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Preface

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The People of
Lut and The City which was Turned Upside Down

•

The People of ‘Ad and Ubar, the Atlantis of the Sands

•

Fir’awn Who Was Drowned

The
People of Lut and The City which was Turned Upside Down

The people of Lut rejected (his) warning. We sent against them a
violent Tornado with showers of stones, (which destroyed them), except
Lut's household: them We delivered by early Dawn,-  As a Grace
from Us: thus do We reward those who give thanks. And (Lut) did warn
them of Our Punishment, but they disputed about the Warning.
(Surat al-Qamar:, 33-36)

Lut lived at the same time as Ibrahim. The Old Testament
says that Lut was Ibrahim's nephew and that they travelled some distance
together in Ibrahim's long journeys.

Lut was sent as a messenger to one of Ibrahim's
neighbouring communities. These people, as the Qur’an tells us,
practiced a perversion unknown to the world up to then, namely sodomy.
When Lut told them to give up this perversion and brought them Allah's
warning, they denied him, refused his prophethood, and carried on with
their perversion. In the end, these people were destroyed by a dreadful
disaster.

The city where Lut resided is referred to as Sodom in the
Old Testament. Being situated at the north of the Red Sea, this
community is understood to have been destroyed just as it is written in
the Qur’an. Archaeological studies reveal that the city is located in
the area of the Dead Sea which stretches along the Israel-Jordan
border.

Before examining the remains of this disaster, let’s see
why the people of Lut were punished in this fashion. The Qur’an tells
how Lut warned his people and what they said in reply;

The people of Lut rejected the messengers. Behold, their brother
Lut said to them: “Will ye not fear (Allah)? I am to you a messenger
worthy of all trust. So fear Allah and obey me. No reward do I ask of
you for it: my reward is only from the lord of the Worlds. Of all the
creatures in the world, will ye approach males, And leave those whom
Allah has created for you to be your mates? Nay, ye are a people
transgressing (all limits)!”
They said: “If thou
desist not, O Lut! thou wilt assuredly be cast out!”

He said: “I do detest your doings.” (Surat ash-Shuara:
160-168)

The people of Lut threatened him in response to his
inviting them to the right way. His people detested him because of his
showing them the right way, and wanted to banish both him and the other
believers beside him. In other verses, the event is told as
follows;

We also (sent) Lut: He said to his people: “Do ye commit lewdness
such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye
practise your lusts on men in preference to women : ye are indeed a
people transgressing beyond bounds.”
And his people gave no
answer but this: they said, “Drive them out of your city: these are
indeed men who want to be clean and pure!” (Surat al-Araf:
80-82)

Lut called his people to an obvious truth and warned them
explicitly, but his people did not heed any warnings whatsoever and
continued to reject Lut and to deny the penalty of which he told
them.

And (remember) Lut: behold, he said to his people: “Ye do commit
lewdness, such as no people in Creation (ever) committed before you.
Do ye indeed approach men, and cut off the highway?- and practise
wickedness (even) in your councils?” But his people gave no answer but
this: they said: “Bring us the Wrath of Allah if thou tellest the
truth.” (Surat al-Ankaboot: 28-29)

Receiving the above answer from his people, Lut asked for
the help of Allah,

He said: “O my Lord! help Thou me against people who do mischief!”
(Surat al-Ankaboot: 30)

“O my Lord! deliver me and my family from such things as they
do!” (Surat ash-Shuara: 169)

Upon Lut’s prayer, Allah sent two angels in the form of
men. These angels visited Ibrahim before coming to Lut. Giving Ibrahim
the good news that his wife would give birth to an infant, the
messengers explained the reason of their being sent: the insolent people
of Lut were to be destroyed.

(Ibrahim) said: “And what, O ye Messengers, is your errand (now)?”
They said, “We have been sent to a people (deep) in sin; To bring on,
on them, (a shower of) stones of clay (brimstone), Marked as from thy
Lord for those who trespass beyond bounds.” (Surat adh-Dhariyat:
31-34)

Excepting the adherents of Lut: them we are certainly (charged)
to save (from harm),- All - Except his wife, who, We have ascertained,
will be among those who will lag behind. (Surat al-Hijr:
59-60)

After leaving Ibrahim’s company, the angels, who were sent
as messengers, came to Lut. Not having met the messengers before, Lut
first became anxious, but then calmed down after talking  to
them;

When Our messengers came to Lut, he was grieved on their account
and felt himself powerless (to protect) them. He said: “This is a
distressful day.” (Surah Hud: 77)

