Did Prophet Sulaiman chain the Devils in Sea? Will they emerge and recite Quran?

Questions & Answers 5 Views

Question:

What is the explanation of the Hadith:

“Indeed in the sea are devils imprisoned, whom Sulaiman chained up. They are about to emerge and recite a “Quran” to the people.”

(إِنَّ فِي الْبَحْرِ شَيَاطِينَ مَسْجُونَةً، أَوْثَقَهَا سُلَيْمَانُ، يُوشِكُ أَنْ تَخْرُجَ فَتَقْرَأَ عَلَى النَّاسِ قُرْآنًا)

Is it authentic hadith? Is this from the signs of the Day of Judgment? And how do the devils recite the Quran?

Summary of Answer:

This narration related to Prophet Sulaiman imprisoning devils could be from the reports transmitted from the People of the Book (Israiliyyat). Such reports may be mentioned and narrated, provided they are neither fully confirmed nor completely rejected.

As for the statement: (فَتَقْرَأَ عَلَى النَّاسِ قُرْآنًا),its meaning is that these devils will recite to people fabricated and false speech, presenting it as though it were a Quran or divine revelation. Similar incidents occurred with Musaylimah the Liar and other false claimants to prophethood.”

Scroll down for detailed answer ↓

 

Answer: Praise be to Allah.

Lets take a look at it in detail:

This Report Related to Prophet Sulaiman is a Mawquf Hadith

A Mawquf hadith is a narration whose chain of narrators stops at a Companion (and does not reach the Prophet), whether it is his statement, action, or approval.

Example: Ibn Masud رضي الله عنه said such-and-such. This is Mawquf because it is not explicitly attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It is the saying of a Sahabi.

Imam Muslim narrated this hadith in the Introduction to Sahih Muslim (1/9) from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (رضي الله عنهما), who said: “Indeed in the sea are devils imprisoned, whom Sulaiman chained up. They are about to emerge and recite to the people a Quran.”

This report is related to a future unseen matter. The basic principle is that when a Companion (sahabi) mentions matters of the unseen, it is assumed that he heard it from the Prophet (ﷺ). However, this rule applies only when the Companion is not narrating from the People of the Book (Israiliyyat). This is because some Companions used to narrate reports from them, whose authenticity was not definitively known, as the Prophet (ﷺ) allowed narrating from the People of the Book.

And Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (رضي الله عنهما), the narrator of this report, was known for narrating from the People of the Book. Therefore, it is possible that he may have taken this report from them.

Shaykh Muhammad Abu Shahbah (رحمه الله) commented on this report saying: “It is a Mawqoof report (the one related to Prophet Sulaiman imprisoning devils) and not a Marfu’ hadeeth directly attributed to the Prophet (ﷺ), so it is of no harm to us. However, the report has no problematic issues for those who believe in the jinn, and it does not contradict reason. I am personally inclined to believe that it is from the books that he (Amr ibn Al-Aas) obtained during the Battle of Yarmook from the People of the Book…

… None should suggest that the ruling of a Marfu’ hadeeth applies to such a report. Scholars of Hadeeth underlined that the ruling of a Marfu’ hadeeth applies to the Companion’s statement on matters that are not subject to personal opinion as long as the Companion is not known for narrating and borrowing from the Israa’eeliyyaat (the body of narratives originating from Jewish and Christian traditions), like Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (رضي الله عنهما), for instance. Therefore, the rulings related to the Marfu’ hadeeth definitely do not apply to this report…”

[Quote from Al-Wasit fi Ulum wa Mustalah al-Hadith, under the section “Mawquf Reports Having the Legal Status of Marfu‘,” discussion of the narration of Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As.]

Categories of Narrations from People of the Book

Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) said: “… As for what they narrate from the statements of the People of the Book which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) permitted, where he said: “Convey from me even if it is one verse, and narrate from the Children of Israel and there is no harm, and whoever deliberately lies upon me, then let him take his seat in the Fire.”

Reported by Al-Bukhari from Abdullah ibn Amr; and because of this, Abdullah ibn Amr had obtained on the Day of Yarmuk two loads of the books of the People of the Book, and he used to narrate from them based on what he understood from this hadith regarding the permission for that.

However, these Israili narrations are mentioned for corroboration and reference, not for belief and reliance, for they are of three categories:

The first: That whose truth we know from what is with us which testifies to its truthfulness — then that is correct.

The second: That whose falsehood we know from what is with us which contradicts it.

The third: That concerning which there is silence — it is neither from this category nor from that category. So we neither believe it nor declare it false, and it is permissible to narrate it due to what has preceded.”

[End quote from “Majmu al-Fatawa” (13/366)] 1.

When is Mawquf Hadith accepted as Marfu Hadith?

Muhammad ibn Ali al-Ithyubi (رحمه الله) said: “As previously mentioned, the condition for a Mawquf narration to take the ruling of a Marfu’ narration is that the Companion upon whom it stops should not be known for narrating from the People of the Book. As for when he is known for that, then his Mawquf narration does not take the ruling of Marfu’. And the same applies here, Abdullah ibn Amr is known for that, so this narration (the one related to Prophet Sulaiman imprisoning devils) is not considered to have the ruling of Marfu’. So pay attention to this. And Allah the Most High knows best.” [End quote from “Qurratu Ayn al-Muhtaj” (2/22)]. 2

And the scholars mention such reports by way of corroboration and reference, not as proof and evidence.

And Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj mentioned it as supporting evidence among hadiths and reports that guide towards refraining from taking hadith from weak narrators, liars, and unknown narrators.

What is the meaning of “… and recite a Quran to the people.”?

