The Quran recounts the story of a war between the Children of Israel and their enemy, Goliath, which led to the emergence of a new hero on the leadership scene. This hero was able to kill the formidable Goliath and decisively win the battle in favor of the Children of Israel, earning the admiration of Saul. This admiration prompted Saul to include him in his rule, as he saw in him the hero of the current stage and the leader of the future. Allah the Almighty says, “So they defeated them by permission of Allah, and David killed Goliath, and Allah gave him the kingship and prophethood.” (Al-Baqarah: 251)
From that moment, Dawud became a successor on earth and a prominent leader of the Children of Israel. Allah combined for him kingship and prophethood, revealing the Zabur to him. He softened iron for him, made the mountains and birds subject to him, granted him wisdom and clear judgment, and combined for him matters of religion, the world, and the Hereafter.
The time of Dawud is considered the golden era of the Children of Israel, where they enjoyed security, stability, justice, and reform.
Dawud in Islam and Judaism
Islamic Sharia is full of noble virtues befitting the prophet-king. It portrays the era of Dawud as the golden age of the Children of Israel, marked by peace, stability, justice, and reform. The Quran even refers to the industrial and economic advancements the Children of Israel achieved under Dawud’s rule, particularly their discovery of iron and its use in manufacturing weapons and military tools. (1)
Allah says, “And remember Our servant David, the possessor of strength; indeed, he was one who repeatedly turned back [to Allah]. Indeed, We subjected the mountains [to praise] with him, exalting [Allah] in the [late] afternoon and [after] sunrise. And the birds were assembled, all with him repeating [praises]. And We strengthened his kingdom and gave him wisdom and discernment in speech.” (Saad: 17-20) The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Dawud was most devoted of men to worship.” In Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim, it is narrated, “The fasting dearest to God is David’s.” and in another narration: “He was the most devoted of people to Allah.” “He would fast on alternate days, and the prayer dearest to God is David’s. He would sleep half the night, get up to pray for a third of it, then sleep the remaining sixth.” According to Al-Bukhari: “He used not to eat except from the earnings of his manual labor.”
However, the altered Bible presents a contradictory image of the Prophet Dawud that does not align with his infallibility as a prophet who received revelation. According to the Bible, Dawud lived with an open heart toward God and people from his youth, in purity and sincerity, eager to serve God and dedicate his life to protecting the weak. This was the case even when he cared for the dumb sheep. But after he became king and his kingdom stabilized, and he brought the chest to his city, he began to falter. It is said in 2 Samuel (6:16): “As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal, daughter of Saul, looked down from her window, and when she saw King David jumping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.”
The trait of lying became deeply rooted in the Jews, and they have fallen to its lowest and most corrupt form, lying about God.
The Jews further degraded Dawud by accusing him of descending from one sin to another, thinking he could hide these sins until their supposed revelation recorded these transgressions in detail. 2 Samuel (11:1-5) states: “But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, 'She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.' Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, 'I am pregnant.'” (2)
How outrageous! What a vile portrayal! It is impossible for Dawud, the honored prophet, to have done this, and for divine revelation to record such filth! But the Jews are Jews, persistent in their lies and fabrications against Allah, His prophets, and His revelations.
Jews Specialize in Lying
Lying is one of the vilest traits a person can possess. It signifies baseness, meanness, and a corrupt inner nature. It is the carrier of all deviations, and thus faith cannot coexist with lies. This trait has deeply ingrained itself within the Jews, who have attained the lowest and most corrupt forms of it—lying about Allah, who knows all that is hidden. Allah says about them, “Look how they invent about Allah untruth, and sufficient is that as a manifest sin.” (An-Nisa: 50) (3)
The Jews view Allah’s Prophet, Dawud, and his son Sulayman as forefathers of modern Zionism.
Those who are willing to lie about Allah will not hesitate to lie about His prophets and people. Allah says, “But is it [not] that every time a messenger came to you, [O Children of Israel], with what your souls did not desire, you were arrogant? And a party [of messengers] you denied and another party you killed.” (Al-Baqarah: 87) Anas ibn Malik narrated that Abdullah ibn Salam said: O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! The Jews are liars, and if they should come to know about my conversion to Islam before you ask them (about me), they would tell a lie about me.” The Jews came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and `Abdullah went inside the house. Allah's Apostle asked (the Jews), “What kind of man is `Abdullah bin Salam amongst you?” They replied, “He is the most learned person amongst us, and the best amongst us, and the son of the best amongst us.” Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, “What do you think if he embraces Islam (will you do as he does)?” The Jews said, “May Allah save him from it.” Then `Abdullah bin Salam came out in front of them saying, “I testify that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah.” Thereupon they said, “He is the evilest among us, and the son of the evilest amongst us,” and continued talking badly of him. (Reported by Al-Bukhari)
The Kingdom of Dawud: Between Reality and Fiction
The Jews view the Prophet Dawud and his son Sulayman as forefathers of modern Zionism. The Torah speaks of a great kingdom in the Iron Age, powerful and independent, founded by Dawud. This kingdom is said to have represented the greatest empire in the Arab Mashriq, covering all the lands of the Levant and not confined to Palestine alone.
