Who Are the Real Losers? — Halaqa Circle

Who are the real losers?0:00

Austin: Doing the right thing can look like losing: a deal you walk away from, money you leave on the table. The chiefs of Madyan told their own people exactly that: “If you should follow Shu'ayb, indeed, you would then be losers.”

Eighteen ayat of Surah Al-A'raf: the story of Shu'ayb alayhis salam, and the pattern the surah names after five messengers. About 25 minutes.

Assalamu alaikum, and welcome to the IMATX halaqa.

On the call0:29

All: Wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullah.

Austin: Alhamdulillah. Good to have everyone here again. Let us open, as we always do, with the du'a.

Opening du'a.

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا. مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ. وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

Al-hamdu lillah, nahmaduhu wa nasta'inuhu wa nastaghfiruh, wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina wa min sayyi'ati a'malina. Man yahdihillahu fala mudilla lah, wa man yudlil fala hadiya lah. Wa ashhadu an la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasuluh. — All praise is for Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help and we ask His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from our bad deeds. Whomever Allah guides, no one can lead astray, and whomever He leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي، وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي، وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي.

Rabbishrah li sadri, wa yassir li amri, wahlul 'uqdatan min lisani, yafqahu qawli. — My Lord, expand for me my breast, and ease for me my task, and untie the knot from my tongue, that they may understand my speech.

اللَّهُمَّ انْفَعْنَا بِمَا عَلَّمْتَنَا، وَعَلِّمْنَا مَا يَنْفَعُنَا، وَزِدْنَا عِلْمًا.

Allahumma infa'na bima 'allamtana, wa 'allimna ma yanfa'una, wa zidna 'ilma. — O Allah, benefit us by what You have taught us, teach us what will benefit us, and increase us in knowledge.

Austin: We praised Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, asked His help and His forgiveness, and bore witness to Him and to His Messenger. Then, with the words of Musa alayhis salam: open our hearts, ease our task, and loosen our tongues, so that people understand what we say. And we asked Allah 'azza wa jall to make what we learn benefit us, and to add to our knowledge.

All: Ameen.

Where we are1:46

Austin: The previous passage ended with Lut alayhis salam, and the rain that came down on his people. Now the fifth messenger of this part of the surah: Shu'ayb alayhis salam, sent to Madyan. Ibn Kathir, rahimahullah, says Madyan was the name of the tribe, and of a town on the road from al-Sham to the Hijaz.

His story runs to ayah ninety-three. Then the surah steps back from all five stories, and says what happened in every one of those cities. We'll take it a few ayat at a time, so each part of the story stays in one piece, and keep our questions for the end.

Ayah 85 - The same call, then the scale2:18

Austin: Shu'ayb alayhis salam speaks to his own people, and he begins where every messenger before him began.

Isti'adhah.

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

A'udhu billahi minash-shaytanir-rajim. — I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.

7:85 in Arabic.

وَإِلَىٰ مَدْيَنَ أَخَاهُمْ شُعَيْبًۭا ۗ قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥ ۖ قَدْ جَآءَتْكُم بَيِّنَةٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۖ فَأَوْفُوا۟ ٱلْكَيْلَ وَٱلْمِيزَانَ وَلَا تَبْخَسُوا۟ ٱلنَّاسَ أَشْيَآءَهُمْ وَلَا تُفْسِدُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ بَعْدَ إِصْلَٰحِهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

Salma: And to the people of Madyan We sent their brother Shu'ayb. 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 cause not corruption upon the earth after its reformation. That is better for you, if you should be believers.

Austin: Worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him. Ibn Kathir calls it “the call of all Messengers”. And in the Arabic, from “He said” to “from your Lord”, these are the words of Salih alayhis salam at ayah seventy-three, word for word. That's our own check of the text, not a commentator's. Same message, new people.

Then, in the same breath, he turns to the market. Fulfill the measure and the weight. Ibn Kathir says he commanded them “to refrain from cheating people in buying and selling”. And al-Qurtubi, rahimahullah, reads “do not deprive people of their due” very widely: running down someone's goods, talking a seller out of them, cheating on the value, or tricks in measuring. All of it, he says, is taking wealth wrongfully.

