وَداوودَ وَسُلَيمانَ إِذ يَحكُمانِ فِي الحَرثِ إِذ نَفَشَت فيهِ
غَنَمُ القَومِ وَكُنّا لِحُكمِهِم شاهِدينَ
فَفَهَّمناها سُلَيمانَ ۚ وَكُلًّا آتَينا حُكمًا وَعِلمًا ۚ
وَسَخَّرنا مَعَ داوودَ الجِبالَ يُسَبِّحنَ وَالطَّيرَ ۚ وَكُنّا فاعِلينَ
“And [mention] David and Solomon, when they judged
concerning the field – when the sheep of a people overran it [at night], and
We were witness to their judgement. And We gave understanding of it [i.e., the
case] to Solomon, and to each [of them] We gave judgement and knowledge. And We
subjected the mountains to exalt [Us], along with David and [also] the birds.
And We were doing [that].” Al-Anbiya’ 21:78-79
This is an interesting story in the Quran about a case that
was brought before the Prophet David and his son (peace be upon them). We know
that David was a king and naturally the chief judge of his people. His son, the
Prophet Solomon (Sulaiman) was of course the crown prince and most likely sat
with his father when there were cases to judge.
Now a person came to them about an issue. His grapes were
eaten by the sheep of another person at night while they were asleep. So there
was some negligence on the part of the sheep owner. After listening to the
case, David judged that the sheep owner should hand over some of his sheep to
the owner of the grapes as compensation. The Prophet Solomon who was present
during the hearing said, “Not like this”. The father then asked, “How then?” So
Solomon said , “Give the grapes to the owner of the sheep and let him tend them
until they grow back as they were, and give the sheep to the owner of the
grapes and let him benefit from them until the grapes have grown back as they
were. Then the grapes should be given back to their owner, and the sheep should
be given back to their owner.” [from the tafseer of Ibn Kathir]
See how the son felt comfortable to voice his opinion and
how the father accepted that opinion. Both were prophets, but David was the king at the time and was probably much wiser given his vast experience. Despite
that, he did not arrogantly dismiss his son’s opinion. The fact that the son could
express what he felt about the case shows that David was a very kind and wise king who was very willing to receive advice and in fact encouraged people to
speak up if they had something on their mind, like the Queen of Sheba in Surah
An-Naml (The Ants). Truly, a mark of a great ruler.
Indeed, Allah says that He gave Solomon a better understanding
of the case, hence, the better judgment, but He the Most High did not condemn
David’s decision but instead reiterated that to both of them He gave knowledge
and wisdom. What we learn from this story is that, first of all, all
understanding is from Allah. We should not be too proud if we make a good
decision, but instead should thank Allah for guiding us to make the right
decision. Secondly, we should be humble regardless of our status and age. It is
this humility – which can only arise if we internalize the first point, that
all knowledge, understanding and wisdom is from Allah – that will enable us to
be open to advice and criticism of our judgments and decisions. And thirdly, we
should bear in mind that if we make a decision after weighing the pros and cons
properly and it turns out to be the wrong decision, then Allah will not punish
us for that because we did our best and are only human. No doubt, we can only
make a good decision if Allah wills for such a thing to happen. As the Prophet
Muhammad said:
“If the judge does his best, studies the case and reaches
the right conclusion, he will have two rewards. If he does his best, studies
the case and reaches the wrong conclusion, he will have one reward.” [Bukhari]
May Allah help us to be humble like the Prophet David,
especially those of us in positions of power, so people around us are
comfortable to express any disagreements or opinions and so that we accept
criticism and advice with open hearts. Most certainly, all knowledge and
understanding is from Allah, not from ourselves. There really is no need to be
proud!
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