Prophets in holy Qur’an (38)
Loot 1
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
The biography of the prophet Loot
In the history of the prophets, we see that many prophets were living at the same time. For example the prophet Loot’s life coincided with Ibrahim Khalil’s time. This is because every nation needed to hear the message of the guide of happiness from God. With the expansion of nations and the discovery of new cities, different prophets appeared to dwell among his people in order to receive divine knowledge and commandments, propagate them and guide them, so some mission happened simultaneously.
Loot’s character
Loot was a close relative of Ibrahim Khalil. The holy Qur’an does not mention the relationship between Loot and Ibrahim, but in the Torah introduces Loot as Ibrahim’s nephew. The holy Qur’an considers Loot as one of the divine prophets: وَإِنَّ لُوطًا لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ؛ Indeed Lot was one of the apostle (Safat: 133). And he was the one to whom God had given knowledge and wisdom: وَلُوطًا آتَيْنَاهُ حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا؛ We gave judgement and knowledge to Lot; (Anbiya: 74).
Loot was not one of the prophets who had an independent divine law, but he was a prophet who was commissioned by God to preach the law of Ibrahim Khalil. The holy Qur’an mentions the name of Loot in the line of prophets who follow Ibrahim and says:
وَتِلْكَ حُجَّتُنَا آتَيْنَاهَا إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَاتٍ مَنْ نَشَاءُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ؛ وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ كُلًّا هَدَيْنَا وَنُوحًا هَدَيْنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ دَاوُودَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُوسُفَ وَمُوسَى وَهَارُونَ وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ؛ وَزَكَرِيَّا وَيَحْيَى وَعِيسَى وَإِلْيَاسَ كُلٌّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ؛ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَالْيَسَعَ وَيُونُسَ وَلُوطًا وَكُلًّا فَضَّلْنَا عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ؛
This was Our argument that We gave to Abraham against his people. We raise in rank whomever We wish. Indeed your Lord is all-wise, all-knowing. And We gave him Isaac and Jacob and guided each of them. And Noah We had guided before, and from his offspring, David and Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron—thus do We reward the virtuous— and Zechariah, John, Jesus and Ilyas—each of them among the righteous— and Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah and Lot—each We graced over all the nations— (An’aam: 83-86).
Belief in Ibrahim and emigration from Iraq
The holy Qur’an does not say much about Loot’s manners in the land of Iraq except that he believed in Ibrahim and after accompanying him in the path of opposing the polytheism and idolatry of the people of Ibrahim, he migrated with him to the blessed land:
فَآمَنَ لَهُ لُوطٌ وَقَالَ إِنِّي مُهَاجِرٌ إِلَى رَبِّي إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ؛
Thereupon Lot believed in him, and he said, ‘Indeed I am migrating toward my Lord. Indeed He is the All-mighty, the All-wise.’ (Ankaboot: 26)
وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ وَلُوطًا إِلَى الْأَرْضِ الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا لِلْعَالَمِينَ؛
We delivered him and Lot toward the land, which We have blessed for all nations. (Anbiya: 71)
I decided to travel, I became accompanied my friend, what happiness came to me during this trip;
The holy Qur’an does not say more about the migration of Loot and Ibrahim, except that they went from Iraq to Palestine together, but the Torah states:
Ibrahim was very rich. He had a lot of gold and silver and flocks …. Loot also had a lot of cattle and sheep and slaves. Ibrahim and Loot could not live together because of their large flocks, because there was not enough pasture for their flocks and there was a quarrel between the shepherds of Ibrahim and Loot ….
So Ibrahim said to Loot: “We are relatives, and our shepherds should not quarrel with each another. It is expedient to separate. Now we have a vast plain in front of us. “Choose whichever direction you want and I will go against you.”
… Then Loot looked around and saw the whole valley of the Jordan River …. Loot chose the whole valley of the Jordan and moved eastward. In this way, he and Ibrahim were separated from each other. So Ibrahim stayed in the land of Canaan, and Loot went to the cities of the Jordan, and dwelt near Sodom.
The beginning of Loot’s invitation
Lot went to a people who had a history of opposing the mission of the divine prophets. The holy Qur’an says about them: كَذَّبَتْ قَوْمُ لُوطٍ الْمُرْسَلِينَ؛ The people of Lot impugned the apostles (Sho’ara: 160). The opposition of this people to the message of God, which was conveyed to them by the divine prophets, had led them astray through righteousness and salvation, and they turned to sin and corruption. The holy Qur’an refers to them as the “people of Loot”, and in the Torah they are considered to be the inhabitants of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, who lived in the Jordan plain. The prophet Loot, like all divine prophets, began his mission by calling for piety and pointing out that he was not greedy for their property. The holy Qur’an reports:
إِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ أَخُوهُمْ لُوطٌ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ؛ إِنِّي لَكُمْ رَسُولٌ أَمِينٌ؛ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ؛ وَمَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ إِنْ أَجْرِيَ إِلَّا عَلَى رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ؛
when Lot, their brother, said to them, ‘Will you not be wary [of Allah]? Indeed I am a trusted apostle [sent] to you. So be wary of Allah and obey me. I do not ask you any reward for it; my reward lies only with the Lord of all the worlds. (Sho’ara: 161-164)