What did Prophet Lut say to his people?

A brief explanation of the dubiety

In verses 80 and 81 of Surah al-Araf, and verses 54 and 55 of Surah al-Naml, it has been revealed what Prophet Lut said to his people regarding their indecent actions with others of the same sex. In the verses of Surah al-Araf, he asks his people:

وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُمْ بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِنَ الْعَالَمِينَ 80 إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِنْ دُونِ النِّسَاءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُسْرِفُونَ81

80. And Lot, when he said to his people, ‘What! Do you commit an outrage none in the world ever committed before you?! 81. Indeed you come to men with desire instead of women! Rather you are a profligate lot.’

And in the verses of Surah al-Naml, he asks his people:

وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ وَأَنْتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ 54 أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِنْ دُونِ النِّسَاءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ 55

54. And Lot, when he said to his people, ‘What! Do you commit this indecency while you see [with your own eyes]? 55. Do you approach men with [sexual] desire instead of women?! Rather you are a senseless lot!’

These verses seem to contradict one another because what Prophet Lut  said was only one thing to his people.

A detailed explanation of the dubiety

Contradictory verses

The verses in which the following phrases – “no people in all the world have ever done before you?!” and “you are a people committing excesses…”

It is mentioned in verses 80 and 81 of Surah al-Araf that:  

وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُمْ بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِنَ الْعَالَمِينَ 80 إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِنْ دُونِ النِّسَاءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُسْرِفُونَ 81

80. And (remember) Lut, when he said to his people: “Do you commit an indecency such as no people in all the world have ever done before you? 81. “You come to men with lust in place of women. You are a people committing excesses and wasteful (of your God-given faculties).”

The verses in which the following phrases – “while you look on?” and “you are a senseless lot!” have been revealed in verses 54 and 55 in Surah al-Naml.

In these verses, Prophet Lut says to his people: وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ وَأَنْتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ 54 أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِنْ دُونِ النِّسَاءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ 55 54. We also sent Lut as Messenger. He warned his people: “Will you do that abhorrent indecency in plain view (of one another)? 55. “Will you go with lust to men in place of women? You are indeed an ignorant people with no sense (of decency and right and wrong).

Conclusion

It has been revealed using this phrase in verses 80 and 81 of Surah al-Araf:

وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُمْ بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِنَ الْعَالَمِينَ 80 إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِنْ دُونِ النِّسَاءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُسْرِفُونَ 81

80. And (remember) Lut, when he said to his people: “Do you commit an indecency such as no people in all the world have ever done before you? 81. “You come to men with lust in place of women. You are a people committing excesses and wasteful (of your God-given faculties).”

However, it has been revealed using different phrases in verses 54 and 55 of Surah al-Naml:

وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ وَأَنْتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ 54 أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِنْ دُونِ النِّسَاءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ 55

54. We also sent Lut as Messenger. He warned his people: “Will you do that abhorrent indecency in plain view (of one another)? 55. “Will you go with lust to men in place of women? You are indeed an ignorant people with no sense (of decency and right and wrong).

In conclusion, what Prophet Lut said to his people has been revealed using a phrase that is different to what he said to his people in another verse, while the followers of this case believe that he only said one thing to his people - therefore there exists conflict and negation between these verses.

Brief response

There are two possibilities regarding these verses. Either these verses give an account of a specific conversation with Prophet Lut, or it is describing a number of things which he said regarding multiple issues. If we assume that the first position is correct, then the verses do not contradict one another; this is because each of the verses only explain  and mention a part of his conversation, not the entire dialogue. Assuming the second position to be correct, it is evident that the conflict of phrases used by Prophet Lut is a possible issue, and the account of this difference does not necessitate a contradiction between the accounts.

Detailed answer

There are two possibilities regarding these verses. In continuation, both possibilities will now be given and through both, the contradiction will be removed and further explained.

The answer based on the first possibility

One possibility is that these verses are an account of the words of Prophet Lut in a specific conversation. This dubiety was designed for this possibility. In reality, a specific confrontation and conversation took place that was accounted in these verses. Assuming that the discussion is clear, the answer to the dubiety of the contradiction can be explained. Before we start to clear this dubiety, it is necessary to recount the premise for making the answer clear, which was explained earlier.

Premise: proving a contradiction stops the impossibility of both versions of accounts being right.

When a contradiction is proven between two accounts that cannot be reconciled, then it is contradictory to the impossibility of both reports being right.

When two reports cannot be reconciled, then each one denies the existence of the other. For example, the two sentences, ‘the weather is cold now’ and ‘the weather is hot now’, each one denies the validity of the other and it is not possible for both of them to happen at the same time and space. ‘The weather is cold now’ means that ‘the weather cannot be hot now’; and this is that same denial of the other sentence. Therefore, if two reports do not deny the existence of the other, then they do not contradict one another. For example, a teacher who says to his lazy pupil, “You are a lazy pupil, you will never reach a high level of knowledge.” If someone narrates this report and says, “The teacher told his pupil that he was lazy” and  another person narrates the same report and says, “The teacher told his pupil that he will never reach a high level of knowledge” – then these two reports are not contradictory because they can be reconciled and they do not deny, nor invalidate each other. Any one of these reports can be used alone to describe the event because there are sentences in both reports which the teacher did indeed say to the pupil. It is not possible to determine from either report whether the teacher had said one of those things and not the other, because in the reports, the words the teacher used have not been restricted to just the one reported. Therefore, in reality, each report only relays a part of an account of the event, and it does not intend to portray a full picture of the events. This is why these two reports neither deny, invalidate, nor contradict one another and are able to be reconciled.

