marry that woman, or he wished that he could marry that woman if she was halal at that time. This is the most that could be said about that occasion.

Why is this an important discussion? We are talking about Dawud (AS) in the capacity of a ruler and as a judge, so these types of statements undermine his status of being the one who restored justice of the fair ruler, and the one who crushed out tyranny. It is mentioned in the books of tafsir that this was a time in which unfairness, false testimony and falsification of evidence had become very, very common. Dawud (AS) put an end to all of that under his rule and through his teachings, and we also know that Dawud (AS) was granted the Zabur, the Psalms, he used to recite those Psalms, and would convey the teaching of those Psalms. So between power, knowledge and wisdom, all of which was coming through divine revelation, Dawud (AS) established an orderly and just way of living, and resolved disputes and increased the knowledge of the people. This is aside from all of the other miraculous abilities that Allah (SWT) had given him; for example, when Dawud (AS) would recite the Zabur, or when he would do the dhikr of Allah (SWT), even the mountains would do dhikr with him. The birds would also join him in his dhikr. Some narrations would mention that when he would recite the Zabur, all the birds and all the animals would crowd around, stop whatever it was that they were doing, and just listen to him for hours. Allah (SWT) had made iron soft for him, and what would he do with this? He was the first person who built armor out of chain mail. Before that, it was the steel plates that were used. So, he actually created mail, and the hadith mentions that he would make one of those in a day, without the use of fire or heat to soften the metal, and was able to bend it with his fingers. The prophet (SAW) has told us about Dawud (AS), that he would make that armor, he would sell it, and that’s that he used to sustain himself and his family. Just like Nabi (SAW) has praised the worship of Dawud (AS), he tells us that the most developed siyam (fast) is the siyam of Dawud (AS). The fast of Dawud (AS) was that he would fast one day and break fast the other, meaning that he would fast one day, and eat freely the other, then fast again. The best salah is also the salah of Dawud (AS), wherein he would sleep for half the night, then get up and worship for 1/3rd of the night, then sleep again for 1/6th of the night. He did this while maintaining his physical strength and did not become weak in battle.

So, Dawud (AS) rules for a significant period of time. The hadiths of Musnad Ahmad and others tell us that he lived for 100 years. How do we know this? Adam (AS), when he saw his progeny, he saw one of them with this radiant, shining face, he asked Allah (SWT), “Who was this?” Allah (SWT) told him that it was Dawud (AS). Adam (AS) asked, “How long is he going to live?” and Allah (SWT) revealed that he was going to live for 60 years. Adam (AS) asked Allah (SWT) to increase his age by 40 years, and Allah (SWT) agreed, in exchange for 40 years of Adam (AS)’s life. Adam (AS) lived for 1000 years, according to that narration, and so he gifted 40 years of that to Dawud (AS), and with 40 years remaining, still as per his original idea, when the angel of death came to take Adam (AS), he said, “I still have 40 years.” To which the angel said, “You forgot, you’ve given that to Dawud (AS).” So that tells us that Dawud (AS) lived for 100 years; 60 plus the 40 that he got from Adam (AS)’s life. How long exactly did he rule from that period? Well, there are two views to this. One view says that he ruled for 40 years, and the other view is that he ruled for much longer than that, because he was granted kingdom as a young man. Others say he did not become king as a young man; Talut continued to rule until he died, and then after that, Dawud (AS) became king.