Al-Hikmah
Definition
Al-hikmah — wisdom — is the quality Allah granted to both Dawud and Sulayman that enabled them to judge between people with the kind of justice that goes beyond the application of rules to the perception of truth. Ibn Kathir records the famous case in which a woman's infant was claimed by two mothers, and Sulayman proposed cutting the child in two — knowing that the true mother would surrender her claim rather than see her child harmed. The false mother agreed; the true mother cried out in sacrifice of her claim. Sulayman awarded the child to the one who loved it enough to let it go. This story, similar in structure to the judgment of Solomon, demonstrates that wisdom at its highest is not primarily knowledge of law but perception of human hearts.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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