¶ Door Number Three
¶ The Third Covenant With Abraham (PBUH)
¶ “Abraham asked, ‘What about my offspring?’ God replied, ‘My covenant is not extended to the wrongdoers.’”
Imam Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) said:
“When Cain saw that the fire accepted the offering of Abel, Iblis said to him: ‘Verily Abel was worshiping that fire’ so then Cain said: ‘I do not worship the fire which Abel worshiped, but I worship another fire and I offer to it offerings and it accepts my offerings,’ and so he built houses of fire and presented to it offerings, and Cain had no knowledge about the Lord God, and the descendants of Cain did not inherit anything from Cain except for the practice of fire worship.”
This is evidence that Adam (PBUH) did not consider Cain to be his son and Adam never taught Cain anything about religion. Fire played a vital role in the divine religions from the beginning in the story of Adam, and the offerings presented by Cain and Abel, and fire continued to play an important role in both the true divine religion as well as false religions, and in the confusion that the people have over the two. For example, the Zoroastrian religion, Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Him is Peace) said: “This religion was established by Prophet Zoroaster (PBUH) and the religion was named after Zoroaster by his followers after him.” They were not fire worshipers; however, the descendants of Cain after him thought that Zoroaster was a fire worshiper just as their father Cain thought that of Adam, and they corrupted the religion and the people became confused in this regard. Now it is thought by many that Zoroastrians are fire worshipers.
Prophet Zoroaster (PBUH) was one of the Prophets who was upon the jurisprudence of Noah (PBUH) and for that reason, fire plays an important role. As such, the people in the time of Nimrod (May God curse him) were upon the remnants of the religion of Cain; therefore, you also find fire having a significant role in the religion of Nimrod. We even find Nimrod throwing Abraham into the fire as an offering. Nimrod attempted to make Abraham worship the fire but when he refused he was thrown by force into the fire. However, the offering of Nimrod was not accepted and the fire did not consume Abraham, just as it did not consume and accept the offering of Nimrod’s forefather, Cain (May God curse them). There is a Jewish Midrash (Rabbinic tradition) that states:
He [Abraham] was given over to Nimrod. [Nimrod] told him: “Worship the Fire!” Abraham said to him: “Shall I then worship the water, which puts off the fire!” Nimrod told him: “Worship the water!” [Abraham] said to him: “If so, shall I worship the cloud, which carries the water?” [Nimrod] told him: “Worship the cloud!” [Abraham] said to him: “If so, shall I worship the wind, which scatters the clouds?” [Nimrod] said to him: “Worship the wind!” [Abraham] said to him: “And shall we worship the human, who withstands the wind?” Said [Nimrod] to him: “You pile words upon words, I bow to none but the fire—in it shall I throw you, and let the God to whom you bow come and save you from it!” Haran [Abraham’s brother] was standing there. He said [to himself]: “What shall I do? If Abraham wins, I shall say: ‘I am of Abraham’s [followers],’ if Nimrod wins I shall say ‘I am of Nimrod’s [followers].’ ” When Abraham went into the furnace and survived, Haran was asked: “Whose [follower] are you?” and he answered: “I am Abraham’s!” [Then] they took him and threw him into the furnace, and his belly opened and he died and predeceased Terach, his father.
Nimrod was a son of Canaan and Canaan was a descendant of Cain and Iblis (May God curse them). The Second Covenant with God ended due to Nimrod’s attempt to kill Abraham (PBUH). As a result, God established a Third Covenant with Abraham (PBUH). God then brought down the punishment upon Nimrod and his people. During that era, all of the people of the Earth spoke a single language; however, the Babylonians challenged God by wanting to make a name for themselves and proceeded to build a giant tower,
‘with its top in the heavens,’
the tower of Babel. God humbled them by destroying the tower of Babel and eliminated Nimrod by means of a small insect. Furthermore, God confused the language of the people and scattered them into many differing nations, tribes, and peoples.