Yu: Wait, talking a seller down counts? I do that at every market stall. I thought that was just bargaining.

Austin: Bargaining isn't the problem. What al-Qurtubi names is running the goods down, and talking a seller out of them. And for the bargaining itself there is a narration. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said: may Allah have mercy on a person who is easy-going when he buys, when he sells, and when he asks for what he is owed.

Victor: Mm. Easy-going, and still the full measure. That's a man I would buy from.

Austin: And that's why the scale comes straight after worship. Faith and fair dealing, in one breath.

Ayat 86-87 - The roads, and two groups4:40

Austin: Then he turns from the market to the roads, and to the people who were taking sides over him.

7:86 in Arabic.

وَلَا تَقْعُدُوا۟ بِكُلِّ صِرَٰطٍۢ تُوعِدُونَ وَتَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ مَنْ ءَامَنَ بِهِۦ وَتَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًۭا ۚ وَٱذْكُرُوٓا۟ إِذْ كُنتُمْ قَلِيلًۭا فَكَثَّرَكُمْ ۖ وَٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ

Yu: And do not sit on every path, threatening and averting from the way of Allah those who believe in Him, seeking to make it seem deviant. And remember when you were few and He increased you. And see how was the end of the corrupters.

7:87 in Arabic.

وَإِن كَانَ طَآئِفَةٌۭ مِّنكُمْ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِٱلَّذِىٓ أُرْسِلْتُ بِهِۦ وَطَآئِفَةٌۭ لَّمْ يُؤْمِنُوا۟ فَٱصْبِرُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَحْكُمَ ٱللَّهُ بَيْنَنَا ۚ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ ٱلْحَٰكِمِينَ

Yu: And if there should be a group among you who has believed in that with which I have been sent and a group that has not believed, then be patient until Allah judges between us. And He is the best of judges."

Austin: What were they doing on the roads? Ibn Kathir gives two readings. Al-Suddi, rahimahullah, says they were bandits, threatening people “with death if they do not give up their money”. Ibn Abbas, radiyallahu anhuma, and others say they threatened “the believers who come to Shu'ayb to follow him”. Ibn Kathir prefers the first, and reads the rest of the ayah, turning people from the way of Allah, as the second.

So, a road, where people come and go, and two ways to block it: taking from people, and frightening them away from the good.

Viraj: Can I ask about ayah eighty-seven? Be patient until Allah judges between us. Isn't that telling the ones who didn't believe to just carry on?

Austin: Al-Qurtubi says the opposite. Be patient doesn't give them leave to stay as they are. It's a warning.

Viraj: So the waiting is the warning?

Austin: The waiting is the warning. And the next ayah shows they didn't wait.

Ayat 88-89 - Leave, or come back6:38

Austin: The chiefs answer him with a threat, and Shu'ayb alayhis salam answers them, then turns to his Lord.

7:88 in Arabic.

۞ قَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ مِن قَوْمِهِۦ لَنُخْرِجَنَّكَ يَٰشُعَيْبُ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَكَ مِن قَرْيَتِنَآ أَوْ لَتَعُودُنَّ فِى مِلَّتِنَا ۚ قَالَ أَوَلَوْ كُنَّا كَٰرِهِينَ

Viraj: Said the eminent ones who were arrogant among his people, "We will surely evict you, O Shu'ayb, and those who have believed with you from our city, or you must return to our religion." He said, "Even if we were unwilling?"

7:89 in Arabic.

قَدِ ٱفْتَرَيْنَا عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا إِنْ عُدْنَا فِى مِلَّتِكُم بَعْدَ إِذْ نَجَّىٰنَا ٱللَّهُ مِنْهَا ۚ وَمَا يَكُونُ لَنَآ أَن نَّعُودَ فِيهَآ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّنَا ۚ وَسِعَ رَبُّنَا كُلَّ شَىْءٍ عِلْمًا ۚ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ تَوَكَّلْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا ٱفْتَحْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ قَوْمِنَا بِٱلْحَقِّ وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ ٱلْفَٰتِحِينَ

Viraj: We would have invented against Allah a lie if we returned to your religion after Allah had saved us from it. And it is not for us to return to it except that Allah, our Lord, should will. Our Lord has encompassed all things in knowledge. Upon Allah we have relied. Our Lord, decide between us and our people in truth, and You are the best of those who give decision."

