Will you give information about Hz. Danyal (Daniel)?
A Brief Description of the Question:
Will you give information about Hz. Danyal (Daniel)?
The Answer:
More than one hundred and twenty thousand prophets were sent to the world. Only twenty-five of them are mentioned in the Quran by their names.
Danyal b. Hizqil'ul 'asghar(1) was a descendant of prophets (2) and from the lineage of Sulayrnan b. Dawud. (3)
Hz. Danyal being a nabi, not a rasul:
Hz. Ali (ra) stated the following about the Prophet Danyal: "He is a nabi, not a rasul." (4)
Danyal is enslaved and taken to Babylon:
Danyal was among the children that the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar distributed (5) to his commanders when he demolished Bayt al-Maqdis and enslaved Children of Israel. (6)
Danyal and his three friends are sent to prison:
The people of Babylon went to Nebuchadnezzar and said, "We asked you to give us the enslaved children from Children of Israel and you gave them to us.
We see that our wives have not been close to us and have been interested in them and tend toward them. Take those children from us or kill them." Nebuchadnezzar said,
"If you want to kill the children that were given to you, you can kill them."
Hz. Danyal, Hananya, Azarya and Mishayel (7) were taken out to be killed but they begged Allah to be saves and Nebuchadnezzar did not kill them; they were sent to the prison of Babylon. (8)
Meanwhile, Nebuchadnezzar saw a dream (9) but he forgot about the thing that astonished him in his dream. (10) Nebuchadnezzar was afraid of the dream he saw. He asked his magicians and astrologers to give him the interpretation of his dream but they could not interpret it.
Danyal heard about it when he was in prison with his friends.
The warden of the prison liked the way Danyal acted and spoke and he liked Danyal.
Danyal said to the warden,
"Do me a favor. Tell your king that I can interpret his dream."
The warden went to Nebuchadnezzar and told him about Danyal's request. (11) Thereupon, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Danyal who came from the lineage of prophets (12) and his three friends. (13)
Everybody had to prostrate before Nebuchadnezzar. However, Danyal stood and waited without prostrating.
Nebuchadnezzar asked him,
"What prevents you from prostrating before me?"
Danyal said,
"I have a Lord. He gave me knowledge and wisdom. He ordered me not to prostrate before anyone except Him. If I prostrate before anyone except him, I fear that He will withdraw the knowledge He gave to me and will destroy me."
Nebuchadnezzar was surprised by the answer Danyal gave. He said,
"Yes. Do not prostrate! Thus, you will keep your promise and protect the honor of the knowledge given to you." Then, he said, "Can you interpret the dream I had?"
Hz. Danyal said,"Yes, I can." (14) Nebuchadnezzar said:
"Inform me about the dream I had and then the part of the dream that astonished me and that I forgot due to something that hit me."
Hz. Danyal and his friends said,
"Tell us about your dream and we will interpret it for you."
Nebuchadnezzar said:
"I cannot interpret it.(15) If you do not interpret it, I will remove your shoulder bones."
Hz. Danyal and his three friends left Nebuchadnezzar's palace. They prayed and begged Allah. (16) They asked Him to help them (17) and to teach them about what was asked from them. Allah taught them about what was asked from them. They went into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar again. They said to him,
"You saw a sculpture."
Nebuchadnezzar said,
"You are right!"
Hz. Danyal and his friends said,
"The two feet and legs of that sculpture were made of ceramic; its two knees and calves were made of copper; its abdomen was made of silver; its chest was made of gold and its head was made of iron."(18)
Nebuchadnezzar said,
"You are right!"
Hz. Danyal and his friends said,
"While you were watching it in astonishment, Allah sent a rock from the sky and broke it into pieces. That was what made you forget your dream.
Nebuchadnezzar said,
"You are right! What is the interpretation of this dream?"
Hz. Danyal and his friends said,
"The interpretation of your dream is as follows: You were shown the states of the power and authority of kings. The power and authority of some of them were softer than the others. The power and authority of some of them were better. The power and authority of some of them were harsher than the others. The first power and authority was made of ceramic, which is the weakest one.
The one over it was copper, which is superior to and harder than ceramic. Above the copper, was silver, which is superior to and more beautiful than copper. Above silver, was gold, which is more beautiful than and superior to silver.
