Then Prophet Ibrahim asked for one of the daughters of Prophet Lut.

Then Prophet Ibrahim asked for one of the daughters of Prophet Lut. In this way all the other Prophets came after Prophet Ibrahim. Shu‘ayb was one of them that Allah sent as a Prophet to Madyan, but the people of Madyan were not from the family of Shu‘ayb. The king of Madyan was very strong, but he and his people were disbelievers and idol worshippers. They were dishonest in their dealing with outsiders and the king also allowed them to do so. Shu‘ayb tried to make them aware of it but in vain.

The king drove away the disciples of Shu‘ayb from his city. At last Allah sent a great punishment of fire. The water became very hot, so that they could not drink. The people ran towards Baisha, which was not so far from them. They all gathered together under the shadow of a cloud to save themselves. But fire rained on them from the cloud. They were all burnt and none escaped the punishment.

The Holy Prophet himself has stated that on Doomsday, Shu‘ayb will be the first Prophet along with his people to enter heaven. When his people were destroyed through punishment Shu‘ayb came along with his followers to Makkah and stayed there until his death. Shu‘ayb stayed in Makkah and again went to Madyan. At that time Prophet Musa came to see him. Ibn ‘Abbas has stated that Shu‘ayb was 242 years old when he expired.

There is a tradition from Imam Ja‘far as-Sadiq that Allah has sent five Prophets i.e.. Prophet Hud, Prophet Salih, Prophet Isma‘il, Shu‘ayb and the Holy Prophet who were very much beloved to Allah. Imam ‘Ali said that Shu‘ayb used to call the people to accept Islam until he became old and his bones became weak and brittle. He disappeared from the people for a while and then after some time Allah bestowed him with youth and again he came to the people and started preaching.

The people said we didn’t listen to your address when you were old so how can we obey and trust you when you have become young now. Imam Muhammad al-Baqir said that Allah said to Shu‘ayb that He would send a punishment on 40,000 people who had disobeyed his orders and on 60,000 who were obedient. Shu‘ayb, “O Allah!

Why will you send a punishment on obedient people?” Allah said, “They did not fight with the disobedient people nor did not utter a word or help you in your work.” Shu‘ayb became very sad and wept so much that he became blind. Allah gave him back his sight. But he did not give up lamenting and lost his sight again and Allah again restored his sight. This happened three times.