Surah Baqarah ayat 246 Tafsir Quran 2:246

﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الْمَلَإِ مِن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مِن بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰ إِذْ قَالُوا لِنَبِيٍّ لَّهُمُ ابْعَثْ لَنَا مَلِكًا نُّقَاتِلْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۖ قَالَ هَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِتَالُ أَلَّا تُقَاتِلُوا ۖ قَالُوا وَمَا لَنَا أَلَّا نُقَاتِلَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَارِنَا وَأَبْنَائِنَا ۖ فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْا إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ﴾
[ البقرة: 246]

2:246 Have you not considered the assembly of the Children of Israel after [the time of] Moses when they said to a prophet of theirs, "Send to us a king, and we will fight in the way of Allah "? He said, "Would you perhaps refrain from fighting if fighting was prescribed for you?" They said, "And why should we not fight in the cause of Allah when we have been driven out from our homes and from our children?" But when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned away, except for a few of them. And Allah is Knowing of the wrongdoers.

Have you not seen the story and the tale of the council an assembly of the Children of Israel after the death of Moses when they said to a prophet of theirs namely Samuel ‘Send establish for us a king to unite us and to whom we can refer matters and we will fight with him in God’s way’. He the prophet said to them ‘Might it be that ‘asaytum or ‘asītum if fighting is prescribed for you you will not fight? allā tuqātilū is the predicate of ‘asā ‘might it be’; the interrogative is intended to confirm the expectation that follows sc. that they will not fight. They said ‘Why should we not fight in God’s way when we have been expelled from our habitations and our children?’ as a result of these latter being taken captive or killed that which they suffered at the hands of Goliath and his men. The meaning is ‘There is nothing to stop us fighting provided the requirement we demanded is forthcoming’. God exalted be He says Yet when fighting was prescribed for them they turned their backs from fighting in cowardice except a few of them the ones that crossed the river with Saul Tālūt as will be mentioned; and God has knowledge of the evildoers and will requite them accordingly. The prophet then asked his Lord to send forth a king and God responded by sending forth Saul.

Have you not seen, O Muhammad, into the discourse held by Bani Isra‘il’s chiefs with a prophet of their own sent to them after Mussa’s death? They said to him: Nominate a king under whose power we can unite and fight in Allah’s cause. The Prophet said to them: What if he is appointed and fighting is ordained and you refuse to fight? They said: But why should we not fight in Allah’s cause when we and our children have been expelled from our homes? But when fighting was ordained they retracted their word and their true irreverent spirit betrayed them to their fall excepting a few; but Allah is wholly aware of the wrongful

The Story of the Jews Who sought a King to be appointed over Them Mujahid said that the Prophet ( mentioned in the Ayah 2:246 above ) is Shamwil ( Samuel ).
Wahb bin Munabbih said: The Children of Israel remained on the straight path for a period of time after Moses.
They then innovated in the religion and some of them even worshipped the idols.
Yet, there were always Prophets sent among them who would command them to work righteous deeds, refrain from doing evil and who would rule them according to the commands of the Torah.
When they ( Israelites ) committed the evil that they committed, Allah caused their enemies to overwhelm them, and many fatalities fell among them as a consequence.
Their enemies also captured a great number of them, and took over large areas of their land.
Earlier, anyone who would fight the Israelites would lose, because they had the Torah and the Tabut, which they inherited generation after generation ever since the time of Moses, who spoke to Allah directly.
Yet, the Israelites kept indulging in misguidance until some king took the Tabut from them during a battle.
That king also took possession of the Torah, and only a few of the Israelites who memorized it remained.
The prophethood halted among their various tribes and only a pregnant woman remained of the offspring of Lavi ( Levi ), in whom the prophethood still appeared.
Her husband had been killed, so the Israelites kept her in a house so that Allah may give her a boy, who would be their Prophet.
The woman also kept invoking Allah to grant her a boy.
Allah heard her pleas and gave her a boy whom she called `Shamwil' meaning `Allah has heard my pleas.' Some people said that the boy's name was Sham`un ( Simeon ), which also has a similar meaning. As that boy grew, Allah raised him to be a righteous person.
When he reached the age of prophethood, Allah revealed to him and commanded him to call ( his people ) to Him and to His Tawhid ( Oneness ).
Shamwil called the Children of Israel ( to Allah ) and they asked him to appoint a king over them so that they could fight their enemies under his command.
The kingship had also ended among them.
Their Prophet said to them, "What if Allah appoints a king over you, would you fulfill your vow to fight under his command" قَالُواْ وَمَا لَنَآ أَلاَّ نُقَـتِلَ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَـرِنَا وَأَبْنَآئِنَا ( They said, "Why should we not fight in Allah's way while we have been driven out of our homes and our children" ) meaning, `After our land had been confiscated and our children had been taken from us' Allah said: فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْاْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّنْهُمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّـلِمِينَ ( But when fighting was ordered for them, they turned away, all except a few of them.
And Allah is All-Aware of the wrongdoers ) meaning, only a few of them kept their promise, but the majority abandoned Jihad and Allah has full knowledge of them.

