Who Was The people of Madyan? Who cheated on the scales in Islamic History

Before the worldBefore Adam

The first nationsAdam to Shuayb

Egypt and Bani Israilc. 1300–1000 BCE

Bani Israil and Romec. 1000 BCE – 250 CE

Arabia before IslamUp to 570 CE

Enemies of the Prophet ﷺ610–632 CE

After the Prophet ﷺ632–1000 CE

Crusades and conquests1090–1502 CE

The end of timeStill to come

Ten signs before the Hour

Isa ibn Maryam descends
A landslide in the east
A landslide in the west
A landslide in Arabia
The smoke
The sun rises from the west
The Beast of the earth
A fire from Yemen drives people to their gathering

Sahih Muslim lists ten major signs before the Hour without fixing their order. This follows a common order given by the scholars. Sahih Muslim 2901a ↗

Villains of history14 / 76

أصحاب مدين

The people of Madyan

Who cheated on the scalesAge of Shuayb

Relied onTheir trade and their wealth

Undone byAn earthquake

A trading people who gave short measure, cheated on the scales and blocked the roads. When Shuayb called them to honesty, they mocked his prayer and threatened to drive him out.

How it ended

An earthquake seized them and they lay fallen in their homes (7:91). The Quran also tells of 'the day of the black cloud' (26:189).

And O my people, give full measure and weight in justice and do not deprive the people of their due and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption.
Quran 11:85

The lessonCheating in small measures is how a whole people falls.

In the Quran

7:85-93 11:84-95 26:176-191 29:36-37

Stood against
Source: Named in the QuranWhether Madyan and 'the companions of the thicket' (al-Aykah) were one people or two, the commentators differ.

Every villain in Islamic history, from Iblis to the Dajjal

Each entry is drawn from the Quran, authentic hadith (with links to sunnah.com), the classical commentators and the historians. Companions who fought Islam and later became Muslim are not included, nor are figures Muslims disagree about.