8. PROPHETS’ DU’A (PRAYER) IN THE QUR’AN (3)
5. Prophet Lot (Lūṭ : لوط) a.s.
Prophet Lot in the Quran is considered to be
the same as Lot in the Hebrew Bible. According to Islamic tradition, he lived
in Ur (southern Babylonia) and was a nephew of Ibrahim (Abraham). He migrated
with Ibrahim to Canaan and was commanded by Allah to go to the land of Sodom
and Gomorrah (Amoura) located at the south of the Dead Sea (in Arabic, بَحْرُلُوْط , Lot’s Sea) to preach monotheism and to stop them from practising
homosexuality. His messages were ignored by the inhabitants, prompting Sodom
and Gomorrah's destruction. Though Lut left the town, his wife stayed behind
and was also destroyed with others.
The
name of Prophet Lūṭ (Lot in the English Bible) a.s. was mentioned 17
times in 14 chapters in the Qur’an.[1]
He was mentioned briefly in Qur’an, like that of other previous prophets, to
give examples of the consequence of disbelieving and disobeying prophets sent
to them, namely, punishment. He was the son of Hārān, son of Ᾱzar (Terah,
Prophet Abraham’s father). He was then Prophet Abraham’s nephew. They both
emigrated to the Shām (Greater Syria) area.
Prophet
Lot a.s. was sent by Allah to the people of Sadūm (Sodom) and the
surrounding villages to call them to Allah, and to forbid them from their evil
practices which was unknown before among
the Children of Adam, not even crossed their minds, namely, homosexuality.
So, it was the people of Sodom who invented this practise of having sexual
intercourse with males instead of females. They desired men rather than women. They
said to him that they desired men like the handsome men who had visited him.
They were referring to the angels who had come into the shape of man to destroy
them. They tried to expel him and his
followers from their village. At night he and his family with the exception of
his wife took refuge to the neighbouring town Sughar (Zoar).[2]
Then Allah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with a violent earthquake.
Prophet Lot’s wife who did not believe him, used to
conspire with her people against him. She informed them who came to visit him
with certain signals known by them. Therefore, he was ordered not to inform or
to take her with him.
The Qur’an mentions that Prophet Lot a.s. offered
his people to marry his daughters instead of practising sodomy. He said:
يَا قَوْمِ هَؤُلَاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ
لَكُمْ ...
(هود:78)
“O my people! Here are my
daughters; they are purer
for you (if you marry them lawfully).” (Q. 11:78)
A.Y. Ali gives his commentary on the following verse
قَالَ هَؤُلَاءِ بَنَاتِي إِنْ كُنْتُمْ
فَاعِلِينَ (الحجر:71(
“These are my daughters (to marry
lawfully), if you
must (act) so.”
(Q. 15:71)
is that the
expression “my daughters” in the above verse when it was said by a venerable
man like Prophet Lot, the father of his people, may mean, as suggested by some
commentators, any young girls of these town.
It is common among
Arabic speaking countries when an elderly man
addresses a young
man as “my son”.[3]
A.Y. Ali said further:
The Biblical narrative
suggests that the daughters were
married
and their husbands were close by (Gen.
xix. 14) and
that
these same daughters afterwards committed incest with
their
father and had children by him (Gen.
ixi. 31). The Holy
Qur’an nowhere
suggests such abominations…. [1575].
When Prophet Lot’s people threatened
him to drive him out of their village, he prayed,
رَبِّ نَجِّنِي وَأَهْلِي مِمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ (الشعراء:169)
“My Lord! Save me and my family from what
they do.”
Q. 26:169(
and when his
people challenged him to bring punishment if he told the truth, he
prayed,
قَالَ رَبِّ انْصُرْنِي عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْمُفْسِدِينَ
( العنكبوت:30)
He said: “My
Lord! Give me victory over the
mischief-makers.” (Q. (Q. 29:30)
Allah answered
his prayer, saved him and his family from the punishment, except his wife who
did not believe him.
