Prophet Dawud

Prophet Dawud

by: raneem odeh

line of prophets

Prophet Musa helped bani israel escape Egypt onto the land of Palestine. among these people was Dawud. He went on to become a great prophet and king, who was praised in many religions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) as he was known for his wisdom , strength, and devotion, and was mentioned a total of 16 times in the Quran.

Killing a Giant

Dawud had no sword or spear, not even a shield. He only had a slingshot as a weapon. He prayed to Allah and asked for His help. Then he was ready to fight. Dawud loaded the slingshot with a small stone. He pulled the sling back as far as it would go, aimed, and released it. The small stone hit Jalut directly on his forehead. Jalut fell to the ground with a thunderous noise, dead. Banu Israel won the battle, even though they had fewer soldiers. Dawud, his family and his friends finally entered the blessed and holy city of Jerusalem.

When he was young, Dawud joined the army of bani Israel, who were planning to fight the people of Jerusalem, who's had a huge and strong leader called Jalut. The Banu Israel were terrified of his incredible size, but Dawud was incredibly brave, even though he was still so young. He stepped forward and said “I will fight Jalut.” When Jalut saw Dawud come to him, he said “I'll not fight such a young and weak boy.”

a prophet

a king

The people of bani Israel loved Dawud and appointed him as there king. he was blessed with ruling the land for 40 years. He had 19 sons so to choose his successor allah sent him questions to ask each son. One day he called all his sons but none were able to answer but the youngest, Suleiman, who stood up and answered, who was appointed as his succesor

Dawud later became a Prophet. He was sent messages and revelations from allah that were put together in the book of Zaboor. He was known for his amazing worship of allah. Many hadiths praise Dawud for his worship and dedication in following allah.

his blessings

Dawud was blessed with a golden voice, when he recited the Zaboor or glorified Allah, his beautiful voice made the birds would stop in the air to join his singing. Even mountains would join in praising and glorifying Allah

he also was blessed with being able to understand the language of animals and could bend irom with his hands as it became malleable.

he was also gifted with great wisdom and rightous judgement and would judge between people in the kingdom when they had disagreements

[38:26] O Dawood! Surely We have made you a ruler in the land; so judge between men with justice and do not follow desire[38:19] And the birds gathered together; all joined in singing with him. [38:20] And We strengthened his kingdom and We gave him wisdom and a clear judgment.

Masjid Al-Aqsa

Toward the end of his life, Dawud started to rebuild Masjid al-Aqsa. The blessed Masjid had first been built by Adam after he had built the Ka’bah in Makkah. After many years Masjid al-Aqsa lay in ruins and was rebuilt by Ibrahim. After generations, when Dawud was King of Jerusalem, Masjid Al Aqsa was again in need of rebuilding. Rebuilding Masjid Al Aqsa was a huge project and, sadly, Dawud passed away before he could complete it. It was Dawud ’s son, Sulayman, who continued the work and completed rebuilding Masjid al-Aqsa.

Rasulullah (SAW) said: “The best prayer to Allah is the prayer of Daud, and the best fasting to Allah is the fasting of Daud; he slept for the first half, then woke up for one-third of the night and prayed, and then he slept for the rest of the one-sixth. He fasted with the gap of one day, and whenever he met his enemy, he never backed off.”

(Bukhari & Muslim)

His Death

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "When Allah created Adam He wiped his back and every person that He created among his offspring until the Day of Resurrection fell out of his back. He placed a ray of light between the eyes of every person. Then He showed them to Adam and he said: 'O Lord! Who are these people?' He said: 'These are your offspring.' He saw one of them whose ray between his eyes amazed him, so he said: 'O Lord! Who is this?' He said: 'This is a man from the latter nations of your offspring called Dawud.' He said: 'Lord! How long did You make his lifespan?' He said: 'Sixty years.' He said: 'O Lord! Add forty years from my life to his.' Dawud lived to be one hundred years old, and was buried in Jerusalem, though no one is sure where. May Allah’s peace be upon him.

Thank you!