(2:246) Have you also reflected upon the matter concerning the chiefs of the Israelites after (the death of) Moses? They said to their Prophet, "Appoint a king for us so that we may fight in the way of Allah." *268 The Prophet asked them, "Might it be that you will not fight, if fighting is prescribed for you?" They replied, "How can it be that we would refuse to fight in the way of Allah when we have been turned out of our homes and separated from our children?" But (in spite of this assurance) when they were enjoined to fight, they all, except a few of them, turned their backs. And Allah knows each and everyone of these transgressors.

Have you not considered the assembly of meaning

*268).
This took place about a thousand years before Christ.
At that time the Israelites were persecuted by the Amalekites who had deprived them of the greater part of Palestine.
The Prophet Samuel, who was then ruling over the Israelites, was old.
The elders of Israel, therefore, felt the need to appoint as their head someone else under whose leadership they could wage wars.
By that time, however, the Israelites had become so deeply infected with Ignorance, and the customs and practices of non-Muslim nations had made such inroads into their lives that the distinction between a religious state committed to serving God and secular monarchy was lost on them.
They consequently asked God to appoint a king rather than a religious ruler ( khalifah ) over them.
The information contained in the Bible is as follows:
Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.
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Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, 'Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations.' But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to govern us'.
And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Hearken to the voice of the people in what they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
According to all the deeds which they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you .
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' So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking a king for him.
He said, 'These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you; he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots.
And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make the implements of war and the equipments of his chariots.
He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
He will take the tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
He will take you men-servants and maid-servants, and the best of your cattle and asses, and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
And on that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.' But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said.
'No! But we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.' And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord.
And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Hearken to their voice, and make them a king.' Samuel then said to the men of Israel, 'Go every man to his city.' ( 1 Samuel 7: 15; 8: 4-22. )
And Samuel said to the people ? 'And when you saw that Nahash the king of Ammonites came against you, You said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us, when the Lord your God was your king.
And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you.
If you will fear the Lord and serve him and hearken to his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well; but if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.
Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes.
Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.' So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
And all the people said to Samuel, 'Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king.' And Samuel said to the people, 'Fear not; you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside front following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart, and do not turn aside after vain things which cannot profit or save, for they are vain.
For the Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.
Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; and I will instruct you in the good and right way?' ( 1 Samuel 12: 6-23 ).

These statements from Samuel make it clear that the demand to appoint a king was disagreeable to God and to His Prophet.
It might be asked, however, why the Qur'an does not contain any denunciation of this demand of the elders of Israel.
The reason is that to the purpose for which this incident has been cited the appropriateness and otherwise of the demand is irrelevant.
The purpose here is to show the extent to which cowardice and self-indulgence had become part of Israelite life, and to show how the lack of moral restraint had come to characterize their conduct.
It is these which ultimately led to their decline.
The aim of the Qur'anic narrative is to enable Muslims to derive a lesson from this and to ensure that these weaknesses do not creep into their own lives.

