…is far greater and more magnificent, for in a single night he travelled from Mecca to the Farthest Sanctuary—a distance normally covered in a month—and was then taken up through the dominion of the heavens, a journey of fifty thousand years, in less than one-third of the night. He entered the heavens one after another, witnessed their wonders, beheld both Paradise and Hell, the deeds of his community were displayed before him, he led the prophets and the angels of the heavens in prayer, and he pierced the veils. All of this occurred in one night—something immeasurably greater and more astonishing.

As for Solomon’s subjugation of the devils, who fashioned for him prayer-niches, statues, basins like reservoirs, and immovable cauldrons, Allah sent the nearest angels to support His servant and Messenger Muhammad ﷺ on many occasions—at Uhud, Badr, the Day of the Confederates, and the Day of Hunayn, as we have already described in detail. That assistance is far greater, more dazzling, more exalted, and higher than compelling the devils. Abu Ḥamid has mentioned this in his book.

In the two Ṣaḥīḥs it is reported—from Shuʿbah, from Muḥammad ibn Ziyād, from Abū Hurayrah—that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“An ʿifrīt from the jinn leapt upon me last night— or words to that effect—trying to disrupt my prayer. Allah enabled me to overpower him, and I wanted to tie him to one of the pillars of the mosque so that you could all see him in the morning. Then I remembered the supplication of my brother Solomon: ‘Rabbi ighfir lī wa-hab lī mulkan lā yanbaghī li-aḥadin min baʿdī (My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom that will not befit anyone after me).’” (1)

Rūḥ added: “So Allah drove him away, humiliated.” This is al-Bukhārī’s wording. Muslim records a similar report from Abū al-Dardāʾ in which he said:

“Then I wanted to seize him. By Allah, were it not for the supplication of our brother Solomon, he would have been bound this morning for the youngsters of Medina to play with.” (2)

Imam Aḥmad relates with a sound chain (3) from Abū Saʿīd that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once led the dawn prayer while I was behind him. He recited, but his recitation became confused. When he finished he said:

“If only you had seen me and Iblīs! I lunged at him and kept choking him until I felt the coolness of his saliva between these two fingers of mine—the thumb and the one next to it. Were it not for the supplication of my brother Solomon, he would have been tied to a pillar of the mosque for the children of Medina to play with.”

It is established in the Sound, the Fair, and the Musnad collections that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“When the month of Ramadan arrives, the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained.” (4)

In another wording: “the most rebellious of the jinn.” This is part of the blessing Allah placed in the fasting and night-prayer of Ramadan that He legislated for him. When we later mention the curing of the congenitally blind and the leprous among the miracles of the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him), we shall also cite the occasions on which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ supplicated for more than one individual from the jinn who had embraced Islam (5).