Prophets Stories In Islam

2. Prophet Daniel (as): The rebuilding of Bayt al-Maqdis

Allah (ﷻ), the most truthful of those who speak, has described this incident in the following verses of His book:
"Or take the man who passed by a town which lay destroyed upside down. He said: "How can Allah restore this city now that it is destroyed?" So God made him die for a hundred years, then brought him back to life, and inquired: "How long did you stay in this state?" "A day or less than a day," he replied. "No," He said, "you were dead a hundred years, yet look at your victuals, they have not decomposed; and look at your ass! We shall make you a warning for men. And regard the bones, how We raise them and clothe them with flesh." When this became clear to him, the man said: "Indeed Allah has power over all things." (2:259)
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Hisham ibn Al-Kalbi has said: Allah (ﷻ) revealed to Prophet Jeremiah (as): I am going to rebuild Bayt al-Maqdis, so go and stay there. When he went there, he found it destroyed. He said to himself: Glory be to Allah (ﷻ)! He ordered me to come and stay here and told me that He was going to reconstruct it. When will Allah (ﷻ) reconstruct it and when will He bring it back to life?
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Jeremiah (as) then lay down and slept. He had his donkey with him and a basket full of food. He lay there sleeping for seventy years until Bakhtnasar and the king after him, Lahraseb, had both died.
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Bakhtnasar's rule had lasted for one hundred and twenty years. After his death, his son Bashtaseb had succeeded him. He heard that the land of Syria was destroyed and wild animals had increased so much in the land of Palestine that there was no human left.
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Bashtaseb announced to the Israelites in his captivity in Babylon, that whoever wanted to go back to his land was free to go. He also appointed a man from the family of Dawood (as) as a king over them and ordered him to rebuild and reconstruct the Mosque of Bayt al-Maqdis. Hence, they returned to their land, reclaimed it and reconstructed the Mosque.
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After that, Allah (ﷻ) opened the eyes of Jeremiah (as). He looked towards the city and saw that how it had been rebuilt. He had remained in a state of slumber for a hundred years. Allah (ﷻ) then brought him back to life. Jeremiah (as) thought that he had not slept for more than an hour. Before he had gone to sleep, he had seen the city in ruins. When he awoke, he discovered it rebuilt. At that, he said: verily, Allah (ﷻ) has power over all things.
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Hisham further said: Israelites settled in that land again and Allah (ﷻ) gave them back what they had had in the past. They remained in that state until a time when the Christian Romans conquered them, after which they didn't have any community or any authority.
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This is what Ibn Jareer has also mentioned in his book of history. He added that Lahraseb was just a king and ruled his country efficiently. Many people, lands, kings and commanders were under him. He ensured that towns, canals and castles were rebuilt. When he became old, after ruling for more than one hundred years, he appointed his son Bashtaseb as a king.
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It was during his reign that the religion of Zoroastrianism first appeared at the hands of a man called Zardasht. Initially, he was a companion of Jeremiah (as), but he angered him. Jeremiah (as) supplicated against him, which resulted in him being afflicted with Leprosy.
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After that, he left for Azerbaijan and joined Bashtaseb. He started preaching the religion of Zoroastrianism, which he had invented. Eventually, Bashtaseb also accepted his new religion. He also forced his people to accept it and killed many of those who refused.
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After Bashtaseb, his son Bahman succeeded him. He was once of the famous Persian Kings. All these evil kings had lived for a long time. The point here is what Ibn Jareer mentioned concerning the passersby of the city, as mentioned in the verses, and that person was Jeremiah (as).
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This was also what Wahb Ibn Munabbih, Abdullah ibn Ubayd and others have said. The context of the verses strongly support this. However, Ali, Abdullah ibn salaam, ibn Abbas (ra), al-Hasan, Qatadah, and others have said that the passerby was Uzayr (as) and not Jeremiah (as).