Part of Stories of the Prophets (series completed)
· Lesson 11 of 15
Stories of the Prophets | Episode (11) | The story of Lot, peace be upon him
0:000:00
Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
0:00
Stories of the Prophets,
0:02
stories of the Prophets,
0:05
peace be upon them.
0:07
Allah's blessings,
0:09
followed by
0:11
peace,
0:13
be upon the best of all
0:15
creation—
0:17
men of resolve,
0:20
whose station
0:22
is sublime.
0:24
The Story of Lot,
0:26
peace be upon him.
0:28
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
0:32
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds,
0:34
and peace and blessings
0:36
be upon our Prophet Muhammad,
0:38
and upon all his family and Companions
0:40
altogether.
0:42
To proceed:
0:44
In the region of Jordan,
0:46
between the Hijaz and the Levant,
0:48
near the Dead Sea,
0:50
lay the town of Sodom.
0:52
That town
0:54
was inhabited by a people
0:57
who deviated from normal human nature.
0:59
Their natural disposition was inverted,
1:01
their natural disposition was perverted,
1:03
their creed was corrupted,
1:05
and their morals deteriorated.
1:07
For they disbelieved
1:09
in Allah the Exalted
1:11
and associated partners with Him.
1:13
In addition to that,
1:15
they reached the utmost extreme
1:17
in moral depravity,
1:19
utter shamelessness,
1:21
and the pinnacle of folly and ignorance.
1:23
They deviated from the sound innate disposition
1:25
upon which Allah
1:27
created humankind—
1:29
the natural inclination of the male toward the female
1:31
and vice versa.
1:33
Thus, their men began
1:35
approaching one another sexually,
1:37
forsaking what
1:39
Allah had created for them in their wives.
1:41
May Allah despise them
1:43
and despise their actions!
1:45
Along with that,
1:47
they also used to cut off the way
1:49
of travelers,
1:51
assaulting them,
1:53
killing them, and seizing
1:55
their wealth.
1:57
Furthermore, they committed in their open gatherings
1:59
vile deeds and disgraceful acts.
2:01
A number of
2:04
exegetes mentioned
2:06
that they used to pass gas openly
2:08
in their assemblies,
2:10
feeling no shame at all in doing so,
2:12
but rather laughing about it,
2:14
in addition to perpetrating
2:16
all forms of wickedness in both
2:18
words and deeds.
2:21
Lot, peace be upon him,
2:23
was the nephew of Abraham,
2:25
peace be upon him.
2:27
He followed the Prophet of Allah
2:29
Abraham, peace be upon him,
2:31
and migrated to the land of
2:33
Palestine.
2:35
So Allah chose him, singled him out,
2:37
honored him, and revealed
2:39
revelation to him. Then,
2:41
He sent him to the town of Sodom
2:43
as a prophet and messenger,
2:45
to call them to the worship of
2:47
Allah alone without any partner,
2:49
to renounce polytheism
2:51
and the worship of other than Allah,
2:53
to straighten their conduct,
2:55
and to rectify what had become corrupted in their innate disposition.
2:57
He began—
3:00
Lot, peace be upon him, began his mission
3:02
of calling to Allah
3:04
in the town of Sodom
3:06
and its neighboring settlements.
3:08
He called them to Tawhid,
3:10
to renounce polytheism,
3:12
and he cautioned and warned them of the punishment
3:14
of Allah the Exalted if they
3:16
disobeyed His command.
3:18
He censured them for their foul deed,
3:20
saying to them,
3:22
"Do you lustfully approach men
3:24
instead of women?"
3:26
“Must ye needs lust after men instead of women? Nay, but ye are folk who act senselessly.” (27:55)
3:28
They did not respond—
3:30
the people of those towns refused the call of
3:32
their prophet, Lot, peace be upon him.
3:34
Instead, they mocked him,
3:36
rejected him and his message,
3:38
and persisted blindly
3:40
in their transgression.
3:42
When Lot, peace be upon him, intensified
3:44
his denunciation of them
3:46
and began confronting them in their assemblies,
3:48
they threatened to banish him
3:50
from their town.
3:52
They said to him,
3:54
"If you do not desist, O Lot,
3:56
you will surely be among those expelled."
3:58
They would urge one
4:00
another, saying,
4:02
"Drive the family of Lot
4:04
out of your town!
4:06
They are indeed a people who keep themselves pure."
4:08
How astonishing!
