"The reciting (the Quran) was made easy for Dawud (David)." Will you explain the hadith above? Why is the word the Quran is used in the hadith?

- "The reciting (the Quran) was made easy for David. He would order his riding animals to be saddled and would finish reciting the Qur’an before they were saddled. And he would never eat except from the earnings of his manual work." Will you explain the hadith above? Why is the word the Quran is used in the hadith?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Abu Hurayra narrates: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"The reciting (the Quran) was made easy for David. He would order his riding animals to be saddled and would finish reciting the Qur’an before they were saddled. And he would never eat except from the earnings of his manual work." (Bukhari, Anbiya 37; Buyu 15, Tafsir, Bani Israil 5) 

EXPLANATION:

1. What is meant by "the Quran" mentioned in the hadith is reciting/reading (qira’ah). As a matter of fact, the word al-qira’ah is used in some narrations. The Quran of each prophet is the book that is revealed to him. The reason why what Hz. Dawud read was called the Quran was to indicate that it was a miracle like the Quran.

What was made easy for Hz. Dawud to recite/read?

It is not clear. Scholars have two different views: “the Torah” or “the Psalms”. The reason for this hesitation is the fact that the Psalms consist of advice only and the decrees are taken from the Torah. That is, both books were valid for them. Qatada states the following regarding the issue: "We considered that the Psalms consisted of 150 chapters, which included advice and praise and which did not include any harams, halals, fards and decrees. The Torah was used related to decrees."

2. One of the distinguished qualities mentioned in the hadith is the fact that Hz. Dawud earned his living by his manual work. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) states the following in another hadith: "The purest thing a person eats is what he earns from his manual labor.” He gives Hz. Dawud as an example:

"Nobody has ever eaten a better meal than the one he has earned by working with his own hands. The Prophet of Allah, David (Dawud) ate from the earnings of his manual labor."

Ibn Hajar states that Hz. Dawud produced armor, that he was a master armor producer, that Allah made iron soft for him, that he used the soft iron to make armor and that he did not eat anything but what he earned from the armor he sold though he was one of the greatest kings of that time. As a matter of fact, the hadith in question states that he had animals that were saddled by others when he wanted to ride, implying that he had great wealth; after this implication, the hadith states that "he ate what he earned with his manual labor", attracting attention to his piety.

3. Another distinguished aspect of Hz. Dawud is his piety and religious life. He sought Allah’s consent in everything he did. Sometimes mountains, stones, birds and animals joined his dhikr he made with his sonorous voice. He woke up for tahajjud prayer at night and performed fasting every other day, which the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) praised and advised his ummah. That is, he performed fasting one day and ate the next day. He was a very good orator. He had eloquence. He took part in the war that Sons of Israel fought under the command of Talut against Amaliqa and killed Jalut (Goliath), the leader of the polytheists. Thus, he caused them to be defeated and was loved and respected by everybody. He became the king after Talut. When he was given the duty of prophethood, he had both duties: kingdom and prophethood.  

He tried to be fair in his administration. He sometimes walked around in disguise and asked people, "Are you pleased with Dawud?" He ruled the country based on the requests of the people. When he died, he was succeeded by his son Hz. Sulayman (Solomon), who became both a king and a prophet. (İbrahim Canan, Prof. Dr. Kutub-i Sitte Tercüme ve Şerhi, Akçağ Yayınları: 12/353-355).

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