Sunday, March 15, 2020

Islam critiqued casting demons out; Solomon controls the jinn?

In answer to the video entitled "Quran, Solomon and Ashmedai"


As to Solomon's interraction with the Jinn folk, the Quran uses that part of his life to deny certain superstitions associated with the jinn. For example the supposed possibility for humans to master them. Solomon was given unlimited mastery over them, had the capacity to summon and use the jinn, the evil as well as the good ones, at will, and for the accomplishement of positive actions only 27:17,38-41. This however was a favor from God and was done by God's express command. Their subjection, despite the rebellious nature of the sinful ones among them, was not of Solomon's own will or power and the jinns concerned had no say in the matter or else they would face God's chastisement. They were under God's complete control in the process 21:81-2 meaning Solomon by himself had absolutely no special ability that allowed him the possibility to master them the way he did, use them at will and without any fear of having to render an account 34:12,38:36-38.

In Jewish oral tradition however, it is stated that Solomon was overpowered by one of those demons, Ashmadai who chased him from his throne. Nothing even remotely similar is found in the Quran.
That such an eminent personality, favored by God and drawn near to Him, a prophet imparted knowledge of the unseen like all prophets, was not able to control the jinn except by God's will is an emphatic rejection of the claim that some random people with alleged powers have the capacity to summon them at will, and make them perform certain tasks (most of the time for evil purposes) or obtain hidden knowledge (another belief concerning the jinn rejected by the Quran 34:14). On a more specific note, it also negates the notion that solomon himself, contrary to the suspicions and calumnies of some of his contemporaries and the subsequent generations, used to practice the occult sciences
2:102"And they followed what the Shaitans chanted of sorcery in the reign of Sulaiman, and Sulaiman was not an unbeliever, but the Shaitans disbelieved".
We see traces of these allegations even in the Jewish historian Josephus' works. He relates how Solomon had, through incantations and the use of the occult sciences, mastery of demons, could perform exorcisms. He speaks of a Jew contemporary to him that made use of these Solomonic practices. Obviously the people misinterpreted Sulayman's ability, granted to him by God, of controling entities of the unseen for his own benefit. Such falsehood is abundantly found in a wide variety of Solomonic lore, including the 5th century CE Testament of Solomon, each drawing from oneanother as well as other lost sources, written and oral. Particularly among Greek Christians that used amulets, medallions seals or rings with his name. What we find in certain Jewish traditions in regards his perception of the language and behavior of birds, is that his ability wasnt a divine gift but due to his mastery of ornithomancy, an occult science involving birds (Pesika de-Rav Kahana, Ecclesiastes Rabbah). Here again, just as it does with his other supernatural abilities where it clearly states they were divinely granted gifts to him, and that Solomon was humbly grateful to his Lord, the Quran introduces the story of Solomon's interraction with the bird messenger with a prayer
27:19"My Lord, grant me that I should be grateful for Your favor that You bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I should do good such as You would be pleased with, and make me enter, by Your mercy, into Your servants, the good ones".

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