The reports in Surah al-Araf and Surah al-Naml are only parts of what Prophet Lut said to his people

The same way as it has been stated, the assumption is that the verses of both Surah al-Araf and Surah al-Naml are sentences which he used during one conversation that was reported; but with this assumption, there is no contradiction between the two verses. This is because there is no restriction on what has been said, by Prophet Lut, in one verse or the other. Each verse is only narrating what was said by the Prophet  according to the report and it does not  refute the other thing which he said, because the verses do not restrict what was being said in the other. In reality, both verses are indistinct in relation to the rest of Prophet Lut’s conversation- they neither confirm, nor deny if anything else was said. Therefore, none of the verses deny the other words said by Prophet Lut and thus are consequently, reconcilable. The conclusion is reached that these verses wholly express that Prophet Lut had used both sentences from the different verses during one conversation with his people. Therefore, these verses are reconcilable with one another and there is no contradiction between the two. In reality, each verse  only relayed part of Prophet Lut’s words and neither verse  narrates his whole conversation or reasoning.

Verse 81 of Surah al-Araf (“You come to men with lust in place of women. You are a people committing excesses and wasteful (of your God-given faculties).”) explains that Prophet Lut called his own people profligate, because they crossed the boundaries of Allah’s limits, deviated and transgressed from the boundaries of their natural dispositions.

On the other hand, verse 55 of Surah al-Naml “Will you go with lust to men in place of women? You are indeed an ignorant people with no sense (of decency and right and wrong).) explains that Prophet Lut called his own people ignorant to make it clear to them that the desire to carry out homosexual acts was through ignorance.

It is possible to reconcile these two reports into one conversation- that he called his people ignorant, profligate and told them that they had transgressed from the boundaries of righteousness and their own natural dispositions. This is because the two terms (ignorant and profligate) matched the description of his people and so he called them these terms in order to turn his peoples’ attention towards their mistakes.

An example of common use

In customs and daily conversations, it is commonplace for someone who is narrating something to give a part of the account at one time and then later on give another part of it. For example, a teacher addresses his students who cheated and says, “Why are you cheating when you know that it is wrong? You are cheating because of your ignorance and heedlessness.” The teacher then continues, “I have not until now, had students who have cheated and you have crossed the red line.” After class, one of the students narrates the opening statement of the teacher, and another student narrates the closing statement of the teacher. Is there any contradiction between the two accounts? The same way that there is no contradiction in this example, there is no contradiction in the aforementioned verses if it is assumed that the account is from one specific conversation.

The answer based on a second possibility

The second possibility is that the verses account the words of Prophet Lut during multiple conversations. This possibility is completely logical- that he talked about this matter on several occasions, because this lewd act gripped the people of Prophet Lut and took place over a long period of time. On the other hand, the Prophet has a duty to deal with the deviations- be it once or twice, and talking and reasoning will not dissipate. Contrarily, it requires mastering. Now that the second possibility has been made clear, the verses need to be checked to see if they have any contradictions with one another. Before we answer this question, it is necessary to recount the premise for making the answer clear, which was explained earlier.

Premise: The lack of existence of a number of events that have been reported, condition for proving a contradiction in a number of events that have been reported, or a difference in the reports, does not result in the negation of one over another and in conclusion, it will not have any contradiction. As an example, it can be said that: ‘A thief  stole from the central bank of the city in summer’ and later on it is told that ‘The same thief  stole from the central bank of the city in autumn’. In this example, no one would claim that these two accounts are contradictory to one another, because these two accounts are reconcilable with one another. What will be used from the sum of these reports is that there was not one theft, but two thefts that took place in two different time periods and that the same thief stole from the central bank of the city two separate times.

The possibility of there being multiple warnings from Prophet Lut to his people

The same way that it was expressed in relation to the verses that were being discussed and based on the first possibility, the non-contradiction of the verses was examined. Now, based on the second possibility, the non-contradiction of the verses will be explained. In the second possibility, the assumption is that the verses are accounting the words of Prophet Lut in a number of occurrences. Based on this assumption, it is very clear that these verses do not have any contradiction with one another, because he had different encounters with his people, and thus addressed them with various arguments, and therefore this issue has no problem. In reality, these verses together explain that Prophet Lut, in various instances, used different phrases in order to warn and admonish his people.

In one instance, he addressed his people as profligate (“You are a people committing excesses and wasteful (of your God-given faculties).”) (Surah al-Araf, verse 81); and in another instance, he addressed them as ignorant and heedless (“You are indeed an ignorant people with no sense (of decency and right and wrong).”) (Surah al-Naml, verse 55). In one encounter with his people, he said, “None in the world ever committed before you?!” (Surah al-Araf, verse 80); and in another instance, he told his people, “While you look on?” (Surah al-Naml, verse 54).

The second possibility is much stronger that the first possibility, because this issue of homosexuality is a very important issue and naturally, Prophet Lut would talk about this on multiple occasions and there is no problem that his words were different; on the contrary, the desire was to guide and warn his people using different statements. The Qur’an has also reported instances of these conversations in each of the verses relating to the discussion.

An example of common use

This type of accounting is also commonplace and prevalent in society- that someone accounting multiple incidents regarding one subject will account one incident at one point in time, and then another incident at a separate time. For example, one day, a teacher addresses his students who cheat and says, “Why are you cheating when you know it is wrong? You carry this out through ignorance and heedlessness.” On another day, he again addresses the class regarding their wrongdoing and says, “I have not, till now, had students who have cheated and you have crossed the red line.” Now, if one of the students accounts the words of the teacher on first day and another time accounts the words of the teacher on the other day, is there contradiction between the two accounts?