# Was the hoopoe in the story of Sulayman really a bird?

*Was the hudhud a bird or one of Sulayman's intelligence agents?*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/zotvtgdumv8/s/4/
- Date: 2019-01-08 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: In Depth: Sulaiman (a.s.), the Throne of Sheba, and Miracles in the Quran -Mufti Abu Layth (18:30–24:54)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOTvTgdUMV8&t=1110s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/zotvtgdumv8/

**Topics:** Stories of the prophets; How to read the Quran; Quranic Arabic

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Probably not, in his reading: the Arabic used of it is used only for humans, so the tafsir that it was one of Sulayman's intelligence agents makes sense.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the reading of the hudhud as one of Sulayman's intelligence agents makes sense given the verbs used, which refer to human beings.

**Evidence, his words at 20:26:** “he stuffs the image stuff see it is something that does make sense given the kind of constant verbs that are used referring to human beings” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOTvTgdUMV8&t=1226s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says Sulayman's missing the tayr can mean a bird or a unit, and that the verb and plurals used of the hudhud, such as the absent ones, the truthful and the liars, are used only for human beings in Arabic. He says the threat to slaughter him led many to think it was a bird, but calls it figurative. He cites Maulana Abdul Karim Athari [?] in his tafsir, with some Syrian scholars, that the hudhud was one of a branch of Sulayman's people equivalent to a modern intelligence service. He argues that taking it as a bird means crediting an animal with the ability to analyse kingdoms, recognise sun worship as misguidance and lie, which no animal has, and says the human reading makes sense when one zooms out.

## Sources and names cited

- hudhud (hoopoe)
- Sulayman (Solomon)
- Maulana Abdul Karim Athari [?]
- Tafsir Urwat al-Wuthqa [?] (Abdul Karim Athari)
- Quran 27:20-21 (why do I not see the hudhud; I will punish or slaughter him): https://quran.com/27/20-21
- Quran 27:22-24 (the hudhud's report from Saba): https://quran.com/27/22-24
- Quran 27:27 (we will see whether you are truthful or among the liars): https://quran.com/27/27

## Transcript (machine tier, 18:30–24:54)

[17:51] gold reserves that he had and gold that was reaching him and stuff like this and even to today they don't know what they have certain traces are from the region of ophea and they don't know where this region was and there's been a gold hunt trying to discover it because he was receiving a lot of gold from that region so hood hood and just to kind of touch up here it's interesting this isn't my point but I know a lot of people have asked me who was hood hood or what was hot now in this verse of the Quran it mentions that Solomon Ali Salaam

[18:30] he says what the of the tire of a column Ali he says he one day missus this tail and tail can mean a kind of bird or a watch it can mean something like this because the collective noun that's being used for column Ali Allah are all hood hood uncanny mean Aloha hippie now people say it was a bird so he had this little kind of bird that would fly around and he's talking about this bird the interesting thing is the verb that is used and then says can a mineral aha a beam high beam is used for human beings only it is not used for

[19:08] animals like the plural that is used like in like muslimeen me mean like caffeine for example this in or the own in the nominative case is not used for animals it is only used for humans and it says I'm Konami no I mean is he from the people that are absent where is he and then he says that look that was they been known as a bunch a didn't that he says I will punish him all as bhajana who only a TNA be so Poornima bean says I will I'm gonna punish I'm gonna

[19:47] slaughter this person and this is him using the word here slaughter is what led a lot of Muslims into thinking it's a bird as well this as well as the word 5:8 reinforced for them that slaughter right so but that was just his figurative statement that this person had a responsibility now great legends like Maulana Abdul Karim al a letter II who was from India in his stuff seed sorry from the indo-pak region in his stuff

[20:26] see sorry I'm just putting this on in his stuff Cyril orbital was all in line with certain atom of a Syrian as well say that this was actually a branch that there was a branch of people that Salomon ELISA Lam had under his command that were equivalent to modern-day intelligentsia hence he called them birds like Falcon like Eagles they were his people that would bring him information about other kingdoms now he says that that's he stuffs the image stuff see it is something that does make

[21:04] sense given the kind of constant verbs that are used referring to human beings so for example for when salt when hood hood comes from Makassar era by eating all had to be madam to hit me he what you can be min saba'iin binaba'iin yaqinin' now he says that look he comes back and he says that he stays slightly at a distance and he says - sorry man Allison I'm look I've come with some information about the people of Sheba if this was a bird the problem when we zoom out is we're saying a bird has cognition

[21:42] we're saying a bird has intelligence we're saying a bird has not just animal intelligence but it has the intelligence to analyze to assess to synthesize information to relay information to recognize what kingdoms mean to recognize these kind of concepts that that if you zoom out is a problem because animals are not Michela they don't have these kind of capacity so you see this is one of the this is what I'm saying with the zoom in zoom out problem if you take this to be a bird but if as Maulana Abdul Karim ls3

[22:20] said that this was a person who told and this was his intelligence his intelligence iya so the person was responsible and hence as such an important figure was missing and hence Solomon al-islam was incredibly angry and that's any stuff see he then goes on to relay what he saw and I saw budget to her Oh My yes you do Nana shams him in do nila that these people were bowing down to the Sun that they were prostrating to the Sun was a yin 1108 on my lungs I saw the Holman is a really for home last at all that he says the Shaitaan has misled them and they have

[22:59] turned away from God once again a saying an animal has these kind of psychological trucks that are human constructs these things don't exist okay so and you see we could zoom in and just pretend it's a mythology well you know God I know animals don't have human social construct but God made this bird happy hmm and then you zoom out and you say well hmm so what's your problem with the elephant God in Hinduism why is that all of a sudden so count of reason you know if they said well God made him happy you

[23:37] said you know no but that doesn't make any sense really and a bird doing all this does make sense so you see when you zoom out you have a problem when you zoom in you're just so immersed it doesn't matter you're just reading it as a narrative so he then goes on to say he describes now listen once again what does Solomon ELISA Lam address him paulus a month or as a doctor I'm contaminant Kathy be once again Kathy being the plural only used for humans he says I will see whether you are truthful

[24:15] or you are telling ale you are from though the people who lie people who lie birds are not from people and then is a bird once again a bird knows how to lie he understands human concept as theory of mind it recognizes I'm deceiving somebody it recognizes these things right so it's problematic saying this is a bird nevertheless Solomon ELISA Lam writes to the Queen of Sheba he writes to her censor and then she kind of consults with her people saying what do you think and they say that you know we can fight

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment zOTvTgdUMV8/s/4. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/zotvtgdumv8/s/4/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.