Surah 11. Hud

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Verses [Section]: 1-8[1], 9-24 [2], 25-35 [3], 36-49 [4], 50-60 [5], 61-68 [6], 69-83 [7], 84-95 [8], 96-109 [9], 110-123 [10]

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Quran Text of Verse 84-95وَ اِلٰیAnd toمَدْیَنَMadyanاَخَاهُمْtheir brotherشُعَیْبًا ؕShuaibقَالَHe saidیٰقَوْمِO my people!اعْبُدُواWorshipاللّٰهَAllahمَاnotلَكُمْ(is) for youمِّنْanyاِلٰهٍgodغَیْرُهٗ ؕother than Himوَ لَاAnd (do) notتَنْقُصُواdecreaseالْمِكْیَالَ(from) the measureوَ الْمِیْزَانَand the scaleاِنِّیْۤIndeed Iاَرٰىكُمْsee youبِخَیْرٍin prosperityوَّ اِنِّیْۤbut indeed Iاَخَافُfearعَلَیْكُمْfor youعَذَابَpunishmentیَوْمٍ(of ) a Dayمُّحِیْطٍ all-encompassing وَ یٰقَوْمِAnd O my people!اَوْفُواGive fullالْمِكْیَالَmeasureوَ الْمِیْزَانَand weightبِالْقِسْطِin justiceوَ لَاand (do) notتَبْخَسُواdepriveالنَّاسَthe peopleاَشْیَآءَهُمْ(of) their thingsوَ لَاand (do) notتَعْثَوْاact wickedlyفِیinالْاَرْضِthe earthمُفْسِدِیْنَ spreading corruption بَقِیَّتُ(What) remainsاللّٰهِ(from) Allahخَیْرٌ(is) bestلَّكُمْfor youاِنْifكُنْتُمْyou areمُّؤْمِنِیْنَ ۚ۬believersوَ مَاۤAnd notاَنَاI amعَلَیْكُمْover youبِحَفِیْظٍ a guardian قَالُوْاThey saidیٰشُعَیْبُO Shuaib!اَصَلٰوتُكَDoes your prayerتَاْمُرُكَcommand youاَنْthatنَّتْرُكَwe leaveمَاwhatیَعْبُدُworshipاٰبَآؤُنَاۤour forefathersاَوْorاَنْthatنَّفْعَلَwe doفِیْۤconcerningاَمْوَالِنَاour wealthمَاwhatنَشٰٓؤُا ؕwe willاِنَّكَIndeed youلَاَنْتَsurely youالْحَلِیْمُ(are) the forbearingالرَّشِیْدُ the right-minded قَالَHe saidیٰقَوْمِO my peopleاَرَءَیْتُمْDo you seeاِنْifكُنْتُI amعَلٰیonبَیِّنَةٍa clear evidenceمِّنْfromرَّبِّیْmy Lordوَ رَزَقَنِیْand He has provided meمِنْهُfrom Himselfرِزْقًاa good provisionحَسَنًا ؕa good provisionوَ مَاۤAnd notاُرِیْدُI intendاَنْthatاُخَالِفَكُمْI differ from youاِلٰیinمَاۤwhatاَنْهٰىكُمْI forbid youعَنْهُ ؕfrom itاِنْNotاُرِیْدُI intendاِلَّاexceptالْاِصْلَاحَthe reformمَاas much as I am ableاسْتَطَعْتُ ؕas much as I am ableوَ مَاAnd notتَوْفِیْقِیْۤ(is) my successاِلَّاexceptبِاللّٰهِ ؕwith AllahعَلَیْهِUpon HimتَوَكَّلْتُI trustوَ اِلَیْهِand to Himاُنِیْبُ I turn 11. Hud Page 232وَ یٰقَوْمِAnd O my peopleلَا(Let) not cause you to sinیَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ(Let) not cause you to sinشِقَاقِیْۤmy dissensionاَنْlestیُّصِیْبَكُمْbefalls youمِّثْلُsimilarمَاۤ(to) whatاَصَابَbefellقَوْمَ(the) people ofنُوْحٍNuhاَوْorقَوْمَ(the) people ofهُوْدٍHudاَوْorقَوْمَ(the) people ofصٰلِحٍ ؕSalihوَ مَاAnd notقَوْمُ(are the) people ofلُوْطٍLutمِّنْكُمْfrom youبِبَعِیْدٍ far off وَ اسْتَغْفِرُوْاAnd ask forgivenessرَبَّكُمْ(of) your Lordثُمَّthenتُوْبُوْۤاturn in repentanceاِلَیْهِ ؕto HimاِنَّIndeedرَبِّیْmy Lordرَحِیْمٌ(is) Most Mercifulوَّدُوْدٌ Most Loving قَالُوْاThey saidیٰشُعَیْبُO ShuaibمَاNotنَفْقَهُwe understandكَثِیْرًاmuchمِّمَّاof whatتَقُوْلُyou sayوَ اِنَّاand indeed, weلَنَرٰىكَsurely [we] see youفِیْنَاamong usضَعِیْفًا ۚweakوَ لَوْ لَاAnd if notرَهْطُكَfor your familyلَرَجَمْنٰكَ ؗsurely we would have stoned youوَ مَاۤand you are notاَنْتَand you are notعَلَیْنَاagainst usبِعَزِیْزٍ mighty قَالَHe saidیٰقَوْمِO my people!اَرَهْطِیْۤIs my familyاَعَزُّmightierعَلَیْكُمْon youمِّنَthanاللّٰهِ ؕAllahوَ اتَّخَذْتُمُوْهُAnd you have taken Himوَرَآءَكُمْbehind yourظِهْرِیًّا ؕbacksاِنَّIndeedرَبِّیْmy Lordبِمَاof whatتَعْمَلُوْنَyou doمُحِیْطٌ (is) All-Encompassing وَ یٰقَوْمِAnd O my people!اعْمَلُوْاWorkعَلٰی(according) toمَكَانَتِكُمْyour positionاِنِّیْindeed I amعَامِلٌ ؕworkingسَوْفَSoonتَعْلَمُوْنَ ۙyou will knowمَنْ(on) whomیَّاْتِیْهِwill comeعَذَابٌa punishmentیُّخْزِیْهِ(that will) disgrace himوَ مَنْand whoهُوَ[he]كَاذِبٌ ؕ(is) a liarوَ ارْتَقِبُوْۤاAnd watchاِنِّیْindeed I amمَعَكُمْwith youرَقِیْبٌ a watcher وَ لَمَّاAnd whenجَآءَcameاَمْرُنَاOur CommandنَجَّیْنَاWe savedشُعَیْبًاShuaibوَّ الَّذِیْنَand those whoاٰمَنُوْاbelievedمَعَهٗwith himبِرَحْمَةٍby a Mercyمِّنَّاfrom Usوَ اَخَذَتِAnd seizedالَّذِیْنَthose whoظَلَمُواwrongedالصَّیْحَةُthe thunderous blastفَاَصْبَحُوْاthen they becameفِیْinدِیَارِهِمْtheir homesجٰثِمِیْنَۙfallen prone كَاَنْAs ifلَّمْnotیَغْنَوْاthey (had) prosperedفِیْهَا ؕthereinاَلَاSoبُعْدًاawayلِّمَدْیَنَwith Madyanكَمَاasبَعِدَتْwas taken awayثَمُوْدُ۠the Thamud

