Part 67

She sai d (in astoni shment), " woe un to me! Shall I bear a chi ld

wh ile I am an old wom'-1n , and here is my husband, an o ld man?

300 Among fhe Gr(,{11 !;1't: 1If.1

Verily ! This is iI strange th ing!" They sa id, "no yo u wonder at

the Decree o l' Al lah? The Mercy of All ah and Ilis l3Iessin£s be

on YOII, O. family (o f Ib ra heem). Surely, li e (Al lah) is Mos t

Pra isewort hy, Most Glori ous." Then when the fear had gone

away from (the mind of) Ibrahcel11 and th e g lad tid ings had

reached him, he began to plead with Us (Our Messengers)

for the people of Lool. Verily, Ibrahcel11 wns , without doubt.

forbeari ng, used to invok e Allah wit h hll111ilit y, and was

repentant (to A Ilah al l the time, aga in and nga in). "0, Ibraheel11!

Forsake thi s. Indeed. the CommandmeTlt o r your Lord has gOlle

forth. Ve ri ly, there will co me a torment lor th em which canno t

be turned back." And when Our Messenger:-. came to Loot. he

was gri eved on their account .md felt hil1l 'jelr straitcned for

them (lest the lownpeoplc should approach them to co mmit

sodomy wi th them). He said. "This is a di stressful day." And

hi s people ca me rushi ng toward him, and since aforc ti me they

used to commit crimes (sodomy. etc.). he said, "0, my people!

Here arc my daughu.: rs (Le. th e daught ers of my nation). they

arc pure r fur you (if you marry thcm lawfu lly). So fear Allah

and dcgrade mc not as rcgards my guests! [s there not among

you a single right-minded man'!" They said. "Surdy you know

that we ha ve ncither any desire nor arc we in nced of yo ur

daughters, and indeed you know well what we want!" lie

sa id, "Wou ld that I had strength (men) to overpowcr you. or

that I could betake myself to so me powerful support (to resist

you}." They (the Messengers) sa id. "0. Loot! Verily, we arc

the Messenge rs from your Lord! They shall not reach you! So

travel with you r fami ly in a part or the ni gh t and lei no t any

of you look back, but your wife (w ill rcmain bchind), verily.

th e pun ishment whieh will amiCi them will amiCI her. Indeed.

morning is their appointed tim e. Is not the morning ncar'!"

So when Our Commandme nt came, We lurned (the tow ns or

Ali/mIg 1111' Great HI'I.}IIf.\ JO I

Sodom tn Pa lesti ne) upside down. and rained on th em ston es of

baked c lay, pi led up: marked fro m yo ur Lord. and they arc no t

eve r fill' from the =alil1lool1. ) (SOO/'Cdl Hood 11 :69·83)

l'le, Most High, says in Soorah An-Nand, ( And (remember)

Loot! When hc sa id to his peop le, " Do you com mi t o/:/it/lishah

(cvil , g reat sin, evclY ki nd of unlawfu l sexua l intercourse,

sodomy, etc,) whi le you sec (one another doi ng evil w itho ut any

scree n, etc.)? Do you approac h mcn in your lusts rather than

worncn? Nay. bu t yOll arc a peop le who behavc sense less ly. "

T hcrc was no o thcr answcr gi vcn by his peo pl e exccpt that

they sa id , " Dri ve out the fami ly of Loot fro m yo ur c ity. Vcril y.

these afe mcn who wan t to be clcan and pure!" So We saved

him and his famil y, except hi s wi fe. We desti ncd her 10 be of

thosc who remai ned behind. And We ra illed do wn on them a

ra in (o f stones). So evi l was the ra in of those who were wa med"

He, Most High , says in Soorah Adh-Dlwriyat, after re la ti ng

the story of the g uests of Ibraheem ~ and how they ga ve hi m

the glad tidings of a son, ( (Ibra heem) sa id , ;'Then for what

purpose have YOLi comc, 0, Messengers?" T hey said . "We have

bce n sent io a peopl c who are I1l11jrillloull (po lythei sts, s inne rs.

cri m ina ls, di sbe li evers in All ah), io send dow n upon them

sto nes of baked clay, marked by your Lord f'o r the I/lIIsrij()01/

(pol ytheists, c rimi na ls, s inn crs those who trespass Alla h's set

lim it s in e vil· do ing by com m itti ng grea t sin s)." So We brou ght

o ut fro m tlH.:rc in the Bel ieve rs. Bu t We f'oun d no t there any

ho use hold o f the Muslims except one (i .c. Loo t and hi s two

da ug hte rs) . And We have len there a sig n (i.c. th c place or the

Dead Sea , we ll-k nown in Pa lestin c) f'o r those who fcar the

pa ini'ul lOrmc ll t. ) (Soorah Adh·Dhariyat 5 1:3 1·37)