He said: “Ye appear to be uncommon folk.” They said: “Yea, we
have come to thee to accomplish that of which they doubt. We have
brought to thee that which is inevitably due, and assuredly we tell
the truth. Then travel by night with thy household, when a portion of
the night (yet remains), and do thou bring up the rear: let no one
amongst you look back, but pass on whither ye are ordered.” And We
made known this decree to him, that the last remnants of those
(sinners) should be cut off by the morning. (Surat al-Hijr:
62-66)

Meanwhile, his people had learned that Lut had visitors.
They did not hesitate to approach these visitors perversely as they had
approached others before. They encircled the house. Being afraid for his
visitors, Lut addressed his people as follows;

Lut said: “These are my guests: disgrace me not: But fear
Allah, and shame me not.” (Surat al-Hijr: 68-69)

The people of Lut retorted;

They said: “Did we not forbid thee (to speak) for all and
sundry?” (Surat al-Hijr: 70)

Thinking that he and his visitors subjected to evil
treatment, Lut said:

“Would that I had power to suppress you or that I could
betake myself to some powerful support.” (Surah Hud: 80)

His “visitors” reminded him that they were the messengers
of Allah and said;

(The Messengers) said: “O Lut! We are Messengers from thy Lord! By
no means shall they reach thee! now travel with thy family while yet a
part of the night remains, and let not any of you look back: but thy
wife (will remain behind): To her will happen what happens to the
people. Morning is their time appointed: Is not the morning nigh?”
(Surah Hud: 81)

When the perversity of the city people reached its fullest
extent, Allah saved Lut by means of the angels. In the morning, his
people were destroyed by the disaster of which Lut had informed them in
advance.

And they even sought to snatch away his guests from him, but We
blinded their eyes. (They heard:) “Now taste ye My Wrath and My
Warning.” Early on the morrow an abiding Punishment seized them:
(Surat al-Qamar: 37-38)

The verses describe the destruction of this people as
follows;

But the (mighty) Blast overtook them before morning, And We turned
(the cities) upside down, and rained down on them brimstones hard as
baked clay. Behold! in this are Signs for those who by tokens do
understand. And the (cities were) right on the high-road. (Surat
al-Hijr: 73-76)

When Our Decree issued, We turned (the cities) upside down, and
rained down on them brimstones hard as baked clay, spread, layer on
layer,-Marked as from thy Lord: Nor are they ever far from those who
do wrong! (Surah Hud: 82-83)

But the rest We destroyed utterly. We rained down on them a
shower (of brimstone): and evil was the shower on those who were
admonished (but heeded not)! : Verily in this is a Sign: but most of
them do not believe. And verily thy Lord is He, the Exalted in Might,
Most Merciful. (Surat ash-Shuara: 172-175)

When the people were destroyed, only Lut and the
believers, who were only as many as one “household”, were saved. Lut’s
wife did not believe either and she was also destroyed.

We also (sent) Lut: He said to his people: “Do ye commit lewdness
such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you?

For ye practise your lusts on men in preference to women : ye
are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds.”
And his
people gave no answer but this: they said, “Drive them out of your
city: these are indeed men who want to be clean and pure!”

But we saved him and his family, except his wife: she was of
those who legged behind.
And we rained down on them a
shower (of brimstone): Then see what was the end of those who indulged
in sin and crime! (Surat al-Araf: 80-84)

Thus, Prophet Lut was saved along with the believers and
his family with the exception of his wife. As described in the Old
Testament, he emigrated with Ibrahim. As for the perverted people, they
were destroyed and their dwellings were razed to the ground.

“The Obvious Signs” in the Lake
of Lut

The 82nd  verse of Surah Hud, clearly states the kind
of the disaster that befell the people of Lut. “When Our Decree
issued, We turned (the cities) upside down, and rained down on them
brimstones hard as baked clay, spread, layer on layer”

The statement of “turning (the cities) upside down”
implies that the region was totally destroyed by a violent earthquake.
Accordingly, The Lake of Lut, where the destruction took place, bears
“obvious” evidence of such a disaster.

We quote German archaeologist Werner Keller as
follows;

Together with the base of this mighty fissure, which runs precisely
through this area, the Vale of Siddim, including Sodom and Gomorrah,
plunged one day into the abyss. Their destruction came about through a
great earthquake which was probably accompanied by explosions,
lightning, issue of natural gas and general conflagration. (1)

As a matter of fact, the Lake of Lut, or the Dead Sea as
it is otherwise known, is located right on the top of an active seismic
region, that is, an earthquake zone:

The base of the dead sea is located with a tectonic rooted
downfall. This valley is located in a tension stretching between the
Taberiye Lake in the north, and mid of Arabah Valley in the south.(2)

The event was expressed as “we rained down on them
brimstones hard as baked clay, spread, layer on layer” in the last
part of the verse. This is in all probability meant to be the volcanic
explosion that took place on the banks of the Lake of Lut, and because
of which the rocks and stones that erupted were in a “baked
form”. (The same event is related in the 173rd verse of Surat
ash-Shuara as “We rained down on them a shower (of brimstone): and
evil was the shower on those who were admonished (but heeded not)!”)

