Translation:
Have you not reflected on the (quality) of the leaders 131 of the children of Israel after Moses? When they said to one of their prophets, “Bring us a king so that we may fight in the cause of God,” he (Samuel) said, “Perhaps you will not fight when fighting will be required of you.” They said, “What reason is there for us not to fight when we have been deprived of our homes and our children?” (1 Sam. 8:19–20). But when the order to fight (finally) came, they did not participate, except a few of them. And God knows (well) the evildoers.
Their prophet said to them, “God has raised Talut (Saul) to be your king.” They protested, “How can he have a kingdom when we feel we have a better right to a kingdom than he because he does not have an abundance of wealth?” He (prophet) said, “God has exalted him above you by giving him abundance in knowledge and physical strength.” God grants His kingdom to whom He pleases. He is all Embracing, All-Knowing.
Interpretation:
131 As God relates to the incidence in the life of the children of Israel, it is important for Muslims today to understand that many of our behaviors and situations now closely parallel the conditions and behaviors of the Jewish people then and that
some of the humiliation and deprivation that was imposed on the Jews is now being imposed on Muslims. Just like the Jews could not claim special privileges, neither can Muslims. Some Muslims feel that it is enough to be called a Muslim and that God has an obligation to take care of us, but nothing could be further from the truth; it is only sincere faith and an active life in the pursuit of goodness that will benefit us.
In this verse God reminds us that the followers of Moses were not true to their words. Even though they were deprived of their homes and their children, they were not willing to fight for them when they were given the opportunity. They were caught up in internal dissention as to the perceived quality of their leaders, the conditions for fighting, and their fear of failure and were unsure of God’s help. Instead of focusing
on the task at hand they were more concerned about finding fault with Talut. In more recent times in many countries, when the public is given the power to choose its leaders, they do not take it seriously or they choose based on the wrong criteria, similar to how the Jewish people thought Talut did not deserve to be their leader because they felt he was not wealthy enough. In other countries, the people are still shackled to the idea of having leaders whose only qualification is birthright or family lineage as opposed to quality of leadership, wisdom, honesty, faith, and passion for
people’s welfare.
Reflection:
In Muslim communities and in Muslim countries, there is a crisis of lead- ership and a serious lack of activism among the people to ensure that law, civility, justice, knowledge, and adherence to Islamic values and beliefs prevail. In some respects, leadership has been shifted from civic leaders to so-called mullahs and imams whose understanding of Islam is too narrow and shallow at best and whose experiences in creating a civil society based on rule of law and moral principles are nonexistent. In other instances, civic rulers are full of corruption and self-interest and devoid of any moral values and elements of faith. There is also another class of rulers whose claim to leadership is based on birthright and whose concerns and loyalty are not for the people they claim to serve but for those who benefit their self-interests.
Action:
Each Muslim needs to develop a passion and a commitment to understand Islam through the Qur’anic teachings and Prophetic examples and then lead a life in which they exercise their obligations to do good deeds for the benefit of their fellow men. These actions should be based on giving mutual respect to others, electing educated and moral leaders and holding them accountable for their actions, creating economic well-being through education and hard work, and ensuring justice and fairness for all citizens irrespective of their ethnicity, national origin, or faith. Our survival and progress should be based on the principles laid out in the Qur’an and beautifully exemplified by generations of Muslims before us and not on the false security of modern weaponry (violence), arrogance of oil wealth (greed), or excuse of powerful adversaries (power hunger).