One of the absurd tales in Islam

If you want to embrace Islam, you are expected to accept many strange and implausible stories without question

There are many bizarre tales about the Prophet Solomon, or King Solomon, in Muhammad’s teachings, Allah’s revelations, the Quran, and the Hadith. If you want to accept Islam, you are expected to accept them without question. You have heard the other tales before, but did you know this one?

In Islam, it is believed that King or Prophet Solomon (Sulayman) died while standing upright, and that no one realized it for a long time until an insect ate through his staff, causing his corpse to fall to the ground.

Ibn Kathir describes the matter in his commentary on Quran 34:14:

The Death of Sulayman, Quran 34:14

Allah describes how Sulayman died and how Allah concealed his death from the jinn, who had been subjected to him and assigned to perform hard labor. He remained standing, leaning upon his staff.

According to narrations from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid ibn Jabr, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Qatadah ibn Di’amah, and others, Sulayman remained in this state for nearly a year. Then a creature of the earth, namely a type of insect, ate away at his staff. When the staff became weakened, Sulayman fell to the ground, and it became evident that he had died long before. This became clear to his subjects, his 900 wives, and the jinn as well.

Alright then, Solomon, who possessed a vast empire, a huge army, numerous wives and slaves, and who could supposedly travel from one place to another through the air along with his palace and attendants, died standing up for an entire year and nobody noticed. No one brought him food or water, and no one asked him for anything.

This is all part of Islamic science. If you refuse to accept it, keeping your head on your shoulders may become difficult. Even after fermenting nine maunds of cannabis for ten years and thirty maunds of local moonshine for fifty years, nobody could come up with a tale as bizarre as the ones Allah and the Prophet Muhammad have produced.