The Prophet Lot: A discussion on the moral justification of offering his daughters in exchange for the safety of his guests
Four thousand years ago Sodom, Gomorrah and the people of Lot were all destroyed. Yet the controversy has persisted amongst Muslim commentators of the Qur’an on the moral justification of the Prophet Lot offering his daughters in exchange for the safety of his daughters.
Both the Bible and the Quran confirm that, in the evening of the day prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the homosexuals of the towns rushed to the house of Lot to demand for his guests, numbering some three, whom he was giving shelter and food for the night.
The following biblical verse reveals their malicious motive for their rushing there: “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them carnally (Gen19:5) The words” so that we may know them carnally” show, that they had the motive of seizing the guests and using them for anal sex. Lot then responded saying: ‘See ,now I have daughters which have not known a man, please, let me bring them out to you ,and you may do to them as you wish, only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof ”(Gen 19:10). Meaning that he offered his daughters in sexual exchange to the homosexuals in place of the men they desired. The words “and you may do to them as you wish” create a strong impression of Lot offering them as free sexual pertness to the homosexuals. The Quran, revealed some six hundred years later, corrected that wrong impression as we shall establish in course of the discussion. For lack of space I shall briefly quote the sticking points around which the controversy surrounds. In short all the commentaries, with no exception, have unanimously stated that Lot offered his daughters in marriage. The sticking verses surround the following statements First,” These are my daughters if you must do something” (Quran 15:72). Second” These are my daughters they are purer for you”(Quran 11:79). If you must do something “(Quran 15:72) transliterates as: “In Kuntum Faailiin.” The Key word “Faailin” is a plural noun in the accusative form derived from the root word “Fa-ala” meaning to act or do something. The singular noun is “Faail” (masculine) and the femine “Faaila”. They mean a womaniser and a harlot respectively (Wortabet’s Arabic –English Dictionary). In Prof. Lanes Arabic –English Lexicon, the expression “Fa-ala Bil Mara,” that translates as “To do something with a lady” actually means to have illegal sexual act with a lady. The use of words and expressions in place of the real words and expressions underlying the true meaning of a statement is technically called Kinaayat in Arabic. Thus the expression: “Who is the doer with you” (Manil Faail Bika) actually means: “Which man committed illegal sex with you.” (Lisanul Arab). Thus, the true meaning of the word “If you must do something “(Quran -15:72) is therefore: “If the homo sexual have come for anal sex, then these my daughters are purer for you as sexual partners” (Quran 15:72) Hold on and let us finish with the analysis of the second verse: “These are my daughters they are purer for you” (Quran 11:79). The key term “They are purer for you” transliterates into Arabic as:”Hunna At-harlakum,”with “At-harlakum” as the key word. The ladies to be given as spouses to the inmates of paradise are described in the Quran as:”Azwaajun Mutahhara” (Pure spouses) (Quran 2:26,). Elsewhere we read in the Quran:”We send down from the sky pure water”(Quran 25:50). Pure water is “MaaunTahuur’ Thus pure water being potable is consumable, just as pure ladies ‘being pure” shall be consumable. Thus the expression: These are my daughters they are purer for you” carry the meaning of legal sex after marriage. By combining Quran 15:72 and Quran 11:79 all that the Prophet Lot was conveying to the homosexuals was that:”Since you came for the purpose of anal sex which is impure and filthy , then in place of that marry my daughters and have legal sex with them. Thus the word “At-har” (Purer), which is the comparative form of Tahara (purity), is meant to convey the sense that sex with ladies is far purer than filthy sex with fellow men!
Let me quote the views of the following minent commentaries in Support of the above analysis: 1- Tabari: “According to Qatada,’Lot told the towns people to marry the ladies. By this action the Prophet Lot wanted to protect his guests by using his daughters.” Elsewhere we read: “They were not his real daughters. He was only referring to the ladies from his dispensation when he used the word daughters. This should be so since any Prophet is the father of his dispensation; hence the ladies are his daughters”.
2. Ibn Kathir: “He told them (homosexuals) to marry the ladies, who had not yet been exposed to the foolish people. According to Ibn Jubair,”Lot was referring to their women in general who were metaphorically his daughter’s”3. Al-Thalabi: “The marriage of Lot’s daughter to the disbelievers was permissible at that time, just as the Holy Prophet Muhammed married his daughters to Utbah Bin Abu Lahab and Abu lAas before the decent of revelation. 4. Fat-hul Qadir: “In other words Lot wanted to marry them (his daughters) to the people, so that they would abandon their anal sex practices. But according to others he made that offer by way of defending his guests and not that he actually wanted to marry the daughters to them. The following give a summary of the views of Commentators: First, that Lot directed the homosexuals to go and marry the ladies from the town as the most effective antidote to their homosexuality. Second, he offered his real daughters in legal marriage to them. Third, he made the offer of marriage knowing full well that they would never accept the offer, since it was their philosophy of life not to marry. All these measures were taken by Lot with the aim of protecting his noble looking quests. Since all the views insists on legal marriage, then they would go to annul the elements of free sex inherent in Lot’s statement recorded in Gen. 19:10. The Quran, for distinguishing between truth and falsehood in previous scriptures, is called Al-Furqaan, meaning the Discriminator. Accurate Quranic interpretation is heavily dependent on correct linguistic analysis
Conclusion: Lot offered his daughters in legal marriage to the homosexuals in order to protect his guests from being used for anal sex.
BY KHALID KOFI AHMAD
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