Part 71

He, Most Hi gh , says, ( And to (the peop le o f) MOlly"'" (We

se nt ) thei r brother Shu 'a ib. li e sai d, "0, my peopl e! Worship

A ll ah! YOLI Im vc no olhcr i/a" (god) but Him. (La i/lIlw ill-

Allah l none has the ri ght to be worshipped but A ll ah]). Veril y,

(5) This /wdeelh , which was narratcd in ;\s ent irety by Ibn Hibban in hi s Sa-

heeh (2177. No. 36 1) is extremcly wctlk.

(6) This Imdeeth WtlS narr.lIcd by At-llakim in AI-Nakim (407 t ). Adh-Dha-

htlbi did nOl comment o n il in At-Talkhees. but in its chain ofnarr.lIors is

onc Saillmah Ibn AI-F:ldhl , who has been declared wcak by more than one

3 18 AlIl(llIg 'he Grea' EI'ems

a clear sign from your Lord has comc unto you," ) (SoOt'ali

Al-A 'ra/7:85) Th at is, a proo f, a clea r a rgumcnt and irre Futab le

evidence of the truth of what I have brought to you, ( "So give

fu ll mea sure and full wei ght and wrong not men in th eir things,

and do not mi sch ief on the earth afte r it has been set in order,"

) (Soorah AI-A 'raJ7:85) I-Ie commanded them to be fair and

forbade thcm to co mmi t injustice and he wa med thcm aga in st

di sobcy ing him in this, saying, ( "That w ill be bc ttcr for you,

if you are Be lievers, And sit not on CVl! ry path," ) (SoO/'ali Al-

A '1'0/7:85,86) That is, on every road " thrciJ tc ning", " , That is,

thrcatening to take the peop lc's money by cxacting taxes and

such like from the traders who entered the city and terrorizing

As -Suddi sa id in hi s Ta/seer on the authori ty of the

Compa ni ons, ( " And sit not on every path , thrcatening" )

(Soorah Al-A 'raj 7:86) means that they used to exac t ti thes

from the mo ney of the wayfarers,

It is reported on th e authority o f 'Abdu ll ah Ibn 'A bbas .:;..

that he sa id, " They we re a people who exceeded all limits

and comm ittcd outrages; they would sit .H the sidc of the road

and ex act tit hes from th e peopl e's money - and they wc re the

first peopl e to practi ce that. " ( "A nd hindering frol11 the Path

of A llah those who be licve in Hi m and secking to make it

crooked, " ) (SoOt 'all AI-A 'raJ7:86) So he fo rbade them 10 cut

o ff the phys ical road in th e life of thi s wo rld and th e spiritu al,

religious road: ( "And rcmember when you were but fe w, and

l ie multipli ed you, And see wha t W;lS the end uf the JI1uj."idooll ,"

) (SoOl'oh AI-A 'raJ7:8 6) He reminded them of the blessings

that All ah , Most Hi gh, had bestowed on them , by increasin g

their numbers, aft cr they had fomlcri y been only a few and he

warn ed them of A ll ah 's Vengca nce being visited upon them, if

AIIIOII~ the Grea{ EWIlI'i 3 19

,i they disobeyed the guidance th ai he brought 10 th em, as Allah

I sa id to th em in anot her aCCOUIll , (" and give not short mea sure

or weight, I sec you in prosperity; <I nd veri ly I fear for yo u the

Punishment of a Day encompassing." ) (SoO/'all Noad 11 :84),

That is, do no t (furth e r) com mit those s ins that you arc c urrent ly

engaging in and do not conti nue 10 transgress in this way, for

if you do, Allah wi ll remove the blessing that is in your hands

and He will cause you to become impoverished and remove the

means by whi ch you have become rich. This was in addi ti on

to the punishment of the Hercafier. A person upon whol11 both

punis hm en ts arc co mbined has acqu ired for himself the wo rst

of bargai ns. So he for bade th em from cngagi ng in un accepta bl e

practices, such as giv ing short measure to ot hers, whil e taking

more than o ne's due frolll them (tat/eel). He wa rned them that

they woul d losc th e ben efits that Allah had bestowcd on them

in thi s earthly life and of the painful pu ni shm ent tha t awaitcd

the m in th e Hcrcafier, and he reprimanded them in th e harshest

ma nner. Then after rebuki ng the m, he commanded th em, say ing,

( "A nd O. Illy people! Give fullmcasure a nd weight in justi ce

nnd reduce not th e things Ihal are due to the peop le, and do not

commit mischief in th e land, causing corrupti o n. ThaI wh ich

is left by A llah for you (aOer g iving the rights of Ihe peop le)

