10:14 Yunus (Jonas)

{‏ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ‏}‏ أيها المخاطبون ‏{‏خَلَائِفَ فِي الْأَرْضِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ لِنَنْظُرَ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ‏}‏ فإن أنتم اعتبرتم واتعظتم بمن قبلكم واتبعتم آيات الله وصدقتم رسله، نجوتم في الدنيا والآخرة‏.‏ وإن فعلتم كفعل الظالمين قبلكم، أحل بكم ما أحل بهم، ومن أنذر فقد أعذر‏.‏

ثم استخلف الله هؤلاء القوم من بعدهم وأرسل إليهم رسولا لينظر طاعتهم له واتباعهم رسوله وفي صحيح مسلم من حديث أبي نضرة عن أبي سعيد قال: قال رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم "إن الدنيا حلوة خضرة وإن الله مستخلفكم فيها فناظر كيف تعملون فاتقوا الدنيا واتقوا النساء فإن أول فتنة بني إسرائيل كانت من النساء" وقال ابن جرير: حدثني المثنى حدثنا زيد بن عوف أبو ربيعة بهذا أنبأنا حماد عن ثابت البناني عن عبدالرحمن بن أبي ليلى أن عوف بن مالك قال لأبي بكر: رأيت فيما يرى النائم كأن سببا دلي من السماء فانتشط رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم ثم أعيد فانتشط أبو بكر ثم ذرع الناس حول المنبر ففضل عمر بثلاثة أذرع حول المنبر فقال عمر: دعنا من رؤياك لا أرب لنا فيها فلما استخلف عمر قال: يا عوف رؤياك؟ قال وهل لك في رؤياي من حاجة أو لم تنتهرني؟ قال ويحك إني كرهت أن تنعى لخليفة رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم نفسه فقص عليه الرؤيا حتى إذا بلغ ذرع الناس إلى المنبر بهذه الثلاث الأذرع قال: أما إحداهن فإنه كان خليفة وأما الثانية فإنه لا يخاف في الله لومة لائم وأما الثالثة فإنه شهيد. قال: فقال يقول الله تعالى "ثم جعلناكم خلائف في الأرض من بعدهم لننظر كيف تعملون" فقد استخلفت يا ابن أم عمر فانظر كيف تعمل؟ وأما قوله فإني لا أخاف في الله لومة لائم فيما شاء الله وأما قوله شهيد فأنى لعمر الشهادة والناس مطيفون به؟.

The Admonition held in the Destruction of the Previous Generations

Allah tells us about what happened to past generations when they belied the Messengers ﷺ and the clear signs and proofs the latter brought to them. Allah then made this nation successors after them. He sent to them a Messenger to test their obedience to Him and following His Messenger. Muslim recorded that Abu Nadrah reported from Abu Sa`id that he said: "Allah's Messenger ﷺ said:

«إِنَّ الدُّنْيَا حُلْوَةٌ خَضِرَةٌ، وَإِنَّ اللهَ مُسْتَخْلِفُكُمْ فِيهَا، فَنَاظِرٌ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ، فَاتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا وَاتَّقُوا النِّسَاءَ، فَإِنَّ أَوَّلَ فِتْنَةِ بِنَي إِسْرَائِيلَ كَانَتْ فِي النِّسَاء»

(The world is indeed sweet and green; and verily Allah is going to install you generations after generations in it in order to see how you act. So safeguard yourselves against the world and avoid (the trial caused by) women. For the first trial of the Children of Israel was due to women..) Ibn Jarir reported from `Abdur-Rahman from Ibn Abi Layla that `Awf bin Malik said to Abu Bakr: "In a dream, I saw a rope hanging from the sky and Allah's Messenger ﷺ was being raised. The rope was suspended again and Abu Bakr was raised. Then people were given different measurements around the Minbar, and `Umar was favored with three forearm measurements." `Umar said: "Keep your dream away from us, we have no need for it." When `Umar succeeded, he called for `Awf and said to him, "Tell me about your dream" `Awf said: "Do you need to hear about my dream now Did you not scold me before" He then said, "Woe unto you! I hated for you to announce it to the successor of Allah's Messenger ﷺ himself." So `Awf related his dream until he got to the three forearms, he said: "One that he was Khalifah, second he did not -- for the sake of Allah -- fear the blame of blamers, and third he was a martyr." Allah said:

ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَـكُمْ خَلَـئِفَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ مِن بَعْدِهِم لِنَنظُرَ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ

(Then We made you successors after them, generations after generations in the land, that We might see how you would work.)(10:14) Then he said: "Son of the mother of `Umar, you have been appointed as Khalifah, so look at what you will do! About not fearing the blame of blamers, that is Allah's will. About becoming a martyr, how can `Umar reach that when the Muslims are in support of him"

Then We made you O people of Mecca successors khalā’if is the plural of khalīfa in the earth after them that We might behold how you would behave in it and whether you would take heed from their example and believe in Our messengers.

In verse 14, it was said: ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ خَلَائِفَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ مِن بَعْدِهِمْ لِنَنظُرَ‌ كَيْفَ تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿14﴾ (Then We made you vice-regents on the earth, in order to see how you would act), that is, ` after the destruction of past peoples, We made you successors to them giving you the vice-regency of the earth. But, let this not give you any false idea that this vice-regency of the earth has been given to you so that you could have a good time. In fact, this honor has been bestowed on you to test you and to see how you would act - would you learn your lesson from the history of past peoples or would you lose your head drunk with power and wealth?'

This tells us that worldly power is not something to be proud of or arrogant about. This is responsibility at its toughest, a charge very heavy and very fragile to handle.