Al-Hudhud
Definition
Al-hudhud — the hoopoe — is the bird that brought Sulayman intelligence about the Queen of Sheba and her kingdom of sun-worshippers, initiating one of the Quran's most diplomatically sophisticated episodes. The hoopoe's report — 'I found a woman ruling them, who has been given everything, and she has a magnificent throne; I found her and her people prostrating to the sun rather than Allah' — reflects the kind of theological perception that Ibn Kathir finds remarkable in a bird: the hoopoe recognized the error of sun-worship and felt the need to report it to a prophet who could address it. Sulayman's response — first threatening the hoopoe for its absence, then taking its intelligence seriously — models the balance of prophetic authority and openness to unexpected sources of truth.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Al-Hudhud.
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"He said, I will go and break his neck. So he came, striding. This recounts what transpired with Suleiman and the hoopoe. The birds were organized, each type presenting what was required of them, and they would attend to him in rotation, as is customary for soldiers with kings. The duty of the hoopoe, as mentioned by Ibn Abbas and others, was that when they were in need of water in the deserts during their travels, it would come and look for water for them, using the strength that Allah had endowed it with, to see the water beneath the surface of the earth."
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 3 — The Sīrah: From the First Revelation to Badr
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"This is the utmost effort of the one with little knowledge in this matter. Whoever possesses additional knowledge should share it or excuse themselves and not hasten to deny. How great is the difference between the hoopoe and the Prophet of اللّٰه, سُلَيْمَان, who said to it: "I have grasped what you have not grasped." شَيْخ الإِسْلَام is not more knowledgeable than a Prophet of اللّٰه, nor is the objector more ignorant than a hoopoe."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume Two
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"to see the water beneath the surface of the earth. When it guided them to it, they would dig it out and use it for their needs. One day, when Sulaiman, peace be upon him, sought the hoopoe, he found it missing from its place of service. He said, what is it that I do not see the hoopoe? Is it among the absent? He was concerned that it was lost from his sight."
— Ibn Kathir, Volume 2 — From the Israelite Prophets to Pre-Islamic Arabia
Appears in
1 book in the library
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