Tafsir of Surah Al-'Ankabut - Verse 36

Shu`ayb and His People

Allah tells us that His servant and Messenger Shu`ayb, peace be upon him, warned his people, the people of Madyan, and commanded them to worship Allah Alone with no partner or associate, and to fear the wrath and punishment of Allah on the Day of Resurrection. He said:

يقَوْمِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَارْجُواْ الْيَوْمَ الاٌّخِرَ

(O my people! Worship Allah and hope for the last Day,) Ibn Jarir said: "Some of them said that this meant: Fear the Last Day." This is like the Ayah,

لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الاٌّخِرَ

(for those who look forward to (meeting with) Allah and the Last Day) (60:6).

وَلاَ تَعْثَوْاْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ

(and commit no mischief on the earth as mischief-makers.) This is forbidding them to make mischief on earth by spreading corruption, which means going around doing evil to people. They used to cheat in weights and measures, and ambush people on the road; this is in addition to their disbelief in Allah and His Messenger. So Allah destroyed them with a mighty earthquake that convulsed their land, and the Sayhah (shout) which tore their hearts from their bodies, and the torment of the Day of Shade, when their souls were taken. This was the torment of a great day. We have already examined their story in detail in Surat Al-A`raf, Surat Hud and Surat Ash-Shu`ara'.

فَأَصْبَحُواْ فِي دَارِهِمْ جَـثِمِينَ

(and they lay, prostrate in their dwellings.) Qatadah said, "They were dead." Others said that they were thrown on top of one another.

Commentary

وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ (And [ We sent ] Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) when he said to his people, "Indeed you commit the shameful act - 29:28). Here Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) has described three vicious sins of his people. One, unnatural offence of man with man; two, highway robbery against travelers; and three, commitment of sin openly before others in their group meetings. There is no specification of the third sin in the Holy Qur'an. Thus, it is deduced that every sin, which is a sin in its own right, if committed openly with indifference, it becomes a double sin, irrespective of the type of sin. At this point, some Imams of Tafsir (exegesis) have listed all such sins, which these wretched persons used to commit in their meetings. For instance, throwing stones on travelers and making fun of them, as Umm Hani' ؓ reports it in a hadith. Other commentators have reported that these insolent people were in the habit of committing sins openly before all others.

Out of the three sins mentioned in this verse the first one is most disgusting, which was never committed before in the whole world, and even wild beasts abstain from it. The entire ummah is unanimous on that it is a worse sin than adultery. (Ruh)

The community, to which Shu‘ayb was appointed as prophet, was a trading community. Its members, however, became so greedy that they resorted to earning through unfair and fraudulent means. This was how they spread corruption in the land. Legitimate trade is the rightful method of earning, while fraud and exploitation are sinful. Shu‘ayb exhorted his people not to be unmindful of the Hereafter while in pursuit of worldly gain. He beseeched them to adopt a way of life by which they could hope for a better fate in the Hereafter. But, despite the best efforts of the prophet, his community did not pay heed to his exhortations, with the result that, in accordance with the Laws of God, it was destroyed. Their homes, which had reverberated with life, became houses of death and destruction for them.