29:28 Al-Ankaboot (The Spider)

تقدم أن لوطا عليه السلام آمن لإبراهيم، وصار من المهتدين به، وقد ذكروا أنه ليس من ذرية إبراهيم، وإنما هو ابن أخي إبراهيم.فقوله تعالى: { وَجَعَلْنَا فِي ذُرِّيَّتِهِ النُّبُوَّةَ وَالْكِتَابَ } وإن كان عاما، فلا يناقض كون لوط نبيا رسولا وهو ليس من ذريته، لأن الآية جيء بها لسياق المدح والثناء على الخليل، وقد أخبر أن لوطا اهتدى على يديه، ومن اهتدى على يديه أكمل ممن اهتدى من ذريته بالنسبة إلى فضيلة الهادي، واللّه أعلم.

يقول تعالى مخبرا عن نبيه لوط عليه السلام أنه أنكر على قومه سوء صنيعهم وما كانوا يفعلونه من قبيح الأعمال في إتيانهم الذكران من العالمين ولم يسبقهم إلى هذه الفعلة أحد من بني آدم قبلهم.

The preaching of Lut and what happened between Him and His People

Allah tells us that His Prophet Lut, peace be upon him, denounced his people for their evil deed and their immoral actions in having intercourse with males, a deed which none of the sons of Adam had ever committed before them. As well as doing this, they also disbelieved in Allah and rejected and opposed His Messenger, they robbed wayfarers, they would lie in wait on the road, kill people and loot their possessions.

وَتَأْتُونَ فِى نَادِيكُمُ الْمُنْكَرَ

(And practice Al-Munkar in your meetings.) This means, `in your gatherings you do and say things that are not befitting, and you do not denounce one another for doing such things.' Some said that they used to have intercourse with one another in public; this was the view of Mujahid. Some said that they used to compete in passing gas and laughing. This was the view of `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and Al-Qasim. Some of them said that they used to make rams fight one another, or organize cockfights. They used to do all of these things, and they were even eviler than that.

فَمَا كَانَ جَوَابَ قَوْمِهِ إِلاَّ أَن قَالُواْ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابِ اللَّهِ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّـدِقِينَ

(But his people gave no answer except that they said: "Bring Allah's torment upon us if you are one of the truthful.") This is indicative of their disbelief, scornful attitude and stubbornness. So Allah's Prophet asked for help against them, and said:

رَبِّ انصُرْنِى عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْمُفْسِدِينَ

(My Lord! Give me victory over the people who are corrupt.)

And mention Lot when he said to his people ‘Truly you read a-innakum pronouncing both hamzas or not pronouncing the second and inserting an alif between the two in either case and in both instances commit lewdness namely coming in unto the rears of men such as none in all the worlds of jinn or men has committed before you.

Commentary

وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ (And [ We sent ] Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) when he said to his people, "Indeed you commit the shameful act - 29:28). Here Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) has described three vicious sins of his people. One, unnatural offence of man with man; two, highway robbery against travelers; and three, commitment of sin openly before others in their group meetings. There is no specification of the third sin in the Holy Qur'an. Thus, it is deduced that every sin, which is a sin in its own right, if committed openly with indifference, it becomes a double sin, irrespective of the type of sin. At this point, some Imams of Tafsir (exegesis) have listed all such sins, which these wretched persons used to commit in their meetings. For instance, throwing stones on travelers and making fun of them, as Umm Hani' ؓ reports it in a hadith. Other commentators have reported that these insolent people were in the habit of committing sins openly before all others.

Out of the three sins mentioned in this verse the first one is most disgusting, which was never committed before in the whole world, and even wild beasts abstain from it. The entire ummah is unanimous on that it is a worse sin than adultery. (Ruh)