Zayd Al-Shaham narrated from Aba Abdillah (From Him is Peace) who said:
“I heard him (Aba Abdillah) say: ‘Verily God (The Blessed and the High) made Abraham a servant before he made him a Prophet, and God made him a Prophet before he made him a Messenger, and God made him a Messenger before taking him as a Friend, and God took him as a Friend before making him an Imam, and so when God completed these things for him, He said: ‘O Abraham! I am making you an Imam for the people!’ and due to the greatness of the matter in the eyes of Abraham, he asked: ‘What about my offspring?’ and God responded: ‘My covenant is not extended to the wrongdoers.’ ”
In the book of Genesis (Chapter 17):
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram (אַבְרָם); your name will be Abraham (אַבְרָהָם), for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai (שָׂרַ֣י) your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai (שָׂרַ֣י) her name will be Sarah (שָׂרָ֖ה). I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen; Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day. And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
Just as God took a Covenant with Adam (PBUH) and his descendants and with Noah (PBUH) and his descendants, God made a Third Covenant with Abraham and his descendants. However, God made it clear that this Covenant would only be with the righteous from his descendants, and it would not include those whose origin was Iblis and Cain. God gave Abraham (PBUH) a special sign of their Covenant and it was circumcision. Circumcision was always a strange sign that scholars have failed to explain why this particular, peculiar sign was the one that God chose for Abraham and his descendants. The sign of the Adamic Covenant was the tree, the sign of the Noahic Covenant was the rainbow, and the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant was circumcision.
Circumcision takes place in the reproductive organ area of the male and this area is always covered by clothing, so to whom was this a sign? The sign was for the women of the Abrahamic Covenant, the daughters of Adam (PBUH), and the descendants of Adam (PBUH); in order that they know who their husbands were before allowing them to enter upon them. Are they sons of Adam (PBUH) or are they sons of Cain in disguise? This was a sign so that Iblis and his sons would not deceive them as they deceived Eve beforehand.
The new Covenant and its condition, circumcision, was difficult for the people of that time. God made circumcision a purification of their lineage from the integration with the sons of Iblis for Iblis and his seed were not circumcised. Jesus (PBUH) clarified this matter when he said in the Gospel of Barnabas:
And lo! A woman of Canaan with her two sons, who had come forth out of her own country to find Jesus. Having therefore seen him come with his disciples, she cried out: “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on my daughter, who is tormented of the devil!” Jesus did not answer even a single word, because they were of the uncircumcised people. The disciples were moved to pity, and said: “O master, have pity on them! Behold how much they cry out and weep!” Jesus answered: “I am not sent but unto the people of Israel.” Then the woman, with her sons, went before Jesus, weeping and saying: “O son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus answered: “It is not good to take the bread from the children’s hands and give it to the dogs.” And this said Jesus by reason of their uncleanness, because they were of the uncircumcised people. The woman answered: “O Lord, the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then was Jesus seized with admiration at the words of the woman, and said: “O woman, great is thy faith.” And having raised his hands to heaven he prayed to God, and then he said: “O woman, thy daughter is freed, go thy way in peace.” The woman departed, and returning to her home found her daughter, who was blessing God. Wherefore the woman said: “Verily there is none other God than the God of Israel.” Whereupon all her kinsfolk joined themselves unto the law of [God], according to the law written in the book of Moses. The disciples questioned Jesus on that day, saying: “O master, why didst thou make such answer to the woman, saying that they were dogs?” Jesus answered: “Verily I say unto you that a dog is better than an uncircumcised man.” Then were the disciples sorrowful, saying: “Hard are these words, and who shall be able to receive them?” Jesus answered: “If ye consider, O foolish ones, what the dog doth, that hath no reason, for the service of his master, ye will find my saying to be true. Tell me, doth the dog guard the house of his master, and expose his life against the robber? Yea, assuredly. But what receiveth he? Many blows and injuries with little bread, and he always showeth to his master a joyful countenance. Is this true?” “True it is, O master,” answered the disciples. Then said Jesus: “Consider now how much God hath given to man, and ye shall see how unrighteous he is in not observing the covenant of God made with Abraham his servant. Remember that which David said to Saul king of Israel, against Goliath the Philistine: ‘My lord,’ said David, ‘while thy servant was keeping thy servant’s flock there came the wolf, the bear, and the lion and seized thy servant’s sheep: whereupon thy servant went and slew them, rescuing the sheep. And what is this uncircumcised one but like unto them? Therefore will thy servant go in the name of the Lord God of Israel, and will slay this unclean one that blasphemeth the holy people of God.’ ” Then said the disciples: “Tell us, O master, for what reason man must needs be circumcised?” Jesus answered: “Let it suffice you that God hath commanded it to Abraham, saying: ‘Abraham, circumcise thy foreskin and that of all thy house, for this is a covenant between me and thee forever.’ ” And having said this, Jesus sat nigh unto the mountain which they looked upon. And his disciples came to his side to listen to his words. Then said Jesus: “Adam the first man having eaten, by fraud of Satan, the food forbidden of God in paradise, his flesh rebelled against the spirit; whereupon he swore, saying: ‘By God, I will cut thee!’ And having broken a piece of rock, he seized his flesh to cut it with the sharp edge of the stone: whereupon he was rebuked by the angel Gabriel. And he answered: ‘I have sworn by God to cut it; I will never be a liar!’ Then the angel showed him the superfluity of his flesh, and that he cut off. And hence, just as every man taketh flesh for the flesh of Adam, so is he bound to observe in his sons, and from generation to generation came down the obligation of circumcision.”
