Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 26 Ash-Shu'ara, Ayat 160-175

كَذَّبَتۡ قَوۡمُ لُوۡطٍ اۨلۡمُرۡسَلِيۡنَ​ ۖ ​ۚ‏ ﴿26:160﴾ اِذۡ قَالَ لَهُمۡ اَخُوۡهُمۡ لُوۡطٌ اَلَا تَتَّقُوۡنَ​ۚ‏ ﴿26:161﴾ اِنِّىۡ لَـكُمۡ رَسُوۡلٌ اَمِيۡنٌۙ‏ ﴿26:162﴾ فَاتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ وَاَطِيۡعُوۡنِ​ۚ‏ ﴿26:163﴾ وَمَاۤ اَسۡـئَـلُكُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ مِنۡ اَجۡرٍ​ۚ اِنۡ اَجۡرِىَ اِلَّا عَلٰى رَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَ ؕ‏ ﴿26:164﴾ اَتَاۡتُوۡنَ الذُّكۡرَانَ مِنَ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:165﴾ وَ تَذَرُوۡنَ مَا خَلَقَ لَـكُمۡ رَبُّكُمۡ مِّنۡ اَزۡوَاجِكُمۡ​ؕ بَلۡ اَنۡـتُمۡ قَوۡمٌ عٰدُوۡنَ‏ ﴿26:166﴾ قَالُوۡا لَـئِنۡ لَّمۡ تَنۡتَهِ يٰلُوۡطُ لَـتَكُوۡنَنَّ مِنَ الۡمُخۡرَجِيۡنَ‏  ﴿26:167﴾ قَالَ اِنِّىۡ لِعَمَلِكُمۡ مِّنَ الۡقَالِيۡنَؕ‏ ﴿26:168﴾ رَبِّ نَجِّنِىۡ وَاَهۡلِىۡ مِمَّا يَعۡمَلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿26:169﴾ فَنَجَّيۡنٰهُ وَ اَهۡلَهٗۤ اَجۡمَعِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:170﴾ اِلَّا عَجُوۡزًا فِى الۡغٰبِرِيۡنَ​ۚ‏ ﴿26:171﴾ ثُمَّ دَمَّرۡنَا الۡاٰخَرِيۡنَ​ۚ‏ ﴿26:172﴾ وَاَمۡطَرۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ مَّطَرًا​ۚ فَسَآءَ مَطَرُ الۡمُنۡذَرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿26:173﴾ اِنَّ فِىۡ ذٰ لِكَ لَاَيَةً​  ؕ وَمَا كَانَ اَكۡثَرُهُمۡ مُّؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‏ ﴿26:174﴾ وَاِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الۡعَزِيۡزُ الرَّحِيۡمُ‏ ﴿26:175﴾

(26:160) The people of Lot rejected the Messengers,107 branding them liars. (26:161) Recall, when their brother Lot said to them: "Have you no fear? (26:162) I am a trustworthy Messenger to you. (26:163) So fear Allah and obey me. (26:164) I seek of you no reward. My reward is with none but the Lord of the Universe. (26:165) What, of all creation will you go to (fornicate with) the males,108 (26:166) leaving aside those whom Allah has created for you as your mates.109 Nay, you are a people that has transgressed all limits."110 (26:167) They said: "O Lot! If you do not desist, you will be one of those expelled (from our towns)."111 (26:168) He said: "I am one of those who abhor your practice. (26:169) My Lord, deliver me and my family from their wicked deeds."112 (26:170) Then We delivered him and all his family (26:171) except an old woman who was among those that stayed behind.113 (26:172) Thereafter, We utterly destroyed the rest, (26:173) and We sent upon them a rain, an evil rain that fell on those who had been warned.114 (26:174) Surely there is a Sign in this, but most of them would not believe. (26:175) Verily Your Lord is Immensely Mighty, Most Compassionate.

Notes

107. For comparison, see (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayats 80-84); (Surah Houd, Ayats 74-83); (Surah Al-Hijr, Ayats 57-77); (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayats 71-75); (Surah An-Naml, Ayats 54- 58); (Surah Al-Ankabut, Ayats 28-35); (Surah As-Saffat, Ayats 133-138); and (Surah Al-Qamar; Ayats 33-39).

