Verse:69 Commentary Commentary

In these five verses, an event relating to Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) has been mentioned. Allah Ta` ala sent some angels to give him the good news of a birth in his family because Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) had no children from his wife, Sayyidah Sarah ؓ and he wished he had. But, they were much advanced in years. Obviously, there was no hope.

Then, Allah Ta` ala sent the good news through the angels and that too of the nature that the new born would be a male child and even proposed the name of the child as Ishaq. Then, he was also told that he would live, have children and that the name of his son will be Ya` qub, and both of them would be the messenger and prophet of Allah. Since these angels had come in human form, Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) took them to be normal guests and lost no time in offering his hospitality. He placed a dish of roasted calf before them. But, they were really angels, free of eating and drinking. Therefore, despite the food being before them, they did not extend their hands towards it. When Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) noticed this, he was concerned. They did not look like guests, may be they had come to create some problem for him. The angels scented his concern and disclosed their identity. They told him that they were angels of Allah Ta` ala. There was no need for him to be frightened. They had been sent to give him the good news of a birth in his family, as well as to accomplish another mission, the mission of bringing Divine punishment on the people of Lut (علیہ السلام) . Sayyidah Sarah ؓ ، the wife of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) was listening to this conversation from behind a curtain. When she found out that they were angels, not human beings, there was no need for the otherwise essential hi jab. She laughed at the good news of the birth of a child in old age and said, ` shall I give birth to a child while I am an old woman and my husband, an old man?' The angels said as to why would she marvel at the command of Allah Ta` a1a who has everything within His power. Was it not that, as a member of the prophet's family, she has been witnessing that this was a family on which extraordinary Divine mercy and blessing descends all the time, which is mostly above and beyond the obvious chain of causes? So, what was there to wonder about? This was a gist of the event. Let us now go to details as they appear in the text of the verses cited above.

The first verse (69) tells us that these angels had come to Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) with some good news. The good news has been mentioned later in the third verse (71 فَبَشَّرْ‌نَاهَا بِإِسْحَاقَ (so, We gave her the good news about Ishaq).

Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said that the three angels were Jibra'il, Mika'il and Israfil (علیہم السلام) . (Qurtubi) They came in human form and greeted Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) with ` salam.' Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) responded to their salam greeting and, taking them to be human, offered the usual hospitality.

Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) is the first human being who introduced the custom of honoring guests by offering hospitality to them. (Qurtubi) It was his routine that he would never eat alone. Instead, when came the time for meals, he would be looking out for a guest so that he could eat with him.

Al-Qurtubi has reported from Isra'ili narratives that, on a certain day, Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) started looking for a guest at the time for meals. The man he met was a stranger. When he sat down to eat, Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) said to him, ` say: I' begin with the name of Allah.' He said, ` I do not know Allah. Who and what is He?' Sayyidna Ibrahim علیہ السلام asked him to leave the dining-spread on the floor.

When he went out, Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) came in and said, ` Allah Ta` ala says: As for him, We gave sustenance to him throughout his life despite his disbelief and as for you, you were stingy about giving him even one morsel of food.' Hearing this, Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) went after him and called him back. He said, ` unless you tell me the reason why you turned me out first and why are you asking me to come in again, I will not go with you.'

When Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) told him the episode, the episode itself became the reason for his becoming a believer. He said, ` the Lord who made you do this is very noble. I believe in Him.' Then he went in with Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) behaved like a true believer and ate his food after having recited Bismillah first.

So, Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) true to his habit of entertaining guests, welcomed angels who had come in human form. Naturally, to him they were human, and guests. The host did his most, lost no time and placed a roasted calf before them.

In the second verse (70), it was stated that the angels had, though, come in the human form and it was also possible that they could have been given human characteristics of eating and drinking at that particular time. But, the wiser choice for them was no other but that they should not eat so that the secret that they were angels comes out in the open. Therefore, their angelic characteristics were allowed to remain, even in their human form, because of which they did not extend their hands towards the food.

According to some reports, they had some arrows in their hands. They started poking the heads of their arrows into the roasted meat. When they acted in that manner, Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) apprehended them to be his enemies, because, according to the social custom known to him, if a guest refused to eat, it was a sign of mischief to be made from his side. (Qurtubi) His apprehension was quashed when the angels themselves disclosed their identity and said that they were an-gels, therefore, they do not eat. So, there was no danger for him to bother about.

Injunctions and Rules

Many injunctions and important rules of guidance regarding social living appear in the verses under study. Imam al-Qurtubi has discussed them in detail in his Tafsir.