I would like to point out here that this is an additional proof that the initial sin which Adam (PBUH) had committed was attempting to have intercourse with Fatimah Al-Zahra (From Her is Peace). It was a sin of the flesh and in particular a sexual sin. That is why Adam here takes vengeance against his male organ and cuts it with the sharp edge of the stone, because the flesh which rebelled against God was the flesh of his penis.
We continue reading the narration of the Gospel of Barnabas:
But in the time of Abraham there were but few circumcised upon the earth, because that idolatry was multiplied upon the earth. Whereupon God told to Abraham the fact concerning circumcision, and made this covenant, saying: “The soul that shall not have his flesh circumcised, I will scatter him from among my people forever.” The disciples trembled with fear at these words of Jesus, for with vehemence of spirit he spake. Then said Jesus: “Leave fear to him that hath not circumcised his foreskin, for he is deprived of paradise.” And having said this, Jesus spake again, saying: “The spirit in many is ready in the service of God, but the flesh is weak. The man therefore that feareth God ought to consider what the flesh is, and where it had its origin, and whereto it shall be reduced. Of the clay of the earth created God flesh, and into it he breathed the breath of life, with an inbreathing therein. And therefore when the flesh shall hinder the service of God it ought to be spurned like clay and trampled on, forasmuch as he that hateth his soul in this world shall keep it in life eternal. What the flesh is at this present its desires make manifest— that it is a harsh enemy of all good: for it alone desireth sin. Ought then man for the sake of satisfying one of his enemies to leave off pleasing God, his creator? Consider ye this: All the saints and prophets have been enemies of their flesh for service of God: wherefore readily and with gladness they went to their death, so as not to offend against the law of God given by Moses his servant, and go and serve the false and lying gods. Remember Elijah, who fled through desert places of the mountains, eating only grass, clad in goats’ skin. Ah, how many days he supped not! Ah, how much cold he endured! Ah, how many showers drenched him and [that] for the space of seven years, wherein endured that fierce persecution of the unclean Jezebel! Remember Elisha, who ate barley-bread, and wore the coarsest raiment. Verily I say unto you that they, not fearing to spurn the flesh, were feared with great terror by the king and princes. This should suffice for the spurning of the flesh, O men. But if ye will gaze at the sepulchres, ye shall know what flesh is.”
Now it is clear to you why a dog would be better than the uncircumcised, because a dog is better and more pure than Satan and his seed. The Abrahamic Covenant was a special Covenant for him and his descendants especially (the children of Adam). God willed for him and his family a special state with its own land the likes of the Garden of Eden, and God granted for Abraham and his descendants the land from the Nile to the Euphrates, meaning God granted it to Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael and to the sons of Israel (Jacob) after them (peace be upon them all). For God said:
“But my covenant I will establish with Isaac.”
Therefore, Ishmael and his descendants are included in the Covenant but God’s chosen people in this Covenant are the sons of Isaac (PBUH).
