Bismillāh.
قَالُوا وَمَا لَنَا أَلَّا نُقَاتِلَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَارِنَا وَأَبْنَائِنَا ۖ فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْا إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ
They said, ‘Why should we not fight in the way of Allah, when we have been expelled from our homes and [separated from] our children?’ But when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned back except a few of them.
(Sūrat al-Baqarah, No. 2, Āyat 246)
Commitment to an intention is more important than the intention itself. It is easy to make good intentions when feeling inspired or moved by an emotion. It could be a positive or a negative emotion. Either can bring about inner turmoil from which springs the desire to act to change things. However, when the chance to act occurs, many people waver. The initially strong intention now weakens in the face of potential danger. The commitment to act on the intention is not strong.
In the above verse we see that when the Banū Israel during the time of Prophet Ushmu’īl (Samuel) ‘alayhis-salām, were asked by their Prophet if they would be ready to fight under a king he would appoint for them, they replied in the affirmative. They pledged their willingness to fight for their rights. Their independence, their dignity and their livelihood had all been taken away from them. They were suffering and were adamant that they would fight to restore their dignity. According to hadith, their Prophet did not believe that they would fight. He told them ‘You have no sense of loyalty to God’s cause or a desire to fight in His way’. They assured him, ‘if God prescribes fighting for us, we will obey our Lord and fight our enemies’. (Majlisī, Bihār al-Anwār 13:450 – quoted in God’s Emissaries).
The people generally did not like warfare. But because their lands were taken from them and they were forced to leave their homes and families, they felt they were ready to fight the enemies. The anger and frustration they felt triggered a desire to act. However, this was not followed by a commitment to act. When the Prophet appointed Tālūt as their king, his command to lead the people against the Palestinians (known at that time as the Philistines) was disobeyed by most of them. Very few people were committed enough to obey the king. According to Tafsīr-e Namūneh the number of people who stayed loyal to Tālūt was 313, the same number of the Muslims at Badr. It is also the number of people who will respond first to the call of Imam Muhammad Al-Mahdi ‘ajjalallāhu farajah, when he reappears.
It is easy to be moved to declare action but being determined enough to follow up with the action and bear the hardship that may come with it is much harder. Many people give up along the way. This is a test that sieves out the strong from the weak, those who mean what they say from those who just speak out of emotion.
Islamic history has many examples of people who declared their good intentions but failed in their commitment to them. People during the time of the Prophet sallal-lāhu ‘alayhi wa-ālihi wasallam were not able to accompany him in some of the battles because of the lack of commitment. Fear of heat and loss of property and lives made them falter. The Quran talks about them: And a party of them asked permission of the Prophet, saying, “Indeed, our houses are unprotected,” while they were not exposed. They did not intend except to flee (Q 33:12). They turned back on the intentions they had earlier declared. And they had already promised Allah before not to turn their backs and flee. (Q 33:14).
In the battle of Karbala, we see that the people of Kufa were deeply dissatisfied with the leadership of the Banu Umayyad. They declared their intention to support Imam al-Husayn ‘alayhis-salām through their words – both verbal and written. But when the time came for action, we saw the complete lack of commitment on their part. The potential of death and difficulties made them go back on their words. Their lack of commitment is a lesson for all those who have good intentions. It is the follow up action that shows strength of character, not the initial intention.
Sources: Āyatullāh Nāsir Makārim Shirāzī (Ed.), Tafsīr-e Namūneh; ‘Allāmah S M H Tabātabā’ī, al-Mīzān, v. 4 in English; alketab.org; Sh. Rizwan Arastu, God’s Emissaries -Adam to Jesus.