punishment. However, in Hell the common people will hold their
leaders responsible for the fate that has befallen them:
Oh! if thou couldst see when the wrongdoer are brought before their
Rabb, how they cast the blame one to another; how those who were
weaker (the followers) say unto those who were proud (the leaders):
"but for you, we would have been believers" (34:31).
The leaders will retort that they (the followers) had willingly obeyed
them and as such had a share in their guilt:
And those who were proud say unto those who were weaker: "did we
drive you away from the guidance after it had come unto you. Nay, but
you were yourself guilty" (34:32).
In short, the followers and leaders will hurl accusations at each other
when they see the doom. The followers, while admitting that they
had obeyed them of their own accord, will plead that they had been
taken in by their specious arguments and plausible reasoning:
Those who were weaker say unto those who were proud: "Nay, but it
was your scheming night and day when ye commanded us to disbelieve
in Allah and set up rivals (like yourself) unto Him" (34:33).
The followers will implore God to inflict a twofold punishment on
the leaders as they were doubly guilty, going astray themselves and
taking others with them:
And they say: Our Rabb! Oh! we obeyed our chiefs and our great men
and they misled us from the way. Our Rabb! Oh! give them double
torment and curse them with a mighty curse (33:67-68).
Thus the Qur'an, in the form of an allegory, shows the respective
roles of the leaders and followers in the decline and fall of a nation.
Corruption starts at the upper layer of society and spreads
downwards. Common men, by shirking their duty to think
independently, become accomplices in the crimes of their leaders.
Had they rebelled, the leaders might have been brought to their
senses and checked themselves. Their willing obedience to errant
leaders was in itself a crime and they have to expiate it.
It is not only individuals who imitate their betters. Nations too
are tempted to imitate stronger, wealthier and more advanced
nations. Backward nations eagerly follow the lead of an advanced
nation. They play the sedulous ape to the great nation, faithfully
copying its manners and way of life and adopting its institutions,
moral standards and ideals. Most members of the weaker nation
take pride in holding beliefs and opinions fashionable in an
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