Allah, the Exalted, says,
[فَلَمَّا جَآءَ
أَمْرُنَا]
(So when Our commandment came,) This happened at sunrise.
[جَعَلْنَا
عَـلِيَهَا]
(We [turned it]...) The city of Sadum (Sodom)
[سَافِلَهَا]
(upside down,) This is similar to Allah's statement,
[فَغَشَّـهَا مَا
غَشَّى ]
(So there covered them that which did cover (torment with stones).)[53:54]
This means, "We rained upon it with stones made of Sijjil.'' Sijjil is a Persian
word meaning stones made of clay. This definition has been mentioned by Ibn
`Abbas and others. Some of the scholars said that it (Sijjil) derived from the
word Sang, which means a stone. Some others said it means Wakil, which is clay.
In another verse Allah says,
[حِجَارَةً مِّن
طِينٍ]
(the stones of clay,) This means clay made into strong, hard stone. Some of
the scholars said it means baked clay. Al-Bukhari said, "Sijjil means that which
is big and strong.'' Concerning Allah's statement,
[مَّنْضُودٍ]
(in an array. ) Some of the scholars said that Mandud means the stones were
arranged in the heavens and prepared for that (destruction). Others said,
[مَّنْضُودٍ]
(in an array.) This word means that some of them (the stones) followed others
in their descent upon the people of Lut. Concerning the statement,
[مُّسَوَّمَةً]
(Marked) meaning the stones were marked and sealed, all of them having the
names of their victims written on them. Qatadah and `Ikrimah both said,
"Musawwamah means each stone was encompassed by a sprinkling of red coloring.''
The commentators have mentioned that it (the shower of stones) descended upon
the people of the town and upon the various villages around it. One of them
would be speaking with some people when a stone would strike him from the sky
and kill him while he was among the people. Thus, the stones followed them,
striking the people in the entire land until they destroyed them all. Not a
single one of them remained. Concerning Allah's statement,
[وَمَا هِى مِنَ
الظَّـلِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ]
(and they are not ever far from the wrongdoers.) This means that this
vengeance (of Allah) is not far from similar wrongdoers. Verily, it has been
reported in a Hadith of the Sunan collections, from Ibn `Abbas, which he
attributed to the Prophet ,
«مَنْ وَجَدْتُمُوهُ
يَعْمَلُ عَمَلَ قَوْمِ لُوطٍ فَاقْتُلُوا الْفَاعِلَ وَالْمَفْعُولَ بِه»
(Whoever you find doing the deed of Lut's people [homosexuality], then kill
the doer and the one who allows it to be done to him (both partners).)
[وَإِلَى مَدْيَنَ
أَخَاهُمْ شُعَيْبًا قَالَ يقَوْمِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ مَا لَكُمْ مِّنْ إِلَـهٍ
غَيْرُهُ وَلاَ تَنقُصُواْ الْمِكْيَالَ وَالْمِيزَانَ إِنِّى أَرَاكُمْ بِخَيْرٍ
وَإِنِّى أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ مُّحِيطٍ ]
(84. And to the Madyan people (We sent) their brother Shu`ayb. He said: "O my
people! Worship Allah, you have no other god but Him, and give not short measure
or weight. I see you in prosperity and verily, I fear for you the torment of a
Day encompassing.'')
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