4:10
The crime of Lot
4:12
and the crime of his family
4:14
was that they purified themselves,
4:16
refusing to defile themselves
4:18
or wade into the mire
4:20
in which their people wallowed!
4:22
Thus, that became a reason
4:24
to condemn them.
4:26
Yet in truth,
4:28
no one in those towns was worthy of praise
4:30
except Lot, peace be upon him,
4:32
and his family, who
4:34
abstained from these abhorrent indecencies.
4:36
However,
4:38
when the innate disposition becomes corrupted,
4:40
virtue is condemned,
4:42
and chastity becomes a crime.
4:45
He did not relent—
4:47
Lot, peace be upon him, did not cease his call,
4:49
despite the threats and intimidation
4:51
with which they tried to terrify him,
4:53
and he continued to advise them
4:55
and guide them.
4:57
When they persisted in their defiance,
4:59
they said to him
5:01
by way of challenge,
5:03
"Bring upon us the punishment of Allah,
5:05
if you are among the truthful!"
5:07
At that point,
5:09
Lot, peace be upon him, called upon
5:11
his Lord, saying,
5:13
"My Lord, help me
5:15
against the corrupting people."
5:17
Allah the Exalted said,
5:19
"And [mention] Lot,
5:21
when he said to his people,
5:23
'Indeed, you commit
5:25
such immorality
5:27
as no one has ever preceded you
5:29
in it
5:31
among all
5:33
of creation.
5:35
Do you indeed approach
5:37
men, cut off
5:39
the highway, and commit
5:41
in your assemblies
5:43
wicked deeds?'
5:45
But the only answer of his people
5:47
was that they said,
5:49
'Bring upon us the punishment of Allah,
5:51
was that they said,
5:53
'Bring upon us the punishment of Allah,
5:55
if you are among the truthful.'
6:01
He said, 'My Lord, help me
6:03
against the corrupting people.'"
6:08
Allah answered the supplication of His servant
6:10
and prophet, Lot, peace be upon him,
6:12
and destruction was decreed
6:14
upon the wrongdoing,
6:16
corrupt people.
6:18
Thereupon,
6:20
Allah sent to that town
6:22
and the surrounding villages
6:24
that shared in its sin—
6:26
He sent to them three
6:28
of the angels,
6:30
namely Gabriel, Michael,
6:32
and Israfil.
6:34
They took the form of humans
6:36
with handsome faces,
6:38
and they headed first,
6:40
by the command of Allah the Exalted,
6:42
to Abraham in Palestine.
6:44
They gave him and his wife Sarah the glad tidings
6:46
that Allah would grant them
6:48
Isaac, and after
6:50
Isaac, Jacob, peace be upon them both.
6:54
Then they informed him that they were sent
6:56
from Allah Almighty to destroy
6:58
the people of Lot.
7:00
Thereupon, Abraham, peace be upon him,
7:02
began to debate with them regarding this matter,
7:04
and said to them:
7:06
"Would you destroy a town in which there are
7:08
fifty Muslims?"
7:10
He asked: "Would you destroy
7:12
a town in which there are
7:14
forty Muslims?"
7:16
They replied: "No."
7:18
He asked: "Would you destroy
7:20
a town in which there are ten
7:22
Muslims?"
7:25
They replied: "No."
7:27
He asked: "Would you destroy
7:29
a town in which there is a single Muslim?"
7:31
They replied: "No."
7:33
At that point, he said to them:
7:35
"Indeed, within it is
7:37
Lot, the Prophet of Allah
7:39
and His Messenger."
7:41
The angels said:
7:43
“He said: Lo! Lot is there. They said: We are best aware of who is there. We are to deliver him and his household, all save his wife, who is of those who stay behind.” (29:32)
7:45
"We shall surely save him
7:47
and his family, except his wife;
7:49
she is of those who are destined to perish."
7:51
Then they said to him:
7:53
"O Abraham,
7:55
desist from this pleading,
7:57
for indeed there has already come
7:59
the decree of your Lord concerning them,
8:01
and indeed there is coming upon them
8:03
a punishment that cannot be averted."
8:05
Allah Almighty says:
8:07
"And when the fright had departed
8:09
from Abraham
8:11
and there had reached him
8:13
the glad tidings,
8:15
he began to plead with Us
8:17
regarding the people of Lot.
8:19
Indeed,
8:21
Abraham was forbearing,
8:23
tender-hearted,
8:25
and ever turning to Allah.
