Part 68

his suppli ca ti on and sent I-lis nob le Messenge rs, His Mi ghty

angels and they visited A/-Klla/eel, Ibra heem ~ . and gave

him the glad ti di ngs o f the birth o f an int ell ige nt son and they

a lso inform ed him of the purpose for which they had come:

J04 limo ll.!'; rhe Crear El'el1/s

« Ibrah ecm) sa id, "Then lo r what pu rpose you have comc,

0, Messengers?" They sai d, "We have been sent to a people

who a rc IJIlljril11ool1 to send down upon them stones of baked

clay, marked by your Lord for the JJ1l1srt{ooll." ) (SoOJ·all Adh-

He, Most High, says, ( Then, when the fear had gone away

from (the mind of) Ibrah eem a nd th e g lad tidings had reached

him , he bega n to plead with Us (Our Messengers) for the peopl e

of Loot ) (SoQl'ail Hood II :74). Thi s was because he hoped

that they would repent to Allah, sub mit to Hi rn and des ist from

Thi s is why All ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( Ve rily, Ibrahecll1 was,

without dou bt. forbearing, lI sed to in voke Allah with humility.

and was re pen tant (to Allah ,ii i the timc. agClin and aga in). "0.

Ibraheem! Forsake this. Indeed, the Com mandmcnt of your

Lord has gone forth . Veril y, there will co m..: a punishment for

them which cannot be turn ed back." ) (Soora" Hood I I :75,76)

That is, desist fro m thi s and spea k of something else, beca use

their fa te ha s been dec ided and th eir punishment , destru ction

and anni hilation are inev itab le. ( " Indeed, the Commandment

o f your Lord has go ne lo rl h." ) . Th at is, He Whose Command

ca nno t be rescinded, Whose Pun ishment cannot be tumed back

and Whose Judgement cann ot be questioned, has given His

Command: ( "Verily, th ere wi ll co me a punishmen t ror th em

whi ch cann ot be turned back." ) (SoOl·all 1·lood I I :76)

The scholars o f laf'ieer sa id that whcl1th e angels, i.e. Gabriel,

Meeka'ecl a nd Israfee l, departed from Ibra heem's presence,

they conti nued until they reached the land of Sadoom (Sodom),

where they assumed the form of handsome men, as a test from

All ah , Most High, for the peop le of Loot ~ and in order to

estab lish the evid ence aga inst them. They sought hospita lity

with Loot ~ and thi s was just before sunset. Loot ~ feared

that if he did not offe r them hospita lity, some other person

from among hi s peopl e wo uld do so and he be li eved them

to be hu man bein gs. ( He was grieved on their acco unt and

fe lt him se lf strait ened for th em (lest the town speople shou ld

approach them to co mmit sodomy with them) . He said , "This is

a distress ftil dayo" ) (SoO/ooil Hood II :77) 'Abdullah Ibn ' Abbas

.:;c, Mujahid, Qatadah and Muhammad Ibn Ishaq said th at it

means a day of seve re trial and tribulation. Thi s was because he

knew that he mi ght not be ab le 10 defend th em when nigh t fe ll

from what had befa ll en others at his peopl es' hands. They had

ordered him not 10 grant hospila lity to anyone, but co nsidered

that it was unavo idab le.

Qatadah stated that they arri ved while he was working on the

land and they sought hospi tality from him. He was embarrassed

before them and tri ed to pe rsuade Ih cm to Icave thi s town and

seek shelter in another. He sa id to the m, "0, peopl e! I know

not of any people on the fa ce of the earth wickeder than the

peo pl e of thi s city. " Th en he wa lked a littl e way, and th en he

repeated these words fOllr tim es. !-Ie (Qatadah) said that they

(the ange ls) had been commanded (by A ll ah) not to destroy

them until the ir Prophet had borne witness to that effect.

