Some, taking advantage of this opportunity, said that...

Some, taking advantage of this opportunity, said that Solomon (as) was not a prophet at all, and the wonderful power that he had over the realms of nature was through witchcraft; so it was with the help of those magic tricks that he could dominate his country and do extraordinary things. By following this group, some of the Israelites were severely engaged in the art of sorcery; so intensively that they put the Turah aside.

When the Prophet of Islam (S) announced his invitation and, through the verses of the Qur'an, proclaimed that Solomon (as) had been one of the apostles of Allah, some of the Jewish rabbis told their people: 'Are you not surprised that Muhammad says Solomon was an apostle while he was a sorcerer?' This statement by those Jews was counted a great accusation against this Divine prophet (S), because when they said he was a sorcerer it insinuated that he was a lier and not a true prophet.

This action caused him to be considered a blasphemer. Then, the above verse responded to their false accusation. However, the first verse of this group of verses illustrates another dimension of the hineous actions of the Jews: that they accused the apostle of Allah, Solomon (as), of sorcery and witchcraft.

It says: "And they followed what the Shaitans chanted of sorcery in the reign of Solomon..." The pronoun 'they', existing in the Arabic word /wattaba'u /, 'they followed', may refer to the Jews contemporary with the Prophet of Islam (S) or those contemporary with Solomon (as) or all of them. The objective meaning of the term / sayatin / may be the evil people, or devils of the Jinn, or both of them.

Then, after stating the above idea, the Qur'an adds: “...and Solomon disbelieved not..." Solomon (as) never did practice sorcery, and he did not take any advantage from it in attaining his goals: “...but the Shaitans disbelieved by teaching people sorcery..." “...and that which was sent down to the two angels, Harut and Marut, in Babylon...." Yes, they stretched their hands toward sorcery from two sides: one, from the side of sorcery which was taught by the Shaitans during the time of Solomon (as); and the other side was the instructions that Harut and Marut taught people for the purpose of breaking the spells of sorcery.