An-Naml (The Ant)

56. “But the answer of his people was naught except that they said: ‘Drive out the people of Lot from your city; verily they are people (who seek to be) pure.”

Since the wrong doers have not any acceptable logic before the Divine prophets, they use force against them.

The former discussions with the strong logic of Lot, the Divine prophet, in front of those polluted people, explained that how he dissuaded them from the hideous act of Sodomy by his reasonable and eloquent statement, and he showed them that this act is the consequence of ignorance and being unaware of the law of creation and all human values.

Now, we see the answer of this polluted nation to the logical statement of Lot (as).

The holy Qur’an says:

“But the answer of his people was naught except that they said: ‘Drive out the people of Lot from your city; verily they are people (who seek to be) pure.”

This answer is an implication to the low level of their thought and the extraordinary fall of their ethical affairs.

Yes, in the environment of the polluted ones, chastity is a crime and a defect. The chaste and modest ones, like Yusuf, are put in prison, and the household of the divine prophet, because of their chastity and avoidance from pollution, are banished, while the persons like Zulaykha, are free and possess ranks.

Lot’s household must be banished, but the people of Lot can live in peace in their city freely.

This is the clear example of the word of Qur’an where it says about the wrong doers that their hearts were sealed because of their deeds and their eyes were veiled and their ears had heaviness.¹

It is also probable that because of their being sunk in corruption and being accustomed to pollution, concerning Lot’s household, they said in mockery:

“…They are people (who seek to be) pure…”.

These people implied that Lot’s household imagined that their piety was chastity and the act of the people of Lot was impious. What a wonderful and ridiculous thing!

And it is not surprising that, as the result of getting accustomed to a shameful action, the sense of recognition of a person changes. The famous story of a tanner, who was constantly with the purified skins and his sense of smell had got accustomed to that bad smell, is well known.

When he was passing the market of perfume-sellers, he became unconscious, and the concerning doctor ordered that he should be brought into the market of tanners to ‘recover his sense’. We have heard this story and it is an interesting sensible example for this logical matter.