by MOSTFA AL-BADAWI

In the final part of the series on the Ancient Prophets of Arabia, Mostafa al-Badawi recounts the life of the Prophet Shu’ayb whose tomb is widely believed near the town of Salt in Jordan.    

Midian was Ibrahim’s (Abraham) son from his third wife Qaturah (Keturah), whom he married after Sarah’s death and who Tabari said was a Canaanite. She lived in Hebron with Ibrahim and the six sons she bore him. After Ibrahim’s death, scholars believe that his sons settled throughout the Arabian Peninsula:

• The eldest son, Zimran, moved to the area south of Makkah.
• The second son, Jokshan, had two sons: Sheba and Dedan. Sheba moved to present day Yemen and his offspring were possibly founders of the famous kingdom of Sheba and also built the Ma’rib dam. Dedan’s offspring settled in the Hijaz near present day al-‘Ula and for a time controlled the caravan trade on the Incense Road from the Arabian Peninsula to Petra and the eastern Mediterranean region.[1]
• The third son, Medan, moved to the area southeast of Tema (Tayma’) in present-day Saudi Arabia.
• The fourth son was Midian, from whom the Midianites came. Their territory extended from Ma’an in present day Jordan to the Gulf of Aqaba.
• The fifth and sixth sons, Ishbak and Shu’ah, remained in the area north of Midian, east of the Dead Sea.

God raised Prophet Shu’ayb (may peace be upon him) from among his people to call them back to Him after they had strayed far from the tawhid (monotheism) of their ancestors. Scholars differ over whether Shu’ayb is Musa’s (Moses) father-in-law; according to the stronger opinion, he lived much earlier than Musa (may peace be upon him). It is possible that Musa’s father-in-law, a leading priest of Midian, may have been one of Shu’ayb’s descendents. In the Qur’an, in Surat al-A’raf, when God mentions the people of Nuh (Noah), Ad, Thamud and Midian, it is clear that Musa came after Shu’ayb (may peace be upon them). Then, after them, We sent Musa with Our signs to Pharaoh and his aides, but they rejected them. (7:103) The expression, “then, after them,” in the original Arabic denotes a clearly discernable succession in time. Because Shu’ayb was not a descendant of Ibrahim through Yaqub (Jacob) (may peace be upon them), he was ignored altogether by the compilers of the Torah because the Israelites were the Chosen People and not concerned with acknowledging prophets descended from lineages other than their own.

Prophet Muhammad (may God’s blessings and peace be upon him) narrated that Shu’ayb (may peace be upon him) was an Arab since the Midianites were one of several Semitic tribes that dwelled in Arabia and were eventually identified as Arabs. Shu’ayb was exceptionally eloquent, so much so that the Prophet Muhammad (may God’s blessings and peace be upon him) called him “The Orator of the Prophets.”[2]  Ibn ‘Abbas posits that Shu’ayb might have been blind; in the Qur’an, his people said to him, Indeed we see you weak among us. (11:91)[3]  However, the majority of scholars are of the opinion that no prophet ever suffered from a disabling handicap, though there are exceptions. Yaqub was said to have lost his sight while grieving for the loss of his son Yusuf (Joseph) and only recovered it when his sons brought Yusuf’s shirt back from Egypt and cast it upon their father’s face.

Scholars also differ over whether the people whom the Qur’an calls the “People of the Thicket” (Ashaab al-Aykati) refer to the Midianites. This speculation indicates that it is possible Shu’ayb (may peace be upon him) was sent to two different communities. The stronger opinion, however, is that Shu’ayb was sent to only one people and that the “Thicket” was worshipped by polytheist Midianites. Not only had the people of Midian become idolaters, but they also had taken to cheating in commercial transactions –in weights and measures – despite the fact that they were affluent and in no need of resorting to such practices.

According to the Qur’an, Shu’ayb (may peace be upon him) began his discourse by calling his people to revert to tawhid and forsake all idolatrous practices. He counseled them to protect themselves against the punishment that would befall them, as it had befallen idolatrous and corrupt people before them. They knew about many of them; some, such as the people of Sodom, were near enough in time and place to be quite familiar. Shu’ayb would then call for his people to abandon their practices of cheating, imposing levies on travelers and barring people from seeking Shu’ayb out for his teachings. He promised his people that if they were to accept his counsel, God would bless their transactions and make them even more prosperous without having to recourse to cheating. He reminded them that they originally were a small tribe that God made large, and that their prosperity and affluence were divine favors for which they should show gratitude rather than rebellion. Their denial would bring them destruction and permanent loss.