Topic: Exploitation

7:86; 29:37.

26:182, 183.

Important Words:

محیط (destructive) is derived from حاط. They say حاط به i.e. he guarded, kept, protected or took care of him or it; he defended him or he paid frequent attention to him or it. احاط به means, he or it surrounded, encompassed or enclosed it or him. They say احیط فلان i.e. such a one was destroyed, or his destruction drew near. The Quranic words ان ربك احاط بالناسmean, verily thy Lord hath men in His grasp or power, or He hath destroyed them or is about to destroy them. محیطmeans, surrounding, encompassing or enclosing. The words, عذاب یوم محیط mean, the punishment of a day which shall beset people on every side so that there will be no way of escape from it; or the punishment of a destructive day (Lane).

مدین (Midian) was a son of Abraham from his third wife, Keturah (Gen. 25:1, 2). His descendants were all called Midian, in accordance with ancient usage. Or it may be that originally they were called "Banu Midian" (children of Midian) but these words later became abbreviated into Midian. The metropolis of these people was also called Midian, which itself may be an abbreviation of some such name as Duri Midian (the houses of Midian). This town was situated on the Gulf of ‘Akabah, on the Arabian coast, at a distance of some six or seven miles from the sea. This is why in some ancient books of geography it is mentioned as a sea port, while in others it is shown as an inland town. The trade caravans going from Arabia to Egypt passed through it. There are still several small townships known as Midian, but the original town no longer exists. The descendants of Midian lived in the north of the Hijaz and it is they who built this town. It was hither that Moses fled for refuge when Pharaoh and his nobles sought to kill him and it was in the neighbourhood of Midian that he stayed with the Israelites after crossing the Red Sea. The fact that the word مدین(Midian) possesses a close resemblance to مدینه (Medina), the town of the Holy Prophet, constitutes one of the many similarities Moses had with the Holy Prophet. See also 7:86.

شعیب (Shu‘aib). See 7:86.

Commentary:

Some commentators think that Shu‘aib was the father-in-law of Moses and that Moses had gone to live with him after he had killed an Israelite. The Bible, however, gives the name of the father-in-law of Moses as Jethro (Exod. 3:1). Now Jethro and Shu‘aib cannot be the same person, nor was Shu‘aib the father-in-law of Moses. The following facts support this view:

(1) Shu‘aib has been mentioned in the Quran at several places and so has the father-in-law of Moses, but nowhere in the Quran is there the slightest hint that Shu‘aib and the father-in-law of Moses were the same person nor has the father-in-law of Moses anywhere been referred to as a Prophet of God.

(2) The Quran clearly states that Moses was raised as a Prophet after the destruction of the people of Midian (7:104), which definitely shows that they were not contemporaries.

(3) The Quran also states that Shu‘aib appeared not long after Lot, so he could not be a contemporary of Moses (v. 90 below).

(4) If Shu‘aib had been the contemporary and father-in-law of Moses, he would not have failed to refer to the destruction of Pharaoh and his people, which had taken place only recently, when he had referred to the destruction of the peoples of Noah, Hud and Salih (v. 90), but he did not do so.

The following important facts about the people of Shu‘aib also emerge from this and other verses of the Quran: (a) that, like the Holy Prophet, it was chiefly at the hands of the people of his town that Shu‘aib met with opposition (7:89); (b) that his people not only practised idolatry, but were also fraudulent in their dealings with one another; (c) that they were a well-to-do and prosperous people; (d) that they had adopted the calling of the road and were given to plundering and dacoity (7:86 & 11:86 below). As these people lived on the trade route to Egypt, they used to plunder the caravans which passed by that way. This inference receives further support from the fact that near Midian there was a wood which was peopled by the descendants of Dedan, a nephew of Midian, being the child of another son of Abraham from Keturah (Gen. 25:3). These people are referred to in the Quran as اصحاب الایکة i.e. the People of the Wood (15:79 & 26:177) and Shu‘aib preached to them as he preached to the people of Midian (26:178-192). From 15:80 it appears that this wood or jungle lay on a trade route, so it served as a good hiding place for the people of Midian to plunder travellers.

The words, the punishment of a destructive day, signify that the punishment of that day will be thoroughly destructive. The words may also mean that the day will not end until the whole people are annihilated. See the meaning of the word محیط (destructive) above.

11:85; 17:36; 55:10; 83:2-4.

Important Words:

قسطاس (balance) means, a balance or instrument for weighing; or the most even and most just kind thereof; or such as is just, of whatever kind it be (Lane).

11:85.

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.

10:84.

2:50; 7:142; 14:7.

Commentary:

The policy of "divide and rule" which has been practised with such deadly effect by the Colonial Powers of the west in this twentieth century was also followed by Pharaoh. He had split the people of Egypt into parties and sections and had made invidious distinctions between them. Some of them he favoured and others he exploited and suppressed. Moses’ people belonged to the latter unfortunate class.

The words, "he slew their sons and spared their women," besides bearing the apparent sense, viz. that in order to keep the Israelites under permanent subjection, Pharaoh destroyed their manhood and kept alive their women, may also signify that by his policy of exploitation and heartless suppression, Pharaoh sought to kill all manly qualities among the Israelites and thus made them timid like women.

11:85-86; 17:36; 26:182; 83:2-4.

Commentary:

As there is an all-comprehensive harmony in the whole universe, so is man—the crown and object of creation—enjoined to maintain a just balance and to treat with equity and justice his fellow beings, giving, every one his due, and to avoid extremes, and follow the golden mean in the discharge of his duties towards his Creator. This is the significance of the expressions, "you may not transgress the measure" and "fall not short of measure."

11:85; 26:182-184; 55:9.

Important Words:

المطففین (those who give short measure) is derived from طفف which means, he made defective and deficient. طفف علی عیالهmeans, he was niggardly to his family. طفف المکیال والمیزان means, he gave short measure and short weight. طفیف means, little in quantity; also base, low, vile, mean; paltry or contemptible (Lane).

Commentary:

The word المطففین has been used here in a general sense. Stress is laid on honesty, justice and equity in all sorts of dealings with men. See Introduction to the Surah.

55:10.

Commentary:

In the heyday of their power and prosperity nations, like individuals, are apt to forget the most sure and certain truth writ large on the face of history that sin and injustice never go unpunished. There is a Day of Reckoning in the afterlife, when men shall have to render account of their actions to their Lord and Master, but a day of reckoning comes upon a people in this very life, when their evil doings exceed legitimate bounds and they meet their nemesis.

Commentary:

"An awful day", besides referring to the Last Day of Judgement, signifies the day of reckoning when a whole people are punished for their sins of omission and commission. Their power and glory depart and they sink into the depths of misery and degradation.

The history of mankind is the story of the rise of different peoples at different times to the dizzy heights of grandeur and prosperity and of their day of reckoning when they sink into oblivion.