Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 177 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:177

إِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ شُعَيْبٌ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ

“When Shuʿayb said to them, "Will you not fear Allāh?”

Saheeh International

Essence

Shuʿayb, sent to a people who were not his own tribe, opens with the question every messenger here asks: will you not guard yourselves?

A reflection

Sent with no family name to lean on

Five messengers in this surah open with this question. The question itself, and the shield inside the word taqwā, are drawn out in full at 37:124. Earlier entries here notice that four of the five are called 'their brother'. This is the ayah where that word is missing.

The commentators explain why. Shuʿayb was of Madyan by birth. The dwellers of the thicket were not his tribe. One early report says he was sent to two peoples, Madyan and the people of the thicket. When the Quran speaks of Madyan it says 'their brother Shuʿayb' (7:85). Here, with no tie of blood to name, it names only the man.

So this call arrives with nothing borrowed. No shared grandfather, no childhood in the same lanes. Only the message, and the character of the one carrying it. That is a harder test for the hearers too. They cannot wave him off as a nephew who thinks too much of himself. They can only accept or reject what he says.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.