Austin: Leave our city, or come back to our religion. And his first answer is a question: even if we were unwilling? Ibn Kathir explains it: would you force us, “even though we hate what you are calling us to”.

Then he is firm. Going back would be inventing a lie against Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, after He had saved them from it. And straight after the firmness: except that Allah, our Lord, should will. The commentators read that line in more than one way. Ibn Kathir says it “refers all matters to Allah's will”. He doesn't lean on his own firmness. He leaves it with his Lord.

And then the du'a: our Lord, decide between us and our people in truth. Al-Qurtubi reports from Ibn Abbas that Shu'ayb alayhis salam prayed much, and made this du'a when he lost hope that his people would change.

Victor: Mm. Firm, and still saying, except that Allah, our Lord, should will. A proud man finds that hard.

Austin: It is hard. Firm about the truth, and humble about himself. That's the shape of his whole answer.

Ayat 90-92 - Who were the losers9:07

Austin: The chiefs turn to their own people with a warning, and then the story of Madyan comes to its end.

7:90 in Arabic.

وَقَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن قَوْمِهِۦ لَئِنِ ٱتَّبَعْتُمْ شُعَيْبًا إِنَّكُمْ إِذًۭا لَّخَٰسِرُونَ

Victor: Said the eminent ones who disbelieved among his people, "If you should follow Shu'ayb, indeed, you would then be losers."

7:91 in Arabic.

فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ ٱلرَّجْفَةُ فَأَصْبَحُوا۟ فِى دَارِهِمْ جَٰثِمِينَ

Victor: So the earthquake seized them, and they became within their home corpses fallen prone.

7:92 in Arabic.

ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ شُعَيْبًۭا كَأَن لَّمْ يَغْنَوْا۟ فِيهَا ۚ ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ شُعَيْبًۭا كَانُوا۟ هُمُ ٱلْخَٰسِرِينَ

Victor: Those who denied Shu'ayb - it was as though they had never resided there. Those who denied Shu'ayb - it was they who were the losers.

Austin: There's the line we began with: “If you should follow Shu'ayb, indeed, you would then be losers.” The last word is khasirun. Lane's dictionary calls loss in buying and selling its original meaning, and these are people who were just told to fix their scales. Al-Tabari explains the chiefs' word: cheated in your bargain, and ruined.

Yu: So basically, they told everyone that believing was a bad deal.

Austin: A bad deal. Then the earthquake. Ibn Kathir says it shook them “as punishment for threatening to expel Shu'ayb and his followers”. And ayah ninety-two answers the chiefs with their own word, twice over: those who denied Shu'ayb, as though they had never resided there; those who denied Shu'ayb, it was they who were the losers.

Ibn Kathir says Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala “refuted their earlier statement”. And in Surah ash-Shu'ara, Shu'ayb alayhis salam uses the same root for short-changing: “those who cause loss”, al-mukhsirin. Putting the two together is our own reading: the people who gave short measure called the believers losers, and the word came back on them.

Victor: Mm. All that weighing and counting, and in the end, as though they had never lived there.

Ayah 93 - His last words to them11:14

Austin: Then Shu'ayb alayhis salam turns away from them, and says his last words to his people.

7:93 in Arabic.

فَتَوَلَّىٰ عَنْهُمْ وَقَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ لَقَدْ أَبْلَغْتُكُمْ رِسَٰلَٰتِ رَبِّى وَنَصَحْتُ لَكُمْ ۖ فَكَيْفَ ءَاسَىٰ عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍۢ كَٰفِرِينَ

Salma: And he turned away from them and said, "O my people, I had certainly conveyed to you the messages of my Lord and advised you, so how could I grieve for a disbelieving people?"

