Hud (Hud)

84. “And to (the people of) Madyan (We sent) their brother Shu‘ayb. He said: ‘O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other Allah than He. And do not give short measure and weight. Verily I see you in prosperity and I fear for you the punishment of an all-encompassing Day’.”

Madyan whose name today is Ma‘an, is a town to the east of the Gulf of ‘Aqaba. In the Torah its name is mentioned as Madyan. Its inhabitants were among the descendents of Ismail (as) and they enjoyed good commercial ties with Egypt, Lebanon and Palestine. Some people regard the term ‘Madyan’ as the name of a tribe that used to live around Mount Sinai.

The types of corruption that were practiced by the different nations mentioned in the Qur’an vary, and this very fact should be of note.

The corruption of the people of Lot had been sexual deviation, and the corruption of the people of Shu‘ayb (as) in this case was economic corruption, i.e. use of short weights; weighing less than what they were assumed to sell or measuring less and claiming to deliver the value of the goods exactly as their clients had ordered.

In keeping with the ways of the other prophets (as), this compassionate and brotherly prophet at first called them to believe in monotheism, the Unity of Allah, the most fundamental pillar of religion, exhorting his people to worship the one and only God.

The verse says:

“And to (the people of) Madyan (We sent) their brother Shu‘ayb. He said: ‘O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other Allah than He...”

Then he turned his attention to the economic corruption of the people whose roots were found in the idol worship itself which was prevalent among the people of Madyan at the time. He said that they should not weigh out their goods less than their value by using the wrong scales in their commercial transactions.

The verse says:

“…And do not give short measure and weight...”

This great prophet’s words can be interpreted as two reasons for them. At first he seems to be saying that by accepting this advice the gates of commerce will develop, prices will deflate, and peace and tranquility will prevail which will attract Allah’s grace upon the community.

It is also possible to interpret this sentence to mean that Shu‘ayb sees them having affluence and tremendous wealth; thus, there is no reason for them to infringe upon people’s rights, by selling them less goods and charging them the same price.

The second matter is that he also fears their insistence upon idol worship, and abusing Allah’s blessings will lead to their punishment on the Day of Judgment.

The verse continues saying:

“…Verily I see you in prosperity and I fear for you the punishment of an all-encompassing Day’.”