Did the Queen of Sheba Submit to Allah, and What Convinced Her?
هل أسلمت ملكة سبأ وما الذي أقنعها بذلك؟
Sulaiman (peace be upon him) ordered his troops to bring forth the Queen's throne. When the Queen arrived, she was asked, "Is this the throne you sit on in Yemen?" She said that it resembled it: "It looks to be the same." (Note: the question in the Quran is "Is your throne like this?"; the throne had been disguised as a test (27:41-42), so she was asked about its likeness, not whether it was hers.) When she entered and examined the throne, she found it was similar to her own throne in Yemen. The Queen knew that bringing her throne from Yemen to Palestine in that short while was not something human minds could accept as ordinary.
It was then that she believed that Sulaiman, peace be upon him, was not merely a king but a prophet-king who called people to worship Allah alone without associating partners with Him, and for that reason she said: ("My Lord! I have certainly wronged my soul. Now I fully submit myself along with Solomon to Allah, the Lord of all worlds.") (An-Naml 27:44)
أمر سليمان عليه السلام جنوده بإحضار عرش الملكة. لما حضرت الملكة قيل لها: أهذا هو العرش الذي تجلسين عليه في اليمن؟ فقالت: يشبهه، "كأنه هو". (ملاحظة: السؤال في الآية هو "أهكذا عرشك"، وقد نُكّر العرش للاختبار (النمل 27: 41-42)، فكان السؤال عن الشبه لا عن العين.) فلما دخلت إلى العرش وجدته كعرشها الذي في اليمن بل هو مثله. علمت الملكة أن إحضار العرش بهذه الصورة وهذه السرعة من اليمن إلى بلاد فلسطين ليس شيئًا اعتياديًا يدخل في منطق البشر وقدرته.
فعند ذلك آمنت بأن سليمان عليه السلام ليس ملكًا فحسب، بل هو نبيٌّ ملكٌ يدعو الناس إلى عبادة الله وحده لا شريك له، ومن أجل ذلك قالت: "رب إني ظلمت نفسي وأسلمت مع سليمان لله رب العالمين" النمل 27: 44
1. Faith Built on Her Own Reasoning | إيمانٌ بُني على استنتاجها الخاص
The Queen was not simply told what to believe: according to the answer, she recognized her own throne, weighed the impossibility of its transport by ordinary means, and drew the conclusion herself, and the Quran places her declaration after she had also entered the palace (27:44). What first brought her kingdom to Sulaiman's attention is told in what the hoopoe found out during its absence.
لم يُملَ على الملكة ما تؤمن به: فبحسب الجواب تعرفت على عرشها بنفسها، ووازنت استحالة نقله بوسائل بشرية عادية، وتوصلت إلى الاستنتاج بنفسها، ويجعل القرآن إعلانها بعد أن دخلت الصرح أيضًا (النمل 27: 44).
2. A Test Within the Miracle | اختبارٌ ضمن المعجزة
This throne recognition was itself a test Sulaiman arranged: he had the throne disguised to see whether she would recognize it (27:41), and her entering the palace followed (27:44). The fuller sequence is covered in did the Queen of Sheba submit to Allah after surrendering to Sulaiman.
كان التعرف على العرش نفسه اختبارًا رتبه سليمان، إذ أمر بتنكير العرش لينظر أتهتدي إليه (النمل 27: 41)، ثم تلا ذلك دخولها الصرح الممرد من قوارير (النمل 27: 44).
3. Submitting With Sulaiman, Not to Him | إسلامٌ مع سليمان لا له
Her final words are precise: "My Lord! I have certainly wronged my soul. Now I ˹fully˺ submit myself along with Solomon to Allah, the Lord of all worlds" (27:44). She did not submit to Sulaiman; she joined him in submitting to Allah. Ibn Kathir explains her wronging of herself as her earlier disbelief and her people's worship of the sun, and her submission along with Solomon as following Sulaiman's religion in worshipping Allah alone, without partner. According to the answer, the throne convinced her that Sulaiman was a prophet; her declaration placed her beside him as a servant of the same Lord.
كلماتها الأخيرة دقيقة: "رب إني ظلمت نفسي وأسلمت مع سليمان لله رب العالمين" (النمل 27: 44). فهي لم تُسلم لسليمان، بل أسلمت معه لله. ويفسر ابن كثير ظلمها نفسها بما سلف من كفرها وعبادتها وقومها الشمس من دون الله، وإسلامها مع سليمان بمتابعتها دين سليمان في عبادته لله وحده لا شريك له. وبحسب الجواب، أقنعها العرش بأن سليمان نبي، وجعلها إعلانها إلى جانبه أمةً للرب نفسه.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
Did the Queen of Sheba accept Islam?
Yes, she declared her submission to Allah alongside Sulaiman.
What convinced her?
Recognizing her own throne, transported in a way no human power could explain, and then seeing Sulaiman's crystal palace, after which she declared her submission (27:44).
Did she submit to Sulaiman or to Allah?
To Allah: she declared that she submitted, along with Solomon, to Allah, the Lord of all worlds (27:44), which Ibn Kathir explains as following Sulaiman's religion in worshipping Allah alone.