The question whether homosexuality is based on nature
or nurture, whether it is something a person is born with, or is due to factors
such as upbringing and environment is debatable among scholars. It was said
that the people who moved to Sodom practised
practiced sodomy only after they
had moved to that town. In other words, it was nurture, environment and
upbringing rather than nature, inborn. Dr.
Richard Fitzgibbons, a psychiatrist and Director of Comprehensive Counselling
Services in W. Conshohocken, PA, gives his view about this issue. He said:
The
most common conflicts at different life stages that
predispose individuals to homosexual
attractions and behaviour
are loneliness and sadness, profound feelings
of inadequacy,
mistrust and fear, narcissism, sexual addiction, excessive
anger, sexual abuse in childhood and a lack
of balance in one's life.
(Fitzgibbons,
Richard. “Origin and Healing of Homosexual
Attractions
and Behaviors.” 2nd Pan American Conference
on Family and Education Toronto, Ontario May,
1996).
Even if a person was
born with unnatural tendency towards homosexuality, he or she must find cure
for this abnormal behaviour, like any physical or mental abnormality after
birth. He or she might suffer from sex hormone deficiency, and the doctor can
treat him or her. One of many treatments given to a homosexual man is this. A
picture a handsome man was shown to him on the screen and at the same time he
was given an electric shock. Then a picture of a beautiful woman was shown to
him on the screen, and at the same time the electric shock was released. This
procedure was repeated several times, so that the patient associated the
handsome man with pain, and the beautiful woman with relief.
The
great Greek philosopher Socrates (469?-399 BC) himself admitted that he had an
inborn tendency to commit crime. One day while he was walking on the street, a
man who did not know him said to the people that this man was a criminal. When
the people who knew Socrates wanted to throw stones at that man, Socrates told
them not to do so, because he admitted that he had an inborn tendency to commit
crime, but he fought it. For us the Muslims, this is a kind of jihad
against our own passion and tendency towards evilness.
In
conclusion, homosexuality in Islam is a disease, an abnormality which should be
medically and psychologically treated, whatever the cause, either by nature or
nurture.
(CIVIC, 8 August, 2014)
المراجع:
المكتبة الشاملة
تفسير الطبري (ت. 310 هـ (
تفسير القرطبى (ت. 671 هـ(
تفسير ابن كثير (ت. 774 هـ(
Abu Khalil, Dr. Shauqi . Atlas of
the Qur’an. Riyadh, Darussalam, 2003
Ali, A.Yusuf.
The Meanings of the Holy Qur’an Asad, Muhammad. The Message of the Qur’an.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/13930/origin-homosexuality-britons-canadians-say-nature.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lot_(biblical_person)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lot's_wife
[1] See Q. 6:86; 7:80; 11:70, 74, 77, 81, 89; 15:59, 61;
21:71, 74; 22:43; 26:160, 161, 167; 27:54, 56; 29:26, 28, 32, 33; 37:133;
38:13; 50:13; 54:33, 34; 66:10.
[2] According to the Bible, Lot's wife who was travelling
behind him looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt (Gen. xix. 16). It
is said that a pillar of salt named "Lot's wife" is located near the
Dead Sea at Mount Sodom in Palestine. This is contrary to the Qur’an that makes
it clear that she remained behind deliberately with the sinning people of
Sodom, and had no faith with him, and she was said to have been a native of
Sodom. (Q. 11:81 and 66:10). Although
Christians also revere Lot as a righteous man of God, he was said to have
committed incest with his elder daughter while he was drunk from the alcohol
given to him by her, and Moab was born. According to the Bible, Jesus is a descendant
of Lot through David's great-grandmother Ruth, who is descended from Moab.
[3] According to the classical commentator ‘Ikrimah,
Prophet Lot did not really mean when he offered his people to marry either his
daughters or the daughters of people in town, but he said it so that they would
go away. (Qurṭubī, Tafsīr)