In SoO/'ah AI-Qal1]ar, He says, ( The peo pl c of Loot be li ed

the warnings. Verily, We sent against them a violent sta nn of

ston es (which destroyed th em all ), except the famil y o f Loot,

whol11 We saved in th e last hour o f th e ni ght. as a Pavor from

Us, thus do We reward him wh o gives th ank s (by obey ing Us).

And he (Loot) indeed had warn ed them of Our Grasp, but th ey

did doubt th e warn in gs ! And they indeed sought to shame his

guests (by ask ing the m to comm it sodomy with th em). So

We bli nded their eyes, "Th en taste yo u My To rment and My

Warnings." And veri ly, an abiding tonnent seized th em ea rl y

in th e morn ing . "Then ta ste you My Puni shme nt and My

Warn ings." And indeed, We havc made th l! Qur'an easy to

undcrstand a nd rcmember, thcn is th ere any that will remember

(or receive admoniti on)? ) (Soorall A'~ Qoll1a/" 54:33-40)

When Loot ~ ca ll ed upon hi s peop le to worship Allah,

Alone, without asc ri bing partners to Him J lld forbad e them

from committi ng the sins whi ch Alla h has described, they did

not respond posi ti ve ly to hi s ca ll , and not a single man fro m

among them believed in him. Nor did they give up the sins

that they had been forbidden from COl11lllilling; instead , they

continued as they had been, refusing to desis t from their error

and tran sgrcss ion and attempting to ex pel thei r Messenger

from th eir midst. Their response to hi s address to them proved

that they were a people without sense: ( There was no othe r

a nswer g iven by hi s peop le cxceptthat th ey said , " Drive Oll t the

famil y of Lool from your city. Vc ril y, th ese are men who wa nt

to be cl ean and pure!" ) (SoO/·oll AI1~N(lm' 27:56) Thus they

deemed th e Illost comme ndab le behavior to be blameworthy

and requiring exp ul sion. Nothing compcll ed th cm to say thi s

except their obdura cy and stubbornncss. Alla h kept him and all

of his fa mi ly pure, except for hi s wife and He evacuated thcm

from th e city with the bes t evacuat ion and He left the rest of

them to re main th cre. But anc r He had afflicted them with a

Among tile Great EI'ellts 303

stinki ng, fetid body of wate r, whi ch had waves, but in rea lity, it

was a b lazing fire upon the m and a burning hea t and its water

was sa lty and bitter. Thi s was the repayment for Ihe enormity

and abom ination which th ey had cOl11 mi ll ed, which no peopl e

in thi s wo rld had co mmitt ed be fore the m. Thi s is why they we re

made an exa mple and a warn ing 10 th e people of the world.

In add ition 10 Ihi s, th ey used to practice highway robbery and

betray the ir frie nds and they would utt er and com mit all sorts

of ev il word s anci deeds in thei r meet in g pl aces, to such an

ex tent tha t it was said that Ih ey used to break w ind in front of

their compan ion s in the meeti ng pl ace and th ey would fee l no

shame or em barra ssment toward th elll . It was a lso sa id that th ey

used to cOlll mit the most shamefu l deeds in th e ir gatherings

and would not di sda in 10 do so, nor d id they pay heed to any

warn ings or advice given 10 them by those who possessed good

se nse. In th e!. places and oth ers, they were lik e animal s, or

even more a s tr~ y. They re fused to desist fro m wha t they were

do ing and they had no regrets for w hat they had do ne in the

past. Nor did they show any desire to change in the future. So

All ah se ized them w ith a ca lami tous se izu re. Amo ng the th ings

that they said to Loot ~ was, ( " Bring A ll ah 's Puni shment

upon li S if you are onc of the truthfu L" ) (So oralt A/- 'A llkaboor

29:29) So they requested of him the infl iction of the pai nful

punishment of wh ich he had warned them. At that poin t, the ir

nob le Prophet ~ invoked Allah again st thcm and asked the

Lord of th c \Vo rlds and th e flail (God) of the Messengers that

He he lp him aga inst the depra ved people. So A ll ah was Jealolls

for his jealousness and Ang ry for his anger and Hc answe red