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Translation of Verse 84-95

(11:84) And to (the people of) Midian We sent their brother Shu'ayb.⁹⁴ He said: 'My people! Serve Allah; you have no god other than Him. And do not diminish the measure and weight. Indeed I see that you are prospering now, but I fear for you the chastisement of an encompassing day in the future.

(11:85) My people! Give full measure and weight with justice, do not diminish the goods of others, and do not go about creating corruption in the land.

(11:86) The gains that Allah lets you retain are better for you, if you indeed believe. In any case, I have not been appointed a keeper over you.⁹⁵

(11:87) They replied: 'O Shu'ayb! Does your Prayer enjoin upon you⁹⁶ that we should forsake the deities whom our forefathers worshipped, or that we should give up using our wealth as we please?⁹⁷ Do you fancy that you, and only you, are forbearing and right-directed?'

(11:88) Shu'ayb said: 'My people! What do you think? If I stand on clear evidence from my Lord, and He has also provided me a handsome provision from Himself⁹⁸ -(should I be ungrateful to Him and share your error and iniquity?) Nor do I desire to act contrary to what I admonish you.⁹⁹ I desire nothing but to set things right as far as I can. My succour is only with Allah. In Him have I put my trust, and to Him do I always turn.

(11:89) My people! Let not your opposition to me lead you to guilt that would bring upon you the chastisement that struck earlier the people of Noah, and the people of Hud, and the people of Salih. And the land of the people of Lot is not far from you!¹⁰⁰

(11:90) Seek the forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him in repentance. Surely my Lord is Ever Merciful, Most Loving.¹⁰¹

(11:91) They said: 'O Shu'ayb! We do not understand much of what you say.¹⁰² Indeed we see you weak in our midst. Were it not for your kinsmen, we would surely have stoned you for you have no strength to overpower us.¹⁰³

(11:92) Shu'ayb said: 'My people! Are my kinsmen mightier with you than Allah that you (hold the kinsmen in awe while) you cast Allah behind your back? Surely my Lord encompasses all what you do.

