Hūd

فَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا جَعَلْنَا عَالِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهَا حِجَارَةً مِن سِجّيلٍ مَنْضُود

مُسَوَّمَةً عِندَ رَبّكَ وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ

82. “When Our command came, We turned it (their township) upside down, and rained on it stones of baked clay, layer on layer.”

83. “Marked with your Lord, and it is not far off from the unjust ones.”

The Arabic term /sijjil/ means a piece of baked clay which is neither as soft as clay nor as hard as stone. The Arabic word /mandud/ means one on top of the other in succession. The objective of stones being marked either is that every piece of stone was meant for a particular person, or it means that those stones were different from the ones on the earth. This holy verse explains the end result of the people of Lot. The people of Lot used to live during the time of Abraham (a.s), and Lot (as), their prophet, was sent among them to propagate and disseminate the same religion of monotheism. Accompanying Abraham (as) he went to Palestine then to a land called ‘Mu‘tafikat’, where the people used to worship idols and openly sodomize.

Lot (as) started struggling against this corruption and social pathology. The more he struggled, the less he met with success until he was threatened with expulsion if he did not stop preaching.⁶ Thereafter the angels of Divine punishment and death came down and after informing Abraham and Lot (as), completed their mission turning the land of this corrupt tribe upside down. According to verse 13 of the Surah Al-Hijr, a blast occurred and overwhelmed the people of Lot.

Perhaps, it was this horrible blast which turned the region upside down, stones were thrown out from within the earth and fell upon their heads similar to volcanic eruptions and the subsequent explosions which occur.⁷

Explanations

1. The punishment of those who go against human nature is the overturning of their cities and environment.

The verse says:

“When Our command came, We turned it (their township) upside down...”

2. Oppressive people cannot escape Divine punishment as Allah’s anger can turn rain into stones and pelt them to death.

The verse says:

“…and rained on it stones of baked clay, layer on layer.”

Those nations who have a permissive attitude towards homosexuality such as is found in the West, must expect Allah’s punishment and the upturning of the region where this corruption takes place. The verse says:

“Marked with your Lord, and it is not far off from the unjust ones.”

Footnotes

1. 6. Surah Ash-Shu‘ara, No. 26, verse 167
2. 7. Al-Mizan, the