Have you not seen the council of the children of Israel after Moses when they said to a prophet of theirs “Send for us a king and we will fight in God's way.” He said “Might it be that if fighting is prescribed for you you will not fightḍ” They said “Why should we not fight in God's way when we have been expelled from our habitations and our childrenḍ” Yet when fighting was prescribed for them they turned their backs except a few of them; and God has knowledge of the evildoers. They approached the matter as one of free choice ikhtiyār demanding that their prophet ask permission for them to fight. When they were granted that for which they were themselves responsible they stopped short out of laziness takāsul and changed their course toward the homelands of desertion takhādhul and indifference taghāful. It is said that outwardly they spoke with toughness and seriousness about fighting to defend their possessions and their dwellings when they said “Why should we not fight in God's way when we have been expelled from our habitations and our childrenḍ” But they did not achieve their objective because their resolve was not purely for the right of God. If they had said “Why should we not fight in the way of God for He has commanded us and made [this] an obligation on usḍ He is our Chief and Protector and His command is binding on us” then perhaps they would have fully achieved what they had set out to do.
