LUUT (AS) (LOT)
He is Luut bin
Haaraan (AS) the son of Ibrahim’s brother; and his mother was Ibrahim’s
maternal aunt. Taarikh and his son Haaraan married the two daughters of Laahij
and was born Ibrahim bin Taarikh and Luut bin Haaraan (AS). Sarah, Ibrahim’s
wife is Luut’s half sister from mother’s side. Luut (AS) has been mentioned in
the Holy Quraan twenty seven times in fourteen Suras. His father died while he
was very young and was brought up together with his paternal uncle Ibrahim (AS)
by Taarikh.
As we have seen in
the earlier chapter, Ibrahim (AS) left Egypt together with Luut (AS) and Sarah,
as these were the only people who believed in Ibrahim’s preaching, and they all
went to Palestine. Luut (AS) stayed with his uncle Ibrahim (AS), but later was
asked by him to go to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, east of the Dead Sea,
also known as Al-Muutafika as mentioned in the Quraan. (There is a lake in the
Dead Sea known as Lake Luut). He instructed him to go there and preach to the
people of Sodom, as they were corrupt and profane. He wanted him to get these
people to leave these bad habits and to worship God. Luut (AS) was not one of
their own brethren, as in the case of Saleh and Shuayb (AS). But he looked upon
his people as his brethren, as a man of God always does.
These people were
the biggest rogues who used to rob people of their belongings. They used to
commit lewdness and the biggest transgression no people in creation ever did
before. They practised their lust on men in preference to women.
Luut (AS) advised
these people to stop all the bad habits and the things they were doing and turn
to their God for forgiveness. He tried very hard but without success, he told
them that God was very angry with them and that if they did not stop then they should
expect punishment from their Lord.
He told his people:
“Will you not fear God? I am to you an Apostle worth of all trust, so fear God
and obey me, I ask no reward from you for it, my reward is only from the Lord
of the Worlds. Of all the creatures in the world, you approach males and leave
those whom God has created for you to be your mates? No you are people
transgressing all limits.”
These people
rejected his call and their reply was the same as that of the people who came
before. They said to him: “Bring us the wrath of God if you are telling us the
truth.”
More or less the
same words which the people of Nouh, Huud and those of Saleh (AS) said to their
Prophets. They also said: “Drive him and his followers out of your city, these
are indeed men who want to be clean and pure.”
See how insulting
these people were, instead of being ashamed on account of the consciousness of
their own guilt they attacked the pure ones with their sarcasm and did not even
want to see pious people among themselves advising them.
When Luut (AS) saw
his people like this, he prayed to his Lord: “O my Lord! Help me against these
people who do mischief!” God heard Luut’s pleas and sent his Messengers to deal
with these people who were polluting the earth with their crimes.
As we have seen in
the story of Ibrahim (AS), the Angels went to give him and his wife the good
tidings of their getting a child. After entertaining them he asked them what
was their mission after this, and they said: “We have been sent to a people
(deep) in sin; to bring on them, (a shower of) stones of clay (brimstones),
marked as from the Lord for those who trespass beyond bounds.”
Here Ibrahim (AS)
requested these Messengers to defer their mission, as may be the people of Luut
(AS) would listen to his preaching and repent. But at the same time he was also
afraid that his nephew might be among those destroyed when the punishment is
sent down to destroy his people.
Without hesitation
he said: “But there is Luut there.”
They said: “We know
well who is there, we will certainly save him and his followers, except his
wife she is one of those who will remain behind.”
The Messengers thus left
Ibrahim (AS) and Went to Sodom and appeared as two very handsome youths. When
they arrived there, before entering the town they saw a young woman in a garden
watering the trees. They approached and requested her if they could be her
guests. She immediately felt sorry for them, because she knew that if the
people of Sodom came to know of them they would want to do to them the dirty
act (sodomy). She therefore asked them to wait and rushed to her father.
She said to her
father: “There are two youths that I have never seen before around here and
they seem to be strangers, they want to be our guests. I am afraid if the
people came to know they would throng around them.”
The father was Luut
(AS) and the woman was his daughter. He was astonished to hear this. At first
he hesitated and did not want to go and meet these people, but their Angelic
call made him go and meet them. He therefore met them and took them to his
house, but was afraid that the news of their coming would reach his people. As
his wife was one of them, the news immediately got spread out, and in no time there was a throng of people
outside his house. He got very scared and did not know what to do. He tried to
advise them to go away and leave his guests alone. They just laughed and mocked
at him, they said jokingly to him to let them take these beautiful youths to
their homes. He ignored them and went inside the house and closed the door
behind him.
He later came out
again and said to them: “O my people! Here are my daughters they are purer for
you (if you marry)! Now fear God, and do not cover me with shame about my
guests! Is there not among you a single right-minded man?”
Here his words ‘my
daughters’ was meant the young girls of the town among themselves, and does not
imply that he is giving away his daughters to these men.
Luut (AS) tried very
hard to talk to his people but they refused to listen and said: “Well you know
well we have no need of your daughters, indeed you know quite well what we
want.”
These men came in an
uproar, assaulted his house, and tried to snatch away the two handsome men.
Luut (AS) tried to prevent them, but was powerless, and he said: “Had I had
power to suppress you or that I could betake myself to some powerful support.”
The guests said: “O
Luut! We are Messengers from your Lord by no means shall they reach you! Now
get out with your family while it is dark and do not let any of you look back.
But your wife will remain behind, and will happen to her what will happen to
the people; morning is their appointed time.”
So Luut (AS) was
commanded to leave Sodom that night and take his family with him except his
wife for she was one of the wicked ones who refused to believe.
Luut (AS) had been
preaching to them for some time against their immorality. The crisis of their
fate came when the two Angels came to him in the guise of young handsome men. Darkness
(blindness) fell on their eyes, as the first stage in their punishment. Despite
this they said that this was only sorcery, so they felt their way to their
homes, and before next morning the cities of the wicked were buried under a
shower of brimstone. A violent wind and noise accompanying the shower of
brimstones possibly with some volcanic action overtook them before morning. The
cities were utterly destroyed, and even their precise position cannot be
identified, but the brimstone plain of the tract still exists, right on the way
between Arabia and Syria. The remains can be seen as a (Sign and Warning) for
those who disbelieve in God, in the sulphury plain around the Dead Sea, a scene
of dismal desolation which truly suggests the awful punishment for unspeakable
crimes.
Luut (AS) and his
believing household were saved. As we have seen that Luut’s wife was among
those wicked ones and was destroyed with the rest of the people. God says in
verse 10 of
Surat AtTahrim (lxvi)
(The Forbidden):
God set forth, for
an example to the unbelievers, the wife of Nuuh and the wife of Luut. They were
(respectively) under two of our righteous servants, but they were false to
their (husbands), and they profited nothing before God on their account, but
were told: “Enter ye the Fire along with (others) that enter!
Reference: The Twenty five Prophets (The
Parable of the Apostles Mentioned in the Holy Quraan)", by Nassir ibn Issa
ibn Said Al-Kindy. (p 59-63)
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