An Exegetical Analysis of the Story of Sulaymān and the Queen of Sheba from the View of the Qur’an and Its Comparison with the Old Testament

Abstract

Received: 2020/5/3 | Accepted: 2020/11/7The story ofSulaymān and the Queen of Sheba has been narrated in the Noble Qur’an and the Old Testament as one of the profound stories among the thinkers. From the comparison of these two narrations, it is concluded that although both scriptures have recognized the ultimate purpose of the Queen of Sheba was understanding the wisdom of Sulaymān and have confirmed the historical existence of Prophet Sulaymān and the story in terms of establishing social and human relations, lineage, knowledge, and wisdom of Sulaymān and so on, they are different with respect to the quantity and quality of narrating many aspects such as calling Bilqis’ throne, bringing an account by the Hoopoe Bird (Hud Hud), passing the glass surface by Bilqis and so on quoted in the Noble Qur’an with educational purposes whereas they have not been mentioned in the Old Testament. Besides, there are fundamental differences between the reporting method in these two scriptures in issues such as position (kingdom or prophethood), infallibility of Sulaymān from the beginning until the end of his reign, highlighting the process of converting to Islam and the promotion of the Queen of Sheba from idolatry to Tawhid (monotheism) and so on such that the most basic differences between these two narrations refer to their different approach and explanation (in terms of being for guidance or entertainment). Therefore, the comparative display of the differences and similarities as well as the the analysis of this visit in terms of method, structure, and content using a descriptive-analytical approach is considered the main innovative purpose of the present article.

Keywords

• sulaymān
• queen of sheba
• noble qur’an
• old testament