The Sunnah of Salam

The words of verse 69 قَالُوا سَلَامًا ۖ قَالَ سَلَامٌ (They said, "Salim." He said, "Salam." ) - teach us that it is a Sunnah for Muslims that, when they meet each other, they should offer Salim. The guest coming in should say it first while others should respond.

That people say some words to greet each other when they meet is a custom found in all communities. But, the teaching of Islam is unique in this matter for the masnun word of salam is السلام علیکم : As-Salamu 'Alaikum. It carries the name of Allah with it. So it is both a Dhikr of Allah, and a prayer for peace and protection from Him - in addition to being a guarantee of the protection of life, property and honor from one's own side. (When we equate As-Sal amu Alaikum with ` peace on you' we go by the anatomy and leave the spirit that is essential to it - tr.)

At this place in the Qur'an, it has been said that the angels said سلاما (salam) and Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) responded with سلام (salam). Obviously, here it was not considered necessary to mention salam in its complete form - as customary in usage when it is said that a person said salam to someone where it is presupposed that he said the whole greeting of As-Sala-mu Alaikum. Similarly, at this place, salam stands for the full masnun greeting which has been taught to his community by the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم through his word and deed, that is, saying: السلام علیکم (As-Sal amu ` Alaikum) at the beginning of salam, and: (علیہ السلام) و رحمۃ اللہ (wa alaikumu-s-salam, or wa ` alaikumu-s-salamu wa rahmatu-l-l ah to be more generous) while responding to the salam.

Some Rules for Guests and Hosts

It has been said in the last sentence of verse 69: فَمَا لَبِثَ أَن جَاءَ بِعِجْلٍ حَنِيذٍ (Then he made no delay in bringing a roasted calf).

This tells us a few things:

1. It is a part of the etiquette of hospitality that the host should, soon after the arrival of the guest, bring out something to eat, or drink, something he has on hand and which could be offered quickly and conveniently. Then, if the host is a man of means, he can arrange for additional hospitality later. (Qurtubi)

2. A host should not worry about making too many formal arrangements for a guest. Anything good available easily is good enough. Let him put it before the guest. Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) had some domestic animals at home. Therefore, he slaughtered a calf, had it roasted quickly and offered it to his guests. (Qurtubi)

3. Receiving guests and offering hospitality to them is a part of the essential etiquette of Islam, in fact, a hallmark of high morals. This is the blessed habit of prophets and the righteous. Is it necessary (wajib) to entertain guests? Or, is it not? ` Ulama' have difference of opinion in this matter. According to the majority of them, it is a sunnah, and desirable, but not wajib (necessary, obligatory). Some of them say that it is wajib on village people that they should offer hospitality to a person who stays in their village because a stranger has no arrangement for his meals there. Since such arrangements are possible through a hotel in cities, therefore, it is not wajib on those who live in cities. Al-Qurtubi has reported all these different views in his Tafsir. Verse:70 Commentary In verse 70, it was said: فَلَمَّا رَ‌أَىٰ أَيْدِيَهُمْ لَا تَصِلُ إِلَيْهِ نَكِرَ‌هُمْ (So, when he noticed their hands not reaching for it, he found them strange and felt a bit of fright from them).

From here we learn that there are rules of etiquette for guests as well. A guest should accept whatever is offered. Let him partake from it a little bit to please the host, even if not willing to eat because of unfavorable taste or apprehended harm.

This very sentence also tells us that the host should not consider himself absolved after having placed the food before the guest. In-stead, he should be benignly watching whether or not the guest is par-taking of the food, as was done by Sayyidna Ibrahim when he noticed that the angels were not eating.

But, this watching has to be discreet, not something like staring at the guest while he is eating. A casual look is enough, because looking at the morsels of food being eaten by the guest is contrary to the etiquette of entertainment and certainly very humiliating for the invited guest. This is illustrated by an incident relating to Khalifah Hisham ibn ` Abd ul-Malik. On a certain day, the Khalifah was sharing his food-spread with a rustic Arab. The morsel of food being eaten by the Arab had a strand of hair in it. When Khalifah Hisham noticed it, he told the Arab about it. The Arab instantly rose in a huff saying, ` we never eat with a person who watches our morsels.'

Al-Tabari reports at this place: When the angels abstained from eating the first time, they had said that they do not eat free meals. If they were to accept payment for it, they would. Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) said, ` Yes, there is a price for it that you can pay. The price is: Say ` with the name of Allah' when you begin, and praise Him when you finish.' Hearing this, the archangel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) told his companions, ` That Allah Ta` ala calls him His friend is correct. He deserves it.'

