We Gave the Understanding to Sulaymān

And Allah (swt) says in the Qur'an: fa-fahhamnāhā Sulaymān — We gave the right understanding to Sulaymān. Judgement in court, al-qaḍāʾ, is not a matter only of knowing the law. Because both Dāwūd and Sulaymān knew the law; we cannot say that Dāwūd did not know the ḥukm, did not know the law, did not know the sharīʿah. Both of them knew the law. But to apply the law — to apply the law in situations — that is where people differ, according to their understanding.

Now Allah (swt) makes it clear to us that both of them had understanding in applying the sharīʿah of Allah. So after Allah (swt) said fa-fahhamnāhā Sulaymān, Allah (swt) says: wa kullan ātaynā ḥukman wa ʿilmā — We gave them both knowledge and right judgement. Both Dāwūd and Sulaymān had the knowledge and had the right judgement. It is just that Allah (swt) gave this understanding to Sulaymān in these situations.

And where was Sulaymān learning anyway? Who was training him? It was his father; I mean, he was learning from his father. But sometimes the son can be better than the father in some things. Both of them, Dāwūd and Sulaymān — Allah (swt) blessed them with the ability to apply the law of Allah. Allah blessed them with the law of Allah and the ability to apply it.

And this point I mention again: not everyone who has understanding of the law knows how to apply it. You could have memorised all of the laws, all of the books of fiqh, or all of the books of hadith, but you might not know how to apply it. This is a mawhibah, a gift from Allah (swt) to some people, that they have the ability to apply the law to real situations. And this is something that some of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were better than others in, and they excelled. Like, for example, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was famous among the Companions as a very wise judge, and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb used to get assistance from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and he would appoint him as a judge. This is an understanding that Allah (swt) gives to people.