Taha · Makki · ayah 79 of 135

Taha 20:79

وَأَضَلَّ فِرْعَوْنُ قَوْمَهُۥ وَمَا هَدَىٰ

“And Pharaoh led his people astray and did not guide [them].”

Saheeh International

Essence

Seven words sum up a ruler's legacy: Pharaoh led his people astray, and the guidance he had boasted of never came.

A reflection

A leader takes people somewhere

A self-appointed group leader on a coastal walk insists on a shortcut across the tidal flats. Others hesitate. He is confident, and he is in charge, so they follow. Halfway across, the tide turns. Everyone is soaked and frightened before the coastguard reaches them. He did not just lose his own way. He took twenty people with him.

The ayah is short and devastating: wa-aḍalla firʿawnu qawmahu. Pharaoh led his people astray. Not merely: he was astray. He led them there.

One early commentator explains what that meant. Pharaoh took his people off the level road. He led them on the path of the people of the Fire, by commanding them to disbelieve in Allah and deny His messengers. Another commentator describes the result. He took them down a road that brought them to loss in religion and this world alike: drowned, then the Fire.

And one commentator connects this scene to another ayah. Pharaoh went ahead of his people into the sea and misled them. So he will go ahead of them on the Day of Resurrection, into the Fire (11:98).

That is the weight of leadership. A leader is never only responsible for himself. Every decision moves other people. A misled leader rarely drowns alone.

This applies far beyond kings. Parents lead children. Managers lead teams. Teachers lead classes. Older friends lead younger ones. Each of us is walking somewhere, and others are following our tracks.

So the question for anyone with influence is not only: where am I going? It is also: where am I taking them? And will they thank me when we arrive?

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.