 

The Story of the Jews Who sought a King to be appointed over Them Mujahid said that the Prophet ( mentioned in the Ayah 2:246 above ) is Shamwil ( Samuel ).
Wahb bin Munabbih said: The Children of Israel remained on the straight path for a period of time after Moses.
They then innovated in the religion and some of them even worshipped the idols.
Yet, there were always Prophets sent among them who would command them to work righteous deeds, refrain from doing evil and who would rule them according to the commands of the Torah.
When they ( Israelites ) committed the evil that they committed, Allah caused their enemies to overwhelm them, and many fatalities fell among them as a consequence.
Their enemies also captured a great number of them, and took over large areas of their land.
Earlier, anyone who would fight the Israelites would lose, because they had the Torah and the Tabut, which they inherited generation after generation ever since the time of Moses, who spoke to Allah directly.
Yet, the Israelites kept indulging in misguidance until some king took the Tabut from them during a battle.
That king also took possession of the Torah, and only a few of the Israelites who memorized it remained.
The prophethood halted among their various tribes and only a pregnant woman remained of the offspring of Lavi ( Levi ), in whom the prophethood still appeared.
Her husband had been killed, so the Israelites kept her in a house so that Allah may give her a boy, who would be their Prophet.
The woman also kept invoking Allah to grant her a boy.
Allah heard her pleas and gave her a boy whom she called `Shamwil' meaning `Allah has heard my pleas.' Some people said that the boy's name was Sham`un ( Simeon ), which also has a similar meaning. As that boy grew, Allah raised him to be a righteous person.
When he reached the age of prophethood, Allah revealed to him and commanded him to call ( his people ) to Him and to His Tawhid ( Oneness ).
Shamwil called the Children of Israel ( to Allah ) and they asked him to appoint a king over them so that they could fight their enemies under his command.
The kingship had also ended among them.
Their Prophet said to them, "What if Allah appoints a king over you, would you fulfill your vow to fight under his command" قَالُواْ وَمَا لَنَآ أَلاَّ نُقَـتِلَ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَـرِنَا وَأَبْنَآئِنَا ( They said, "Why should we not fight in Allah's way while we have been driven out of our homes and our children" ) meaning, `After our land had been confiscated and our children had been taken from us' Allah said: فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْاْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّنْهُمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّـلِمِينَ ( But when fighting was ordered for them, they turned away, all except a few of them.
And Allah is All-Aware of the wrongdoers ) meaning, only a few of them kept their promise, but the majority abandoned Jihad and Allah has full knowledge of them.

( Bethink thee ) have you not been told ( of the leaders of the Children of Israel after Moses, how they said unto a prophet whom they had ) the prophet is Samuel ( Shamwil ): ( Set up for us a king ) show to us the king of this army ( and we will fight ) under his command against our enemy ( in Allah’s way ) in Allah’s obedience. ( He said: Would ye then ) do you suppose then that you will ( refrain from fighting if fighting ) against your enemy ( were prescribed for you? ) made obligatory upon you. ( They said: why should we not fight in Allah’s way when we have been expelled from our dwellings ) from our homes ( and separated from our children ) who were taken as slaves? ( Yet, when fighting was prescribed for them ) was made obligatory upon them, ( they turned away ) they refrained from fighting their enemy, ( all save a few of them ) 313 men. ( And Allah is Aware of evil-doers ) who shy away from fighting their enemy.

Have you not thought about the group of the Children of Israel after (the time of) Musa (Moses)? When they said to a Prophet of theirs, "Appoint for us a king and we will fight in Allah's Way." He 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 turned away, all except a few of them. And Allah is All-Aware of the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers).

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