Surah Hud (11) — Ayah 91

(Ayah 91) ➊ {قَالُوْا يٰشُعَيْبُ مَا نَفْقَهُ … : ’’ فَقِهَ يَفْقَهُ ‘‘} (a) Understanding the meaning of the speaker’s words. They said this out of mockery and contempt, that is, to declare Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him) and his words as worthless, or their minds had become so distorted by continuously disobeying Allah Almighty that even the straightforward words of Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him) truly did not register in their minds, even though Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him) neither spoke in a foreign language nor was his manner of speech complicated or confusing. Rather, from Shu‘ayb’s (peace be upon him) speech, it is clear how eloquent and articulate an orator he was. The summary of the words of the commentator Abu al-Su‘ud is that they said, “We do not understand the meaning of your words,” at a time when they had already heard from Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him) the truth and such clear arguments in the best and most eloquent manner, for which they had no answer. Now, they had nothing left to say, so just as a person, when left speechless, resorts to foul language, insults, and threats, this is exactly what they did.
➋ { وَ اِنَّا لَنَرٰىكَ فِيْنَا ضَعِيْفًا :} That is, you have neither an army, nor authority, nor grandeur.
➌ { وَ لَوْ لَا رَهْطُكَ لَرَجَمْنٰكَ : } Who are upon our religion, but are supporting him.
➍ {وَ مَاۤ اَنْتَ عَلَيْنَا بِعَزِيْزٍ: ’’عَزِيْزٌ‘‘} Honored, beloved, and strong, meaning you are not honored in any way over us, nor do we consider you to have any respect, nor do we have any love for you, and nor are you stronger than us. In short, stoning you would not be difficult for us at all; if it were not for your tribe, who are upon our religion and supporting him, we would certainly have stoned you. At the time these verses were revealed, exactly the same situation was faced by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Makkah. The Quraysh were thirsty for his blood and wanted to end his life by every possible means, but since Banu Hashim were supporting him and especially your uncle Abu Talib was fully protecting you, the Quraysh did not dare to lay a hand on him.

91. 1 This was either said by them as a mockery and contempt, while their statements were not incomprehensible to them. In this case, the negation of understanding here would be metaphorical. Or their intention was to express inability to understand those matters which pertain to the unseen, such as resurrection after death, gathering, Paradise and Hell, etc. In this respect, the negation of understanding would be real.

91. 2 This weakness was in a physical sense, as some believe that Prophet Shu'ayb's ﷺ eyesight was weak or that he was of a frail and thin body, or in the sense that he himself did not have the strength to confront the opponents alone.

91. 3 It is said that Prophet Shu'ayb's ﷺ tribe was not his supporter, but since that tribe was with their own people in disbelief and polytheism, therefore, due to being of the same religion, the consideration of that tribe, in any case, was a hindrance in adopting a harsh attitude towards Prophet Shu'ayb ﷺ and causing him harm.

91. 4 But since the status of your tribe is, in any case, present in our hearts, therefore we are acting with forbearance.

91. They said, "O Shu‘ayb! We do not understand much of what you say, and indeed, we see you as weak among us. Were it not for your tribe, we would have surely stoned you, and you have no power over us."

[103]
For the One Who Consumes the Forbidden, Earning the Lawful Becomes Very Difficult:

That is, when you talk about truthfulness, uprightness, and honesty in business, people say: “If we do this, our entire business will suffer. The competition in the market is very tough; if we don’t do these things, what will we earn and what will we eat? So keep these advice to yourself. If we work with the kind of honesty you talk about, our whole business will shut down and won’t last even a day. We can’t understand what you’re saying.” And the reality is that when a person becomes accustomed to earning wealth through forbidden means, earning wealth through lawful means seems as difficult to him as climbing a high mountain. Here, a relevant incident comes to my mind about a milkman’s son who learned some religious knowledge. The boy was pious. One day he said to his father: “Father! Stop mixing water in the milk, and if needed, sell the milk at a higher price.” The father replied to his son in a harsh tone: “Get lost, you’re not even the son of a milkman.” From this brief incident, the entire mentality of a person who consumes the forbidden can be understood. This was exactly the mentality of the people of Shu‘ayb ؑ, who replied to their prophet in this way: “We do not understand what you are saying.”

[104]
The Threat to Sayyiduna Shu‘ayb ؑ:

We only respect you because of your community, who are of the same mind as us. If it were not for them, you are a weak man; with the way you have troubled us, we would have stoned you to death long ago. What do we consider you in comparison to ourselves?