‘And We sent to Midian their brother Shu‘ayb. He said: “My people, serve Allah and look forward to the Last Day and do not go about the earth committing mischief.” But they denounced him as a liar. So a mighty earthquake overtook them, and by the morning they lay overturned in their houses. And We destroyed ‘Ād and Thamūd, whose dwellings you have observed. Satan had embellished their deeds for them and had turned them away from the Right Path although they were a people of clear perception.’
(Al Qur’ān – 29:36-38)
The 3-point call of Prophet Shu‘ayb to his people is comprehensive. First, he addresses his people as ‘My people’ (yaqaumi), thus establishing communicative relationship with them. Then he calls upon them to ‘serve Allah’, i.e. to submit their all to the will of Allah. His second point is that the Day of Judgement will inevitably come to pass. They should not, therefore, consider the life of this world to be an end in itself. They should be certain that the present life will be followed by the Hereafter wherein they will be held to account and receive reward or punishment. They are also forbidden from doing mischief on earth as this would earn them God’s displeasure.
But they did not accept the Prophet Shu‘ayb as Allah’s Messenger or his teachings to be from Allah. As a consequence of their rejection of these truths, they were afflicted with God’s scourge. The whole territory they inhabited was destroyed. At the time the Qur’ān was revealed, these ruins were prominent.