This tells us that saying:.. بسم اللہ (bismillah: With the name of Allah) when beginning to eat, and saying: الحمد للہ (alhamdulillah: Praise belongs to Allah) at the end of it is Sunnah. Verse:71 Commentary - - - Verse:72 Commentary - - - Verse:73 Commentary - - - Verse:74 Commentary Commentary

Surah Hud (علیہ السلام) carries an account of different kinds of Divine punishments sent over past peoples because of their antagonism to prophets of the time. Described in the verses cited above is the moral condition of the people of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) and the severe punishment given to them.

Besides being disbelievers, the people of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) were involved in the practice of such abject evil and immodesty as was not found in the world before them, something even wild animals hate. That a man would pollute his honor and dignity with another man is a curse the fallout from which is far more injurious than common forni-cation. Therefore, the harsh punishment that descended on these people had never hit known practitioners of common acts of immodesty.

The event relating to Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) as it appears in the cited verses tells that Allah Ta` ala sent some angels, including Sayyidna Jibra'il علیہ السلام to execute the punishment against these people. They first went to Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) in Palestine, the account of which has appeared in previous verses. After that, they came to Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) whose abode was located at a distance of ten or twelve miles from there.

Certainly great is the majesty of Allah Ta'ala. When He seizes a people in punishment, the punishment that he makes descend upon them is chosen to be congruous to their misdeed. On this occasion too, these angels of Allah were sent in the form of handsome young men. When they reached the home of Sayyidna Lut he too took them to be visiting guests for they had come in human form. He found himself in a fix. If he backed out from entertaining guests, it would be against his dignity as a prophet. If he took them in as his guests, then, he knew how evil and dirty his people were. The danger was that they might storm his home and hurt the guests while he failed to defend them. So, in his heart, he said, ` this is a very hard day.'

Allah Ta` ala has, in His great design, made this world of ours an open gallery of lessons full of the countless exhibits of His perfect power and eloquent wisdom. He made His friend Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) come out as a prophet from the home of Azar, the idol-worshipper. In the home of the highly revered prophet, Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) there was that wife of his who worked in league with disbelievers and opposed her prophet husband. When these honored guests in the form of handsome young men came to stay at the home of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) his wife passed on the information to perverted hoods from these people telling them about the kind of guests they had in their home on that day. (Qurtubi, Mazhari) Verse:75 Commentary - - - Verse:76 Commentary - - - Verse:77 Commentary - - - Verse:78 Commentary Things turned out as Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) had first apprehended. This finds mention in the second verse (78): وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَ‌عُونَ إِلَيْهِ (And his people came to him, rushing upon him) - and they were already used to committing evil deeds.

It has been hinted here that such was the curse of their evil deed that they had lost all sense of modesty and propriety, so much so that they did not hesitate to storm even the home of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) for a purpose that sinister.

When Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) realized that it was difficult to protect his guests, he tried to divert the attention of his people from their evil advances by telling them that he would give his daughters in marriage to their chiefs, if they were to stop their evil-mongering. The marriage of a believing girl with a disbelieving man was permissible at that time. The practice had continued up to the early period of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ، therefore, he had given two of his daughters in marriage to ` Utbah ibn Abi Lahab and Abu al-'As ibn al-RabI', though both of them were disbelievers. Later came the verses that prohibited the marriage of Muslim women with disbelieving men as حرام Haram. (Qurtubi)

According to some commentators, ` my daughters' at this place means the daughters of the whole community because every prophet is like a father to his people and the whole community is his spiritual progeny. It is supported by the noble verse: أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ ۖ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ. (The Prophet comes first with the believers against their own selves and his wives are (like) their mothers - 33:6). This should be seen with the additional words: وَ ھُوَ اَبُ لَّھُم (and he is [ like ] a father for them) as they appear in the rendition (Qira'ah) of Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ where the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has been identified as a father to the entire Muslim Ummah. According to this Tafsir, the statement of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) would mean, ` you leave this evil habit of yours, behave like gentlemen, marry girls from your people and have them as your wives.'

After that, it was to warn them against Divine punishment that Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) said: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ (So, fear Allah). Then he pleaded with them: وَلَا تُخْزُونِ فِي ضَيْفِي (do not disgrace me in respect of my guests) and then wondered: أَلَيْسَ مِنكُمْ رَ‌جُلٌ رَّ‌شِيدٌ(Is there not a single right man among you?), someone who would listen to his plaint.

