Day 9

My mind is all about the Queen of Sheba today. In high school, I had to do a project on the Abyssinian Empire, so I got to dive into myths and stories about Sheba and Solomon quite a bit. I even create a pretty great (If I say so myself) video illustrating the history. The class liked it. Maybe I should’ve been a director for PBS or something. Anyway, I’m pretty sure Sheba didn’t convert to Islam in, well…pretty much every other account of her life: Hebrew, Christian, Ethiopian.

But, she does in the Qur’an! So, we have an anomaly here, and that’s interesting. It’s likely the woman associated with the “Queen of Sheba” didn’t exist as a single person. Or as a person in Ethiopia. Maybe it was Yemen…maybe somewhere else. Maybe it was more than one woman. Who knows? What this means is that this person, this literary figure, is the product of mythopoesis. She lives, eternally, in the world of myth. And right there, in that world of myth, she can be anyone or anything a storyteller needs her to be. What do the people need to hear? What is their greatest hope or desire? What balm or healing is required?

I can’t answer those questions for Muhammad or for early Muslim communities, but all I know is that her story was told to them and, in it, she converted to Islam. There was a demon involved trying to tempt her. There was rattling of sabers. And I suspect there’s more to come given there’s a Surah named after Sheba. The myth shifted to meet the people where they were…and it answered a need that remains unnamed. Was it to know that God was not like the lesser gods worshipped by the surrounding people? That Allah could reach even the Queen of Ethiopia — and had reached her during the time of Solomon! That this — this religion they were hearing of from Muhammad — was no new adventure, but instead a saga of ages past? I suspect this gets to the truth a bit.

Myth is a glorious thing. It’s almost as interesting as ritual (to me). They are both bendable, flexible, pliable, moldable…primordial building blocks of meaning. Anyway, thank you Queen of Sheba.

Things I Noticed in the Text

1. Surah 26:224, “As for the poets, only the deluded follow them…” Which led me to ask: What poets? The verses following explain that they mean only disbelieving poets, but…I still have questions about that. It makes me wonder, what poems were being written about Muhammad at this time?
2. Surah 27:28-44, A great story about the Queen of Sheba converting to Islam. She sends gifts to Solomon, he rejects them, there’s a demon that makes all sorts of promises…it’s pretty dramatic.
3. Surah 28, The whole story of Moses. Again.
4. Surah 30:1, A brief mention of the Byzantine Empire being defeated by the Persians. Not much else. I need details!
5. Surah 33:20, The Federated Clans. Who are they? Should I know who they are?
6. Surah 33:38, A sudden diversion justifying Muhammad’s marriage to Zayds’ ex-wife.

This post is part of a larger series where I read the entire Qur’an in ~21 days. Take a look at the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.