8:27
'O Abraham,
8:29
desist from this!
8:31
Indeed,
8:33
there has already come
8:35
the decree of your Lord,
8:37
and indeed there is
8:39
coming upon them a punishment
8:41
that cannot be averted.'"
8:43
The angels,
8:47
the emissaries of Allah, departed
8:49
towards Lot, peace be upon him.
8:51
When they entered the town,
8:53
they found his daughter
8:55
drawing water.
8:57
When she saw them,
8:59
she said to them: "Who are you?
9:01
Your appearance is unfamiliar
9:03
in these lands."
9:05
They said to her:
9:07
"We are guests."
9:09
She feared for them from the townspeople
9:11
and said to them:
9:13
"Do not leave your place
9:15
until I return to you."
9:17
So she went to her father
9:19
and said: "O my father,
9:21
I have seen men
9:23
of handsome faces,
9:25
who are not from this land,
9:27
and I truly fear for them
9:29
from our people,
9:31
so attend to their matter."
9:33
So Lot, peace be upon him, went to them,
9:35
and when he saw them,
9:37
he was troubled on their account
9:39
and felt utter distress for them,
9:41
and said to himself:
9:43
"This is a distressing day."
9:45
Even though this
9:47
was not the usual manner of the prophets
9:49
nor their custom with their guests,
9:51
the situation confronting
9:53
Lot, peace be upon him,
9:55
was far graver than that;
9:57
for he feared for them
9:59
that their honor would be violated
10:01
by its wrongdoing inhabitants.
10:04
Lot, peace be upon him, took them
10:06
to his home.
10:08
But when his wife learned
10:10
of their presence, she informed her people
10:12
by kindling
10:14
a fire in her house
10:16
whose smoke billowed outside,
10:18
as a prearranged signal between her
10:20
and her people indicating the presence
10:22
of guests in their home.
10:24
And this was her treachery
10:26
toward her husband, as Allah mentioned
10:28
in the Holy Qur'an.
10:30
So the people of Lot came
10:33
rushing toward him breathlessly,
10:35
intending to seize the guests
10:37
from him, as though
10:39
they had stumbled upon
10:41
a prized catch. Allah
10:43
Almighty said:
10:45
"And the people of
10:47
the city came rejoicing.
10:49
He said: 'Indeed,
10:51
these are
10:53
my guests, so do not
10:55
disgrace me.
10:57
And fear Allah
10:59
and do not humiliate me.'
11:01
They said: 'Have we not
11:03
forbidden you from protecting people?'
11:05
He said:
11:07
'These are
11:09
my daughters, if
11:11
you must do so.'
11:13
By your life,
11:15
indeed they were, in
11:17
their intoxication, wandering blindly."
11:19
Perhaps
11:21
the intention of Lot, peace be upon him,
11:23
in saying "these are my daughters"
11:25
“He said: Here are my daughters, if ye must be doing (so).” (15:71)
11:27
— and Allah knows best —
11:29
was to silence and incapacitate them with an impossible alternative;
11:31
like a person saying to someone
11:33
who intends to kill their guest,
11:35
trying to stop him:
11:37
"Take this son of mine and kill him,
11:39
but do not kill my guest,"
11:41
knowing with full certainty
11:43
that he will not kill
11:45
his son, for he has no
11:47
desire for him,
11:49
and only wants to kill his guest
11:51
alone.
11:53
Thus, this statement was made
11:55
by way of
11:57
silencing and demonstrating their bad faith,
11:59
not by way of literal consent.
12:01
The proof of this
12:03
is that they replied to him:
12:05
"You already know, O Lot, what we want,
12:07
and you well know
12:09
that we have no desire for your daughters,
12:11
nor have we any
12:13
claim to them; so bring out to us
12:15
your guests."
12:17
Then Lot, peace be upon him, said to them,
12:19
when they overwhelmed him
12:21
and tried to break down the door of his house
12:23
to seize his guests;
12:25
he said to them:
12:27
"If only I had the strength to resist you,
12:29
or could take refuge
12:31
with a powerful clan
12:33
that would defend me against you!"
12:36
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
12:38
"May Allah have mercy
12:40
upon Lot;
12:42
he was indeed taking refuge in a strong
12:44
pillar" —
12:46
meaning Allah, the Exalted and Glorious.
12:49
These events were unfolding
12:51
right before the eyes of the guests
12:53
in complete serenity,
12:55
indifferent to what was transpiring
12:57
between Lot and his people.
