Surah al-A`raf (The Elevated Places) 7 : 80

Overview (Verses 80 - 84)

Taking the Lead in Perversion

As history moves on we come to the time of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), but the sūrah does not refer here to Abraham’s history, because it only wants to discuss the fate of those nations who rejected the divine message. This is in line with the fourth verse in the sūrah which says: “How many a community have We destroyed, with Our punishment falling upon them by night, or at midday while they were resting.” (Verse 4) These stories of earlier communities give some details of what this statement sums up. Abraham’s people were not destroyed because the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) did not request his Lord to destroy them. Instead, he abandoned them and the deities they worshipped instead of God. We have here a brief account of the story of the people of Lot, who was Abraham’s nephew and contemporary, because the story involves giving warnings, rejection by unbelievers, and destruction. It thus fits in with what the sūrah is all about.

And Lot said to his people: “Will you persist in the indecencies none in all the world had ever committed before you? With lust you approach men instead of women. Indeed, you are given to excesses. His people’s only answer was: “Drive them out of your land; for they are indeed people who would keep chaste.” We saved him together with his household, except his wife: she was one of those who stayed behind. We let loose a heavy rain upon them. Behold what happened in the end to those criminal people. (Verses 80-84)

The story of Lot’s people tells us about one special aspect of perverted human nature and tackles an issue different from that of Godhead and God’s oneness which was the central point in the earlier stories. However, it is not far removed from it. Believing in God, the only Lord in the universe, is bound to lead the believer to accept God’s law and conform to the rules of nature He has set in operation. It has been God’s will to create human beings in two sexes, male and female, who perfectly complement each other. Survival of this species is effected through reproduction that results from intimate contact between male and female. Hence, it is part of their nature to be physically and psychologically attracted to each other and to make the contact that leads to reproduction. The pleasure they receive from it is profound, and the desire to have that pleasure is deeply rooted. Both desire and pleasure provide the motive for them to seek that contact despite the difficulties they are sure to encounter later with pregnancy, childbirth, breast-feeding, maintenance, and the upbringing and education of children. It also ensures that the male and female remain united in a family where the offspring are reared, because they require fostering over a much longer period than animal offspring. Moreover, it fulfils God’s will for human life to continue.

This is the way God has ordained things. To understand it and conform to it is directly related to believing in God and His wisdom in planning and creation. Therefore, to deliberately deviate from this norm is closely related to deviation from faith and from the code of living God has laid down.

Perversion of human nature is presented so clearly in the story of Lot’s people. It is clear that Lot, the Prophet, does not mince words about the fact that they are the abnormal ones among God’s creation, and that their ugly perversion is unprecedented: “And Lot said to his people: ‘Will you persist in the indecencies none in all the world had ever committed before you? With lust you approach men instead of women. Indeed, you are given to excesses.’” (Verses 80-81)

The excess to which Lot is referring is that they go beyond the limits of the divine order of things which is reflected in upright human nature. They indeed go to excess with regard to the energy God has given them in order to play their role in the survival and progress of human life, by expending it wastefully in a place other than that of fertilization. It thus becomes no more than a perverted lust. God has made both man and woman derive proper and natural pleasure in the fulfilment of natural law. When a person finds his pleasure in something contrary to this natural law, then that is a mark of the perversion and corruption of nature, let alone its being a corruption of moral values. Indeed, there is no difference between the two, because Islamic morality is an embodiment of natural moral values, free of corruption and perversion.

Just like her psychology, woman’s physical constitution is the one that allows the male to have his proper and natural pleasure when the two share contact which is not meant merely to satisfy a desire. Indeed, the pleasure that attends such a contact is an aspect of God’s grace and blessing. It is He who has made this activity the source of pleasure, equal to its attendant responsibility. At the same time it fulfils His will that ensures the continuity of life. The male’s physical constitution cannot provide uncorrupted human nature with pleasure if this desire is to be fulfilled with another male. Indeed, a feeling of disgust is immediately generated which blocks such a leaning as long as human nature is normal and upright.

The nature of the faith on which a particular system is based has a decisive influence in this respect. We need only to look at contemporary jāhiliyyah in Europe and America to find the same sexual perversion rapidly increasing. No justification may be advanced for it other than the fact that people there have deviated from the right beliefs and the way of life that can be based on them. The media, often controlled by Zionist interests, is directed to undermine human life through the spreading of immorality and promiscuity. Hence it has been trying hard to stress the misconception that women’s adoption of a position of conservative propriety is the reason for the spread of such abnormal indecencies. But the facts contradict this most glaringly. In Europe and America, there is no longer any impediment to complete social and private contacts between men and women. People there often justify this, taking their lead from the animal world. Nevertheless, perverse sexual practice continues to increase. Indeed, it is no longer limited to homosexuality between males; lesbians are also on the increase. Anyone who still wants to argue in the face of these glaring facts should read first, “Men’s sexual behaviour” and “Women’s sexual behaviour” in the McKenzie Report. The controlled media nevertheless continues to repeat this falsehood, attributing perversion to women’s religious dress. In this way, they are only fulfilling the aims of the protocols of the Elders of Zion and implementing the recommendations of missionary conventions.

Let us now turn our attention to Lot’s people to find perversion staring us in the face as we listen to their reply to the Prophet Lot: “His people’s only answer was: ‘Drive them out of your land; for they are indeed people who would keep chaste.’” (Verse 82) How amazing! The person who prefers to be chaste and maintains the path of purity is driven out of town, so that only those immersed in filth remain.

But why should we wonder when we see modern jāhiliyyah doing the same thing. It chases those who maintain their chastity and refuse to sink into the filth of jāhiliyyah societies, falsely described as progress and as liberation of women from bondage. Such people are exposed to enormous pressures at home and at work and they are condemned personally and intellectually. Their presence in society is hardly tolerated, because only those who are prepared to sink into the filth of ignorance are welcome. The same logic of ignorance wherever and whenever jāhiliyyah exists!

The fate of those people is mentioned briefly in the same way as the fate of other nations and communities: “We saved him together with his household, except his wife: she was one of those who stayed behind. We let loose a heavy rain upon them. Behold what happened in the end to those criminal people.” (Verses 83-84)

Those who were threatened by the criminals are saved, and the issue is settled on the basis of faith and the way of life it lays down. Lot’s wife, the closest person to him, is not saved because she belonged to his people and shared their beliefs and practices. A rain was sent pouring down over them, accompanied by powerful storms. We wonder, was this torrential rain meant to purify the earth from their filth and impurity? It may be so, but another case of rejection of the divine faith was thus settled forever.