Episode 3
Episode 3: Softening Iron and Making Coats of Mail
โณ Audio is being processed โ you can listen online for now.
Allah's favor to Dawud also took the form of a skill of benefit to humankind: the working of iron. Allah made iron pliable in his hands and taught him to fashion armor. Allah said, "And We taught him the fashioning of coats of armor to protect you from your [enemy in] battle. So will you then be grateful?" (Qur'an 21:80). Surah Saba' explains how Allah guided the making of it with order and precision: "โฆand We made pliable for him iron, [commanding], 'Make full coats of mail and calculate [precisely] the links, and work righteousness. Indeed I, of what you do, am Seeing'" (Qur'an 34:10-11). Remarkably, Dawud was a king who still worked with his own hands. He did not live off the wealth of the kingdom but ate from what he earned making armor. This is a model of the dignity of work and of seeking a lawful livelihood, however high one's rank. Reflection: knowledge and skill are favors to be thanked by using them for good. Dawud combined three things: prophethood, kingship, and a working hand โ proof that piety does not clash with honest labor. Source & Note: evidence from the Qur'an โ 21:80 and 34:10-11. That Dawud ate from the work of his own hands comes from an authentic hadith reported by al-Bukhari (no. 2072): "No one has ever eaten food better than what he eats from the work of his own hand; and indeed the Prophet of Allah Dawud used to eat from the work of his hand."
Next โ
Episode 4: The Just Judge and the Test in the Prayer Chamber