According to 2 Samuel and 1 Kings, King Dawud established an empire extending from the Nile to the Euphrates, which he passed to Sulayman after his death. The Torah praises the era of Dawud and Sulayman as the golden age of “Israel,” filled with industrial, cultural, architectural, administrative, and military achievements.
There is no evidence that indicates the existence of the Davidic kingdom in Palestine in the manner described in the Bible.
Based on this alleged view, the modern state of “Israel” bases its historical and natural claim on that Iron Age kingdom. The Declaration of Independence of the modern state of “Israel”—issued by the Provisional State Council in Tel Aviv on 14 May 1948—referred to “the rebuilding of the Jewish state,” rather than what some understood as merely establishing a national homeland for the Jews on the land of Palestine. (4)
But was there indeed a great Davidic-Solomonic kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital as described in the Torah? The answer is no. Biblical archaeologists and historians have searched for a powerful, independent kingdom in the Iron Age, founded by Dawud, thinking that it was already established based on Torah studies. However, they have been unable to find even a single piece of evidence—whether architectural, documentary, or inscriptive—that directly or indirectly indicates the existence of that kingdom in Palestine as described in the Hebrew Bible. (5)
This suspicious lack of historical sources and archaeological remains supporting the Torah's allegations has, in recent years, led to a collapse in the idea of a consensus on the existence of a Davidic kingdom. Millar states that there is no evidence of a Davidic kingdom outside of biblical traditions. Historians who speak of the existence of this kingdom merely assume the accuracy of information drawn from the Torah. (6)
Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein from Tel Aviv University has cast doubt on any connection between Jews and Jerusalem. In a report published by the Israeli magazine “Jerusalem Report,” Finkelstein confirmed that there is no historical basis or evidence for the existence of this warrior king who made Jerusalem his capital and from whose line the Messiah is supposed to come to oversee the construction of the Third Temple. Finkelstein asserted that the figure of Dawud as a revered leader who united the kingdoms of Judah and Israel is nothing more than a myth and a fantasy.
Israeli archaeologist: There is no historical evidence for the existence of this warrior king who made Jerusalem his capital.
British historian Keith Whitelam finds the existence of this kingdom unbelievable, as there is no archaeological evidence to support it. (7)
This is what Dr. Muhammad Imara confirmed: The idea of a state did not exist in Jewish heritage. After the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, Israel brought in archaeologists to try to create a reality that matched the Old Testament narrative, but they failed to find any evidence or even a stone pointing to the existence of the kingdom described in the Hebrew Bible.
As for Sulayman's kingdom, mentioned in the Quran: “He said 'My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after me. Indeed, You are the Bestower.'” (Saad: 35), it was not in the form of a state but was rather a divine kingdom granted to Sulayman, not like the kingdoms known at the time, let alone resembling the Davidic-Solomonic kingdom described in the Torah. (8)
Scholar Thomas Thompson said, “The tenth century BC has been presented as the golden age of Israel with Jerusalem as its capital. That era was linked to the United Kingdom, which encompassed the political power of Saul, David, and Solomon, stretching across the large land bridge from the Nile to the Euphrates. In addition, the concept of the Temple built by Solomon as the center of worship for Yahweh. These images have no place in the descriptions of true historical past. We know them only as stories, and there is no evidence for the existence of a united kingdom, nor evidence of a capital in Jerusalem, or of any unified political force that dominated western Palestine, let alone an empire of the size described by the legendary tales.” (9)
Thompson denied that Jerusalem was the capital of a united kingdom, and he also denied the existence of Dawud in the way it is described in the Bible. Archaeologists have not been able to find any evidence, either directly or indirectly, of Dawd's kingdom in Palestine, despite the presence of 300 sites where archaeological missions are conducting excavations. This means that the great Davidic kingdom is nothing more than a biblical invention, negated by all archaeological and historical evidence, proving that it is a kingdom only on paper.
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- Jewish Personality, Salah Al-Khalidi, Adapted
- Interpretation of the Bible, Tadros Yacoub
- Al-Dorar Al-Sunniyah Encyclopedia, Adapted
- Article: “How Archaeology Disproved the Ancient Kingdom of David,” Ahmad Al-Dabsh, Abridged
- Previous Reference, Adapted
- Previous Reference, Adapted
- Previous Reference, Adapted
- Lecture: “The Jurisprudence of the Conflict Over Jerusalem,” Muhammad Imara
- Book: “The Mythic Past,” Thomas Thompson, Translated by Adnan Hassan
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