(11:93) My people! Go on working according to your way and I will keep working (according to mine). Soon you will come to know who will be afflicted by a humiliating chastisement, and who is proved a liar. And watch, I shall also watch with you.'

(11:94) And when Our command came to pass, We delivered Shu'ayb and those who shared his faith, through Our mercy, and the Blast seized those who were engaged in wrong-doing, so they lay lifeless in their homes

(11:95) as though they had never dwelt in them before. Lo! Away with (the people of) Midian, even as the Thamud were done away with!

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Commentary

94. For details see Towards Understanding the Qur’ an, vol. III, al-A‘raf7, nn. 69-75, pp. 53-7.

95. Shu‘ayb (peace be on him) made it clear to his people that he had no power to compel them to adopt one kind of behavior or another. His task was merely that of a sincere adviser. All he could do was to admonished and warn them. It was up to them either to pay heed to that advice or to disregard it. What really mattered was that one day all human beings will be mustered by God to render an account of their deeds. It is this — the rendering of an account before God — that people should truly fear. It matters little whether they care for Shu‘ayb or not. What really matters are whether they have any fear of standing before God’s judgement. If they do fear this, it is essential that they give up the iniquity in which they are engrossed.

96. This, in fact, is a taunting remark. Remarks which are expressive of the same spirit are heard today among every group of people who are heedless of God and who are engrossed in sin and evil. Prayer is obviously the first and the most obvious symbol of man’s religious orientation. That orientation is not simply considered a dangerous disease, but the most dangerous one by irreligious people. Hence, Prayer is looked upon by these people as a manifestation of mental derailment rather than what it actually is — an act of worship.

Irreligious people. are also aware that those who become religiously committed are not content merely with self-reform. Such people are wont to go a step further and strive to reform others. Not only that, but it even becomes difficult for such people to refrain from criticizing attitudes opposed to religion and morality. Hence, irreligious people feel jittery because they fear that Prayer is not simply performed as a religious ritual but that it is the precursor of endless sermonizing on religion and morality. In addition, it may even lead to scathing criticisms of every aspect of social life. It is for this reason that Prayer is often singled out for every kind of taunt and reproach. Moreover, if those who observe Prayer criticize the evils rampant in their society and urge people to act righteously, this inspires opponents of religion to direct every possible invective against Prayer and to lash out at it as the source of every conceivable evil.

97. This is a full-blooded expression of the world-view of Ignorance (Jahiliyah) as distinguished from that of Islam. The Islamic view is that all worship except the worship of God is erroneous. It is erroneous because worshipping any other than the One True God is supported by nothing — neither reason, knowledge, nor revelation. Moreover, God should not only be worshipped 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 of this is Jahiliyah. 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.

As for the ordinary affairs of worldly life, man ought to act as he pleases.

It is thus quite 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 a half thousand years ago the nation of Shu‘ayb was as emphatically insistent on bifurcating life into two water-tight compartments — the secular and the religious — as Westerners and their Eastern disciples of our time are wont to do. There seems little justification, therefore, to characterize the attitude of the present-day secularists as something altogether novel, as an 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 Jdahiliyah several thousand years ago. Likewise, the Islamic defiance of, and opposition to, Jahiliyah is also a perennial reality of human history.

98. ‘Provision’ in this context has two connotations. It might signify, in the first place, the provision of knowledge of the truth communicated by God to someone. Secondly, it might also signify, as it commonly does, the provision of the means bestowed by God on His creatures in order that they may be able to live.

Were we to understand this word in the first sense, the verse substantially repeats the same point that has been expressed earlier in this surah through the Prophets Muhammad, Noah and Salih (peace be on them). Common to their statements is their affirmation that they found the signs of the truth in their own beings and in the universe around them. Those signs were corroborated by direct knowledge of the truth intimated to them by God. (See verses 17, 28 and 63 above — Ed.) Hence it was not possible for them to join their people in their errors of belief and in their acts of wickedness.

However, if the word is taken in the latter sense, it amounts to a response to the sarcastic remark hurled at Shu‘ayb: ‘Do you fancy that you, and only you, are forbearing and right-directed?’ (See verse 87 above.) It is noteworthy that the answer to this most bitter and caustic query is couched in exceedingly moderate and dispassionate words. The answer amounts to telling his opponents that if his Lord had granted Shu‘ayb knowledge of reality and also a livelihood that is pure and lawful, how could their sarcastic remarks change the fact that Shu‘ayb had received God’s favors? Also, in view of the favors which God had lavished upon Shu‘ayb, how could it be appropriate for him to act ungratefully towards God by legitimizing their erroneous beliefs and acts of corruption?

