Upheld by Allah: Women in the Quran
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Ep. 8: Truth Above Ego: Bilqis (as), Queen of Sheba
It can be hard to change our ways of life in fear of looking weak. Our pride, status, or simple stubbornness can keep us from reaching our potential. Here’s the story of a powerful ruler who shows us how to accept change and lead without ego. Meet Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Have you ever had a hard time changing your way of life because you are worried what others will think, or that it will make you look weak, or maybe even wrong? Allah sends for us an example of a ruler who didn't let her ego get in the way of the truth. Meet Bilqis, Queen of Saba, or Queen of Sheba. She ruled over a kingdom on the southern Arabian Peninsula in what is now known as Yemen. Bilqis was a rich and powerful queen, yet she and her people worshipped the sun and other idols. Unbeknownst to her, there existed a more powerful ruler, Prophet Suleiman Alayhi Salaam. And the Qur'an mentions many miracles and blessings that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la had bestowed upon him. He could understand the speech of animals, had the power of the wind, and despite his worldly powers, he never forgot Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and was always grateful to him. Suleiman Alayhi Salaam had an army of birds, jinn, and humans, and amongst his army was the hoopoe bird, or the hudhud, which one day was absent without his consent, which made Prophet Suleiman Alayhi Salaam unhappy. The hoopoe bird returned, however, with some exciting news and an explanation. He had been scouting in areas where Suleiman Alayhi Salaam's army had not yet reached. The hudhud reported that the kingdom of Saba was ruled by a queen and that the people of that kingdom worshipped the sun and other idols. Therefore, Prophet Suleiman Alayhi Salaam sent the hudhud with a letter to the queen, greeting her and requesting her to submit to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. The hudhud flew through the window of her palace, dropped the letter in front of her, and upon receiving the letter, Bilqis consulted with her advisors. When she read Suleiman Alayhi Salaam's letter to them and consulted with them about this news, they said, we have great strength and great ability for war, but it is for you to command, so think over what you will command us to do. Bilqis had the full authority to declare war, however, she chose a more diplomatic approach, where she decided to send a huge collection of expensive gifts to Suleiman Alayhi Salaam.
Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhu said, she said to her people, if he accepts the gift, he is a king, so fight him. But if he does not accept it, he is a prophet, so follow him. SubhanAllah. Prophet Suleiman Alayhi Salaam, however, rejected her gifts and said that the gifts which he had received from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la were infinitely better than those which he had sent. He sent the messengers back with the gifts and had them deliver a new message to Bilqis, that either she submits to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, or he would send armies which would destroy the whole of Sab'at and its people. When Bilqis saw that her gifts were returned, she then knew that Suleiman Alayhi Salaam was a prophet, so she accepted the message of Tawheed and left her palace with her army to honor Suleiman Alayhi Salaam and to learn his religion. Prophet Suleiman Alayhi Salaam wanted to further display the gifts he had been granted by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la by bringing her very expensive and elaborate throne to his palace before she arrived. So he asked his army, which one of you can bring me her throne? A jinn offered to bring it to him before Suleiman would even leave his seat. And another man who had knowledge of the book said he could bring the queen's throne in the blink of an eye. When the throne had been placed before Suleiman Alayhi Salaam, he praised Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and thanked him. Suleiman Alayhi Salaam then had the queen's throne disguised so that Bilqis couldn't recognize it right away. When she arrived, she was asked whether it was her own throne, and she said it looked like it. Then as Bilqis was asked to enter the palace, she noticed that the floor was shiny and looked like it was water, so she lifted up her skirt thinking there was a pool of water to walk through. Some of the Mufassireen said that Prophet Suleiman Alayhi Salaam built a huge palace of glass for Bilqis in order to show her the greatness of his kingdom and power. When she saw for herself what Allah had given him and how majestic his position was, she proclaimed her faith in Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to whom she had already submitted to before she even left her kingdom. She said, Rabbi inni dhalamtu nafsi wa aslamtu maa Suleiman lillahi rabbil alameen.
My Lord, verily I have wronged myself, and I submit together with Suleiman to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, the Lord of all that exists. Bilqis, Queen of Sab'a, was a wise ruler. She ruled over a powerful kingdom and had a group of advisors that respected her authority and wisdom. She had everything she could have possibly wanted, but she didn't let that get in the way of her ego when she was invited to the truth by Suleiman Alayhi Salaam. She could have thought, I don't want my people to think I'm weak for changing our religion to that of another ruler, but instead she did the right thing. She followed the right path. She didn't fear losing her wealth or power. Instead, she put her faith in Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la by leaving her palace to personally accept the invitation of Prophet Suleiman in his palace. Her willingness to change also gained her the reward of all of her people who followed the religion of Tawhid because of her leadership. We learn from Bilqis' example that to be a real leader, to show real strength, it is to do the right thing and follow the straight path.
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