is beller for you, if you arc Believers. A nd I am not set over

you as a guardian." ) (Soorah Hood 11 :85,86) 'A bdullah Ibn

'A bbas 4 and AI-Hasan A I-Basri sa id that ( "That whi ch is left

by Alla h fo r YOli (afte r giving Ihe rights or th e peop le) is bellcr

for you" ) means that the sustenance whic h A ll ah bestows o n

yo u is bc tter th an the money th at you tak e from the people by

mea ns of tat/eel. The Messenger of All ah ~ sa id, "Veril y, riba

(i nterest, usury, e lc.), though it may multipl y, the end resu il of

it is less." (7) That is, lillie. The Messenge r of"Allah ~ a lso sa id,

(7) This is an authentic 'mtiecll' ll arTatcd by tmam Ahmad. on the authority of

320 Among Ihe Grem Evell/s

"The se ll er and Ihe buyer have the right 10 keep or return goods

as long as they ha ve not parted or ti ll they part; and if both the

part ies spoke th e truth a nd desc ribed the defec ts and qual ities

(o f the goods), then th ey wou ld be blessed in thei r transact ion ,

and if they told lies or hi d something , the n the bless in gs of th eir

transacti on woul d be losl." (8)

What is meant is that there is a blessing in lawful profi t, eve n

though it may be littl e, wh ile the un law fu l docs not accrue any

bless ings, even though the profi t from it may be great. Thi s is

why th e Prophet of Allah, Shu 'a ib, said, ( "That whi ch is left

by All ah for you (aner givin g the ri ghts o f the peopl e) is better

ror yo u, ir you are Believe rs." ) (SaO/'a" Hood II :86) As ror

hi s say ing: ( "A nd I am not set over yo u as a guardian. " )

(SoOl·al1 Hood 11 :86), it means: Do what I command you to

do, seeking th ereby A ll ah 's Countenance a nd hoping for Hi s

Rewa rd, not in order tha t I or any other may see you. ( They

said , "0 , Shu ' aib! Docs your salah (prayer) command tha t we

leave 0 0 ' wha t our fathe rs L1sed 10 worship , or that we leave

o fT doing whal we like with ollr property? Veri ly, you arc th e

fo rbearin g, right-minded! " ) They said these last words ill order

to mock him , belittl e hi m and ri dicul e him. That is, do these

prayers whi ch you offer command you to forb id us to worship

any deity except your God and order us to abandon that whic h

our forefa thers used to worship? Or do they command you to

order LI S not to do business dea lin gs except in the manne r whi ch

pl eases you and to abandon those deal ings which you forb id,

even though th ey please us? ( " Ve rily, you arc the forbearing,

ri ghi-minded! " ) (Saara" Hood II :87)

'Abdu llah Ibn Mas'ood .. (3745).

(8) Narr.llcd by AI-Ilukhari (2079), Muslim (1532), Abu Dawood (3459),

At-Timlidhi ( 1246), An-Nasa' i (4457), Ahmad (14890) and Ad-Darimi

(2548), on the authority of Hakccm Ibn Hizum ..:o.

Amollg Ihe Grem EI'(! I11.1 321

' Abdu ll ah Ibn 'Abba s ~, Ma imoon Ibn Mihran, Ibn Ju ra ij ,

la id Ibn Aslam and Ibn Ja reer said that th ey - th e enem ies

of All ah - said these words in to nes of mockery. ( li e sa id,

"0, my peopl e! Teilme, if I ha ve a cl ear proo f from my Lord.

and li e has given me a good sustenancc from IIil1l5clf (s hall

I co rru pt it by mi xi ng it with the un lawfu ll y ea rned money).

I wish not, in con trad iction 10 you. to do that whi ch I forbid

you. I onl y desi re rCrOnll so far as I a m ablc, to the best of my

power. And my gui da nce cannot come exccp t from A ll ah, in

Il im I tru st and unto Him I rcpcn!. ·· ) (SoO/'all Hood 11 :88) He

spoke to them us ing courleous and polil e words and he called

them to the tmth wi th the cl earest guidance. He sai d to th em,

" Do you cons ider, den iers ( " if I have a clear evidence from

my Lord . . ." ) (Saara" !-Iaad II :88). That is, if I a m fo ll ow ing

a clear co mmand from All ah, which is that He sent me to you

( and li t! has g iven me a good sustcnance from Himself ) -

mea ning Prophet hood and Messengership. That is to say, and

know ledge of that was co ncea led from YOll, then wha t ca n I do

All ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( Enjo in you al-hirr (pie ty and