and followed that which the devils read (and taught) against the (miraculous) power of Sulaiman. And Sulaiman did not reject but the devils rejected, teaching people magic and that which was sent down upon the two angels Harut and Marut at Babel. And they (the two angels) did not teach anyone until they said, “We are only a trial, so do not be infidels.” Then they learnt from these two (angels) that which caused division between a man and his wife, and they did not harm anyone with it except with the permission of Allah; and they learnt that which harmed them and not that which profited them. And they surely knew that whoever purchased it, he had no share for himself in the hereafter. And evil was the price for which they sold themselves, had they but known.
“Instead of following the Quran they followed that which the evil persons who had lived during Sulaiman’s (PBH) period had read and taught about the miraculous powers of Sulaiman (PBH), who was given knowledge, wisdom and the power to perform miracles, by Allah (SWT). The miracles witnessed during Sulaiman’s (PBH) period were: – the violent wind blew by his command covering one month’s journey in one morning or in one evening, armies of jinn, men and birds were at his disposal, he knew the speech of birds, the throne of the Queen of Saba was brought into his court instantly by one of his courtiers who was bestowed with knowledge etc. (Chapter: 21 Verses: 78–82, Chapter: 27 Verses: 15–44, Chapter: 34 Verses: 12–14, Chapter: 38 Verses: 36– 40). These evil persons probably taught people that the miracles performed by Sulaiman (PBH) were magic which is falsehood, deception and hiding the truth i.e. ‘Kufr’. Contrary to this Allah (SWT) had given to Sulaiman (PBH) the power to perform miracles which were real and factual. Sulaiman (PBH) did not practice magic, had he done so he would have followed falsehood and deception and thus hided the truth. It is therefore clarified here that Sulaiman (PBH) did not hide or reject the truth but the evil persons rejected it, the proof of which is that they themselves taught people magic. A party from among the Jews rejected the Quran by ignoring it and got deeply involved in magic and evil practices associated with it such as charms, spells etc, which they had inherited from the evil persons who had lived during the period of Sulaiman (PBH). Two angels Harut and Marut were sent to Babel probably to tempt and test the Jews. The people of Lut (PBH) were also tested through angels in the form of young boys. (Chapter: 11 Verses: 77–81). These two angels warned before teaching anyone anything that they were sent for their trial therefore by getting tempted they should not become infidels, doing something against the orders of Allah (SWT). Inspite of this warning the evil persons learnt from these two angels the art of causing division between man and wife which is a devilish act (narrated in a Hadis in Mishkat page No. 31). They thus fell into the temptation and practiced magic i.e. falsehood which amounts to going against the orders of Allah i.e. infidelity or ‘Kufr’. Through these evil practices, they could not harm anyone i.e. magic, charms, spells, witchcraft etc. without the permission of Allah (SWT), i.e. they could not harm anyone they liked. Thus, they learnt something harmful to them and not beneficial. They knew that by doing this they were preparing themselves for hell and not paradise, this was an evil price they were paying for learning and teaching magic and harming others. On the contrary, had they believed and guarded against evil, then the reward from Allah (SWT) in the form of paradise would certainly be better, had they but realized.”
