Surat An-Naml (The Ant)
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وَصَدَّهَا مَا كَانَت تَّعْبُدُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّهَا كَانَتْ مِن قَوْمٍ كَافِرِينَ
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Wasaddaha ma kanattaAAbudu min dooni Allahi innaha kanat minqawmin kafireen
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And that which she was worshipping other than Allah had averted her [from submission to Him]. Indeed, she was from a disbelieving people."
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This sentence has been added by Allah to clarity the queen's position, saying that she was not obdurate and stubborn. She had been an unbeliever till then mainly because she canto of an unbelieving people. As she had become accustomed to bowing down before a false deity since her childhood, it had become a hindrance for her to the right way. As soon as she came in contact with the Prophet Solomon, she discerned the right way and the hindrance was removed Forthwith.
- filter_vintage﴿وَصَدَّهَا مَا كَانَت تَّعْبُدُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهَا كَانَتْ مِن قَوْمٍ كَـفِرِينَ ﴾(And Saddaha that which she used to worship besides Allah has prevented her, for she was of a disbelieving people.) This is a continuation of the words of Sulayman -- according to the opinion of Mujahid and Sa`id bin Jubayr, may Allah be pleased with them both -- i.e., Sulayman said:﴿وَأُوتِينَا الْعِلْمَ مِن قَبْلِهَا وَكُنَّا مُسْلِمِينَ﴾(Knowledge was bestowed on us before her, and we had submitted to Allah.) and what stopped her from worshipping Allah alone was﴿مَا كَانَت تَّعْبُدُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهَا كَانَتْ مِن قَوْمٍ كَـفِرِينَ﴾(that which she used to worship besides Allah, for she was of a disbelieving people.) What Mujahid and Sa`id said is good; it was also the view of Ibn Jarir. Then Ibn Jarir said, "It could be that the subject of the verb.﴿وَصَدَّهَا﴾(And Saddaha) refers to Sulayman or to Allah, so that the phrase now means:﴿مَا كَانَت تَّعْبُدُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ﴾(She would not worship anything over than Allah.)﴿إِنَّهَا كَانَتْ مِن قَوْمٍ كَـفِرِينَ﴾(for she was of a disbelieving people.) I say: the opinion of Mujahid is supported by the fact that she declared her Islam after she entered the Sarh, as we shall see below.