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TRIAL OF TALUT'S ARMY

TRIAL OF TALUT'S ARMY
Talut (Saul) whom the Holy Quran admires as worthy king had a strong physique and great knowledge. The Holy Quran says: قَالَ إِنَّ اللهَ اصْطَفَاهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَزَادَهُ بَسْطَةً في العِلْمِ والجِسْمِ

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?He said: Surely, Allah has chosen him in preference to you, and He has increased him abundantly in knowledge and physique. (2:247)?
This strong man was appointed by the prophet of that time to be the leader of the Israelis to fight their enemies. Talut mobilized a great army to fight Jalut (Goliath) the tyrant, who oppressed the Israelis. He (Saul) said to his soldiers: Be careful, for God will test you through a river on your way; he who will not drink from it though he might be very thirsty will be (considered as) obeying God and will be among my helpers and entitled to God's grace. But anyone who will drink from it is not my follower and will be deprived of God's assistance.
It was hot, the land was dry, and thirst prevailed. Suddenly, the river came into sight and the thirsty soldiers saw a river flowing with limped water before them. It requires great patience and strong faith to resist desire to pass by a river and not quench one's thirst for the sake of God. The river was a great test for the army of Talut. Satan began to tempt them as what the philosophy of suffering from thirst is while being near to a river. Why water, a source of life, should be banned. No, one must drink from it, feel fresh, and fight the enemies; not knowing that man's number one enemy is his concupiscence which disobeys God's orders. First of all, one must fight this inner enemy and then be sure that after suppressing it, God's help will come. Finally, the pleasant sight of the river and Satan's temptations weakened their will. Except for 313 soldiers, the entire army whose number was 80,000 drank from the river and revealed their weak faith against physical desires. فَلَمَّا فَصَلَ طَالُوتُ بِالجُنُودِ قَاَل إِنَّ اللهَ مُبْتَلِيكُمْ بِنَهَرٍ فَمَنْ شَرِبَ مِنْهُ فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي وَمَنْ لَمْ يَطْعَمْهُ فَإِنَّهُ مِنِّي ِإلاّ مَنِ اغْتَرَفَ غُرْفَةً بِيَدِهِ، فَشَرِبُوا مِنْهُ ِإلاّ قَلِيلاً مِنْهُمْ.
?So, when Talut departed with the forces, he said: Surely, Allah will try you with a river; whoever then drinks from it, he is not of me, and whoever does not taste of it, he is surely of me, except he who takes with his hand as much of it as fills the hand; but with the exception of a few of them, they drank from it. (The Holy Quran; 2:249)?


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ANOTHER TRIAL OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
وَإِذْ قُلْنَا ادْخُلُوا هَذِهِ القَـرْيَةِ فَكُلُوا مِنْهَا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمْ رَغَداً وَادْخُلُوا البَابَ سُجَّداً وَقُولُوا حِطَّةٌ نَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ خَطَايَاكُمْ وَسَنَـزِيدُ المحُسْنِينَ. فَبَدَّلَ الّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا قَوْلاً غَيْرَ الّذِي قِيلَ لَهُمْ فَأَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا رِجْزاً مِنَ السّمَاءِ بِمَا كَانوُا يَفْسُقُونَ.
?And when We said: Enter this city, and then eat from it a plenteous (food) wherever you wish and enter the gate making obeisance; and say, forgiveness. We will forgive you your wrongs and give more to those who do good. But those who were unjust changed it for a saying other than that which had been spoken to them, so We sent upon those who were unjust a pestilence from heaven, because thy transgressed. (The Holy Quran; 2: 58-9)?
The unyielding tribe of the Israelis, due to the dignity of Prophet Moses (a.s) was entitled to God's grace. So, they had the impression that they became really honorable in the sight of God and became God's favorites and the most devoted servants. To test them and to make them subject to curse and punishment, God appointed certain duties for them. The prosperous land of Damascus was envisaged for their settlement provided that they, first, would enter the city through a specific gate, they, second, would enter the city while bowing as sign of humbleness to God, and, third, they would say, 'forgive us,' so that God would pardon their wrongdoings. But they said to themselves, 'why should we enter the city through a narrow gate while there were wider ones?' They entered the city not only without bowing but also with their backs forward; and instead of saying, 'forgive us,' they said indecent words. The result was a pestilence from heaven.

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