The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 175
PT. 12 HŪD CH. 11 وَيُقَوْمِ أَوْفُوا الْمِكْيَالَ وَالْمِيزَانَ And O my people, give full. 86 measure and full weight with Okjíjusjīp بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تَبْخَسُوا النَّاسَ أَشْيَاءهُمُ equity, and defraud not people of their things and commit not iniquity in the earth, causing disorder. 1466 وَلَا تَعْثَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ بَقِيَّتُ اللهِ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمُ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ That which is left with you. 87 by Allah is better for you, if you "7:86; 26:184. (3) The Quran also states that Shuaib 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, Hūd and Ṣāliḥ (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 like the Quran: (a) that, 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 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 well-to-do a 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 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 of Midian people plunder travellers. to 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 b (destructive) above. 1466. Commentary: 1383 The verse hints at the importance of fair and just dealings, especially in business matters.