And his statement in the report: “… and recite a “Quran” to the people.” (فَتَقْرَأَ عَلَى النَّاسِ قُرْآنًا)

The intent by “Qur’an” here is not the Book that was revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ). Had that been intended, it would have come in the definite form with “الـ” as “القرآن”. However, it came in the report in the indefinite form with “Tanween” as قُرْآنًا, meaning: that you recite to the people some speech which you claim is from the Qur’an, while in reality it is a lie.

Qadi Iyad (رحمه الله) said: “If this report (the one related to Prophet Sulaiman imprisoning devils) has an authentic basis, then perhaps the meaning is that he will come with a qur’an, but it will not be accepted from him, just as what was brought by the Qaramitah, Musaylimah, Sajah, Tulayhah, and those similar to them was not accepted. Or he may have intended by ‘qur’an’ what he brings and gathers together from various things which he mentions, since the أصل (root meaning) of quran is gathering … Thus, everything that you gather together, you have ‘qara’tahu’ (recited/gathered it).” [End quote from “Ikmal al-Mu‘lim” (1/119)].

And Abu al-Abbas al-Qurtubi (رحمه الله) said: “And the أصل (root meaning) of ‘qur’an’ is gathering. From this is the statement of the one who praised his she-camel … And because of this, the Book of Allah was named Qur’an, due to what it has gathered of noble meanings. Then it may also be used as a verbal noun meaning ‘reading/recitation,’ as the poet said regarding Uthman: (… يُقَطِّعُ اللَّيلَ تَسبِيحًا وَقُرآنَا ).  Meaning: recitation.”

Meaning Of This Hadith related to Prophet Sulaiman

The meaning of this hadith related to Prophet Sulaiman imprisoning devils is: informing that the imprisoned devils will come out, and they will deceive the ignorant people with something that they will recite to them, and confuse them with it, until they think that it is Qur’an — just as Musaylimah did — or they will narrate to them fabricated reports which they falsely attribute to the Prophet (ﷺ). And it was called “qur’an” because of the falsehood which they gathered within it.

According to this explanation, the hadith teaches a warning against accepting narrations from one who is unknown. [End quote from “Al-Mufhim” (1/121)]

And Muhammad ibn Ali al-Ithyubi (رحمه الله) said: “(فَتَقْرَأَ عَلَى النَّاسِ قُرْآنًا) meaning: something which you claim is Qur’an, in order to deceive the common people by it, while it is not Qur’an.” [End quote from “Qurratu Ayn al-Muhtaj” (2/22)].

So the objective of this report related to Prophet Sulaiman is to warn against taking reports from those who are unknown and not known or recognized for knowledge and religion.

Imaam An-Nawawi (رحمه الله) wrote: “His words “they are about to emerge and recite a Quran to the people” means that they will recite something that is not Quran and claim that it is Quran to mislead laymen with it, but they will not be misled…” [Quote from Sharh Sahih Muslim] 3

Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz (رحمه الله) said: “This is from what was received from the Children of Israel — and Allah knows best — from the reports of the Children of Israel regarding which no textual evidence has come, from those matters which are neither confirmed nor denied. These are from the reports of the Children of Israel. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: (حَدِّثُوا عَنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَلَا حَرَجَ) ‘Narrate from the Children of Israel, and there is no harm.’

Therefore, what is obligatory is careful verification, because there may come human devils — not devils from the jinn — who speak, preach, remind people, permit what Allah has forbidden, and forbid what Allah has permitted. Caution is necessary.

So knowledge is not to be taken except from one who is known for goodness and guidance. Knowledge is not taken from just anyone who comes along while his condition is unknown. No.

It is obligatory upon the people of Islam that they do not take knowledge except from those known for knowledge, goodness, and trustworthiness. Knowledge is not taken from unknown people whose reality is not known except through proof. Proof is essential.” [End quote from the Shaykh’s website] 4.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this report related to Prophet Sulaiman imprisoning devils is not to be understood as a Marfu hadith directly attributed to the Prophet (ﷺ), but rather as a Mawquf narration from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (رضي الله عنهما), who was known to narrate from the reports of the People of the Book. Because of this, the scholars clarified that it does not carry the ruling of Marfu’, nor can it be used as an independent proof in matters of belief.

The scholars explained that such Israili reports are mentioned only for reference and reflection, not for firm belief unless supported by authentic evidence from the Qur’an or the established Sunnah. The intended lesson of this narration is a warning against deception, fabrication, and accepting religious claims from unknown or unqualified people.

Knowledge must only be taken from those known for sound knowledge, upright religion, trustworthiness, and adherence to authentic revelation. In times when falsehood may be presented with the appearance of truth, the Muslim is obligated to verify, to return matters to the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah, and to be cautious of every claim that lacks clear evidence.

Wallahualam (and Allah knows best)!

Footnotes:

    1. Ibn Taymiyyah, Muqaddimah fi Usul al-Tafsir, discussion on Israiliyyat and Abd Allah ibn Amr’s narration from the books of the People of the Book. [Source: https://shamela.ws/book/7289/7005]
    2. Muhammad ibn Ali al-Ithyubi, Qurratu Ayn al-Muhtaj fi Sharh Muqaddimat Sahih Muslim, 2/22. [Source: https://shamela.ws/book/148896/551]
    3. Al-Minhaj fi Sharh Sahih Muslim, commentary on the Introduction to Sahih Muslim, under “Bab al-Nahy an al-Riwayah an al-Duafa wa al-Ihtiyat fi Tahammuliha”. [Source: https://shamela.ws/book/1711/80]
    4. Source: https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/3291/ما-صحة-احاديث-تعليم-الشياطين-الناس-امور-دينهم