There are many interesting factors about the Abrahamic story which we would like to point out. Firstly, we would like to point out that Abraham was married to his own sister, Sarah, who was actually a half-sister. And this further proves the point that marriage between siblings was allowed in the First Covenant, since there was no command except to be fruitful and no forbiddance except to stay away from the tree. And marriage between siblings remained lawful in the Noahic Covenant, which Abraham and Sarah were upon, and it remained lawful in the Third Covenant as well. In Genesis, Chapter 20, it is shown that Abraham and Sarah are both brother and sister as well as husband and wife:
“Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.”
Abraham further confirms it in Genesis 20:11-12:
“Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father -though not of my mother- and she became my wife.”
And in Sahih Al-Bukhari, it was narrated that the Prophet of Allah Mohammed (PBUH & His Family) said:
“As Abraham (PBUH) was walking with Sarah, they came across a tyrant from the tyrants and it was said to him: ‘Verily here with us is a man that has with him one of the most beautiful women, so send forth for him.’ And he asked him about her and said: ‘Who is this?’ And so he said: ‘My sister.’ ”
There were also other types of sexual relations that were happening not too far from Abraham (PBUH), including homosexual relations, in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where Abraham’s nephew was sent to, Prophet Lot (PBUH). In Genesis, Chapter 18, it states that there were complaints raised to God against Sodom and Gomorrah. And God decides to send a couple of angels disguised as men to investigate:
“Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
And so here is revealed an important fact that we must take note of. We find here that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were a source of an outcry to the Lord. An outcry is a very large complaint or protest. So people were victimized by the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and were complaining to God about it. In the following Jewish narration from the book Legends of the Jews we get a glimpse of what the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were like:
The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and the three other cities of the plain were sinful and godless. In their country there was an extensive vale, where they foregathered annually with their wives and their children and all belonging to them, to celebrate a feast lasting several days and consisting of the most revolting orgies. If a stranger merchant passed through their territory, he was besieged by them all, big and little alike, and robbed of whatever he possessed. Each one appropriated a bagatelle, until the traveller was stripped bare. If the victim ventured to remonstrate with one or another, he would show him that he had taken a mere trifle, not worth talking about. And the end was that they hounded him from the city. Once upon a time it happened that a man journeying from Elam arrived in Sodom toward evening. No one could be found to grant him shelter for the night. Finally a sly fox named Hedor invited him cordially to follow him to his house. The Sodomite had been attracted by a rarely magnificent carpet, strapped to the stranger’s ass by means of a rope. He meant to secure it for himself. The friendly persuasions of Hedor induced the stranger to remain with him two days, though he had expected to stay only overnight. When the time came for him to continue on his journey, he asked his host for the carpet and the rope. Hedor said: “Thou hast dreamed a dream, and this is the interpretation of thy dream: the rope signifies that thou wilt have a long life, as long as a rope; the varicolored carpet indicates that thou wilt own an orchard wherein thou wilt plant all sorts of fruit trees.” The stranger insisted that his carpet was a reality, not a dream fancy, and he continued to demand its return. Not only did Hedor deny having taken anything from his guest, he even insisted upon pay for having interpreted his dream to him. His usual price for such services, he said, was four silver pieces, but in view of the fact that he was his guest, he would, as a favor to him, content himself with three pieces of silver. After much wrangling, they put their case before one of the judges of Sodom, Sherek by name, and he said to the plaintiff, “Hedor is known in this city as a trustworthy interpreter of dreams, and what he tells thee is true.” The stranger declared himself not satisfied with the verdict, and continued to urge his side of the case. Then Sherek drove both the plaintiff and the defendant from the court room. Seeing this, the inhabitants gathered together and chased the stranger from the city, and lamenting the loss of his carpet, he had to pursue his way. As Sodom had a judge worthy of itself, so also had the other cities--Sharkar in Gomorrah, Zabnak in Admah, and Manon in Zeboiim. Eliezer, the bondman of Abraham, made slight changes in the names of these judges, in accordance with the nature of what they did: the first he called Shakkara, Liar; the second Shakrura, Arch-deceiver; the third Kazban, Falsifier; and the fourth, Mazle-Din, Perverter of Judgment. At the suggestion of these judges, the cities set up beds on their commons. When a stranger arrived, three men seized him by his head, and three by his feet, and they forced him upon one of the