As-S uddi sa id: The a nge ls dcpm1cd from Ibrahee m's presence

and headed for the people of Loot ~ and they arrived there

in the middl e of the day. W hen th ey reac hed the Ri ve r Sodom,

they mel th e daughter of Loot ~ , who was draw ing water for

her fa mil y. He had two daughters, the e lder of whom was named

Areetha, wh ile the younger was named Daghooth a. They sa id

to her, " 0 , young gir l! Do you know of any place where we can

find accolllmodat ion?" She sa id , " Rema in here! Do not ente r

(the city) until I come to YOll." She feared tha i some ill might

306 AoulIlj! rhe Gn!(/( E\'ellfs

befall them at the hands of her people and so she went to her

father and said to hi m, "0, my fat her! Some young men arc

asking for you at the gates of th e city; , have nevcr seen marc

handso me faces of any men than theirs, Let not yo ur people

take them and dishonor them." His people had forbidden him

from giving hospitality to any man, but he took them in secret

and no one knew of th eir presence except his family. BlIt his

wife went out and informcd his people of thcm, saying, "'n

Loot's hOllse there are me n, the like of whose beautiful faces

I have never seen." Then his people came hastening angrily

to him . Alla h says, ( and since aforetime they lIsed to commit

crimes (sodomy, etc.) (Soorah Hood II :78) That is, Ihi s was

in addi tio n to the many major sins they had comm ined. ( 0 ,

my people! Ilere .Ire my daughters (i.e. the dau ghters of my

nation), th ey arc purer for you (if you marry them lawfu ll y) )

(Sool'Clh Hood II :78) J-Ie forbade th em from committi ng sllch

indece nt acts and bore witness that there was not a single ri ght-

minded .md intell ige nt ma n among them, nor any good person;

on the contrary, he averred that all of thcm were foolish ,

terribly debauched, an-ogant disbelievers. This was just what

th e ange ls wanted to hear fro m him before Ihey asked him

about it. I-lis people - may Allah's Curse be upon them - said,

in answer to what their Prophet ~ had ordered them to do, (

"They said: Surely you know tha t we have ncither any desire

nor are we in need of your daughters, anJ indeed you kno\\'

well what we wrlllt! " ) (Soora" Hood I) :79) They said - may

Allah's Curse be on them "0, Loo t! You know that we have

no desi re for women and verily, you know full wel l wha t we

desire (Le, men)." They addressed these wicked words to their

nob le Messenger and they did not fea r the infliction of Allah's

painfu l punis hmen t. This is why Lool ~ said, ( "Would Ihm

I had streng th (men) to overpower you, or Ihat I cou ld betake

Amollg the Crem El'ellf.\" 307

myself' to some powe rful support (to resist yo u)." ) (Sooral1

Hood II :80) He w ished that he had the strcngth to overco me

them or the abil ity to res ist them and kin to hclp him aga inst

them, in orde r to infl ict all thcm the pu nishment they deserved

fo r these words they had spoken. It is reported on the authority

of Abu J-Iurai rah ~ in a /11{{//00' fonn that he said, " \\fe are

more liable to be in doub t than Ibrahec l11 when he sa id , (

" My Lord! Show me how You give lifc to the dead ." . '-Ie (Le.

A ll ah) sa id, " Don' t yo u bcli cve then?" He (i.e. Ibra hce m) sa id ,

"Yes, but (I ask) in order to be stronge r in raith ," ) (SoO/'oil

AI-/3aqarall 2:260) May A lla h send His Mercy on Loo t' He

w ished to have a powerfu l support. If I we re to stay in prison

for stich a lon g ti mc, as Yoosuf did, I would ha ve accept cd the

o rYer (of fre edom w itholl t insisting on having my guilt lessness

decla red)." It is reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah ~

that he sa id, " May A ll ah have mercy on Lot; he w ished that he

could bctake himself to some powerful support (to resist them).

(Mea ning A lla h, the A lmighty. the A II-Powerful), Allah did not

se nd a Prophet al1er him except that he was from the wealt hy

alllong his peo ple." (1)

All ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( And the inhabitants o f the city

came rejo icing (at the news of th e young me n's arri val ). ( Loot)

sa id, "Vc ril y! Th ese arc my guests, so shame me not. And

fea r All ah and di sgrace me 110 1. " They (the pcop le of the c ity)

sai d, " Did we no t forbid YO LII O enl ertain (or protect) any o f th e

'A lomeell (pcopl e, fore igncrs, stra ngers, etc. from us)'!" (Loot)

sa id. "Th ese (the g irl s o i" lh c nation) are my daughtcrs (to marry

la w full y), iryo u mu st act (so)," ) (SoO/'"II AI-Nijl' 15:67-7 1)

He ordered them to have sex ua l re lations wil h the ir wo me n

lawfully a nd warned the m aga inst conti nu ing on the path Ihey

( \) This is all authentic //{Idee'" narrated by tmam Ahmad (21332. No. ~76 1 ).

J08 , Imfll/g Ihe Ul'l!o( H1'ell/.\

were follo w ing and the s in s they were commi tti ng, But they

did not cease a nd di srega rded hi s words, Instead, the more he