Shu’ayb (1)
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
Prophet Shu’ayb’s biography
Shu’ayb is one of the prophets who are mentioned in the holy Qur’an. His divine mission, the messages he had for the community under his responsibility, and the treatment his people did to him, are declared in various chapters of the holy Qur’an.
Prophet Shu’ayb is the father-in-law of the prophet Moses, and he is the old man who encouraged his daughter to get married to the prophet Moses, which the Holy Quran says: قَالَ إِنِّي أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُنْكِحَكَ إِحْدَى ابْنَتَيَّ هَاتَيْنِ عَلَى أَنْ تَأْجُرَنِي ثَمَانِيَ حِجَجٍ فَإِنْ أَتْمَمْتَ عَشْرًا فَمِنْ عِنْدِكَ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَنْ أَشُقَّ عَلَيْكَ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ؛ قَالَ ذَلِكَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ أَيَّمَا الْأَجَلَيْنِ قَضَيْتُ فَلَا عُدْوَانَ عَلَيَّ وَاللَّهُ عَلَى مَا نَقُولُ وَكِيلٌ He said, ‘Indeed I desire to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine, on condition that you hire yourself to me for eight years. And if you complete ten, that will be up to you, and I do not want to be hard on you. God willing, you will find me to a righteous person.’ He said, ‘This will be [by consent] between you and me. Whichever of the two terms I complete, there shall be no imposition upon me, and Allah is witness over what we say.’ (Qesas: 27-28)
Areas under the responsibility of Shu’ayb
In the holy Qur’an, two regions are mentioned as the places of responsibility and divine mission of Shu’ayb. One of these two regions is Midian, which is mentioned in some verses: وَإِلَى مَدْيَنَ أَخَاهُمْ شُعَيْبًا And to [the people of] Midian [We sent] Shu‘ayb, their brother. (Araf:85)
And the second region is “Al-Ayka” which is mentioned in other verses: كَذَّبَ أَصْحَابُ الْأَيْكَةِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ؛ إِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ شُعَيْبٌ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ؛ إِنِّي لَكُمْ رَسُولٌ أَمِينٌ؛ The inhabitants of Aykah impugned the apostles, when Shu‘ayb said to them, ‘Will you not be wary [of Allah]? Indeed I am a trusted apostle [sent] to you. (Sho’ara: 176-178)
Shu’ayb’s divine messages
The holy Qur’an presents several points as messages that prophet Shu’ayb brought to two tribes under his mission. Shu’ayb repeats the same slogan of all the prophets that: مَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ إِنْ أَجْرِيَ إِلَّا عَلَى رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ؛ I do not ask you any reward for it; my reward lies only with the Lord of all the worlds. (Sho’ara: 180). He raises messages that are reported in the holy Qur’an; some messages have only addressed the first or the second tribe, and some others have addressed both of the tribes.
- Monotheism and servitude only to God, along with rationality
This is the message that is mentioned in the holy Qur’an only in the address of the prophet Shu’ayb to the people of Madain:
وَإِلَى مَدْيَنَ أَخَاهُمْ شُعَيْبًا قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلَهٍ غَيْرُهُ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُمْ بَيِّنَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ …؛
And to [the people of] Midian [We sent] Shu‘ayb, their brother. He said, ‘O my people, worship Allah! You have no other god besides Him. There has certainly come to you a manifest proof from your Lord… (A’raf: 85)
In this verse, monotheism in worship could only be seen in worshiping the only God, which is considered a belief that is accompanied by proof and reason. It is clear that prophet Shu’ayb, like all other prophets, did not ask people to blindly obey his teachings.
This point shows the importance of paying attention to reason and wisdom in the mission of all prophets. And all religious people should consider rationality and weigh their beliefs and convictions with reason and careful thinking.
- Divine piety and obedience to the holy prophet, after being sure of truthfulness and trustworthiness
This is the message that the holy Qur’an reports as the words of Shu’ayb only in his address to the Aike people:
كَذَّبَ أَصْحَابُ الْأَيْكَةِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ؛ إِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ شُعَيْبٌ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ؛ إِنِّي لَكُمْ رَسُولٌ أَمِينٌ؛ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ؛
The inhabitants of Aykah impugned the apostles, when Shu‘ayb said to them, ‘Will you not be wary [of Allah]? Indeed I am a trusted apostle [sent] to you. So be wary of Allah and obey me. (Sho’ara: 176-179)
In these verses of the holy Qur’an, we see that the prophet Shu’ayb, asks Aike people, “Why don’t you act on the basis of piety?” Before he invites them to piety and obedience to God’s orders, he first asks his people’s if they know him and consider him as a trustworthy person among or not; then he asks them to be people of piety and obey the commands of God that have reached the people through him.
What draws attention in this point is that obedience to any person and message should come true after getting reliability of the messenger. As Imam Javad, peace be upon him, says: مَنْ أَصْغی إِلی ناطِق فَقَدْ عَبَدَهُ، فَإِنْ کانَ النّاطِقُ عَنِ اللّهِ فَقَدْ عَبَدَ اللّهَ وَ إِنْ کانَ النّاطِقُ یَنْطِقُ عَنْ لِسانِ إِبْلیسَ فَقَدْ عَبَدَ إِبْلیسَ؛ Whoever listens to a speaker has truly worshiped him, so if the speaker is from God, he has actually worshiped God, and if the speaker speaks from the tongue of Iblis, he has truly worshiped Iblis.
- Not underselling
According to the holy Qur’an, not underselling is a message that, the prophet Shu’ayb mentioned to both peoples. He said to the people of Madain:
وَيَا قَوْمِ أَوْفُوا الْمِكْيَالَ وَالْمِيزَانَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تَبْخَسُوا النَّاسَ أَشْيَاءَهُمْ…؛
‘O my people! Observe fully the measure and the balance, with justice, and do not cheat the people of their goods, and do not act wickedly on the earth, causing corruption.’ (Hood: 85)
And he addressed the companions of Aike and said:
أَوْفُوا الْكَيْلَ وَلَا تَكُونُوا مِنَ الْمُخْسِرِينَ؛ وَزِنُوا بِالْقِسْطَاسِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ؛ وَلَا تَبْخَسُوا النَّاسَ أَشْيَاءَهُمْ…؛
Observe the full measure, and do not be of those who give short measure. (Sho’ara: 181)
It is known that this message has a special place in Shu’ayb’s mission, and it has allocated an important part of his messages according to the report of the holy Qur’an.
Underselling is not only limited to buying and selling various goods and accessories, but anyone who slacks off in doing the work he has undertaken is guilty of short selling. The holy Qur’an says about the situation of the undersellers in the Day of Judgment:
وَيْلٌ لِلْمُطَفِّفِينَ؛ الَّذِينَ إِذَا اكْتَالُوا عَلَى النَّاسِ يَسْتَوْفُونَ؛ وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمْ أَوْ وَزَنُوهُمْ يُخْسِرُونَ؛ أَلَا يَظُنُّ أُولَئِكَ أَنَّهُمْ مَبْعُوثُونَ؛ لِيَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ؛ يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ؛
Woe to the defrauders, who use short measures, who, when they measure [a commodity bought] from the people, take the full measure, but diminish when they measure or weigh for them. Do they not know that they will be resurrected, on a tremendous day, a day when mankind will stand before the Lord of all the worlds? (Motfeein: 1-6)