The iron, which is at the top, is your power and authority, which is the hardest of the kings and more powerful than the previous ones. (20)
The rock that fell from the sky in your dream and broke the sculpture into pieces is the messenger Allah will send with the Book from the sky at the end of time (21); he will demolish all of them; he will have the power and authority; everything will be subject to him."(22)
Hz. Danyal receives great respect and honor from Nebuchadnezzar:
When Hz. Danyal told (24) Nebuchadnezzar about his dream (23) and interpreted (25) it, Nebuchadnezzar showed honor to him and his friends and entertained them. Nebuchadnezzar often invited Hz. Danyal to his palace (26) consulted (29) him (27) and his friends (28). Nebuchadnezzar appointed him to high ranks. (30)
Hz. Danyal became the most honorable and beloved man in the eye of Nebuchadnezzar. (31)
The State of Hz. Danyal after Nebuchadnezzar:
According to a narration, when Nebuchadnezzar and his superior, the great king Luhrasp died, Bashtasp b. Luhrasp replaced him.
When Bashtasp heard that the land of Damascus was in a ruinous state (32) that wild animals increased in the land of Palestine (33) and that no people remained there, he had the following announcement made:
"Those from Children of Israel who live in Babylon and who want return to Damascus can return."He appointed a person from Sons of Dawud dynasty as their king and ordered him to restore Bayt al-Maqdis (34) and build Bayt al-Maqdis mosque (35).
According to another narration,
Bahman, the Iranian king, wrote a letter to the governor of Babylon, Ahshu Yarash, and asked him to treat Children of Israel mildly, to send them where they wanted, to allow them to go to their homeland and to allow them to choose their leader. (36)
Hz. Danyal, Hananya, Azarya and Mishayel asked permission from Ahshu Yarash to go to Bayt al-Maqdis but he did not give them permission (37) and said,
"If there were one thousands prophets like you with me, I would not allow even one of them to leave me." (38) He appointed Hz. Danyal as the head judge and as his assistant.
He also ordered everything that Nebuchadnezzar took from Bayt al-Maqdis and kept in the Treasury to be returned to Bayt al-Maqdis and he ordered these things to be used in the rebuilding and restoration of Bayt al-Maqdis. (39)
Death of Hz. Danyal, his dead body and grave:
Hz Danyal lived in Babylon for a while. (40) After he left Babylon, he lived in Huzistan (41) in the city called Sus (42) (43) He died there. (44) Peace be upon him and all of the prophets!
His dead body (45) and grave (46) are in Sus. (47)
During the caliphate of Hz. Umar, Allah allowed Abu Musa al-Ash'ari to conquer the city of Sus. Abu Musa killed Sabur, the king of Sus. He besieged the city of Sus. He took the things in the city and the property of Sabur as booty.
While checking the storehouses and collecting what was in them, he found a locked storehouse in the square. The lock of the storehouse was sealed.
Abu Musa asked the people of Sus,
"What is in this storehouse? I see that its lock is sealed."
The people of Sus said,
"O Amir! There is nothing good for you in it."
Abu Musa said,
"I must know what is in it. Open the door of the storehouse so that I will see what is in it."
They broke the lock and opened the door. When Abu Musa entered the storehouse, he saw a stone carved like a pool and a dead body that was enshrouded by fabric woven with golden thread; the head of the dead body was open.
Abu Musa and the people with him were astonished by the tallness of the dead person. Then, they measured his nose. They saw that it was longer than one span.
Abu Musa addressed the people of Sus:
"Shame on you! Who is this man?"
The people of Sus said,
"This man is from Iraq. When it did not rain in Iraq, the people of Iraq used to ask his intercession and received rain thanks to him. When Iraq had enough rain and we lacked rain, we asked the people of Iraq to send him to us in order to pray for rain. When they did not accept him, we left fifty of our men as hostage with them and asked him to pray for rain. Then, we had rain.
We decided not to return him to Iraqis. He stayed with us until he died. This is his story."
Thereupon, Abu Musa stayed in Sus for a while. He wrote a letter to Hz. Umar and informed him about the city of Sus, what Allah enabled them to obtain and about the dead man in the storehouse.
When Hz. Umar received the letter, he summoned the notables of the Companions. He asked them whether they knew anything about the dead man Abu Musa mentioned. Nobody knew anything about him. However, Hz.Ali said:
"This man is Danyal, the wise. He is a nabi that is not a rasul. He lived near the king Nebuchadnezzar and some of the kings after him." He told Hz. Umar about his life story. Then he said,
"Write Abu Musa and order him to pray his janazah prayer. Then, tell him to bury Hz. Danyal in a place where the people of Sus cannot access."