12:59
And when the matter reached
13:01
its utmost limit
13:03
and they saw the inability of Lot, peace be upon him,
13:05
to confront his people,
13:07
they said to him:
13:09
"Be at ease, O Lot,
13:11
for we are not mortals;
13:13
we are the messengers of your Lord to you,
13:15
and we are about to destroy the people of
13:17
this town.
13:19
These wicked people
13:21
will never be able to harm you in any way.
13:23
So do not fear
13:25
and do not grieve, O Lot;
13:27
indeed, we are going to save you
13:29
and your family."
13:31
Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, stepped out toward them
13:33
as they were trying to break down the door,
13:35
and struck their faces
13:37
with the edge of his wing,
13:39
blotting out their eyes
13:41
so that they were struck blind;
13:43
So they began jostling one another,
13:45
colliding with each other,
13:47
not knowing where to go.
13:49
Then they returned to their homes,
13:51
threatening Lot,
13:53
saying:
13:55
"We will deal with you tomorrow."
13:57
When things calmed down
13:59
and the Prophet of Allah,
14:01
Lot (peace be upon him), was reassured,
14:03
the angels said to him:
14:05
"When night falls,
14:08
set out with your family
14:10
and leave this town,
14:12
and let none of you look back
14:14
at them when the punishment descends
14:16
upon them,
14:18
for she will surely be struck
14:20
by what strikes them."
14:22
But Lot (peace be upon him) sought to hasten
14:24
the punishment upon them,
14:26
so the angels said to him:
14:28
"Indeed, their appointed time
14:30
is the morning.
14:32
Is not the morning near, O Lot?"
14:34
Lot (peace be upon him) set out
14:37
with his daughters
14:39
once darkness had fallen,
14:41
while his wife refused to leave
14:43
with them,
14:45
choosing instead to remain with her people,
14:47
because she adhered to their religion.
14:49
Then, when the morning
14:51
dawned, there came
14:53
the command of Allah Almighty
14:55
to destroy those wrongdoing towns.
14:57
So Gabriel
14:59
(peace be upon him) lifted them from the face
15:01
of the earth on the tip of his wing,
15:03
until he reached the heavens with them,
15:05
and the dwellers of heaven heard
15:07
the barking of dogs and the crowing
15:09
of roosters. Then
15:11
he turned them upside down,
15:13
and Allah followed that up against them
15:15
with stones from Hellfire,
15:17
raining continuously upon them
15:19
like a layered necklace,
15:21
upon each stone
15:23
being the name of the man at whom it was to be thrown.
15:25
Allah Almighty said:
15:29
"And when
15:31
Our messengers came to Lot,
15:33
he was distressed on their account
15:39
and felt powerless to protect them,
15:41
and said, 'This is a dreadful
15:43
day.'
15:45
And there came to him
15:47
his people, rushing
15:49
toward him; and before that,
15:51
they had been committing
15:53
evil deeds.
15:55
He said, 'O my people,
15:57
these are my daughters;
15:59
they are purer
16:01
for you. So fear
16:03
Allah, and do not disgrace me
16:05
concerning my guests.
16:07
Is there not among you
16:09
a single right-minded man?'
16:11
They said, 'You have already
16:13
known that we have no right to your daughters,
16:15
“They said: Well thou knowest that we have no right to thy daughters, and well thou knowest what we want.” (11:79)
16:17
and indeed you
16:19
surely know what we want.'
16:21
He said,
16:23
“He said: Would that I had strength to resist you or had some strong support (among you)!” (11:80)
16:25
'If only I had against you some power, or could take refuge
16:27
in a strong
16:29
support!'
16:31
They said, 'O
16:33
Lot, indeed we are
16:35
messengers of your Lord;
16:37
they will never reach you.
16:39
So travel with your family
16:41
in a portion
16:43
of the night,
16:45
and let not
16:47
any of you look back—
16:49
except your wife;
16:51
indeed, there will strike her
16:54
what strikes them.
16:56
Indeed,
16:58
their appointed time is the morning.
17:00
Is not the morning
17:02
near?'
17:04
So when there came
17:06
Our command,
17:08
We made its highest part
17:10
its lowest,
17:12
We made its highest part
17:14
its lowest,
17:16
and rained upon it
17:18
stones,
17:20
and rained upon it stones
17:22
of layered
17:24
baked clay,
17:26
marked
17:28
in the presence of your Lord.
