The Context Of Ḥadīth Narration On Prophet Sulaymān Visiting Multiple Wives In A Single Night

Abstract

The paper aims to shed light on the contextual background of prophetic tradition on “Prophet SulaymÄn Visiting Multiple Wives in A Single Night†which has been given as an example of a contradiction between ḥadÄ«th and logic. It tells the story of Prophet SulaymÄn sleeping with an enormous number of wives in a single night. Being portrayed as carrying erotic message, the ḥadÄ«th has also been deduced as an example of forgery committed by the ḥadÄ«th scholars themselves. This study aims to clarify the problematic allegations, deduce a number of responses and compare the ideas from significant finding in Jewish and Christian sources. It suggests that such problematic ḥadÄ«th implicitly implying a form of muÊ¿jizÄt and karÄmah in such tradition. The study is conducted in qualitative manner based on library research technique. Relevant data material were collected from the nine canonical ḥadÄ«th books, traditional commentaries (sharh), Biblical sources and related article and were analysed in a descriptive and analytical, and comparative manner. The finding shows that the ḥadÄ«th fulfils the criteria of a rigorously authenticated ḥadÄ«th given its inclusion in the canonical works of hadith and corroborated in other tradition and highly established in ḥadÄ«th narrations. Hence, the claim of fabrication was categorically dismissed; the number of wives should be understood in general as indicating numerous wives while, ignoring the particular numbers. The study implicitly shows that the paragraph “single night†alluded to the narrative of muÊ¿jizÄt.