reynolds-the-quran-in-its-historical-context-2

420 Waleed AhmedThe main problem with the marriage hypothesis, however, is that it is notcongruent with the Sodomites' response to Lot's offer in verse 79 of Hiid. Muslimexegetes present several interpretations of this verse. The first is that the meaningof the ~odomites' response is: you know well that we have no right to your daughtersbecause they are not wives to us. 32 But this is illogical if Lot were indeedoffering the Sodomites his daughters in marriage. In Al-Rlizi's (d. 606/1209)al-Tajsfr al-kabfr we are told that a second possible explanation is that theSodomites' response resulted from Lot's insistence that they become believers, i.e.follow his message, before they could marry his daughters. And since, hypothetically,Lot knew that they would not, their response was worded in this fashion: wehave no right to your daughters because we will not be believers (and you alreadyknow that). 33 Al-Qurtubi (d. 671/1272) transmits a third interpretation, on theauthority of an anonymous source, according to which Lot's people had asked tomarry his daughters earlier and Lot had declined their request. Al-Qurtubi relatesthat in the Sodomites' customary law, of which Lot was aware, if someone were toask to marry a woman and were turned down, he would have no right to marry herafterward; hence the phrase "you know we have no right to your daughters." 34Muslim exegetes suggest yet another explanation of the Sodomites' response.Muqatil b. Sulayman (d. 150/767) suggests that the phrase "we have no right[baqq] to thy daughters" actually means we have no "need for" or "desire for"your daughters. 35 Some later exegetes provide justification for this view. Riizistates that when one needs something it is as if he has a right to it. In Riizi's view,denying the right is an indirect expression, metonymy (kinaya), for denying theneed (al-taqdfr anna man ibtaja ita shay' fa-ka-annahz7 ba(}ala lahzl fihi naw'min~al-baqq,fa li-hadha al-sabab jzl 'ita najjml-baqq kinaya 'an na.fYi al-baja). 36However, this is a significant deviationwhich does not seem warranted by theBeirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1985, 14:407; al-Fagl b. al-I;!asan al-Tabrisi, !vlajma' al-bayan fi taftlrai-Qur 'an, Beirut: Dar Maktabat al-I;!ayat, 14:37. This interpretation, however, is untenable.Construing the segment "if ye must be doing" in this way ignores the narrative before verse 71 inal-l:fijr and in other Sfiras where, as I demonstrated above, there are compelling indications that thereferent of this segment is the Sodomites' intentions towards Lot's guests. In this scenario, a morereasonable interpretation would be that verse 71 means: here are my daughters, marry them, if youare serious in following through on your intentions to abuse my guests sexually.32 Tabar! (d. 310/923) endorses this opinion and transmits that Ibn ls])aq (d. 151/768) did as well. SeeMul)ammad b. Jarir a!-Tabar!, Jami' al-liayan fi taft! al-Qur 'an, ed. Mu])ammad al-Zuharial-Ghamrliwi, Cairo: al-Matba'a al-Maymaniyya, 1903, 12:49. Also, al-Tabrisi transmits that Ibnlsl)iiq endorsed this view. See al-Tabrisi, !vlajma' al-bayan fi taftlr al-Qur 'an, Beirut: DarMaktabat al-I;!aylit, 12:197.33 See FaKhr al-Din Al-Rlizi, ai-Taftfr al-kablr, Tehran: Dar al-Kutub a!-'Ilmiyya, 1970, I :34.34 See Mu])ammad b. A])mad a!-Ansari al-Qurtubi, al-Jami' li-al;kam ai-Qur 'an, ed. Abu Is])liqIbrahim !\fish, Cairo: Diiral-Klitib al-'ArabT, 1967,9:77.35 See Muqlitil b. Sulaymlin, Taftir !vluqati/ b. Sulayman, ed. 'AbdAllah Shi])ata, Cairo: al-Hay'aal-Mi~riyya li-1-Kitab, 1983, 2:292. The same opinion is also transmitted in al-Baghwi's !via 'a/imal-tanzflji al-taftlr wa-1-ta 'wfl without justification. See al-I;!usin b. Mas'nd al-Fara' al-BaghwT,Ma 'a/im al-ianzflji 1-taftlr wa-1-ta 'wfl, Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1985, 12:230.36 See RlizT, 18:34. See also TabrisT, 12:197.Lot's daughters in the Qur'an 421text. The word baqq in the Qur'an is virtually always used to mean "just", "fairclaim" or "truth.'m Razi acknowledges this when he says that this interpretationis not the apparent or literal (al-;ahir) meaning, but is.derived from the meaningone should identify from the verse (mabmzll 'ala al-ma 'na). But this is a circularargument, for once the theological justification of the verse is devised, the text isexplicated so that it fits the justification.All the Muslim exegetical interpretations of the Sodomites' response to Lot'soffer do not seem plausible. They are all derived from the theological justificationof Lot's offer, i.e. the marriage offer, and hence they either contrive more storyelements to explain this response or they deviate significantly from its apparentmeaning. Ultimately, these interpretations contribute to disproving the marriageexplanation of Lot's offer.A detailed discussion of tl:ie exegetical material related to the episode is nownecessary in order to a~sess the- intertextual readings I have presented in thischapter in light of the available historical evidence.Lot's daughters in Qur' an commentariesThere are significant differences among the Muslim exegestes who endorse themarriage interpretation of Lot's offer. One group of exegetes assert that Lotoffered the Sodomites his own daughters in marriage. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi andAl-Tabrisi (d. 565/1169-70) relate that Qatada b. Di' ama al-Sadiisi (d. 118/736)-an exegete from the generation of the learned men who succeeded the companionsof the Prophet (known in Muslim sources as al-tabi 'zln) - embraced thisview. 38 Muqatil b. Sulayman also articulates this opinion. 39 There are otherexegetes, however, who doubted the sensibility of this rendering of the marriagehypothesis. They argued that, considering the substantial number of Sodomitescompared to the limited number of Lot's daughters, the offer is simply unrealistic.Verse 36 of al-Abzab (Q 33) played an important role in this argument. The versereads, "The prophet is closer to the believers than their selves, and his wives are(as) their mothers .. .'' (Q 33:6) By relying on an unofficial reading of this verse,attributed to 'AbdAllah b. Mas 'lid (d. 32/652-53), which adds the phrase "and he[i.e. the prophet] is a father to them" after the phrase "and his wives are (as) theirmothers," these exegetes became convinced that "my daughters" in verse 71 ofal-lfijr and in verse 78 of Hzld should not be understood in a literal sense. Beingthe prophet of his people, Lot is also the father of all the women of his nation.Thus, Lot was offering the Sodomites all the women of his nation in marriage, notonly his own daughters. This view seems also to have originated with some37 See Al-Mu'jam a/-mufahras, 255-60.38 See TabrisT, 14:36; Rlizi, 18:32. In Tabari's taftlr, Qatlida is said to have embraced another view,namely, that Lot offered all the women of his nation in marriage to the Sodomites. See Tabar!, 12:48.39 See Muqlitil b. Sulaymlin, 2:292. ·