Sayyidina Sulaiman (a.s.) and the ants

وَحُشِرَ لِسُلَيمانَ جُنودُهُ مِنَ الجِنِّ وَالإِنسِ وَالطَّيرِ فَهُم يوزَعونَ

حَتّىٰ إِذا أَتَوا عَلىٰ وادِ النَّملِ قالَت نَملَةٌ يا أَيُّهَا النَّملُ ادخُلوا مَساكِنَكُم لا يَحطِمَنَّكُم سُلَيمانُ وَجُنودُهُ وَهُم لا يَشعُرونَ

فَتَبَسَّمَ ضاحِكًا مِن قَولِها وَقالَ رَبِّ أَوزِعني أَن أَشكُرَ نِعمَتَكَ الَّتي أَنعَمتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلىٰ والِدَيَّ وَأَن أَعمَلَ صالِحًا تَرضاهُ وَأَدخِلني بِرَحمَتِكَ في عِبادِكَ الصّالِحينَ

And gathered for Solomon were his soldiers of the jinn and men and birds, and they were [marching] in rows, Until, when they came upon the valley of the ants, an ant said, "O ants, enter your dwellings that you not be crushed by Solomon and his soldiers while they perceive not." So [Solomon] smiled, amused at her speech, and said, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to do righteousness of which You approve. And admit me by Your mercy into [the ranks of] Your righteous servants." (An-Naml 27:17-19)

This story is for me the best example of how man’s relationship with nature should be. Sulaiman (a.s.) and his armies were marching until they came to a valley of ants. When the ants saw them approaching, one of the ants implored the other ants to quickly enter their nest lest they be trampled upon by the army without them realizing it. The last part of that verse, ‘while they perceive not’, is key to understanding the verse properly. The ant could have just stopped short of mentioning that last part, but it was mentioned nonetheless for an important purpose. The implication of the verse is that the armies would only trample on the ants if they did not realize the ants were there. If they did, they would not trample on them. Such is nature’s expectation of the righteous. They are expected to care for nature and not cause her harm without just cause. We are not even supposed to step on an ant for no reason if we can see it, let alone destroy whole forests and oceans because of our insatiable appetite and greed. 

Everything in the universe is a sign of God and all are in constant praise and glorification of Him.

إِنَّ في خَلقِ السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضِ وَاختِلافِ اللَّيلِ وَالنَّهارِ لَآياتٍ لِأُولِي الأَلبابِ

“Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding.” (Ali ‘Imran 3:190)

سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ ما فِي السَّماواتِ وَما فِي الأَرضِ ۖ وَهُوَ العَزيزُ الحَكيمُ

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth exalts Allāh, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (As-Saff 61:1)

Thus, we have no right to destroy anything of the creation without purpose because the creation is constantly making tasbih of Allah. It is bad enough that we are slack in remembering Allah, so at least we should let the creation live in peace and continue their tasbih of Allah. But no, we throw rubbish everywhere, we pollute the environment, we cut down forests, we consume far more than we need, we cannot be bothered to recycle or reuse and and and…… We are selfish and do not have an iota of shame or guilt in the way we interact with the environment.

If we claim to be Muslims and khulafa’ of Allah, then we must care for the environment since that is what the ‘alam (nature) expects of us, as per the words of the ant. It is this realization that caused Sulaiman (a.s.) to smile in amusement, and make a dua’ so Allah grants him the strength to be grateful for all the blessings Allah has given him and his parents and to do righteous deeds, which naturally and perhaps particularly in this context, includes guarding the ‘alam to the best of his ability. Say ameen!

