The 365 · Verses · Day 234 · Justice
Qur'an 26:181
۞ أَوْفُوا۟ ٱلْكَيْلَ وَلَا تَكُونُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلْمُخْسِرِينَ
“Give full measure; do not sell others short. (Quran 26:181, Shuʿayb to his people)”
Svenska: Mät med fullt mått och tillskansa er inte vad som tillkommer andra. (Koranen 26:181)
A reflection to carry
Shuʿayb (peace be upon him) stood before Madyan with a single message: awfū al-kayla. Give the full measure. And he warned: wa lā takūnū min al-mukhsirīn. Do not be of those who cause loss. The word al-mukhsirīn is from the root of khāsirūn, the losers. The grammatical play is exact: the one who causes loss to others is by definition a loser himself. He thinks he gains by shaving the measure; he loses by the same amount in Allah's ledger. Ya akhī, ya ukhtī, every industry tempts us with small mukhsir-style tricks. The slightly underweighted package. The slightly shorter consultation hour billed at full rate. The product photo angle that hides the defect. The marketing copy that overstates outcomes. Each is a small membership card in al-mukhsirīn. Shuʿayb's people refused his warning, mocked him, killed him. Allah destroyed them. The verse stands across centuries as a warning to every Muslim doing business in any age. Do not be one of them. Give the full measure.
Read the longer reflection
Yā Rabb, You sent Shuʿayb to a trading civilization with a message so simple it could have been printed on every storefront: give full measure. Do not be of those who cause loss. He named the category clearly: al-mukhsirīn. The losers, in the very act of trying to gain. Ya Allāh, You taught us through this prophet that the spiritual mathematics of business is the inverse of what shayṭān whispers. He whispers: shave a gram, gain a gram. You teach: shave a gram, lose a gram from your own akhirah account. The one who short-measures the customer short-measures himself. The one who underdelivers shrinks his own barakah. The one who pads the invoice pads his own loss. Forgive me, ya Allāh, for every transaction where I let myself be drawn into al-mukhsirīn even slightly. The expense report I padded by ten percent because 'it's industry norm.' The recommendation letter where I omitted relevant concerns because the candidate was a friend. The contract clause I read fast because I knew the buyer trusted me. Each was a small mukhsir act, recorded in Your scales of qisṭ. Repair them, ya Rabb. Bring those I owe to my mind so I can return what was taken. And from this day forward, place me among al-mūfīn, the fulfillers, who give the full measure even when no one would catch the shortage. Because You see. Because the Day will measure. Because the believer who gives the full measure receives the full measure from the One who can give more than any human deserves. Āmīn ya Wahhāb.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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