beds. If he was too short to fit into it exactly, his six attendants pulled and wrenched his limbs until he filled it out; if he was too long for; it, they tried to jam him in with all their combined strength, until the victim was on the verge of death. His outcries were met with the words, “Thus will be done to any man that comes into our land.” After a while travellers avoided these cities, but if some poor devil was betrayed occasionally into entering them, they would give him gold and silver, but never any bread, so that he was bound to die of starvation. Once he was dead, the residents of the city came and took back the marked gold and silver which they had given him, and they would quarrel about the distribution of his clothes, for they would bury him naked. Once Eliezer, the bondman of Abraham, went to Sodom, at the bidding of Sarah, to inquire after the welfare of Lot. He happened to enter the city at the moment when the people were robbing a stranger of his garments. Eliezer espoused the cause of the poor wretch, and the Sodomites turned against him; one threw a stone at his forehead and caused considerable loss of blood. Instantly, the assailant, seeing the blood gush forth, demanded payment for having performed the operation of cupping. Eliezer refused to pay for the infliction of a wound upon him, and he was haled before the judge Shakkara. The decision went against him, for the law of the land gave the assailant the right to demand payment. Eliezer quickly picked up a stone and threw it at the judge’s forehead. When he saw that the blood was flowing profusely, he said to the judge, “Pay my debt to the man and give me the balance.” The cause of their cruelty was their exceeding great wealth. Their soil was gold, and in their miserliness and their greed for more and more gold, they wanted to prevent strangers from enjoying aught of their riches. Accordingly, they flooded the highways with streams of water, so that the roads to their city were obliterated, and none could find the way thither. They were as heartless toward beasts as toward men. They begrudged the birds what they ate, and therefore extirpated them. They behaved impiously toward one another, too, not shrinking back from murder to gain possession of more gold. If they observed that a man owned great riches, two of them would conspire against him. They would beguile him to the vicinity of ruins, and while the one kept him on the spot by pleasant converse, the other would undermine the wall near which he stood, until it suddenly crashed down upon him and killed him. Then the two plotters would divide his wealth between them. Another method of enriching themselves with the property of others was in vogue among them. They were adroit thieves. When they made up their minds to commit theft, they would first ask their victim to take care of a sum of money for them, which they smeared with strongly scented oil before handing it over to him. The following night they would break into his house, and rob him of his secret treasures, led to the place of concealment by the smell of the oil. Their laws were calculated to do injury to the poor. The richer a man, the more was he favored before the law. The owner of two oxen was obliged to render one day’s shepherd service, but if he had but one ox, he had to give two days’ service. A poor orphan, who was thus forced to tend the flocks a longer time than those who were blessed with large herds, killed all the cattle entrusted to him in order to take revenge upon his oppressors, and he insisted, when the skins were assigned, that the owner of two head of cattle should have but one skin, but the owner of one head should receive two skins, in correspondence to the method pursued in assigning the work. For the use of the ferry, a traveller had to pay four zuz, but if he waded through the water, he had to pay eight zuz. The cruelty of the Sodomites went still further. Lot had a daughter, Paltit, so named because she had been born to him shortly after he escaped captivity through the help of Abraham. Paltit lived in Sodom, where she had married. Once a beggar came to town, and the court issued a proclamation that none should give him anything to eat, in order that he might die of starvation. But Paltit had pity upon the unfortunate wretch, and every day when she went to the well to draw water, she supplied him with a piece of bread, which she hid in her water pitcher. The inhabitants of the two sinful cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, could not understand why the beggar did not perish, and they suspected that someone was giving him food in secret. Three men concealed themselves near the beggar, and caught Paltit in the act of giving him something to eat. She had to pay for her humanity with death; she was burnt upon a pyre. The people of Admah were no better than those of Sodom. Once a stranger came to Admah, intending to stay overnight and continue his journey the next morning. The daughter of a rich man met the stranger, and gave him water to drink and bread to eat at his request. When the people of Admah heard of this infraction of the law of the land, they seized the girl and arraigned her before the judge, who condemned her to death. The people smeared her with honey from top to toe, and exposed her where bees would be attracted to her. The insects stung her to death, and the callous people paid no heed to her heartrending cries. Then it was that God resolved upon the destruction of these sinners.