17:30
And it is not
17:32
from the wrongdoers
17:34
far off."
17:36
Allah Almighty has mentioned
17:39
Lot (peace be upon him)
17:41
in the Qur'an twenty-seven times,
17:43
and there were mentioned
17:45
the events of his story with his people
17:47
in more than one surah.
17:49
Among the most important lessons derived
17:51
from the story of the Prophet of Allah,
17:53
Lot (peace be upon him), are:
17:55
First:
17:57
The heinousness of the crime of the people
17:59
of Lot,
18:01
and that it is the sin at which
18:03
the Throne of the Most Merciful shakes due to its enormity,
18:05
and Allah's refuge is sought from it.
18:08
Second:
18:10
When human nature is perverted,
18:12
it perceives the repulsive as good,
18:14
and a crime becomes to it
18:16
something customary.
18:19
Third:
18:21
The collapse of morals
18:23
is the cause of the destruction of societies,
18:25
as it has been said:
18:27
"Nations endure only as long as their morals remain;
18:29
if their morals
18:31
depart, they depart as well."
18:33
Fourth:
18:35
The people of Lot
18:37
were the first to innovate the obscene act
18:39
of approaching males,
18:41
so upon them is its burden and the burden of everyone
18:43
who practices it after them.
18:45
Allah Almighty said regarding them:
18:47
"Indeed, you commit
18:49
an immorality such as
18:51
no one has preceded you in doing
18:53
among all the worlds."
18:56
Fifth:
18:58
The generosity of the prophets (peace be upon them),
19:00
their care for their guests,
19:02
and their defense of them;
19:04
and Lot (peace be upon him)
19:06
is an exemplar of that.
19:08
Sixth:
19:10
A wife has no true bond
19:12
with her husband if she follows
19:14
a religion that opposes his religion.
19:16
Seventh:
19:19
It is not permissible for us to name
19:21
this obscenity—which
19:23
is the attraction to males—
19:25
"liwat,"
19:27
nor is it permissible for us to call the man
19:29
who commits this obscenity
19:31
a "luti,"
19:33
because the name of Lot
19:35
is a noble name,
19:37
carrying the meaning of a reformer,
19:39
while the root "al-liwat" signifies
19:41
mending and plastering.
19:43
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) informed us
19:45
that when the Hour
19:47
is established,
19:49
the first person to be struck down
19:51
will be a man plastering his water basin—
19:53
that is, repairing his basin.
19:55
Furthermore,
19:57
it is not permissible to attribute this act
19:59
to Lot (peace be upon him);
20:01
the term "luti"
20:03
derives from Lot (peace be upon him),
20:05
and Lot (peace be upon him)
20:07
is entirely innocent of it.
20:09
How then could someone who commits
20:11
this heinous act be attributed to him?
20:13
Rather, we should name it as
20:15
the Prophet (peace be upon him) named it,
20:17
saying:
20:19
"the act of the people of Lot,"
20:21
or saying:
20:23
"that man
20:25
commits the act of the people of Lot."
20:28
Eighth:
20:30
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah transmitted
20:32
the consensus of the Companions and others
20:34
that whoever commits this act
20:36
is to be executed,
20:38
Even though they differed
20:40
over the manner of execution:
20:42
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq,
20:44
may Allah be pleased with him, said
20:46
that he is to be thrown from a high cliff,
20:48
just as was done to the people of Lot;
20:50
'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said
20:52
that a wall should be collapsed upon him;
20:54
and Ibn 'Abbas,
20:56
may Allah be pleased with them both, said
20:58
that he is to be stoned to death with rocks—
21:00
both the active and passive partners—
21:02
just as is done in the case of adultery.
21:04
We seek refuge in Allah from this.
21:06
Ninth:
21:08
When matters become severely constricted,
21:10
relief arrives
21:12
from Allah, the Most High, the All-Powerful.
21:14
And Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He,
21:16
never abandons His allies;
21:18
rather, He delivers them
21:20
and destroys the wrongdoing people.
21:22
This discourse
21:26
will be continued, Allah willing.
21:28
And Allah knows best.
21:30
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
21:32
May peace and blessings
21:34
be upon our Prophet Muhammad,
21:36
and upon his family
21:38
and all his Companions.
21:40
You have been listening to
21:43
Stories of the Prophets.
21:45
And may peace and blessings be upon him.