Худ 11:74–79

Commentary

Surah Hud (علیہ السلام) carries an account of different kinds of Divine punishments sent over past peoples because of their antagonism to prophets of the time. Described in the verses cited above is the moral condition of the people of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) and the severe punishment given to them.

Besides being disbelievers, the people of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) were involved in the practice of such abject evil and immodesty as was not found in the world before them, something even wild animals hate. That a man would pollute his honor and dignity with another man is a curse the fallout from which is far more injurious than common forni-cation. Therefore, the harsh punishment that descended on these people had never hit known practitioners of common acts of immodesty.

The event relating to Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) as it appears in the cited verses tells that Allah Ta` ala sent some angels, including Sayyidna Jibra'il علیہ السلام to execute the punishment against these people. They first went to Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) in Palestine, the account of which has appeared in previous verses. After that, they came to Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) whose abode was located at a distance of ten or twelve miles from there.

Certainly great is the majesty of Allah Ta'ala. When He seizes a people in punishment, the punishment that he makes descend upon them is chosen to be congruous to their misdeed. On this occasion too, these angels of Allah were sent in the form of handsome young men. When they reached the home of Sayyidna Lut he too took them to be visiting guests for they had come in human form. He found himself in a fix. If he backed out from entertaining guests, it would be against his dignity as a prophet. If he took them in as his guests, then, he knew how evil and dirty his people were. The danger was that they might storm his home and hurt the guests while he failed to defend them. So, in his heart, he said, ` this is a very hard day.'

Allah Ta` ala has, in His great design, made this world of ours an open gallery of lessons full of the countless exhibits of His perfect power and eloquent wisdom. He made His friend Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) come out as a prophet from the home of Azar, the idol-worshipper. In the home of the highly revered prophet, Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) there was that wife of his who worked in league with disbelievers and opposed her prophet husband. When these honored guests in the form of handsome young men came to stay at the home of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) his wife passed on the information to perverted hoods from these people telling them about the kind of guests they had in their home on that day. (Qurtubi, Mazhari)

Things turned out as Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) had first apprehended. This finds mention in the second verse (78): وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَ‌عُونَ إِلَيْهِ (And his people came to him, rushing upon him) - and they were already used to committing evil deeds.

It has been hinted here that such was the curse of their evil deed that they had lost all sense of modesty and propriety, so much so that they did not hesitate to storm even the home of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) for a purpose that sinister.

When Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) realized that it was difficult to protect his guests, he tried to divert the attention of his people from their evil advances by telling them that he would give his daughters in marriage to their chiefs, if they were to stop their evil-mongering. The marriage of a believing girl with a disbelieving man was permissible at that time. The practice had continued up to the early period of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، therefore, he had given two of his daughters in marriage to ` Utbah ibn Abi Lahab and Abu al-‘As ibn al-RabI', though both of them were disbelievers. Later came the verses that prohibited the marriage of Muslim women with disbelieving men as حرام Haram. (Qurtubi)

According to some commentators, ` my daughters' at this place means the daughters of the whole community because every prophet is like a father to his people and the whole community is his spiritual progeny. It is supported by the noble verse: أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ ۖ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ. (The Prophet comes first with the believers against their own selves and his wives are (like) their mothers - 33:6). This should be seen with the additional words: وَ ھُوَ اَبُ لَّھُم (and he is [ like ] a father for them) as they appear in the rendition (Qira'ah) of Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ where the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been identified as a father to the entire Muslim Ummah. According to this Tafsir, the statement of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) would mean, ` you leave this evil habit of yours, behave like gentlemen, marry girls from your people and have them as your wives.'

After that, it was to warn them against Divine punishment that Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) said: فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ (So, fear Allah). Then he pleaded with them: وَلَا تُخْزُونِ فِي ضَيْفِي (do not disgrace me in respect of my guests) and then wondered: أَلَيْسَ مِنكُمْ رَ‌جُلٌ رَّ‌شِيدٌ(Is there not a single right man among you?), someone who would listen to his plaint.

But, there was no trace of gentility or even humanness left in any of them. So, in acid wickedness, they all responded: لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا لَنَا فِي بَنَاتِكَ مِنْ حَقٍّ وَإِنَّكَ لَتَعْلَمُ مَا نُرِ‌يدُ (You know that we have no claim on your daughters, and you know well what we want.'