The people of Madyan were Arabs. Their town lay in the land of Ma'ân, at the edge of Sham, toward the Hijaz.
It lay close to the lake of Lût's people, and its people came not long after them, Ibn Kathîr says.
In four surahs of the Qur'an, their story comes right after the story of Lût.
They descended from Ibrâhîm (peace be upon him), and the tribe bore the name of an ancestor called Madyan.
To Madyan, Allah sent one of their own: their brother Shu'ayb (peace be upon him).
And to Madyan, their brother Shu'ayb. He said: “O my people, worship Allah. You have no god other than Him.
A clear proof has come to you from your Lord.”
Which proof? The miracles Allah gave him, Ibn Kathîr says. Their details have not reached us.
Some of the early scholars called him “the orator of the prophets”, for the beauty of his words.
Three faults marked Madyan: they worshipped other than Allah, frightened travellers, and cheated on the scale.
When they bought, they took full measure. When they sold, they gave short.
The companions of al-Ayka, the thicket, denied the messengers,
when Shu'ayb said to them: “Will you not fear Allah?”
Are they the people of Madyan, or another people? The scholars differ.
Qatâda and others saw two peoples, both sent Shu'ayb. Ibn Kathîr holds they are one, and calls the other view weak.
His first reason: both are blamed for the very same fault, cheating on the scale.
His second: here they are named after the thicket they worshipped, so the verse does not say “their brother”.
The Qur'an also tells how Mûsâ (peace be upon him), fleeing Egypt, came to the water of Madyan.
And when he came to the water of Madyan…
Two women told him: “…and our father is a very old man.”
Who was this old man? Many say Shu'ayb himself: al-Hasan al-Basrî and Mâlik held this view.
Others say another man: his nephew, a cousin, or a believer of his people. The Qur'an does not name him.
Ibn Kathîr also notes a view that the people of al-Ayka had perished before Mûsâ's time.
A prosperous town, beside a road that travellers took.
Allah sent it one of its own. Who was he, and who were they?
Madyan received one of its own, and the Qur'an keeps telling its story.
Tonight, recall one piece of good advice from someone close that you brushed aside, and go back to it.