Hz. Umar wrote Abu Musa about him. (48) He wrote, "Enshroud him with white Qabati fabric and spread nice smells on it. Then, perform his janazah prayer. Then, bury him in the way the prophets are buried. Determine his property. Put his property in the Treasury of Muslims." (49)
Thereupon, Abu Musa ordered the people of Sus to change the course of the river. Then, he ordered the dead body of Hz. Danyal to be enshrouded by some different fabric.
After that, he performed his janazah prayer with the Muslims who were with him. He had a grave dug in the riverbed after the course was changed. After burying Hz. Danyal, he ordered the course of the river to be changed to its previous position. (50)
Footnotes:
1- Abulfida al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya Vol. 2, p.38,40, Ibn Khaldun-Tarikh Vol. 2, part 1, p.107,117
2- Tabari-Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289, Vol. 2, p. 15.
3- Ibn Habib - Kitabul-Muhabbar p. 390.
4- Thalabi - Arais p. 341.
5- Tabari - Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289.
6- Ibn Qutayba Maarif p. 22 - 23, Dinawari al-Ahbar P. 23 Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289, Thalabi Arais p. 335, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 265, Muhyiddin b. Arabi Muhadaratul-Abrar Vol. 1, p. 136.
7- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 290.
8- Thalabi -Arais p. 338.
9- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289, Thalabi Arais p. 338, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 266.
10- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289, Esir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 266.
11- Thalabi Arais p. 338.
12- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289.
13- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289, Ibn Athir Vol. 1, p. 266.
14- Thalabi Arais p. 338.
15- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289.
16- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289-290, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 266.
17- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 289.
18- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 290, Ibn Athir, Vol. 1, p. 266.
19- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 290.
20- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 290, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 266.
21- Thalabi Arais p. 339.
22- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1, p. 290, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 266.
23- Ibn Qutayba Maarif p. 22, Thalabi Arais p. 339.
24- Thalabi Arais p. 339.
25- Ibn Qutayba Maarif p. 22, Thalabi Arais p. 339.
26- Thalabi Arais p. 339.
27- Thalabi Arais p. 339, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 266-267.
28- Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 266-267.
29- Thalabi Arais p. 339, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 266.
30- Ibn Qutayba-Maarif p. 23.
31- Thalabi Arais p. 339.
32- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 281, Ibn Athir Kamil, Vol. 1, p. 269, Abulfida al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya Vol. 2, p. 42.
33- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 281, Abulfida al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya Vol. 2, p. 42.
34- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 281, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 269, Abulfida al-Bidaya wan-Nihaya Vol. 2, p. 42.
35- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 281.
36- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 283, Ibn Haldun Tarikh Vol. 2, kp. 1, p. 109.
37- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 284, Ibn Athir Kamil, Vol. 1, p. 268, Ibn Haldun Tarikh Vol. 2, kp. 1, p. 108.
38- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 284, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 268.
39- Tabari Tarikh Vol. 1 p. 284, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 269, Ibn Haldun Tarikh Vol. 2, kp. 1, p. 108,109.
40- Thalabi Arais p. 340.
41- Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 268
42- Ibn Qutayba Maarif p. 23. Thalabi Arais p. 340, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 268
43- Ibn Qutayba Maarif p. 23
44- Dinawari al-Ahbar p. 23, Thalabi Arais p.340, Ibn Athir Kamil Vol. 1, p. 268.
45- Dinawari al-Ahbar p. 48.
46- Ibn Qutayba Maarif p. 23, Bayhaqi Dalailun-Nubuwwa Vol. 1, p. 292, Muhyiddin b. Arabi Muhadaratul-Abrar Vol. 1, p. 136.
47- Ibn Qutayba Maarif p. 23, Dineveri El'ahbar p. 49, Bayhaqi Dalail Vol. 1, p. 292, Muhyiddin b. Arabi Muhadaratul-Abrar Vol. 1, p. 136.
48- Thalabi Arais p. 340-341.
49- A. Aliyyul-Muttaqi Kanzul-Ummal Vol. 12, p. 482.
50- Thalabi Arais p. 341.
(M. Asım Köksal, Peygamberler Tarihi, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları: 2/274-276.)
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