And the story continues in Genesis, Chapter 19:
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.” “No,” they answered, “We will spend the night in the square.” But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.” He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar). By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.” That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.
In addition to the murders and injustices committed often in Sodom and its surrounding cities, we clearly see by the visit of the angels that the whole town and all its men without exception, young and old from every part of the town, came forth in order to rape the angels. This means that the entire town would engage in raping any new visitor to the town that they fancied. And this is clearly demonstrated by their attempt to break into Lot’s house in order to kidnap and rape the two angels disguised as men.
We also note that Lot had two sons-in-law from the people of the city who were pledged to marry his daughters in the city. It means that the two sons-in-law did not object to Lot offering his daughters to the mob in order that they have sex with them. How can Lot be a Prophet and offer his daughters for group sex and at the same time offer them while they were pledged already? It must have been because at the time there were no laws under the first three Covenants which forbade these types of sexual unions, i.e. group sex. So then, couldn’t one also argue that homosexuality was not forbidden yet either? Homosexuality becomes forbidden in the Mosaic Covenant and is explicitly mentioned in Leviticus, Chapter 18:
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”
And again in Leviticus, Chapter 20:
“If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”
And the answer is yes, it is true that homosexuality was not yet forbidden, however, the act of homosexuality itself was a sin because it was in direct conflict with God’s commandment to be fruitful and multiply, for no fruits can be born out of a homosexual relationship. In terms of divine laws, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were guilty of having broken several major Covenant laws, one of those laws that they broke regularly was murder, and the other was the command of God to be fruitful and multiply, which was given by God to Adam and then to Noah (PBUT) and was never abolished by Abraham (PBUH) in the Third Covenant. And any law or command from a previous Covenant, if not adjusted or nullified by a new Covenant still stands. In the Holy Qur’an, it becomes clear that this is the issue. In Surah Al-Araf it states:
“And (remember) Lout (Lot), when he said to his people: “Do you commit the worst sin such as none preceding you has committed in the Worlds. Verily, you practice your lusts on men instead of women. Nay, but you are a people transgressing beyond bounds.” And the answer of his people was only that they said: “Drive them out of your town, these are indeed men who purify themselves.” Then We saved him and his family, except his wife; she was of those who remained behind (in the torment). And We rained down on them a rain (of stones). Then see what was the end of the criminals.”
And in the Qur’an in Surah Al-Shu’ara it states:
“Do you approach males among the worlds and leave what your Lord has created for you as mates? But you are a people transgressing.”
The Holy Qur’an clearly states that while perhaps some of the people of the cities had wives, the majority had approached men and left women completely, and practiced their lusts on men instead of with their wives. And this meant that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were in breach of the first command of God, to be fruitful and multiply. They were abandoning sexual relations with women altogether. And this is one of the reasons why the punishment was justified upon them. Other than that they were already condemned for their murders against the visitors to the city and innocent people. There are also some very important points we would like to extract from the story of Lot (PBUH):
- We notice that just as Noah (PBUH) was allowed to take with him his wife, she later fell due to her treachery and evil, as such, Lot was allowed to take his wife, who was also on her way out of the city when she turned back and was destroyed.
- We point out that the consumption of alcohol was still allowed in the Third Covenant. And Lot and his daughters consume it.
- We would also like to point out that sexual relations between father and daughters were allowed and there were no laws restricting it in the first three Covenants. Lot engages in this union with his daughters and gives birth to two nations. He also offers his daughters for group sex with the people outside his house and we know the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were engaging in group sex or orgies.
- The people of Sodom and Gomorrah say about Lot and his family: “They are a people who are purifying themselves or want to be pure.” This is a direct reference to the practice of circumcision which Lot was now practicing under the Abrahamic Covenant. The word for circumcision in Arabic literally translates to “Purification”.
