Surah As-Saffat, Ayah 137

The Destruction of the People of Lut (Lot)

Allah tells us that He sent His servant and Messenger Lut, peace be upon him, to his people, and they denied him, so Allah saved him from among them, him and his family with the exception of his wife, who was destroyed along with her people. Allah destroyed them with different kinds of punishments, and made their vicinity a foul, stinking lake which is on a well-travelled route where people pass by night and day (i.e., the Dead Sea, which lays close to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah on the highway between Arabia and Syria). Allah says:

وَإِنَّكُمْ لَّتَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهِمْ مُّصْبِحِينَ - وَبِالَّيْلِ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ

(Verily, you pass by them in the morning. And at night; will you not then reflect) meaning, `will you not learn a lesson from them and how Allah destroyed them, and realize that a similar end awaits the disbelievers.'

Commentary

Mentioned in these verses is the fifth event that relates to Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) . This event has appeared at several places earlier, therefore, no more details are needed. Here, the people of Makkah have been particularly admonished that they passed by the site of Sadum (Sodom) day and night while traveling with theirs trade caravans to the country of Syria, and Sadum was a place where this grave event came to pass, an event full of vital lessons, yet they failed to learn any. The time of morning and evening was particularly mentioned for the reason that the people of Arabia generally used to pass through here during these very hours. Says Qadi Abu-s-Sa'ud: 'Perhaps, this site of Sodom was located at a stage on this route that those who departed from here did so in the hours of the morning and those who arrived here did so at the time of the evening' (Tafsir abi-s- Saud).

Elijah (Elias or Ilyas) was probably a descendant of Aaron (Harun). He lived in the ninth century B.C. at a time when Israel (Palestine) was governed by the Jewish King, Ahab, while Lebanon, was ruled by Phoenicians, polytheists who worshipped Baal (ba‘l). Ahab married the daughter of the King of Lebanon. Under the influence of their Queen, the Jews began worshipping Baal. Then, Elijah calling upon the Jews to worship One God, which was their original (ancestral) religion. A detailed account of Elijah is given in the Bible. Only a few Jews supported Elijah in his mission. Many of them opposed him to the extent of hatching plots to murder him. But Elijah subsequently attained a high status among the Jews. Now, in Jewish history, he is treated as a great prophet.