In relation to this subject, Werner Keller writes;

The subsidence released volcanic forces that had been lying dormant
deep down along the whole length of the fracture. In the upper valley
of the Jordan near Bashan there are still towering craters of extinct
volcanoes; great stretches of lava and deep layers of basalt have been
deposited on the limestone surface.(3)

A satellite photograph of the region
where the people of Lut lived.

These lava and basalt layers constitute the greatest
evidence that a volcanic explosion and earthquake had once taken place
here. The catastrophe depicted in the following expression as “we rained
down on them brimstones hard as baked clay, spread, layer on layer” in
the Qur’an most probably points to this volcanic explosion, and Allah
knows best. The expression “When Our Decree issued, We turned (the
cities) upside down” which occurs in the same verse, must be referring
to the earthquake which caused volcanoes to erupt over the surface of
the earth with devastating impact, and to the fissures and debris
brought by it, and only Allah knows the truth of it.

The “obvious signs” conveyed by the Lake of Lut are indeed
very interesting. In general, the events which are related in the Qur’an
take place in the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt. Right in
the middle of these lands, is the Lake of Lut. The Lake of Lut, as well
as the incidents that have taken place around it, deserves attention
geologically. The Lake is approximately 400 meters below the surface of
the Mediterranean. Since the deepest place in the Lake is 400 meters,
the bottom of the Lake is 800 meters below the surface of the
Mediterranean.

The Lake of Lut, or Dead Sea as differently
called.

This is the lowest point on the earth. In other
areas which are lower than sea level, the depth is at most 100
meters. Another property of the Lake of Lut is that the salt
content of its water is very high, the density being nearly 30 %.
Because of this, no living organism, such as fish or moss, can
survive in this lake. This is why the Lake of Lut is called the
“Dead Sea” in Western  literature.

The incident of Lut’s people, which is recounted in the
Qur’an, occurred around 1800 B.C. according to estimates. Based on his
archaeological and geological researches, the German researcher Werner
Keller noted that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were in fact located
in the Siddim Valley which was the region at the furthers and lowest end
of the Lake of Lut, and that there were once big and widely inhabited
sites in those regions.

The most interesting structural characteristic of the Lake
of Lut is an evidence showing how the disaster incidence recounted in
the Qur’an took place;

On the eastern shore of the Dead Sea the peninsula of el-Lisan
protrudes like a tongue far into the water. El-Lisan means “the
tongue” in Arabic. Unseen from the land the ground falls away here
under the surface of the water at a prodigious angle, dividing the sea
into two parts. To the right of the peninsula the ground slopes
sharply down to a depth of 1200 feet. On the left of the peninsula the
water remains remarkably shallow. Soundings taken in the last few
years established depths of only fifty to sixty feet. That
extraordinary shallow part of the Dead Sea, from the peninsula
el-Lisan to the southernmost tip, was the Vale of Siddim. (4)

Photographs of the Lake of Lut taken
from satellite.

Werner Keller noted that this shallow part, which
was discovered to have formed subsequently, was the outcome of the
aforementioned earthquake and the massive collapse this earthquake had
caused. This was the place where Sodom and Gomorrah were situated, that
is, where Lut’s people lived.

Once, it was possible to cross this region by walking.
However, now, the Vale of Siddim, where Sodom and Gomorrah were once
situated, is covered by the flat surface of the lower part of the Dead
Sea. The collapse of the base as a result of the dreadful catastrophe
that came to pass in the beginning of the 2nd. millennium B.C., caused
salt water from the north to flow into this recently formed cavity and
filled the basin with salty water.

The traces of the Lake of Lut are visible… When one takes
a rowing boat across the Lake of Lut to the southernmost point, if the
sun is shining in the right direction, one sees something quite
fantastic. Some distance from the shore and clearly visible under the
surface of the water, there are the outlines of the forests which the
extraordinarily high salt content of the Dead Sea preserved.

An illustration showing the volcanic eruption and
the collapse that followed it, which caused the whole people to
disappear.

The trunks and roots in the shimmering green water
are very ancient. The Siddim valley, where these trees were once
in blossom green foliage covered their twigs and branches, was one
of the most beautiful locations in the region.

