ABSTRACT

Submission is a central concept in Islam and is the culmination of the Quran’s story about the meeting between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Q27:22–44). What are the biblical parallels of submission by a foreigner, and how is it constituted; what role does human intellect and an acknowledgement of God play in the formation of divine wisdom; and how does otherness in terms of gender and foreignness figure both submission and wisdom? In bringing these questions to bear on a reading of the Bible, this chapter finds strong resonances between the Quran’s Queen of Sheba and the biblical story of Ruth in terms of gender, expressions of faith and actions that move forward the plot in the theological narrative.