Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:85
And to [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu'ayb. He said, "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. There has come to you clear evidence from your Lord. So fulfill the measure and weight and do not deprive people of their due and cause not corruption upon the earth after its reformation. That is better for you, if you should be believers.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: وَإِلَى مَدْيَنَ أَخَاهُمْ شُعَيْبًا قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلَهٍ غَيْرُهُ قَدْ جَاءَتْكُمْ بَيِّنَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ فَأَوْفُوا الْكَيْلَ وَالْمِيزَانَ وَلا تَبْخَسُوا النَّاسَ أَشْيَاءَهُمْ وَلا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الأَرْضِ بَعْدَ إِصْلاحِهَا ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ (85) ("And to Madyan [We sent] their brother Shuʿayb. He said: O my people, worship Allah; you have no other god than Him. Verily, a clear sign has come to you from your Lord. So give full measure and weight, and do not shortchange people in their goods, and do not work corruption on the earth after its ordering. That is better for you, if you are believers") (7:85).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And We sent to the children of Madyan — and "Madyan" are his children, [the descendants of] Madyan ibn Ibrāhīm, the intimate friend of the Most Merciful (Khalīl al-Raḥmān) —, according to what:
14840 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq.
If the matter is as he said, then "Madyan" is a tribe like Tamīm.
Ibn Isḥāq also claimed: that Shuʿayb, whom Allah has mentioned that He sent to them, is from the children of this Madyan, and that he is "Shuʿayb ibn Mīkīl ibn Yashjur." He said: and his name in Syriac is "Yathrūn."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The explanation of the word — according to what Ibn Isḥāq has said — is therefore: And verily, We sent to the children of Madyan their brother Shuʿayb ibn Mīkīl, who called them to obedience to Allah, to submission to His command, and to abandoning the spreading of corruption on the earth and the turning [people] away from His path. Then Shuʿayb said to them: O my people, worship Allah alone, without any partner alongside Him; you have no god who deserves your worship other than the God who created you and in whose hand lies your benefit and your harm. (a clear sign has come to you from your Lord), He says: a sign and a proof from Allah has come to you of the truthfulness of what I say and the sincerity of that to which I call you. (so give full measure and weight), He says: fulfill for the people their rights in the measure with which you measure and in the weight with which you weigh. (and do not shortchange people in their goods), He says: and do not wrong the people in their rights, and do not deprive them of them.
To this belongs their saying: "You consider her foolish, while she wrongs (bākhisa)," in the meaning of: unjust. And to this belongs the word of Allah: وَشَرَوْهُ بِثَمَنٍ بَخْسٍ ("And they sold him for a paltry price") [sūrat Yūsuf: 20], by which He means: worthless.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said that:
14841 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His word: (and do not shortchange people in their goods), he says: do not wrong the people in their goods.
14842 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (and do not shortchange people in their goods), he said: do not wrong the people in their goods.
His word: (and do not work corruption on the earth after its ordering), He says: and do not commit on the earth of Allah acts of disobedience to Him, nor what you used to do before Allah sent His prophet to you — the worship of other than Allah, the ascribing of partners to Him, and the shortchanging of people in measure and weight. (after its ordering), He says: after Allah has ordered the earth by sending the prophet — peace be upon him — among you, who forbids you what is not permitted to you and what Allah detests for you. (that is better for you), He says: this which I have mentioned to you and commanded you with — sincerely worshipping Allah alone, without any partner alongside Him, fulfilling the rights of the people in measure and weight, and abandoning corruption on the earth — that is better for you in your near world and in your coming Hereafter with Allah on the Day of Resurrection. (if you are believers), He says: if you affirm me in what I say to you and what I convey to you from Allah of His command and prohibition.