108. This can have two meanings. (1) Of all the creatures you have chosen males only for the purpose of gratifying your sex desires, whereas there are plenty of women in the world. (2) You alone are the people in the whole world, who go to men to satisfy the sex desires; even the animals do not resort to this. This second meaning has been explained in Surahs Al-Aaraf and Al-Ankabut thus: Have you become so shameless that you commit such indecent acts as no one committed before you in the world? (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 80).

109. This can also have two meanings. (1) You leave your wives whom God has created for you to satisfy your sex desire and adopt unnatural ways with the males for the purpose. (2) Even with respect to your wives you do not follow the natural way but adopt unnatural ways for the gratification of your lust? This they might have been doing with the intention of family planning.

110. That is, this is not the only vice in you; your whole lives have become corrupted and perverted, as stated in (Surah An-Naml, Ayat 54) thus: Do you commit indecent acts openly and publicly? And in (Surah Al-Ankabut, Ayat 29 )thus: Have you become so perverted that you gratify your lust with the males, you rob travelers, and you commit wicked deeds publicly in your assemblies? For further details, see (E.N. 39 of Surah Al-Hijr).

111. That is, you know that whosoever has spoken against us, or protested against our doings, or opposed us in any way, he has been turned out of our habitations. If you also behave like that, you too will be treated likewise. It has been stated in Surahs Al-Aaraf and An-Naml that before giving this warning to Prophet Lot (peace be upon him), the wicked people had decided to “turn out these people of your habitations for they pose to be very pious.” (Surah Al- Aaraf, Ayat 82).

112. This may also mean: My Lord, deliver us from the evil consequences of their misdeeds, and also this: Protect the children of the believers from the evil effects of the immoral acts of the wicked people.

113. This refers to the Prophet Lot’s (peace be upon him) wife as stated in (verse 10 of Surah At-Tahrim) about the wives of Prophets Noah and Lot (peace be upon them): These two women were in the houses of Our two pious servants but they acted treacherously towards them. That is, they did not believe, and sided with the unbelievers instead of their righteous husbands. Therefore, when Allah decreed to send a torment on the people of Prophet Lot (peace be upon him), He commanded the Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) to leave the place along with his people but to leave his wife behind: So depart from here with the people of your household in the last hours of the night. And look here: none of you should turn round to look behind; but your wife (who will not accompany you) shall meet the same doom as they. (Surah Houd, Ayat 81).

114. This was not a rain of water but a rain of stones. According to the details given at other places in the Quran, when Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) had left the place along with the people of his household in the last hours of the night, there occurred a terrible explosion at dawn and a violent earthquake, which turned all their habitations upside down and rained on them stones of baked clay as a result of a volcanic eruption and a strong blast of wind.

Below we give a resume of the Biblical account and of ancient Greek and Latin writings and modern geological researches and archaeological observations about the torment and the place where it occurred:

The hundreds of ruins found in the waste and uninhabited land lying to the south and east of the Dead Sea indicate that this must have been a prosperous and thickly populated area in the past. The archaeologists have estimated that the age of prosperity of this land lasted between 2300 and 1900 B.C. According to historians, Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) lived about 2000 B.C. Thus the archaeological evidence confirms that this land was destroyed in the time of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) and his nephew Prophet Lot (peace be upon him).

The most populous and fertile part of the area was the vale of Siddim as mentioned in the Bible: And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt (Gen. 13: 10). The present day scholars are of the opinion that valley is now under the Dead Sea and this opinion is supported by firm archaeological evidence. In the ancient times, the Dead Sea did not so much extend to the south as it does today. Opposite and to the west of the present Jordanian city of Al-Karak, there is a small peninsula called Al-Lisan. This was the end of the sea in ancient days. The area to the south of it, which is now under sea water was a fertile valley, the vale of Siddim, in which were situated Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, Zoar, the famous cities of the people of Lot. In about 2000 B.C. this valley sank as a result of a violent earthquake and was submerged in sea water. Even today this is the most shallow part of the Sea. In the Roman period it was more so and was fordable from Al-Lisan to the western coast. One can still see submerged jungles along the southern coast and there might as well be submerged buildings.

According to the Bible and the ancient Greek and Latin writings, the region abounded in pits of petroleum and asphalt and at places inflammable gas also existed. It appears from the geological observations that with the violent earthquake shocks, petroleum, gases and asphalt were thrown up and ignited, and the whole region exploded like a bomb. The Bible says that when Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) got the news and went from Hebron to see the affected valley, he saw that the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. (Gen. 19: 28).