An-Naml (The Ant)

54. “And (We sent) Lot, when he said to his people: ‘Do you commit indecency while you see (its iniquity)?’”

55. “What! Do you approach men lustfully instead of women? No, you are a people that are ignorant.”

The people of Lot used to commit sodomy in their public meetings and before the eyes of each other. Surah Al-‘Ankabut, No. 29, verse 29 says:

“…and you commit dishonour in your assemblies?…”

In the above verse, the Qur’an also says:

“…while you see (its iniquity)?”

which means ‘you commit indecency before the eyes of each other, or you commit sin consciously and with insight.

Sodomy is one of the great and hideous sins, because the later verses of the Surah indicate that it consequently brings the chastisement of Allah.

Some other verses of the Qur’an refer to the fact that wife is necessary for calmness, educating and raising up generation, and cooperation in living; but, here, the Qur’an points only to the phenomenon of lust, because the people of Lot had not any aim of their shameful act but lust.

Next to mentioning parts of the life stories of Moses, David, Solomon, and Saleh and their peoples, the fifth prophet whom has been referred to in this Surah, is Lot, the great prophet of Allah.

This subject has repeatedly been referred to in the former Suras of the Qur’an, such as Al-Hijr, Hud, Ash-Shu‘ara, and Al-’A‘raf, where some matters have been mentioned in this ground.

This repetition, and the like of it, is for the fact that the Qur’an is not a book of history in which an event may be wholly explained for one time and it usually does not refer to that event again.

But Qur’an is a book of education for training good men, and we know that in educational themes sometimes the conditions require that an incident should be repeated again and again, in order that it could be reminded and be dealt with from different dimensions.

However, the story of the people of Lot, who are known in the world for their sexual deviation, Sodomy, and for other hideous deeds, as well as their fate at the end of their life, can be an example for those who are drowned in the cesspool of lusts; and the spread of this pollution among societies requires that this instructive event to be mentioned repeatedly.

Here the Qur’an says:

“And (We sent) Lot, when he said to his people: ‘Do you commit indecency while you see (its iniquity)?’”

The Arabic word /fahišah/, as we have said aforetime, means some deeds that the indecency and ugliness of which is manifest, but here the purpose of it is the shameful act of Sodomy.

The Qur’anic phrase /’antum tubsirun/ (while you see) refers to this fact that you see the ugliness and the evil results of this hideous action with your eyes, and you observe that your society has wholly become polluted, so that even your own children are not secured. Why do you see, but yet you do not awake?

Then, in the next verse, it says:

“What! Do you approach men lustfully instead of women?…”

In fact, at first the Qur’an points to this action as an indecent action, /fahišah/, then it explains it more clearly so that there remains no ambiguity for anybody. This is one of the styles of decorum in order to state an important thing.

Then for making clear that the motive of this action is ignorance, it says:

“…No, you are a people that are ignorant.”

This ignorance is the ignorance to Allah, the ignorance to the purpose of creation and laws of creation, and the ignorance to the evil effects of this important sin. If a person, contemplates deeply, he will understand that how much ignorantly this evil action is.

The reason why this sentence is stated in interrogative form is for the sake that they hear its answer from the inside of their own conscience so that it may be more effective.