وَلَا تَبْخَسُوا۟ ٱلنَّاسَ أَشْيَآءَهُمْ وَلَا تَعْثَوْا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ
7:86; 11:86.
Commentary:
As at several places in the Quran (chapters 7th & 11th), in the present Surah also the five Prophets, Noah, Hud, Salih, Lot and Shu‘aib have been mentioned together and identical words have been put in their mouths, viz. (1) "I am unto you a Messenger faithful to my trust"; (2) "fear Allah and obey me; " and (3) "I ask you no reward for it." These three strikingly similar statements lead to three very important conclusions, namely, (1) that every Prophet is the first believer in the truth of his mission; (2) that having become himself first convinced of his truth he proceeds to convey his message to his people; and (3) that his services to his people are quite sincere and selfless and are born of no motive of self-interest and self-seeking. Similarly, like chapters 7th and 11th a detailed reference has been made in the present Surah to these five Prophets in the same order. In addition to the two fundamental teachings of all religions, viz. Unity of God and obedience to the Prophet of the time, great emphasis has been laid in the case of each Prophet on the vice from which his people particularly suffered. Noah’s people seemed to have been divided into water-tight compartments and the socially well-to-do among them suffered from an exaggerated notion of false superiority. They would not mix with the poorer sections of the society and the main cause of their rejection of Noah was that persons of poor social status and low intellect had accepted him. The Adites or the tribe of Hud took great pride in their military exploits, architectural achievements and in their factories and chemical works. The people of Salih gloried in their power, prestige and wealth. Lot’s people shamelessly indulged in most unnatural and depraved sexual vice, while those of Shu‘aib were dishonest in their commercial dealings. Each one of these vices has been separately dealt with in the account of the Prophet whose people particularly suffered from it. This is the way of Divine Prophets that, besides stressing the basic principles of religion, they lay special emphasis on the particular vice from which their people are found to suffer. In our own time, in view of mad hankering after material wealth and physical comforts which has held all the nations of the world in its firm grip and in view of callous indifference towards spiritual matters, Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, used to take from every new convert a pledge to the effect that he would prefer religion to material interests.
7:86; 11:86.