But, there was no trace of gentility or even humanness left in any of them. So, in acid wickedness, they all responded: لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا لَنَا فِي بَنَاتِكَ مِنْ حَقٍّ وَإِنَّكَ لَتَعْلَمُ مَا نُرِ‌يدُ (You know that we have no claim on your daughters, and you know well what we want.' Verse:79 Commentary - - - Verse:80 Commentary Totally exasperated, what Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) could say at that time was: لَوْ أَنَّ لِي بِكُمْ قُوَّةً أَوْ آوِي إِلَىٰ رُ‌كْنٍ شَدِيدٍ that is, ` only if I had enough strength in me to stand against this onslaught by my people, or that I had the backing of some strong group who would have helped me get rid of these oppressors.'

Seeing this anxiety of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) the angels disclosed their identity and said, ` do not worry. Your group is very strong and very powerful. We are angels of Allah. They cannot touch us. We have come to execute the punishment for them.'

It appears in a Hadith of the Sahih of al-Bukhari that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said about it, ` may Allah Ta` ala have mercy on Lut (علیہ السلام) . He was compelled to seek the protection of some strong group.' And the report in Tirmidhi carries another sentence with it, ` after Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) ، Allah Ta' ala sent no prophet whose clan or tribe was not his supporter.' (Qurtubi) This was true in the case of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . The disbelieving Quraysh did everything they could against him, but his entire clan supported him - though, they did not agree with him religion-wise. This was the reason why Banu Hashim as a whole sided with the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in the boycott imposed by the Quraysh disbelievers whereby they had cut off essential supplies to him.

During this episode, as reported from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ when the people of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) mobbed his home, he had closed the entrance door. The conversation with these wicked people was going on from behind it. The angels too were inside. The mob was threatening to jump the walls, barge in and break the door. Thereupon, came these words on the lips of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) . When the angels saw this anxiety of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) they disclosed their real identity and asked him to open the door. It was time that they took over and gave the miscreants a foretaste of the Divine punishment. When the door was opened, archangel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) pointed his 'Feather' towards their eyes. They turned blind and started running. Verse:81 Commentary At that time, the angels under Divine command said to Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) : فَأَسْرِ‌ بِأَهْلِكَ بِقِطْعٍ مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ (So, move with your family in a part of night). And asked him to instruct everyone in his family not to turn and look back with the exception of his wife because she was going to be hit by the same punishment that was to fall on his people.

This could also mean that he was not to take his wife along with him. And it could also mean that, being his wife, she was to go along as part of his family, but she would not obey the instruction of not looking back he would give to his family. According to some reports, this is what happened. This wife started off with others, but when she heard the big bang of the punishment given to her people, she looked back and felt sorry at their destruction. At that moment there came a splintered rock and finished her off like others. (Qurtubi, Mazhari)

The angels had also told Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) that: إِنَّ مَوْعِدَهُمُ الصُّبْحُ (The deadline [ of the punishment ] is the morning). He said that he wished the punishment would come sooner. Thereupon, the angels said: أَلَيْسَ الصُّبْحُ بِقَرِ‌يبٍ (Is it not that the morning is near?)

After that, the Qur'an portrays the occurrence of the punishment by saying: So, when Our command came, We turned whatever there was in their habitat upside down raining such stones over it as had the names of everyone there marked on it.

Reports say that these habitations were composed of four major towns where those people lived. These very habitations have been named as 'al-mu'tafikat' (the towns overturned) elsewhere in the Holy Qur'an (9:70, 69:9). When the Divine command came, the archangel Jibra'il al-Amin dissected the base of the land mass holding all those towns on top of it with his wing, raised all of it upwards in a way that everything stayed where it was, even water in a water vessel. It was in the backdrop of human, animal and canine voices coming from the sky that he heaved all these habitations straight up towards the sky and, then, threw the whole thing back upside down - as appropriate to and as called for by the evil they indulged in. Verse:82 Commentary - - - Verse:83 Commentary At the end of the verse (83), after having mentioned the actual punishment that hit the people of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) was to warn the contemporary peoples of the world that it was said: وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ (And it is not far from the transgressors). It means that people who insist upon indulging in this shameful act should not consider themselves very far from this punishment. It can come even today. The Holy Prophet said, ` even in my Ummah, some people will do what the people of Lut (علیہ السلام) used to do. When this starts happening, then wait, for they too would be subjected to the same punishment that was inflicted on the people of Lut (علیہ السلام) .'