Welcome to our weekly program “Path Towards Enlightenment” in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an.

We start from where we left you last Friday and here are ayahs 31 and 32 of Surah Ankabut:

وَلَمَّا جَاءَتْ رُسُلُنَا إِبْرَاهِيمَ بِالْبُشْرَىٰ قَالُوا إِنَّا مُهْلِكُو أَهْلِ هَـٰذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ ۖ إِنَّ أَهْلَهَا كَانُوا ظَالِمِينَ

قَالَ إِنَّ فِيهَا لُوطًا ۚ قَالُوا نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن فِيهَا ۖ لَنُنَجِّيَنَّهُ وَأَهْلَهُ إِلَّا امْرَأَتَهُ كَانَتْ مِنَ الْغَابِرِينَ

“And when Our messengers came to Abraham with the good news, they said, ‘We are indeed going to destroy the people of this town. Its people are indeed wrongdoers.”

“He (Abraham) said, ‘Lot is indeed in it.’ They said, ‘We know better those who are in it. We will surely deliver him and his family, except his wife: she shall be one of those who remain behind.”

In the last episode, we said the people of the region of Sodom and Gomorrah to whom God had sent Prophet Lot for guidance were abominable sinners and refused to give up their unnatural practice of sodomy. They threatened him but he continued to preach and urged them to return to the path of virtue and the worship of the One and Only Creator. When matters reached a dead end, Lot was told by God to leave the place along with his family. At the same time, Prophet Abraham, who was the uncle of Lot and the leading Prophet of God, was informed by the angels of the divine wrath that was about to befall the homosexual people to whom Lot was sent. According to a narration from Imam Zain al-Abedin (peace upon him), the 4th Infallible Heir of Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), angels have different responsibilities, and the angels sent to Prophet Abraham by God had several aims. They were entrusted with the mission of first giving glad tidings of the birth of a son to the hitherto childless Abraham, who had grown quite old. Their second mission was to announce the terrible punishment awaiting the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. These angels were the executives of the Divine punishment. Abraham felt worried about Lot, and was assured by the angels of his safety. God thus delivered Lot and those of his family who were virtuous except for one of his wives who was in league with the sinners. This is proof of the fact that being a wife of a Prophet is not important, but it is faith and righteous deeds that are criterions for salvation. Moreover, the wives of Prophets are not sinless. Even among the wives of the Prophet of Islam only a few of them were of firm faith and wholly dedicated to Allah. This ayah also makes clear that the deviation of Lot’s wife was from the point of belief, while at the beginning she had been faithful and monotheist; and in such a case there was no objection to Lot marrying her.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. God gives tidings to the virtuous and warns the vicious about divine wrath, which is the result of their own misdeeds.

2. Unnatural sexual behaviour, whether sodomy or lesbianism, is highly deplorable and deserves punishment, irrespective of the weird laws of the modern western societies to try to legalize and justify these sordid homosexual practices as gay rights.

3. If sins corrupt the whole society, then such a society should fear the wrath of God and make earnest efforts to repent and reform the people.

4. Even the wife of a Prophet is not safe from divine wrath if she deviates from faith and becomes the accomplice of evil persons.

Now we listen to ayahs 33, 34 and 35:

وَلَمَّا أَن جَاءَتْ رُسُلُنَا لُوطًا سِيءَ بِهِمْ وَضَاقَ بِهِمْ ذَرْعًا وَقَالُوا لَا تَخَفْ وَلَا تَحْزَنْ ۖ إِنَّا مُنَجُّوكَ وَأَهْلَكَ إِلَّا امْرَأَتَكَ كَانَتْ مِنَ الْغَابِرِينَ

إِنَّا مُنزِلُونَ عَلَىٰ أَهْلِ هَـٰذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ رِجْزًا مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ

وَلَقَد تَّرَكْنَا مِنْهَا آيَةً بَيِّنَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ

“And when Our messengers came to Lot, he was distressed on their account and in a predicament for their sake. But they said, ‘Do not be afraid, nor grieve! We shall deliver you and your family, except your wife: she will be one of those who remain behind.”

“We are indeed going to bring down upon the people of this town a punishment from the sky because of the transgressions they used to commit.”

“Certainly We have left of it a manifest sign for a people who apply reason.”

As could be inferred from the other ayahs of the holy Qur’an, when the angels came to him Prophet Lot at first did not recognize them, since they appeared in the form of handsome youths. He was therefore worried that his guests might by assaulted by the corrupt people, if they learnt about their presence. The divine angels introduced themselves and assured him that they will not be touched by the impure and impious people of Sodom and Gomorrah, since these wicked people will soon be annihilated by a punishment which leaves no trace of them. The whole society was being punished except because its members had either endorsed the evil ways of the homosexual, or because of weak faith, refused to oppose and reprimand the sinners. In other words, insistence on sinful ways and their spread in the society is catastrophic, since abominable behaviour exposes not just the sinners, but all members of the society to divine wrath for their indifference to the committing of sins. There are points to ponder here.

According to the other ayahs of the holy Qur’an, first a powerful quake hit the region of Sodom and Gomorrah and razed to the ground the dwelling of the people. Next a hailstorm of stone battered their heads and buried everything and everyone inside the ground. The All-Merciful God had given these wicked people ample time to sincerely repent, reform themselves, and return to the virtuous path of God Almighty. In other, if the people of Sodom and Gomorrah had repented of their evil acts and returned to the path of righteousness, piety and purity of character, they would have been spared of such a terrible punishment, and their sins forgiven. There are lessons to be learnt from this account of the fate that befell the people of Lot.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. If the whole society becomes corrupt; such a place won’t be safe for pious and God-fearing people, who are naturally anxious about the proper upbringing of their children.

2. It is the duty of the host to honour his guests and protect their dignity.

3. The true believers cannot be indifferent to deviation, corruption, sins and oppression in society, and should firmly oppose such evil, or else leave the place.

4. Mere family links and relationship with the pious and virtuous people does not guarantee salvation – neither in this world nor in afterlife – as is evident by the fate of the erring wife of Prophet Lot.

5. The account of Prophet Lot shows us that hell is the destination of a devious and deceitful wife, while paradise is the place of eternal bliss for Asiyah, the monotheist and virtuous wife of the tyrant Pharaoh.

AS/MG/SS