Musa (a.s.) and the Damsels in Distress

Surah al-Qasas contains the bulk of Musa’s (a.s.) life before he became a prophet. Previously, we saw how he mistakenly killed a Copt but then repented. After that incident, he fled the city because his crime was discovered and the authorities wanted to kill him. He fled towards Midian whilst seeking the guidance of Allah:

وَجاءَ رَجُلٌ مِن أَقصَى المَدينَةِ يَسعىٰ قالَ يا موسىٰ إِنَّ المَلَأَ يَأتَمِرونَ بِكَ لِيَقتُلوكَ فَاخرُج إِنّي لَكَ مِنَ النّاصِحينَ

فَخَرَجَ مِنها خائِفًا يَتَرَقَّبُ ۖ قالَ رَبِّ نَجِّني مِنَ القَومِ الظّالِمينَ

وَلَمّا تَوَجَّهَ تِلقاءَ مَديَنَ قالَ عَسىٰ رَبّي أَن يَهدِيَني سَواءَ السَّبيلِ

And a man came from the farthest end of the city, running. He said, "O Moses, indeed the eminent ones are conferring over you [intending] to kill you, so leave [the city]; indeed, I am to you of the sincere advisors." So he left it, fearful and anticipating [apprehension]. He said, "My Lord, save me from the wrongdoing people." And when he directed himself toward Madyan, he said, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to the sound way." (Al-Qasas 28: 20-22)

Upon reaching a watering place, he saw two damsels waiting to water their flock:

وَلَمّا وَرَدَ ماءَ مَديَنَ وَجَدَ عَلَيهِ أُمَّةً مِنَ النّاسِ يَسقونَ وَوَجَدَ مِن دونِهِمُ امرَأَتَينِ تَذودانِ ۖ قالَ ما خَطبُكُما ۖ قالَتا لا نَسقي حَتّىٰ يُصدِرَ الرِّعاءُ ۖ وَأَبونا شَيخٌ كَبيرٌ

فَسَقىٰ لَهُما ثُمَّ تَوَلّىٰ إِلَى الظِّلِّ فَقالَ رَبِّ إِنّي لِما أَنزَلتَ إِلَيَّ مِن خَيرٍ فَقيرٌ

And when he came to the water [i.e., well] of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering [their flocks], and he found aside from them two women driving back [their flocks]. He said, "What is your circumstance?" They said, "We do not water until the shepherds dispatch [their flocks]; and our father is an old man." So he watered [their flocks] for them; then he went back to the shade and said, "My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You would send down to me, in need." (Al-Qasas 28: 23-24)

First, notice how throughout this ordeal, Musa (a.s.) is completely conscious of Allah, asking Him to save, guide and help him. One can almost hear the desperation in his voice in the last dua’, where he beseeches Allah, stating his dire need for any good that Allah will send down upon him. The dependence of the prophets on God and their continuous beseeching Him gives them the strength to undergo immense trials. In the same way, if Allah is constantly on our minds, we too will be able to face trials under which ordinary folk would break. God consciousness and constant remembrance of Him can make us extraordinary.

Now let us look at the Musa’s (a.s.) response to the situation at the watering area. One can only imagine how tired he must have been after travelling so far from Egypt to Madyan, yet he was cognizant of what was going on around him. He saw two young girls who seemed out of place, and so he approached them to ask them what was their problem. This is such a fascinating response. A really tired man after a long journey, who himself probably needs water to quench his thirst, decides instead to help two damsels before sitting down to rest under the shade of a tree. There so many lessons to derive from this story. The righteous and God conscious are always aware of the needs of those around them, even if they are strangers or members of the society who are usually deemed to be underserving of respect, like women. Not only that, they go out of their way even if they are in a state of desperation themselves, to do whatever they can to help others. This story is particularly important for those among us who go to extremes in our strictness with regard to mingling with the opposite sex. Musa (a.s.) did not say to himself, “Oh my god! 2 women out in the desert alone! How shameless!” or “Ya Allah, these 2 women look like they need help, but I can’t help them because they are a source of fitnah! I must lower my gaze and pretend they don’t exist lest my iman gets jeorpadized!” No, he said none of this things. He approached them, asked them what the problem was, helped them, and went to rest without any further unnecessary chat. His response to the situation is the perfect balance between unnecessary and shameless mingling on the one hand and extreme gender segregation on the other.

May Allah guide us to be an ummah of the middle path, ‘ummatan wasatan’, as exemplified by the action of Musa (a.s.) in this incident, so we may be an example for humanity. Ameen.