Tafsir

The Story of Prophet Lut, upon Him be Peace, and His People

Allah said, We sent, وَ(And) لُوطاًإِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ(Lut, when he said to his people..) Lut (Lot) is the son of Haran the son of Azar (Terah), and he was the nephew of Ibrahim, peace be upon them both. Lut had believed in Ibrahim and migrated with him to the Sham area. Allah then sent Lut to the people of Sadum (Sodom) and the surrounding villages, to call them to Allah, enjoin righteousness and forbid them from their evil practices, their sin, and wickedness. It this area, they did things that none of the children of Adam or any other creatures ever did before them. They used to have sexual intercourse with males instead of females. This evil practice was not known among the Children of Adam before, nor did it even cross their minds, so they were unfamiliar with it before the people of Sodom invented it, may Allah's curse be on them.

`Amr bin Dinar conmented on; مَا سَبَقَكُمْ بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّن الْعَـلَمِينَ("...as none preceding you has committed in all of the nations.") "Never before the people of Lut did a male have sex with another male." This is why Lut said to them, أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَـحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُمْ بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّن الْعَـلَمِينَإِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مّن دُونِ النّسَآء("Do you commit lewdness such as none preceding you has committed in all of the nations Verily, you practice your lusts on men instead of women.") meaning, you left women whom Allah created for you and instead had sex with men Indeed, this behavior is evil and ignorant because you have placed things in their improper places.

Lut, peace be upon him, said to them: هَـؤُلآءِ بَنَاتِى إِن كُنْتُمْ فَـعِلِينَ("these (the girls of the nation) are my daughters (to marry lawfully), if you must act (so).") 15:71 So he reminded them of their women, and they replied that they do not desire women!, قَالُواْ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا لَنَا فِى بَنَاتِكَ مِنْ حَقٍّ وَإِنَّكَ لَتَعْلَمُ مَا نُرِيدُ (They said: "Surely, you know that we have neither any desire nor need of your daughters, and indeed you know well what we want!" ) 11:79 meaning, you know that we have no desire for women and you know what we desire with your guests.

In the second verse (81), this immodesty has been stated more explicitly - ` Surely, you come to men lustfully instead of women.' Here, the hint given is that, for the natural satisfaction of human desire, Allah 'Ta` ala has appointed marrying women as a lawful method. Now, to by-pass it and opt for an unnatural method is bland ugliness of the human self and certainly the proof of a dirty mind.

Therefore, the Sahabah, the Tabi` in and Mujtahid Imams have declared this crime and sin to be far more grave than other acts of shame. Imam Abu Hanifah (رح) has said: The punishment given to the person who commits this act should match the punishment which came upon the people of Lut (علیہ السلام) by the command of Allah Ta` ala - that rocks rained from the skies and the floor of the earth flipped upside down. Therefore, this person should be pushed down from a high mountain and rocks should be thrown from above on top of him. According to a narration of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ in the Musnad of Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said about the people who commit this evil act: فاقتلوا الفاعل والمفعول بہ that is, the doer of this evil deed and his passive partner (al-mafulu bihi: with whom it was done) should both be killed. (Ibn Kathir)At the end of the verse (81), it was said: بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّسْرِ‌فُونَ (No, you are a people who cross the limits).

In other words, their real disease was that they would go beyond the limits set by Allah for everything - in their case, it would be the very limit of humanity they would be hopping over. The same thing happened about sexual desire when they crossed the limits appointed by Allah only to reach for a taste of the counter-natural.

إنكم لتأتون الذكور في أدبارهم، شهوة منكم لذلك، غير مبالين بقبحها، تاركين الذي أحلَّه الله لكم من نسائكم، بل أنتم قوم متجاوزون لحدود الله في الإسراف. إن إتيان الذكور دون الإناث من الفواحش التي ابتدعها قوم لوط، ولم يسبقهم بها أحد من الخلق.

أي : عدلتم عن النساء ، وما خلق لكم ربكم منهن إلى الرجال ، وهذا إسراف منكم وجهل ; لأنه وضع الشيء في غير محله ; ولهذا قال لهم في الآية الأخرى : ( [ قال ] هؤلاء بناتي إن كنتم فاعلين ) [ الحجر : 71 ] فأرشدهم إلى نسائهم ، فاعتذروا إليه بأنهم لا يشتهونهن ، ( قالوا لقد علمت ما لنا في بناتك من حق وإنك لتعلم ما نريد ) [ هود : 79 ] أي : لقد علمت أنه لا أرب لنا في النساء ، ولا إرادة ، وإنك لتعلم مرادنا من أضيافك .وذكر المفسرون أن الرجال كانوا قد استغنى بعضهم ببعض ، وكذلك نساؤهم كن قد استغنى بعضهن ببعض أيضا .