Surah Naml and the Queen of Sheba
Question:
Why is in Surah Naml(Ant) the Queen of Sheba was not invited to the faith in clear terms but she had to deduce the faith through of number of miraclulous show of pump and show? i wonder that if someone makes more pompous show to invite to one's faith, will this way of preaching be validated? Can one invite someone to faith showing splendid buildings of one's religion?
Answer:
The wealth and the power that Sulaiman (pbuh) had was given to him by God as part of his authority as a messenger of God. This was a sign to prove the truth of his words as a messenger of God. It was in this context that the queen of Saba found this wealth and power as a sign of the truth and accepted the faith.
You might be interested to know that at the so called Golden Age of Islam, many would become interested in Islam just by witnessing the scientific, technological and social advances of Muslims. For many it was like “these people must have done something right”.
So while wealth and splendid buildings per se have nothing to do with preaching, when these are seen as a favour of the Almighty to a person or a nation, then they can in deed serve as a sign for the truth for outsiders. However if this wealth and prosperity is not perceived as a blessing of the Almighty, then there will be no or little point in demonstrating them while preaching the truth. In this case demonstrating them can easily be seen as sign of arrogance which will then obviously work against the preacher’s objective.
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February 2013
Why is in Surah Naml(Ant) the Queen of Sheba was not invited to the faith in clear terms but she had to deduce the faith through of number of miraclulous show of pump and show? i wonder that if someone makes more pompous show to invite to one's faith, will this way of preaching be validated? Can one invite someone to faith showing splendid buildings of one's religion?
Answer:
The wealth and the power that Sulaiman (pbuh) had was given to him by God as part of his authority as a messenger of God. This was a sign to prove the truth of his words as a messenger of God. It was in this context that the queen of Saba found this wealth and power as a sign of the truth and accepted the faith.
You might be interested to know that at the so called Golden Age of Islam, many would become interested in Islam just by witnessing the scientific, technological and social advances of Muslims. For many it was like “these people must have done something right”.
So while wealth and splendid buildings per se have nothing to do with preaching, when these are seen as a favour of the Almighty to a person or a nation, then they can in deed serve as a sign for the truth for outsiders. However if this wealth and prosperity is not perceived as a blessing of the Almighty, then there will be no or little point in demonstrating them while preaching the truth. In this case demonstrating them can easily be seen as sign of arrogance which will then obviously work against the preacher’s objective.
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February 2013
