Prophet Shuaib (peace be upon him)

Shuaib (peace be upon him) was sent by Allah to two peoples: the people of Madyan (a prosperous trading community in the Hejaz-Sinai region near the Gulf of Aqaba) and the companions of the Aiykah (the People of the Thicket). Both peoples were engaged in grave commercial corruption — cheating in weights and measures, defrauding customers, robbing travelers, and practicing every form of economic injustice. Shuaib's mission focused specifically on economic and commercial ethics in addition to the call to tawhid. He is sometimes called the "Khatib al-Anbiya" — the orator of the prophets — due to his eloquence in debate. The Quran records his call (Surah Al-A'raf 7:85): "And to Madyan We sent their brother Shuaib. 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 do not cause corruption upon the earth after its reformation.'" Shuaib's people responded with contempt. They mocked him, saying his prayers made him want them to abandon what their fathers worshipped, and implying that without their clan's protection he would be stoned. Shuaib replied that he relied on Allah, not on their clan. After the people of Madyan persisted in rejecting the message and refusing to abandon their fraudulent practices, Allah sent upon them the punishment of "the Day of the Shade" — an oppressive cloud that grew over them and then poured down upon them a devastating heat, or in some accounts a thunderous punishment. The Quran says (Surah Hud 11:94): "And when Our command came, We saved Shuaib and those who believed with him by mercy from Us. And the shriek seized those who had wronged, and they became within their homes corpses fallen prone." The Prophet Musa is noted to have worked for Shuaib for ten years as part of his marriage agreement, spending his years in Madyan in preparation before returning to Egypt for his prophetic mission. This connection makes Shuaib the father-in-law of one of the greatest prophets in Islam.