Austin: Even now, O my people. And he says what his work was: I conveyed the messages of my Lord, and I advised you.

Viraj: So his part ends at conveying and advising?

Austin: His part, yes. What they did with it was theirs. And he had already left the judgement with his Lord, in ayah eighty-nine.

Ayat 94-95 - Hardship, ease, and our fathers12:04

Austin: Now the surah steps back from all five stories, and says what happened in every city that denied its prophet.

7:94 in Arabic.

وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا فِى قَرْيَةٍۢ مِّن نَّبِىٍّ إِلَّآ أَخَذْنَآ أَهْلَهَا بِٱلْبَأْسَآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَضَّرَّعُونَ

Yu: And We sent to no city a prophet who was denied except that We seized its people with poverty and hardship that they might humble themselves to Allah.

7:95 in Arabic.

ثُمَّ بَدَّلْنَا مَكَانَ ٱلسَّيِّئَةِ ٱلْحَسَنَةَ حَتَّىٰ عَفَوا۟ وَّقَالُوا۟ قَدْ مَسَّ ءَابَآءَنَا ٱلضَّرَّآءُ وَٱلسَّرَّآءُ فَأَخَذْنَٰهُم بَغْتَةًۭ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

Yu: Then We exchanged in place of the bad condition, good, until they increased and prospered and said, "Our fathers also were touched with hardship and ease." So We seized them suddenly while they did not perceive.

Austin: First, hardship. And it came “that they might humble themselves”. Ibn Kathir says, so that they would “supplicate, humble themselves and invoke Allah”. The hardship came with a door left open. And this is said of peoples who had denied their prophets. It isn't a way to read anyone's illness or poverty as a punishment; believers are tested too.

Then ease, until they increased. In the Arabic that's one word: 'afaw. Ibn Kathir says it means “increase in numbers, wealth and offspring”, and al-Tabari reports from Ibn Abbas that they grew as plants grow. Indonesian has this root in maaf, from 'afw, pardon. Here it has nothing to do with forgiving. They grew many.

And what did they say? Our fathers also were touched with hardship and ease. Ibn Kathir: they saw “a cycle where we sometimes suffer a hardship and at other times, we enjoy a bounty”, and did not see that He was testing them in both.

Yu: So “that's just life” is the dangerous sentence.

Austin: It can be, when it means the times are only weather. The believer sees a test in both, and answers each one.

Salma: Isn't there a hadith about that? The believer is good either way, in ease and in hardship?

Austin: There is. Suhayb, radiyallahu anhu, reports in Sahih Muslim that the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said the affair of the believer is a wonder: all of it is good for him. If something good comes to him, he gives thanks, and that is good for him. If harm reaches him, he is patient, and that is good for him. Ibn Kathir brings it right here.

Ayah 96 - If only they had believed14:33

Austin: Then the surah says what could have been, for those same cities.

7:96 in Arabic.

وَلَوْ أَنَّ أَهْلَ ٱلْقُرَىٰٓ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱتَّقَوْا۟ لَفَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَرَكَٰتٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَٰكِن كَذَّبُوا۟ فَأَخَذْنَٰهُم بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَكْسِبُونَ

Viraj: And if only the people of the cities had believed and feared Allah, We would have opened upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth; but they denied the messengers, so We seized them for what they were earning.

Austin: Blessings from the sky and the earth: barakat. Ibn Kathir and al-Jalalayn say that here they are rain from the sky, and growth from the earth.

Salma: At home we say baraka all the time, for food that goes further than you expected. Is it the same word?

Austin: The same root. In Indonesian it's berkah, or berkat. Lane gives the picture behind it: a camel settling down on its breast, and from the same root, a pool, where water collects and stays. So baraka is good that comes, and stays, and grows. Lane's own words are “abundance of good”.

And there is a narration that ties it back to the scales. Hakim ibn Hizam, radiyallahu anhu, reports in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said: if the buyer and the seller speak the truth and make clear what is in the goods, their sale is blessed; if they lie and hide something, the blessing of their sale is wiped out. The commentators don't bring it here; the link to ayah eighty-five is ours.

