How to reconcile Allah’s saying: “So We brought out those who were therein from among the believers” with His saying: “So We found therein no one except a family of the Muslims”?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : O Shaykh, may Allah reward you, how do we reconcile the saying of Allah the Exalted?
The Shaykh : Between what?
The questioner : Between the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Adh-Dhariyat 51:35] and that We left therein!
The Shaykh :.
The questioner :[Adh-Dhariyat 51:36].
The Shaykh : You made a mistake in the verse. You said “So We left,” but it is “So We found.”
The questioner :[Adh-Dhariyat 51:36].
The Shaykh : There is no problem with it now.
The questioner : How do we reconcile the two?
The Shaykh : Because the house, the house of Lut (peace be upon him), was a house of Islam, a house in which there were Muslims, even his disbelieving wife did not declare her disbelief, but when Allah intended to save the people of the house, He saved the believers whose faith was apparent and hidden, so she remained because she was a Muslim but not a believer, did you understand? Is it clear to you or not?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Very well.
The Shaykh : Between what?
The questioner : Between the saying of Allah the Exalted:
So We brought out whoever was in the cities of the believers.
فأخرجنا من كان فيها من المؤمنينThe Shaykh :
So We found
فما وجدناThe questioner :
And We found not within them other than a [single] house of Muslims.
فما وجدنا فيها غير بيت من المسلمينThe Shaykh : You made a mistake in the verse. You said “So We left,” but it is “So We found.”
The questioner :
And We found not within them other than a [single] house of Muslims.
فما وجدنا فيها غير بيت من المسلمينThe Shaykh : There is no problem with it now.
The questioner : How do we reconcile the two?
The Shaykh : Because the house, the house of Lut (peace be upon him), was a house of Islam, a house in which there were Muslims, even his disbelieving wife did not declare her disbelief, but when Allah intended to save the people of the house, He saved the believers whose faith was apparent and hidden, so she remained because she was a Muslim but not a believer, did you understand? Is it clear to you or not?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Very well.