Introduction We spend a considerable part of our time preparing young people for success. From an early age, they are told which examinations to clear, which degrees to pursue, which skills to acquire and which professions are likely to offer them a secure future. Families make sacrifices for their education, institutions measure their performance, employers evaluate their productivity, and society, in turn, recognises and celebrates their achievements. There is nothing unusual about this. Every generation wants the next one to do better, have more opportunities and live a more secure life. But somewhere in this entire process, I think we tend to overlook a rather important question: what, ultimately, are we teaching our young people to succeed at? The question is not whether young people should be ambitious. A generation that is not willing to learn, work, innovate, build institutions and improve the conditions of life cannot contribute much to the future of a nati...
Introduction Few nations are mentioned in the Qur'an as frequently as Bani Isra'il (the Children of Israel) . Their prophets, victories, failures, migrations, and repeated encounters with divine guidance appear throughout the Qur'an. Yet, for many Muslims, these stories remain disconnected episodes—the story of Musa (Moses), Talut and Jalut, Dawood (David), and Sulaiman (Solomon)—rather than parts of one continuous historical narrative. However, the Qur'an does not recount the history of Bani Isra'il simply to tell us what happened in the past. Their history is presented as a source of guidance and reflection. Their rise, decline, restoration, and eventual dispersal demonstrate recurring principles through which Allah governs the rise and fall of nations. In this article, we will trace the historical journey of Bani Isra'il from their origins through the eras of Musa, Dawood, and Sulaiman, the Babylonian and Roman destructions, and finally the Qur'anic...