Victor: Mm. An honest weight, and the little goes further. I have seen that.

Austin: May Allah 'azza wa jall put that baraka in our own dealings. But the ayah doesn't end on the blessings. They denied, so they were seized for what they were earning.

Ayat 97-99 - Did they feel secure?16:19

Austin: Then three questions, one after another, to the people of those cities.

7:97 in Arabic.

أَفَأَمِنَ أَهْلُ ٱلْقُرَىٰٓ أَن يَأْتِيَهُم بَأْسُنَا بَيَٰتًۭا وَهُمْ نَآئِمُونَ

Victor: Then, did the people of the cities feel secure from Our punishment coming to them at night while they were asleep?

7:98 in Arabic.

أَوَأَمِنَ أَهْلُ ٱلْقُرَىٰٓ أَن يَأْتِيَهُم بَأْسُنَا ضُحًۭى وَهُمْ يَلْعَبُونَ

Victor: Or did the people of the cities feel secure from Our punishment coming to them in the morning while they were at play?

7:99 in Arabic.

أَفَأَمِنُوا۟ مَكْرَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ فَلَا يَأْمَنُ مَكْرَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْقَوْمُ ٱلْخَٰسِرُونَ

Victor: Then did they feel secure from the plan of Allah? But no one feels secure from the plan of Allah except the losing people.

Austin: At night, while they were asleep. In the morning, while they were at play: Ibn Kathir says, “while they are busy in their affairs and unaware”.

And then: did they feel secure from the plan of Allah? The commentators explain it, and none of them means trickery. Ibn Kathir: His power to take them “while they are inattentive and heedless”. Al-Jalalayn: “His drawing them on by degrees through graces and then seizing them suddenly”.

And the last line brings back our word, khasirun, a third time: no one feels secure from the plan of Allah except the losing people.

Viraj: So the danger isn't the night or the morning. It's feeling secure.

Austin: That's it. Ibn Kathir closes with al-Hasan al-Basri, rahimahullah: the believer does his worship while feeling fear, and the wicked commits his sins while feeling safe.

Victor: Mm. Feeling safe is when a man stops checking himself.

Ayat 100-102 - The heirs, the news, and the covenant18:04

Austin: The pattern ends by turning to the people who came after those cities.

7:100 in Arabic.

أَوَلَمْ يَهْدِ لِلَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ ٱلْأَرْضَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ أَهْلِهَآ أَن لَّوْ نَشَآءُ أَصَبْنَٰهُم بِذُنُوبِهِمْ ۚ وَنَطْبَعُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ

Salma: Has it not become clear to those who inherited the earth after its previous people that if We willed, We could afflict them for their sins? But We seal over their hearts so they do not hear.

7:101 in Arabic.

تِلْكَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآئِهَا ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِٱلْبَيِّنَٰتِ فَمَا كَانُوا۟ لِيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِمَا كَذَّبُوا۟ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَطْبَعُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ

Salma: Those cities - We relate to you, O Muhammad, some of their news. And certainly did their messengers come to them with clear proofs, but they were not to believe in that which they had denied before. Thus does Allah seal over the hearts of the disbelievers.

7:102 in Arabic.

وَمَا وَجَدْنَا لِأَكْثَرِهِم مِّنْ عَهْدٍۢ ۖ وَإِن وَجَدْنَآ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَفَٰسِقِينَ

Salma: And We did not find for most of them any covenant; but indeed, We found most of them defiantly disobedient.

Austin: Those who inherited the earth after its people. Ibn Kathir compares Surah Ta Ha and Surah as-Sajdah: people walk among the homes of those destroyed before them. Ayah one hundred speaks to whoever lives where others lived before. That's all of us.

Then: those cities, We relate to you some of their news. Al-Qurtubi says they are told as a comfort to the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and to the believers.

Viraj: Ayah one hundred and one worries me a little. They were not to believe in what they had denied before. Did they ever have a choice?

Austin: The commentators give four views of that line. Ibn Kathir calls one of them sound: they would not believe later “because they denied the truth when it first came to them”. That keeps it with what they chose. And ayah ninety-four has already told us the hardship came that they might humble themselves.

