Tafsir of Surat al-Dhariyat (31 - 37).

The Shaykh : Yes, The one who said, "What is your matter?" is Ibrahim (peace be upon him), meaning: What is your business, you who are sent? "We sent" means: Allah the Exalted sent them, because it is known that no one from the angels is sent except by their Creator, Blessed and Exalted is He. Meaning: People of a great crime, which is sodomy, and may Allah protect us from it. For they used to approach men with desire instead of women; they would approach what was not created for them and abandon what was created for them. As their prophet Lut (peace be upon him) said to them: And this is a heinous act, a detestable one that no intellect, fitrah, or religion approves of. Therefore, its punishment is the death penalty for both the active and passive parties, if they are adults and of sound mind, whether they are married or unmarried. This is unlike zina (unlawful sexual intercourse); zina has a lighter punishment. For one who commits zina while unmarried, the punishment is one hundred lashes and exile from the town for a full year. If he is married and has had intercourse, his punishment is being stoned to death with stones. As for this [sodomy], its punishment is killing in all cases, as came in the hadith: This heinous act occurred during the time of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and he ordered that both the active and passive parties be burned, because burning is the greatest punishment by which the children of Adam are punished. It was also reported from some of the Caliphs that they ordered the burning of the sodomite. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The Companions agreed on killing the sodomite, whether he was the active or passive party, but they differed on how he should be killed. Some said he should be burned, some said he should be stoned to death like the married adulterer, and some said he should be thrown from the highest point in the town, meaning from the highest place in the town, and then followed up with stones until he dies. So the important point is that they agreed on killing him, and there is no doubt that killing him is the wisdom, because when this heinous act spreads among men, the men become like women, and humiliation, shame, and disgrace begin on the face of the passive party, which he does not forget until he dies. Then the men became self-sufficient with men, and the women remained, because this heinous act, and may Allah protect us from it, when a person is afflicted with it, he does not turn to anything else, because it is a deadly, spreading disease. So if these people are executed, and they are in reality a corrupt, harmful germ to humanity, that is the essence of public benefit. Then sodomy, and may Allah protect us from it, cannot be guarded against, because it is between two males; meaning, it is not possible for any person who sees two males walking in the market to forbid their gathering. But zina, you might see a man with a woman and disapprove of it or suspect him and speak to him. Therefore, the death penalty for the sodomite is most in accordance with wisdom and mercy. It is mercy, mercy for those [who are spared], mercy for the actors, meaning the sodomite and the one sodomized, so that they do not remain in their lives acquiring sin and their punishment increasing. And it is mercy for the society, so that their punishment serves as a deterrent so that the society does not become corrupt. For this reason, the angels said to Ibrahim: And their crime, and may Allah protect us from it, is what they preceded in, as their prophet said to them: "Send" stones of clay, but not the clay that crumbles, rather the hard, great clay that when these stones hit a person and strike his head, they exit from his rear; his bone and flesh do not repel them due to their strength and hardness, and may Allah protect us from it. They are marked and branded by your Lord for the transgressors who exceed their limits. The meaning of "branded" is marked by Allah, meaning they have a sign, because everything with Allah is by measure. Do not think that the matters Allah the Exalted decrees come about by chance, but they are by measure. Even the distance between the stars now and the difference between them in size and brightness is by measure; it did not come about as a fluke or by chance. Everything is measured by a hair or finer. Everything with Allah is by what? By measure. It is necessary that these stones are marked by Allah. Are they marked in the sense that it is written on them, for example, "punishment stones," or branded even for the one upon whom they fall? The answer is the second, because this is more precise: these stones are for so-and-so, these stones are for so-and-so. Meaning: For those who exceed their limits. And there is no doubt that sodomy is exceeding the limit and transgression, and may Allah protect us from it.
Allah the Exalted said: "We brought them out," meaning: We commanded them with a decree of destiny, so they went out. They went out. Allah the Exalted said to Lut: Allah brought out from it those who were among the believers. He the Exalted said: Who are they? Lut and who? And his family, except his wife. For this reason he said: One house, a complete town. Their prophet called them to the oneness of Allah and to abandoning this heinous act, but no one followed him, not even the people of his house; they did not purify themselves of anyone who did not believe in Lut. So be careful, my brother, be careful, my brother, the caller, be careful, my brother, the caller. Do not be grieved if you call and only ten out of a hundred respond to you. This is the blessing of the messengers (peace and blessings be upon them); they remain in their nations for many ages, and only a few follow them. Who from the town followed Lut (peace be upon him)? No one. Who from his family followed him? Who from his family followed him and who lagged behind his call? Who lagged behind? For this reason he said:
And here a person asks himself: How did he say: Do the Muslims here mean the believers in the verse before it? Some scholars went to that and said that in this is evidence that faith (iman) and Islam are one thing.
And others went to the difference and said: As for the believers, they were saved, but as for the house, it is a house of Islam, because the appearance in this house, Lut's house, is what? It is an Islamic appearance, even his wife did not display disbelief; she displayed that she is what? A Muslim. For this reason Allah the Exalted said in Surat al-Tahrim: The meaning is not that they betrayed them with a heinous act, but they betrayed them with disbelief, but it was a concealed disbelief, and it is a betrayal of the kind of hypocrisy. For this reason, the society in which there are hypocrites is called what? A Muslim society, even if there are hypocrites in it, because the appearance is an Islamic appearance.
So we say: He only said "of the Muslims" because his wife was not a believer, but she is what? A Muslim. Okay, "We left therein a sign," meaning a mark. So what is the mark? Is it a sensory mark or a conceptual mark, or two marks, conceptual and sensory? I tell you a useful rule in tafsir: "If a verse is susceptible to more than one meaning, with no preference for one over the other and no contradiction between them, it must be taken to mean both meanings." We say of this verse: Yes, we say this verse is sensory and conceptual. As for the sensory, it is what is seen from the place of their town, which is called Lake Lut, for this was the location of the town; everyone who passes by sees and observes it, as He the Exalted said: What? A conceptual sign: everyone who reads their story in all the noble surahs in which it is mentioned takes heed and learns a lesson and fears. This is a what? Conceptual sign. But who benefits from these signs? Those who fear the painful punishment. For those who fear the painful punishment.
As for those who deny the truth and whose hearts have become hardened, they will not benefit from the verses. Allah the Exalted said: We ask Allah to make us and you among those who benefit from the verses. This concludes the discussion on the story of Ibrahim and Lut (peace be upon them). If Allah wills, the rest of the discussion on the end of the surah will follow. As for now, we move on to the questions. The greeting of peace is only for the one who arrives; as for the one who asks, he asks without a greeting.