Topic: Hospitality

15:52; 51:25.

15:53; 51:26.

Important Words:

ابراھیم (Abraham), the Great Patriarch, was the son of Terah. He was born at Ur of the Chaldees. It is difficult to say when exactly he lived. He is said to have died at the age of 175. Abraham is the progenitor of the two great peoples, the Israelites and the Ishmaelites, who equally revere him. Abraham’s real name was Abram but after the birth of Ishmael, according to God’s own command, he came to be called Abraham which means the "Father of a multitude" or the "Father of many nations." One branch of his progeny, the Israelites, lived in Canaan and the other, the Ishmaelites, in Arabia. In fulfilment of his famous dream, Abraham took his son Ishmael and his wife Hagar to the desert of Arabia where the posterity of Ishmael grew and multiplied and where in fulness of time and in conformity with God’s promise to Abraham, the Holy Prophet of Islam, the greatest of all Prophets, appeared "to bring back the erring flock into the Master’s fold!" (Gen. 10:26–25:10, & Jew. Enc.). To this fact the Holy Prophet has himself referred in one of his famous sayings viz. انا دعوة ابراھیم i.e. "I am the prayer personified of Abraham". (‘Asakir).

Commentary:

There exists a difference of opinion as to who were the "messengers" to whom reference has been made in this verse. Some hold them to be human beings, while others think they were angels. The former view appears to be the correct one, though they have been called "angels" by some for their piety, as Joseph is called "an angel" in 12:32. In this connection see also 17:96.

The reason why God chose these men to convey news of the impending punishment to Lot (see vv. 75 & 78) is not clear from the context, but one explanation appears probable. Both Abraham and Lot, who were closely related, were strangers in that land, and it is quite possible that God sent His word to some pious men of that locality that they might take Lot to a safe place before the visitation actually overtook his people. It should also be remembered that these "messengers" did not come to give the first warning of the punishment. The people of Lot had already been threatened with punishment (15:13-15 & 15:65). The "messengers" came only to inform Lot that the appointed hour of the threatened punishment had arrived, and to take him to a place of safety.

The mention of Abraham has been made in this Surah only incidentally, to serve as an introduction to the account of the Prophet Lot which follows. It is the story of Lot that is primarily meant to be mentioned here, for this Surah gives an account of only those Prophets whose people were visited with Divine punishment. The reason why the story of Lot has been introduced with a reference to Abraham is that Lot was one of those persons who had believed in Abraham and had migrated to Syria with him; and, though he himself was a Prophet of God, he was subordinate to Abraham, as Ishmael and Isaac were subordinate to him and as Aaron was subordinate to Moses. Hence, when the "messengers" came with the news of the impending destruction of Lot’s people, it was only in the fitness of things that God should have first conveyed the news to Abraham, to whom Lot was a subordinate Prophet. As the news about the imminent destruction of Lot’s people was conveyed to Abraham in his capacity as the senior Prophet—he himself being not directly concerned with the matter—it was accompanied by glad tidings about the inauguration of a race of good and righteous people through the birth of a son to Abraham. This was done with a view to mitigating the severity of the shock Abraham was likely to feel at the news of the imminent destruction that was to overtake Lot’s people.

It is also worth noting that though Lot was a follower of Abraham before he was made a Prophet, he was invested with this rank not through the spiritual medium of Abraham but directly by God, as were also Ishmael and Isaac and Aaron. All those were subordinate Prophets, but the rank of prophethood was conferred upon them directly by God and not through the instrumentality of Abraham or Moses. It is a special privilege and prerogative of the Holy Prophet of Islam that his followers can attain to prophethood through his spiritual influence.

The verse also throws interesting light on the hospitality of Abraham, for he did not tarry to ask the strangers whether they had partaken of food but hastened to bring a roasted calf for them.

11:79.

Commentary:

Lot had been told by his people not to bring strangers into the city and now that he had brought these guests he knew that he would be taken to task for having defied their warnings. He therefore asked them not to disgrace him by mentioning this matter before his guests.

Commentary:

Lot further begged his people not to disgrace him for offering hospitality to the wayfarers, because that was, after all, a good act in the sight of God and did not deserve censure or condemnation.

16:91; 30:39.

Important Words:

تبذر (squander) is derived from بذر (badhdhara) which is the intensified form of بذر (badhara) which means, he sowed seed; he scattered seed upon the ground; he scattered or dispersed or he scattered or dispersed much; he divulged what was secret; he talked much. They say بذر الخلق i.e. He (God) scattered or dispersed mankind in the earth. بذرت الارضmeans, the land put forth its herbage in a scattered state. بذرالعلم means, he disseminated and diffused knowledge. بذر المال (badhdhara) means, he dissipated or squandered wealth by extravagant expenditure and destroyed and wasted it; he expended his wealth so largely as not to leave of it whereby he might subsist, or he expended it in acts of disobedience; or he squandered it in a way that was not right (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse declares that the relatives of a rich person are entitled to a share in his property, and so are wayfarers and poor people. A person’s relatives help him in various ways to earn his wealth. For instance, ‘A’ succeeds in getting a highly lucrative post as the result of the good education his parents have given him, depriving their other children of a similar education. The latter, therefore, possess a right in the wealth of ‘A’ because he rose to his high position at their expense. It is clearly stated in 51:20 that the poor and the needy have a right to share the property of the rich.

As for the wayfarer, the Holy Prophet is reported to have said that a wayfarer could claim, as of right, three days’ free entertainment from the residents of a place which he might visit, and if it were denied to him, he could demand it even by reasonable force (Dawud, Kitabul-At‘ima).

This injunction can only be carried out in a country where the Law of Islam is in force, for according to it the residents of a place, as a whole, are bound to act as the host to a wayfarer. If this injunction were carried into practice many of the social evils which are to be found in hotels and restaurants would disappear.

This general commandment about entertainment of guests and visitors is also eminently calculated to promote peace and goodwill among different nations. The chief cause of international strife is mutual hatred. So if the entertainment of visitors should become popular in the way in which it has been inculcated by Islam, much international hatred would disappear. Those who returned to their country after having enjoyed the hospitality of a people would naturally remain favourably inclined towards them and would be slow to pick a quarrel with them. Thus this practice would prove a good means of promoting brotherly relations between different peoples.

One meaning of the word تبذیر as shown under Important Words is, "to spend for a wrong cause." Thus, if a person gives away even his whole property for the cause of religion he will not be guilty of تبذیر for the money so spent will have been spent for a right cause.