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.
