Surah Hud 11:84-95 - Quran Translation Commentary

(11:84) And to Madyan (We sent) their brother Shu’ayb. He said, ‘My people! Worship Allah, you have no god other than He. And, do not short measure or weigh. In fact, I see you in prosperity. And indeed, I fear for you a chastisement of an encompassing day.

(11:85) And, my people. Give full measure and weight in all fairness, and do not defraud the people of their goods.¹⁰³ And commit not mischief in the land spreading corruption.

(11:86) Allah's remainder is better for you¹⁰⁴ if you are believers. And I am not over you a guardian.'

(11:87) They replied, ‘Does your Prayer command you that we abandon what our forefathers worshiped or, do as we will with our wealth?¹⁰⁵ Surely, you are much forbearing, decent-minded.'¹⁰⁶

(11:88) He said, ‘My people. Have you considered? If I am upon a clear sign from my Lord, and He has provided me from Him a good provision? Further, I do not wish to do against what I forbid you. I only wish a betterment so far as it is in my power while my own good-guidance is up to Allah. I have put my trust in Him and I turn to Him (in repentance).¹⁰⁷

(11:89) And, O my people! Let not your breach with me lead you to be struck with what the people of Nuh, or of Hud or of Salih were struck with.¹⁰⁸ And, the people of Lut are not far away from you.¹⁰⁹

(11:90) Rather seek forgiveness of your Lord and then turn to Him (in repentance). Surely my Lord is Kind, Affectionate.'¹¹⁰

(11:91) They replied, ‘O Shu`ayb. We do not comprehend much of what you say.¹¹¹ Indeed, we perceive you as weak amongst us.¹¹² In fact, were it not for your family, we would have stoned you, considering that you are not great in esteem in our sight.'

(11:92) asked, ‘My people! Do you hold my folk in greater esteem than Allah? You have cast Him behind your backs! Surely, my Lord encompasses the things you do.

(11:93) And, O my people! Keep working in your place. I am also working. Soon you shall know to whom comes a chastisement that humiliates him, and who is a liar. Watch then. I am also a watcher along with you.'

(11:94) So when Our command came, We delivered Shu’ayb and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us, and a huge cry seized those who wronged (themselves), so that by morning (they lay) in their homes fallen on their faces .

(11:95) As if they never flourished therein. Lo! Away with the Madyanites as the Thamud remained away (from mercy).

Commentary

103. The repetition, almost thrice, was because of the wide prevalence of the practice of weighing less and measuring short (Razi).

104. Ibn Jarir reports Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah and others as saying that the allusion by “baqiyyyatu Allah” is to His obedience. But his own preference is that the allusion is, “what remains after you have given away to the people that which is rightfully theirs, is better than what you amass by defrauding them.” So, what is given away is “baqiyyatu Allah” (Au.).

105. The allusion was to their habit of cutting off a piece of the silver coins, or adulterating them with other minerals: Ibn Ka’b al Qurazi, Ibn Zayd (Ibn Jarir). But Ibn Kathir reports Thawri as of opinion that the allusion is to the refusal to pay Zakah.

Mawdudi comments on another aspect: “This is a full blooded expression of the world view of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah) as distinguished from that of Islam. The Islamic view is that all worship except that of God is erroneous. It is erroneous because worshiping any other than the One True God is supported by nothing neither reason, knowledge, nor revelation. Moreover, God should not only be worshiped in the limited sphere of life called ‘religion.' God's worship should extend to all aspects of life social, cultural, economic and political. For all that man has in the world belongs only to God. Man, therefore, has no right to consider any aspect of his life to be independent of God's guidance.

“The contrary to this is Jahiliyyah. According to this view, man ought to observe the customs and usages he inherits from his ancestors, and he ought to do so merely because they come down from the past. This world view considers religion to be confined to the domain of ritual: the ritual of worship.

AIt is thus clear that there is nothing so ‘modern' about the tendency of driving a wedge between the religious and secular spheres of life. For some three and half thousand years ago the nation of Shu’ayb was so emphatically insistent on bifurcating life into two water tight compartments the secular and the religious as Western and their Eastern disciples of our time are wont to do. There seems little justification, therefore, to categorize the attitude that has emerged in modern times as a result of the cumulative intellectual progress of mankind. Far from it, the new fangled ideology which is being played up everywhere for its freshness and newness is, in fact, the same stale, old fashioned obscurantism which characterized Jahiliyyah several thousand years ago.”

106. Most of the commentators have said that these words were said half in sarcasm, half in mockery. But Shabbir reports Shah Abdul Qadir of the opinion that they were earnest about it, meaning, "You are a reasonable man. Why can you not agree on the principle, ‘to you your religion and to us ours?'"

107. Ibn Kathir writes: It has come to us that whenever `Umar ibn `Abd al ‘Aziz wrote a letter to his governors he ended with these words:

وَمَا تَوْفِيقِي إِلا بِاللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ أُنِيبُ

108. It is reported that when ‘Uthman (ra) was besieged in his house, once he peeped from above his house and recited this verse (Ibn Kathir).

109. The allusion could either be to time or place. That is, either to the nation of Lut who were not far away in time, or to their dwellings that were not far away in space (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

110. Rashid Rida points out that linguistically Aloving” might not accurately reflect the meaning of “wadud.” The difference being, “wadud” is someone who demonstrates his love through action while “mawaddah” (love) does not require it.

111. Mawdudi comments: “When Shu’ayb's people stated that they did not understand much of what Shu’ayb said, they did not say so because Shu’ayb (peace be upon him) spoke in some foreign language, or because he talked in an ambiguous or complicated manner... The difficulty in understanding Shu’ayb's teachings arose from the fact that his people had become simply too perverse to grasp it.

AIt is always the case that when some people become fully seized by their prejudice, are overpowered by their lusts, or begin to move vehemently in one particular intellectual direction, they hardly have the patience to give ear to any idea which is different from their own. But even if they were to listen to any unfamiliar idea, it would only sound to them as gibberish, as something coming to them from some other planet.”

112. A narration in Hakim declared sahih by him, reports Ibn `Abbas as of opinion that “da’if” here is synonymous of “darir” meaning blind. (In Himyari dialect, “da’if” is “darir”). That is, either Shu’ayb (asws) was blind, or had temporarily gone blind. Alusi draws our attention to the fact that not all reports declared sahih by Hakim are truly so. He was as quick at declaring reports sahih, in contrast to Ibn Jawzi, who was quick in declaring them da’if. The addition of the words, “amongst us” also does not lend credence to the story of blindness.