And the covenant in the last ayah: Ibn Kathir says it is the fitrah, what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala placed in people from the start. It has its own ayah later in this surah, and we'll come to it there.

Your questions, and two for your circle20:20

Austin: So, back to where we began. The chiefs told their people that following Shu'ayb alayhis salam would make them losers. They counted loss in money and in standing. Ayah ninety-two answered them: those who denied him were the losers. And ayah ninety-nine named the losers in every city: the ones who feel secure from the plan of Allah. So the passage counts loss by where a person ends, not by what the scale shows today. And it asks two things of us: give the full measure, even when it costs, and never feel so safe that we stop checking ourselves.

Now, your questions. Who would like to start?

Viraj: Mine goes back to ayah eighty-eight, and I couldn't answer it myself. They tell him, return to our religion. Had Shu'ayb alayhis salam been in it before?

Austin: All four commentators say no. Al-Jalalayn say the chiefs speak to Shu'ayb and his followers together, “because Shu'ayb was never part of their religious community”, and he answers in the same plural. Ibn Kathir says they spoke to him “but intended it for those who followed his religion too”.

Viraj: So the return is meant for the ones who followed him, and he answers for all of them?

Austin: For all of them, in one we. Some of his followers had been in that religion before. He never had.

Yu: Mine is ayah ninety-six. A guy at work told me, if you're religious enough, the money comes. Is that what the ayah is saying?

Austin: No. Al-Qurtubi gives a caution with this very ayah. It is said of the peoples already named, and believers too may be tested with a narrow living, as an expiation of their sins. So it isn't a promise that faith brings wealth. And remember the narration of the believer: ease and hardship are both good for him, one met with thanks and one with patience.

Yu: So berkah isn't more money. It's more like the money doing more?

Austin: That's close. Good that comes, and stays, and grows. Sometimes that's more. Often it's a little that goes a long way.

Salma: Mm. That's how we use it at home.

Victor: Mine is the farewell, ayah ninety-three. How could I grieve. As a father, I want to know. Did he grieve for them, or not?

Austin: The commentators read it both ways, and we don't have to choose. Ibn Kathir: I will not feel any sorrow for you, since you disbelieved. Al-Tabari reports from Ibn Ishaq, rahimahullah, that Shu'ayb alayhis salam did feel grief for his people when he saw the punishment, and then said this to console himself.

Victor: Mm. Then can a father know both? Grieve, and still tell himself he did what he could?

Austin: He can. And Shu'ayb alayhis salam could say it truthfully: I conveyed, and I advised you.

Yu: I think I need that line at work.

Austin: Two questions for your circle. The first, Salma?

Salma: We all buy, sell, get paid and pay others. Where is it easiest to give a little less than full measure, in work, in time or in a price, and what helps us give it in full?

Austin: And Viraj, the second.

Viraj: When a good stretch or a hard one comes, what makes it easy to say that's just life, and what helps us remember it is from Allah, 'azza wa jall?

Austin: The full questions are in the study notes for your circle.

Victor: That's just life. I say that more than I should.

Close23:48

Austin: Before we finish, what are you taking home?

Viraj: Firm about the truth, and humble about myself.

Yu: Not calling a good year luck.

Austin: Mine is the scale. I want to give the full measure, in an hour of work as much as in a price.

Let us end the way the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, ended a gathering. Abu Barza, radiyallahu anhu, reports he called these words an expiation for what happens in a gathering. Salma, will you?

Salma: Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ashhadu an la ilaha illa anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk.

Austin: Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except You. I seek Your forgiveness, and I repent to You.

All: Ameen.

Salma: Next time, the passage goes on from ayah one hundred and three, with Musa alayhis salam and Fir'awn, in sha Allah.

Victor: And if Shu'ayb alayhis salam is a new name for you, that's fine. Every one of us met these stories for the first time once.

Austin: If you lead a halaqa of your own, the questions and the study notes for this passage are on the halaqa website, for your circle. Jazakumullahu khayran for listening.

Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.