Epigraph:

Whatever is in the heaven and in the earth glorifies Allah. (Al Quran 61:1)

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

The conventional dates of Solomon’s reign are about 970–931 BCE, normally given in alignment with the dates of David’s reign. The prophet Solomon, may peace be on him, presumably died in 931 BCE, but imagining him alive is not such a strange stretch, for many a Christians think, ‘what would Jesus do’ and some Muslims think ‘what would Muhammad, may peace be on him, do’ in a given situation, to seek guidance for their plan and actions. Many Christians and Muslims also believe in the second coming of Messiah.

As I was reading the holy Quran this morning and usually I read an English translation even though my mother tongue is Urdu, I came across these verses:

We gave David Solomon. He was an excellent servant who always turned to God. 31When well-bred light-footed horses were paraded before him near the close of day, he kept saying, ‘My love of fine things is part of my remembering my Lord!’ until the horses disappeared from sight, ‘Bring them back!’ he said and started to stroke their legs and necks. (Al Quran 38:30-33)

I believe his love of horses and other life forms and his philosophy of seeing the Creator through the mirror of His creation will take him today to the American Museum of Natural History in New York city.

While there he may Google horses and learn about their evolution and natural history. He may even learn from the museum’s website:

Imagine a world in which horses of all colors, shapes, and sizes roamed the world, some barely larger than a small dog. That world no longer exists–but once it was real. Today’s horses represent just one tiny twig on an immense family tree that spans millions of years. All the other branches of the horse family, known as Equidae, are now extinct. The earliest known horses evolved 55 million years ago and for much of this time, multiple horse species lived at the same time, often side by side.

He may also notice in the same website that the horses developed in North America and came to Europe and Asia through a land connection which no longer exists and is under water:

Some 10 million years ago, up to a dozen species of horses roamed the Great Plains of North America. These relatives of the modern horse came in many shapes and sizes. Some lived in the forest, while others preferred open grassland.

He may murmur to himself that he never knew about Americas and learn about the Bering Land Bridge or Beringia, with the curiosity of a young child:

He may learn from the Encyclopedia Britannica:

Equine, one of the mammal family of Equidae (order Perissodactyla) that includes the modern horses, zebras, and asses, as well as more than 60 species known only from fossils.

…

Wild horses once inhabited much of northern Eurasia, primarily in open areas. They were rather small, short-legged animals, compared with their domesticated descendants, standing only about 120 to 130 cm (47 to 51 inches) at the shoulder. In the two millennia BC, horses from many wild populations were domesticated; often the remainder of the wild individuals were exterminated.

If he digs a little deeper he may learn from Encyclopedia Britannica, how small the very early horses were and how they evolved into what we have now:

The evolutionary lineage of the horse is among the best-documented in all paleontology. The history of the horse family, Equidae, began during the Eocene Epoch, which lasted from about 56 million to 33.9 million years ago. During the early Eocene there appeared the first ancestral horse, a hoofed, browsing mammal designated correctly as Hyracotherium but more commonly called Eohippus, the “dawn horse.” Fossils of Eohippus, which have been found in both North America and Europe, show an animal that stood 4.2 to 5 hands (about 42.7 to 50.8 cm, or 16.8 to 20 inches) high, diminutive by comparison with the modern horse, and had an arched back and raised hindquarters.

While applauding the creativity and wonders of God’s creation, Solomon may begin to read physics and meditate on Quantum Entanglement and read and watch the following, Everything is a Miracle According to the Holy Quran and Albert Einstein:

I invite all my Muslim brothers and sisters, merely out of love and compassion for them, to walk into the 21st century and not obsess over the past commentaries of the holy Quran and shoot for the latest and the most relevant to our times and needs.

We have the best collection of articles on the theme of Religion and Science. For starters let me suggest two: The Holy Quran and the Camels of the Americas and The holy Quran and the Water Stores of Our Planet.

Here is a new commentary for you that tries to rise above the sectarian divide among the Muslims and by focusing on God’s attribute of the Creator, in fact brings all the followers of the Abrahamic faiths to a common platform:

A New Commentary of the Holy Quran Emphasizing Compassion, Justice and Human Rights Launched https://t.co/AHTev2hfQo via @wordpressdotcom

— TheMuslimTimes (@TheMuslimTimes2) July 17, 2017

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