“Have you not thought about the group of the Children of Israel after (the time of) Musa? When they said to a Prophet of theirs: ‘Appoint for us a king and we will fight in Allah’s Way.’
He (the Prophet) said: ‘Would you then refrain from fighting, if fighting was prescribed for you?’
They said: ‘Why should we not fight in Allah’s Way while we have been driven out of our homes and our children (families have been taken as captives)?’
But when fighting was ordered for them, they fled, all except a few of them. And Allah is All-Aware of the zalimun (wrong-doers).” [Al-Baqarah 2 : 246]
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The history of Bani Israel is that they had a time where they obeyed Allah, and a time where they disobeyed Him. In general, they disobeyed Allah in many, many instances.
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After Prophet Musa ‘alayhi salaam passed away, Bani Israel was at a very low point in their lives because they were oppressed by an extremely strong group of army led by Jaloot. Jaloot and his people were physically huge, strong, and skilled in war tactics who showed no mercy. So the chiefs of Bani Israel went to speak to their Prophet, requesting for Allah to appoint them a king, who can lead them to fight their enemies.
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And this Prophet knew all about the history of Bani Israel – how often they would break their oaths. This was why he asked them: Are you sure that you would not run away if Allah made it an obligation for you to fight?
Bani Israel said: Of course! Why would we run away!
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Guess what happened. When it was indeed made obligatory upon them to fight, they fled, except only a very few number remained. And look at the end of the ayah. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says: “…And Allah is All-Aware of the zalimun (the oppressors / the wrong-doers).”
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We may wonder, why does Allah call them the zalimun (the oppressors), when the oppressors here are Jaloot and his army right? Because any time we disobey Allah, we have actually wronged / oppressed ourselves. The first person we hurt when we do not listen to Allah’s Commands is *ourselves*.
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For example, we may think that waking up for Fajr prayer will make us lose our sleep and make us tired. But in reality, not waking up for the Fajr prayer is what makes us tired – we will wake up in a bad mood and lazy. (Sahih Muslim)
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We think our decisions are the best decisions. But our intellect can never match the Wisdom of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. So have yaqeen that all of the Commandments and Prohibitions that Allah has set are always good for us. Trust Allah that He always wants what is good for us.
