The Holy Quran: Why Were The Verses On The People Of Lut Revealed?
By Junaid Jahangir,
New Age Islam
6 October
2020
Conservative
Muslims believe that verses 7:81, 26:165-166 and 27:55 are clear in their
prohibition of homosexuality. However, gay Muslims argue that these verses
condemn male rape perpetrated by men, who are generally assumed to be straight.
To support
their position, conservative Muslims read the verse using an atomistic
approach, which means that they quote the verse without regard to the allied
verses that inform the narrative of the people of Lut. Based on the online
translations of the Qur’an, they quote verse 7:81 as follows.
Indeed, you approach men with desire, instead
of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people.
They refer
to men and women generally and argue that approaching men with desire
constitutes transgression. On the other hand, gay Muslims question that if the
categories of men and women are accepted generally, then why did men, who are
generally interested in women, pursue other men with desire?
Sustaining
their line of inquiry, they argue that the men and the women in the verse have
been particularized through definite nouns by the use of the prefix “al”, so
the verse contains the words “alrijal” for men and “alnisa” for women.
They apply
a holistic approach by invoking the context informed by verses 15:70 and 29:29.
The former refers to the people prohibiting Lut from offering hospitality to
travellers and the latter refers to highway robbery and evil deeds in public
assemblies. Additionally, verses 26:165-166 use the word “Azkwajikum” that refers to the wives/mates of the people of Lut.
Based on
this context that is supported by Tasfir (exegetical
literature), gay Muslims argue that the men referred to are the hapless
travellers and the women are the wives of the people of Lut. Therefore, they
argue that the Qur’an is condemning the people of Lut for approaching
vulnerable travellers with desire for their worldly possessions and/or for
sexual conduct, when their basic needs were being met with their God given
spouses. The Mufassireen (exegetes)
like Zamakhshari (d. 1144) viewed
this desire as animalistic devoid of any affection or compassion.
Even if the
context of the people of Lut is ignored, and these verses are upheld as
universal for all times and places, verses 7:81, 26:165-166, 27:55 can be read
as depicting men, generally assumed to be straight, pursuing other men with
animalistic desire instead of being content with their spouses, who would have
been generally receptive to their sexual advances.
Nowhere
does the Qur’an mention that the men they approached were receptive to their
advances. Based on the exegetical writings of Muslim scholars like Abu Hanifa
(d. 767) and Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) who
argued that no man willingly submits to being anally penetrated unless he
suffers from the Ubna (anal itch)
disease or for financial aims, it becomes quite clear that the depicted approach
of the men is oppressive (Zulm based)
and therefore transgressive (sinful) in nature.
While the
above illustrates how gay Muslims read the verses on the people of Lut, it does
not explain why the verses on the people of Lut were revealed when Muslims were
facing oppression from the haughty Meccans in Mecca. Surely, verses related to
Muslim law were revealed in Medina whereas Meccan verses dealt with the needs
of the fledgling Muslim community.
One is hard
pressed to understand the significance of the verses when the Prophet never
dealt with a case of homosexual conduct in his lifetime, which put the
Companions in a quandary when they began to face such cases after his death.
Indeed, based on the Arab norms of Muruwwa
(manliness) in the desert, any homosexual conduct would have been suppressed.
For instance, in the case of Abu Jahl, it is alleged that he satisfied his
receptive anal intercourse need with stones instead of submitting to another
man. Therefore, the asbab al Nuzul
(occasions or circumstances) for the revelation of the verses on the people of
Lut demand a proper illustration.
One
explanation comes from an Ahmadi Tafsir. While the Ahmadis share the general
Sunni and Shia position on the prohibition of homosexual conduct, their
exegetical literature provides a comprehensive reflection of the narrative on the
people of Lut. Their exegesis shows how these verses were revealed to comfort
the Prophet in the face of intense opposition from the Meccans.
The Tafsir draws parallels between Lut and
the Prophet. Lut had two daughters Ritha and Ra’raba who were married to the
townsfolk. Likewise, the Prophet’s daughters, Ruqayyah, Zaynab and Umm Kulthum
were initially married to the Meccans. Just as the people of Lut had forbidden
him from outsiders, the Meccans too had prohibited the Prophet from outsiders
lest he should form alliances with them.
The Tafsir
indicates that the verses were revealed to comfort the Prophet that just as
Allah had saved Lut and his daughters from the people, so too He would come to
the aid of the Prophet. It draws
parallels between the blinding of the people of Lut and the strong gale during
the battle of Badr that drove into the faces of the Meccans blinding them.
Moreover, just as the town of the people of Lut was turned upside down, so too
the Meccan social order was eventually turned upside down when the haughty
Meccans slid down the social scale and the poor Muslims rose in prominence.
In essence,
while conservative Muslims believe that the passages on the people of Lut are
about the prohibition of homosexual conduct, the alternative reading avoids
such an obsession with anal intercourse. Based on the linguistics of classical
Arabic, the context, the circumstances of revelation and the exegetical
literature, it is more reasonable to conclude that the verses are about the Zulm (oppression) of the people of Lut
and the haughty Meccans and that the verses were revealed to comfort the
Prophet that just as Allah had saved Lut so too He would come to his aid in the
face of intense opposition and oppression.
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Junaid Jahangir is an Assistant Professor of
Economics at MacEwan University. He is the co-author of Islamic Law and Muslim
Same-Sex Unions. With Dr. Hussein Abdullatif, a paediatric endocrinologist in
Alabama, he has co-authored several academic papers on the issue of same-sex
unions in Islam.
Related Articles:
To Sustain an LGBTQ Affirming Islamic Discourse, Lateral
Violence Must End
Why Gay Muslims Are Upheld To Standards That Not Even
Prophets Fulfil?
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/lut-quran-verses/d/123059
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Junaid
Jahangir is an Assistant Professor of Economics at MacEwan University. He is
the co-author of Islamic Law and Muslim Same-Sex Unions. With Dr. Hussein
Abdullatif, a paediatric endocrinologist in Alabama, he has co-authored several
academic papers on the issue of same-sex unions in Islam. He contributed this
article to NewAgeIslam.com.
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