- The people of Sodom and Gomorrah say to Lot when he offered his daughters to them: “You certainly know that we have no right for your daughters. You already know what we desire!” and this means they have no right over his daughters because they were not circumcised and the females under the Abrahamic Covenant were only to be married to circumcised men; i.e. sons of Adam (PBUH) and not the seed of Cain.
- Lot hesitated to leave the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and had to be dragged out by the angels and afterwards he also did not want to go too far and was granted asylum in a town nearby. This hesitation is an example of one of Lot’s shortcomings and mistakes during his career as a Prophet.
As for homosexuality, Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Him is Peace) has explained to me that the natural disposition for the sexes is that males are attracted to females, and females are attracted to males. He (From Him is Peace) has stated that most people who are homosexual became that way through one of two means, either through being victims of child abuse or are born that way and had one parent or grandparent who was a homosexual or had inclinations towards the same sex. That means that Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Him is Peace) denies that traditional view that most religions have, especially Islamic ones, that homosexuals are just perverts who need to be killed or stoned. But rather, the Imam (From Him is Peace) says that while the natural sexual disposition for men and women is to be attracted to the opposite sex, and this was for the purpose of multiplying, homosexuals are not to be blamed in reality for their feelings of attraction for the same sex because in most cases this is either an inherent genetic trait which is passed on to them or they were victims of child abuse. Both of which are not their fault.
In the beginning of the Call in Iraq, after Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Him is Peace) opened the first house of worship for the believers, there was a homosexual man who came to the house of worship. The followers of the Imam (From Him is Peace) stated that they wanted him to go away because, in their opinion, him being amongst them would ruin their reputation and the reputation of the religion, since he was known in the town to be homosexual. Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Him is Peace), upon hearing this became very angry and told them: “If I shut the doors to God in his face on whose door shall he knock?” And he welcomed the man back in. As such, our religion and our congregations welcome homosexuals and people from all walks and ways of life, because the person who is sincere in his search for God is much more honorable than the one who shows false religiosity while he is a hypocrite on the inside.
As for the location of Sodom and Gomorrah; the world’s lowest point on Earth is the Dead Sea located in Jordan and Palestine, with an elevation amounting to approximately 416 meters below sea level. Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan (From Him is Peace) has confirmed that the Dead Sea is the location of Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities destroyed by God in the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He (From Him is Peace) said: “The Dead Sea is drying up now and ancient artifacts will appear which will change people’s concepts, many things will change if they don’t hide it.”
In the Holy Qur’an it states:
“So when Our command came, We made the highest point its lowest.”
Mistranslations have translated it as such: “So when Our command came, We made the highest part [of the city] its lowest.” Or as such: “And when Our command came to pass, We turned the town upside down.”
But the fact of the matter is it doesn’t say the word city nor town in the Arabic, it just says:
“We made its highest point its lowest.”
If today the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth, then it must have been the highest point on Earth. The highest point on Earth used to be the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which used to be higher than Mount Everest. It was destroyed by God and made to be its lowest point. From the top of the world to the bottom overnight.
¶ Sources
- Ilal Al-Shara’i’, Al-Shaikh Al-Saduq, Vol. 1, p. 3
- Midrash (Bereshit) Rabbah, Chapter 38, Verse 13
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 11, Verse 4
- Al-Kafi, Al-Shaikh Al-Kulayni, Vol. 1, p. 175
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 17, Verses 1-27
- The Gospel of Barnabas, Chapters 21-23
- The Gospel of Barnabas, Chapter 23
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 17, Verse 21
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 20, Verses 1-2
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 20, Verses 11-12
- Sahih Al-Bukhari, Al-Bukhari, Book of Prophets, Hadith No. 3358
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 18, Verses 20-21
- The Legends of the Jews, Louis Ginzberg, Vol. 1, Chapter 5, pp. 168-172
- The Holy Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 19, Verses 1-38
- The Holy Bible, Book of Leviticus, Chapter 18, Verse 22
- The Holy Bible, Book of Leviticus, Chapter 20, Verse 13
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 7 (Al-Araf ), Verses 80-84
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 26 (Al-Shu’ara), Verses 165-166
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 11 (Hud), Verse 79
- The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 11 (Hud), Verse 82