Tafsir of Surah As-Sajdah - Verse 24

The Book of Musa and the Leadership of the Children of Israel

Allah tells us that He gave the Book -- the Tawrah -- to His servant and Messenger Musa, peace be upon him.

فَلاَ تَكُن فِى مِرْيَةٍ مِّن لِّقَآئِهِ

(So, be not you in doubt of meeting him.) Qatadah said, "This refers to the Night of Isra'," then he narrated that Abu Al-`Aliyah Ar-Riyahi said, "The cousin of your Prophet, meaning Ibn `Abbas, told me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«أُرِيتُ لَيْلَةَ أُسْرِيَ بِي مُوسى بْنَ عِمْرَانَ رَجُلًا آدَمَ طِوَالًا جَعْدًا كَأَنَّهُ مِنْ رِجَالِ شَنُوءَةَ، وَرَأَيْتُ عِيسى رَجُلًا مَرْبُوعَ الْخَلْقِ إِلَى الْحُمْرَةِ وَالْبَيَاضِ، سَبْط الرَّأْسِ، وَرَأَيْتُ مَالِكًا خَازِنَ النَّارِ وَالدَّجَّال»

(On the night of Isra', I saw Musa bin `Imran, a tall, brown-skinned man with curly hair, looking like the men of Shanu'ah; and I saw `Isa, a man of medium stature and ruddy white skin, and with lank hair. And I saw Malik the Keeper of Hell, and the Dajjal.) Among the signs which Allah showed him were:

فَلاَ تَكُن فِى مِرْيَةٍ مِّن لِّقَآئِهِ

(So, be not you in doubt of meeting him.) i.e., he saw Musa and met with him on the Night of Isra'."

وَجَعَلْنَـهُ

(And We made it) means, `the Book which We gave to him, '

هُدًى لِّبَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ

(a guide to the Children of Israel.) This is similar to what Allah says in Surat Al-Isra':

وَءَاتَيْنَآ مُوسَى الْكِتَـبَ وَجَعَلْنَاهُ هُدًى لِّبَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ أَلاَّ تَتَّخِذُواْ مِن دُونِى وَكِيلاً

(And We gave Musa the Scripture and made it a guidance for the Children of Israel (saying): "Take none other than Me as Trustee.") (17:2)

وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا لَمَّا صَبَرُواْ وَكَانُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا يُوقِنُونَ

(And We made from among them, leaders, giving guidance under Our command, when they were patient and used to believe with certainty in Our Ayat.) means, because they were patient in adhering to the commands of Allah and avoiding what He prohibited, and they believed in His Messengers and followed what they brought, there were among them leaders who guided others to the truth by the command of Allah, calling for goodness, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. Then when they changed the Words of Allah, twisting and distorting them, they lost that position and their hearts became hard. They change the words from their places, so they do no righteous deeds and have no correct beliefs. Allah says:

وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا لَمَّا صَبَرُواْ

(And We made from among them (Children of Israel), leaders, giving guidance under Our command, when they were patient) Qatadah and Sufyan said: "When they patiently shunned the temptations of this world." This was also the view of Al-Hasan bin Salih. Sufyan said, "This is how these people were. A man cannot be an example to be followed unless he shuns the temptation of this world." Allah says:

وَلَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَا بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ الْكِتَـبَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ وَرَزَقْنَـهُمْ مِّنَ الطَّيِّبَـتِ وَفَضَّلْنَـهُمْ عَلَى الْعَـلَمينَ وَءاتَيْنَـهُم بَيِّنَـتٍ مِّنَ الاٌّمْرِ

(And indeed We gave the Children of Israel the Scripture, and the understanding of the Scripture and its laws, and the prophethood; and provided them with good things, and preferred them above the nations. And We gave them clear proofs in matters.) (45:16-17). And He says here:

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقَيَـمَةِ فِيمَا كَانُواْ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ

(Verily, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection, concerning that wherein they used to differ.) meaning, with regard to beliefs and actions.

Two conditions for the leader of any people

In the next verse (24), it was said:

وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِ‌نَا لَمَّا صَبَرُ‌وا ۖ وَكَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يُوقِنُونَ

(And We appointed leaders from among them who guided (people) under Our command, when they observed patience, and kept firm belief in Our verses).

In this verse, two reasons have been given as to why religious leadership was bestowed on some of the sages of Bani Isra'il: (1) Observance of patience and (2) the certitude of Divine words. In terms of the Arabic usage, the sense of doing sabr or patience is very wide and general. Literally, it means to tie or to be firm. At this place, sabr means to stay firm on the implementation of Divine injunctions and to hold one's desiring self in check against the infringement of what Allah Ta'ala has declared to be Karam (unlawful) or makruh (reprehensible). This covers one's obedience to all injunctions of the Sharl'ah which is pragmatic perfection at its best. The second reason lies in their certitude - they are certain of the Divine words. This includes the initial understanding of the sense of the verses as well as the resulting certitude which emerges from such comprehension - both. This is intellectual perfection at its best.

In short, in the sight of Allah Ta’ ala, only those who are perfect both in 'ilm (knowledge) and 'amal (practice) are worthy of religious leadership. It is interesting here that perfection in practice has been made to precede perfection in knowledge while, usually 'ilm (knowledge) precedes ` amal (practice). This arrangement releases a strong hint, that is, a knowledge which has no corresponding practice with it is just not credible in the sight of Allah.

Ibn Kathir has reported the following saying of some ` Ulama' in his tafsir of this verse:

بِالصَّبرِ وَ الیَقِینِ تُنَالُ الِا مَا مَۃُ فِی الدِّینِ

One can arrive at the station of leadership in religion only through sabr (patience) and yagin (certitude).

The awarding of the Book of God to a group is tantamount to bestowing the keys of world leadership upon that group. But, such status is conferred on a group only when it exercises patience. ‘When they were steadfast’ has been explained as ‘When they were patient with the world.’ (Tafsir ibn Kathir). In other words, they attained the position of leadership when they exercised patience in the face of the adversity of this world. People accept that person (or group) as a leader or Imam who appears to be at higher level than their own—who lives for principles when others live for self-interest, who supports justice when others take the side of their own community; who shows tolerance on being wronged when others seek revenge; who reconciles with deprivation when others rush to find gains; who offers to make sacrifices for the sake of Truth when others know only how to sacrifice for self-interest. Such virtues are rooted in patience, and those who exercise this patience become leaders of the world. Man does not often learn lessons from events until the same disaster befalls him as has befallen others. Those who make innovative interpretations of religion and thus cause differences to arise, incur the risk of final rejection on the Day of judgement and thereafter experience nothing but unending denigration.