Religious

Dewan Musa

 

So many histories, so many logics, so many confusions. There are some people fighting everyday to establish their own beliefs, as they believe. But there is only one Creator who created everything we can see or not, and also creates some rules to follow strictly, and it's not for His own satisfaction, but for the wellbeing of Mankind, means better for us.

 

The Almighty has left thousands of proofs, declaring His existence and to remind human beings about how they came to this earth, and what is the meaning of life. How they are born, how they die, etc. etc.

 

Such a transparent proof is the statue of the wife of Prophet Lot (or Lut), which is reminding the people of this earth about their wrongdoings and its fate everyday.

 

The story is described in several religious books by The Almighty like Al-Quran and Bible. Today I am going to describe the story of this statue according to these books, as the Almighty said.

According to Al-Quran

 

Allah sets forth an example for the disbelievers: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. Each was married to one of Our righteous servants, yet betrayed them.1 So their husbands were of no benefit to them against Allah whatsoever. Both were told, 'Enter the Fire, along with the others!'

 

The people of Lot rejected the messengers.

 

when their brother Lot said to them, "Will you not fear ˹Allah˺?

 

I am truly a trustworthy messenger to you.

 

So fear Allah, and obey me.

 

I do not ask you for any reward for this ˹message˺. My reward is only from the Lord of all worlds.

Why do you ˹men˺ lust after fellow men,

 

leaving the wives that your Lord has created for you? In fact, you are a transgressing people."

 

They threatened, "If you do not desist, O Lot, you will surely be expelled."

 

Lot responded, "I am truly one of those who despise your ˹shameful˺ practice.

 

My Lord! Save me and my family from ˹the consequences of˺ what they do."

 

So We saved him and all of his family,

 

except an old woman, who was one of the doomed.

 

Then We utterly destroyed the rest,

 

pouring upon them a rain ˹of brimstone˺. How evil was the rain of those who had been warned!

 

Surely in this is a sign. Yet most of them would not believe.

 

And when Our messenger-angels came to Lot, he was distressed and worried by their arrival.1 He said, "This is a terrible day."

 

And ˹the men of˺ his people—who were used to shameful deeds—came to him rushing. He pleaded, "O my people! Here are my daughters1 ˹for marriage˺—they are pure for you. So fear Allah, and do not humiliate me by disrespecting my guests. Is there not ˹even˺ a single right-minded man among you?"

 

They argued, "You certainly know that we have no need for your daughters. You already know what we desire!"

 

He responded, "If only I had the strength ˹to resist you˺ or could rely on a strong supporter."

 

The angels said, "O Lot! We are the messengers of your Lord. They will never reach you. So travel with your family in the dark of night, and do not let any of you look back, except your wife. She will certainly suffer the fate of the others.1 Their appointed time is the morning. Is the morning not near?"

 

When Our command came, We turned the cities upside down and rained down on them clustered stones of baked clay,

 

marked by your Lord ˹O Prophet˺. And these stones are not far from the ˹pagan˺ wrongdoers!

 

 

According to Bible (Genesis)

 

And the two angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he fell down on his face to the earth;

 

and he said: 'Behold now, my lords, turn aside, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way.' And they said: 'Nay; but we will abide in the broad place all night.'

 

And he urged them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

 

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter.

 

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him: 'Where are the men that came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.'

 

And Lot went out unto them to the door, and shut the door after him.

 

And he said: 'I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly.

 

Behold now, I have two daughters that have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes; only unto these men do nothing; forasmuch as they are come under the shadow of my roof.'

 

And they said: 'Stand back.' And they said: 'This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs play the judge; now will we deal worse with thee, than with them.' And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and drew near to break the door.

 

But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and the door they shut.

 

And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great; so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

 

And the men said unto Lot: 'Hast thou here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city; bring them out of the place;

 

for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.'

 

And Lot went out, and spoke unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said: 'Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy the city.' But he seemed unto his sons-in-law as one that jested.

 

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying: 'Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are here; lest thou be swept away in the iniquity of the city.'

 

But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him. And they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

 

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said: 'Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the Plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be swept away.'

 

And Lot said unto them: 'Oh, not so, my lord;

 

behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shown unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest the evil overtake me, and I die.

 

Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one; oh, let me escape thither--is it not a little one?--and my soul shall live.'

 

And he said unto him: 'See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken.

 

Hasten thou, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither.'--Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.--

 

The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came unto Zoar.

 

Then the LORD caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

 

and He overthrow those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

 

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

 

And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

 

And he looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

 

And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

 

And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

 

And the first-born said unto the younger: 'Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth.

 

Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.'

 

And they made their father drink wine that night. And the first-born went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

 

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the first-born said unto the younger: 'Behold, I lay yesternight with my father. Let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.'

 

And they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

 

Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

 

And the first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab--the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

 

And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi--the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

 

 

So, now we know that the story of Prophet Lot described in these two different religious books by The Almighty Himself, has the same point of view, what The Creator wanted to teach His loving creation human being.

 

An exception is that after leaving Sodom (according to the Bible), prophet Lot lived in a place with her two daughters where there was no other people. And when Lot's daughters found themselves helpless to continue the family for the future, the girls were thinking about having babies.

 

And when they found there was no other way except for their father to lie with them, they made him drunk for continuously two nights and both of them got babies.

 

Honestly to say, I don't believe this part of the story anyway, my guess is the Christians who developed the Bible, actually they had no other way to complete the generation of the prophets step by step.

 

Whatever, if we avoid this part, the moral theme of both the stories are the same, and it is very acceptable that two people will describe the same story in two other ways, as they believe.

Reference

Surah At-tahrim (10), Surah Ash-Shu'ara (160-175), Surah Hud (77-83), Bible (Genesis) Chapter 19