99. Shu‘ayb pointed out to his detractors that they could measure his integrity by only one thing: whether he practised what he preached. Had he forbidden others from visiting false deities, and then had become the custodian of some such shrine, people would have been justified in reproaching him for inconsistency and self-contradiction. They could have rightly criticized him for preaching something and practicing its opposite. Had he asked them to abstain from unlawful earnings and had himself resorted to dishonest practices they would have been perfectly justified in accusing him of talking of honesty merely to build up a good image of himself and then exploiting it for his personal ends.

It was clear, however, that Shu‘ayb could be accused of nothing like that. It was crystal clear that he had stayed well away from all those vices which he asked others to abstain from. He had no stains on him of which he wanted others to remain free. Shu‘ayb also practiced all those acts of goodness to which he invited others. All this was sufficient to establish that Shu‘ayb was fully sincere about his mission.

100. Shu‘ayb reminded his people of the story of the people of Lot (peace be on him). This tragic episode took place not far from where the people of Shu‘ayb. lived. In addition, it was no more than six or seven centuries previously that the people of Lot were utterly destroyed.

101. God is neither callous nor merciless. He has no enmity towards His own creatures. It cannot even be conceived that God would want to punish people just for the fun of it. It is only when people exceed all reasonable limits and exercise no restraint in their wickedness that God punishes them, and then only reluctantly. He is so prone to forgiveness that no matter how sinful a person may have become, God's mercy encompasses him if only he sincerely repents and turns to God. For God’s love and compassion for His creatures is simply immense.

The Prophet (peace be on him) fully illustrated this by two examples. One is that of a man who had a camel carrying his food and water provisions. The camel strays away in a dreary desert. The person continues to search for the camel until he retires under the shade of a tree in utter despair. Then, suddenly, he finds the camel standing right in front of him. When a sinner repents and turns to God, He is even more joyous than the owner of the camel who suddenly finds his lost beast in a moment of total despair. (See Muslim, al-Tawbah, Bab fi al-Hadd ‘ala al-Tawbah, traditions 1-8.)

The second example is perhaps even more moving. ‘Umar narrated that once a few prisoners of war were brought to the Prophet (peace be on him). One of them was a woman whose infant child had been left behind. Her motherly compassion overwhelmed her to such an extent that she would grab any baby she could lay her hands on, would clasp him to her bosom, and start suckling him. When the Prophet (peace be on him) saw that woman in such a state of mind he asked the Companions whether they thought she would cast her children into fire. The Companions replied in the negative. They said that rather than throw her children into a fire, she would make every possible effort lest they slide into it. The Prophet (peace be on him) added: ‘God is even more merciful to His servants than this woman is to her child.’ (Muslim, al-Tawbah, Bab Saat Rahmat Allah — Ed.)

A little reflection may help one appreciate that it is God Who has created compassion in the hearts of parents for their children. Had God not created this compassion for children, their parents may, in fact, have been quite inimical to them. For a child is indeed one of the greatest causes of parents’ discomfort and annoyance. If one remembers that it is God Who planted love and compassion for children in the hearts of parents, it is quite easy to grasp the extent of God’s love and compassion for His creatures.

102. 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 on him) spoke in some foreign language, or because he talked in an ambiguous or complicated manner. On the contrary, Shu‘ayb’s teaching was quite clear and simple and was conveyed to his people in a language they fully understood — their own. The difficulty in understanding Shu‘ayb’s teaching arose from the fact that his people had become simply too perverse to grasp it.

It 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.

103. It should be borne in mind that exactly the same situation that had obtained in the past among the people of Shu‘ayb also obtained in Makka at the time these verses were revealed. The Quraysh were seething with enmity towards Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and wanted to put an end to his life in much the same way as Shu‘ayb’s people were inimical to him. The only reason which prevented the Quraysh from violently laying their hands on the prophet (peace be on him) was that his clan, Hashim, stood firmly behind him.

Thus, the story of Shu‘ayb in relation to his people was exactly the same as that of Prophet Muhammad (neace be on him) in relation to the Quraysh. The story of Shu‘ayb is narrated here precisely because of the obvious resemblance it bears to the predicament of Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him).

Soon we will also come across (see verse 93) a very instructive statement of Shu‘ayb’s in response to the harsh expression of hostility (see verse 91). The implication is quite clear. The same statement would be addressed by Muhammad (peace be on him) to his own unbelieving people.