The Jinns and Animals Under Prophet Solomons (pbuh) Command

Earlier, we mentioned that the birds in Prophet Solomon’s (pbuh) army and the community of ants in the Valley of the Ants may have been jinns. We noticed their highly conscious behavior, especially the ant community in the Valley of the Ants, which displayed an awareness unseen in other animals.

We will now touch on similar qualities possessed by other animals in the account of Prophet Solomon (pbuh).

However, it was not long delayed, and then it [the hoopoe] said: “I have comprehended something that you have not, and bring you accurate intelligence from Saba. I found a woman ruling over them who has been given everything. She possesses a mighty throne. I found both her and her people prostrating to the Sun instead of God. Satan has made their actions seem good to them and debarred them from the Way, so they are not guided.” Qur’an, 27:22-24)

The hoopoe acted with great awareness. He went to Saba, did some detailed reconnoitering there, and returned to tell Prophet Solomon (pbuh) everything that he had seen.

He [Solomon] said: “We will soon see if you have told the truth or are a liar. Take this letter of mine and deliver it to them, and then withdraw from them a little and see how they respond.” (Qur’an, 27:27-28)

After receiving the hoopoe’s information, Prophet Solomon (pbuh) gave him a new task. As this was not a task that any bird could do, this hoopoe was not an ordinary bird. Probably he was a jinn.

A second possibility is that the hoopoe acted under the direction of jinns.

He [Solomon] inspected the birds and asked: “How is it that I do not see the hoopoe? Or is it absent without leave?” (Qur’an, 27:20)

This verse does not say ran away and went; rather, it says that he was absent and that Prophet Solomon (pbuh) could not see him. Perhaps jinns can leave our dimension, enter their own dimension, and thus immediately become invisible.

There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of) communities like you.Nothing have we omitted from the Book, and they (all) shall be gathered to their Lord in the end. (Qur’an, 6:38) When, toward the close of day, nobly-bred, swift-footed steeds were brought before him, he [Solomon] said: “Truly do I love the love of good because of the remembrance of my Lord”—[repeating these words as the steeds raced away,] until they were hidden by the veil [of dust]. [Solomon said:] “Return them to me!” And he set about stroking their shanks and necks. (Qur’an, 38:31-33)

These verses indicate that, like the hoopoe, these horses can disappear from view behind a veil of dust. This may mean that the horses are jinns and can slip in a moment into the jinn world where people cannot see them.

Or, they may be horses but controlled by jinns. The words “return them to me” explains that these horses were brought by others to Prophet Solomon (pbuh), and that these others may have been jinns.

Then when We decreed that he [Solomon] should die, nothing divulged his death to them except the earthworm that ate his staff, so that when he fell down, it was made clear to the jinn that if they had truly had knowledge of the Unseen, they need not have stayed there, suffering humiliating punishment. (Qur’an, 34:14)

Again, the earthworm (dabbat al-ard) mentioned here may have been a jinn. (God knows the truth.)

We tested Solomon and placed a lifeless body on his throne. Then he returned. (Qur’an, 38:34)

Perhaps this corpse was the body of a dead jinn. It may have been left on the throne and taken back in a moment into the jinn world. The words “Then he returned” may indicate that this is what actually happened.

Or, a human corpse could have been left on the throne and been taken back in a moment by jinns. The Qur’an mentions that a demon of the jinns brought the Queen of Saba’s throne very quickly from her palace to Prophet Solomon’s (pbuh).