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wa-mā kāna jawāba qawmihī ʾillā ʾan qālū ʾakhrijūhum min qaryatikum ʾinnahum ʾunāsun yataṭahharūna
But the only answer of his people was that they said, ‘Expel them from your town! They are indeed a puritanical lot.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
7Al-A'rāfالأعرافVerse 82 of 206
The Heights7. Al-A'rāfالأعراف
Al A‘rāf
The Heights
MeccanVerse 82 of 206
Surah Al-‘A’raf, Verse 82
82. "And the answer of his people was no other than that they said: 'Expel them from your town; verily they are a people (who seek) to purify (themselves) '."
This verse contains a hint to the illogical obstinate answer of those people of Lut. It implies that they had no answer in response to the invitation of this benevolent and sympathetic prophet, save that they angrily ordered their men to expel Lut and his followers from their town. What was their fault? Their fault was that they were some pure people who did not use to commit sin. Those people of Lut accused these pure believers that they not only did not have the same opinion of theirs, but also made trouble for them.
The verse says:
Explanations
1- Sinners are illogical.
2- Whenever corruption of a society increases, the purified and sincere persons will be deserted, and purity is counted a crime therein. It will be like the state that criminals maintain no right in the society for the pure ones.
Thus, in the path of 'forbidding the wrong', we should be prepared to be banished, and for accepting other hardships. 3- At the same time when the people of Lut were accustomed to sins, they knew Lut and his followers as some purified persons.