The mechanical aspect of the disaster that befell
people of Lut is revealed by the researches of the geologists.
These reveal that the earthquake which destroyed  the people
of Lut, came about in consequence of quite a long crack in the
earth (a fault line), along the 190 kilometres distance making up
the bed of the River Sheri’at. River Sheri’at makes a fall of 180
meters in total. Both this and the fact that the Lake of Lut is
400 metres below sea level are two important pieces of evidence
showing that an enormous geological event has taken place
here.

The interesting structure of River of Sheri’at and
the Lake of Lut make up only a small part of the crack or split
passing from this region of the earth. The condition and length of
this crack have only recently been discovered.

The fault starts from the outskirts of Mount Taurus,
stretches to the southern shores of the Lake of Lut and proceeds
over the Arabian desert to the Gulf of Aqaba and continues across
the Red Sea, ending up in Africa. Along the length of it, strong
volcanic activities are observed. Black basalt and lava exist in
the Galilee Mountains in Israel, high plain regions of Jordan, the
Gulf of Aqaba and other areas nearby.

All these remains and geographical evidences show
that a catastrophic geological event took place in the Lake of
Lut. Werner Keller writes,

Together with the base of this mighty fissure,
which runs precisely through this area, the Vale of Siddim,
including Sodom and Gomorrah, plunged one day into the abyss.
Their destruction came about through a great earthquake which
was probably accompanied by explosions, lightning, issue of
natural gas and general conflagration. The subsidence released
volcanic forces that had been lying dormant deep down along the
whole length of the fracture. In the upper valley of the Jordan
near Bashan there are still towering craters of extinct
volcanoes; great stretches of lava and deep layers of basalt
have been deposited on the limestone surface. (5)

Overhead view of
the mountains around the Lake of Lut.

National Geographic makes the following comment on
December 1957;

The mount of Sodom, a barren wasteland, rises sharply above the
dead sea. No one has ever found the destroyed cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah, but scholars believe that they stood in the Vale of Siddim
across from these cliffs. Possibly flood waters of the Dead Sea
engulfed them following an earthquake. (6)

Pompeii Had a Similar End

The Qur’an tells us in the following verses that there is
no change in Allah’s laws;

They swore their strongest oaths by Allah that if a warner came to
them, they would follow his guidance better than any (other) of the
Peoples: But when a warner came to them, it has only increased their
flight (from righteousness),- On account of their arrogance in the
land and their plotting of Evil, but the plotting of Evil will hem in
only the authors thereof. Now are they but looking for the way the
ancients were dealt with? But no change wilt thou find in Allah's way
(of dealing): no turning off wilt thou find in Allah's way (of
dealing). (Surat al-Fatir: 42-43)

Above is a fresco representing the luxury and
prosperity of the city of Pompeii before the disaster. Down are
petrified corpses unearthed in excavations made in
Pompeii.

Yes, “no change will be found in Allah’s way
(rules)”. Everybody, who stands against His laws and rebels
against Him, is subject to the same divine law. Pompeii, the
symbol of the degeneration of the Roman Empire, was also involved
in sexual perversity. Its end was similar to that of the people of
Lut.

The destruction of Pompeii came by means of the
eruption of the volcano Vesuvius.

The volcano Vesuvius is the symbol of Italy, primarily the city
of Naples. Remaining silent for the last two millennia, Vesuvius
is named the “Mountain of Warning”. It is not without cause that
Vesuvius is known as such. The disaster that befell Sodom and
Gomorrah is very similar to the disaster that destroyed
Pompeii.

To the right of Vesuvius lies Naples and to the east lies
Pompeii. The lava and ash of a huge volcanic eruption, that
happened two millennia ago, caught the inhabitants of that city.
The disaster happened so suddenly that everything in the town was
caught in the middle of its everyday life and remains today
exactly as it was two millennia ago. It is as if the time had been
frozen.

The removal of Pompeii from the face of the earth by such
a disaster was not purposeless. The historical record shows that the
city was exactly a center of dissipation and perversity. The city was
marked by a rise in prostitution to such an extent that even the number
of brothels was not known. Male organs in their original sizes were hung
on the doors of the brothels. According to this tradition, rooted in
Mithraic belief, sexual organs and sexual intercourse should not be
hidden but displayed openly.

Some corpses uncovered at Pompeii and displayed
in museums.

But the lava of Vesuvius wiped the whole city off the map in a
single moment. The most interesting aspect of the event is that
nobody escaped despite the terrible violence of the eruption of
Vesuvius. It is almost like they did not even notice the
catastrophe, as if they were charmed. A family eating their meal
were petrified right at that moment. Numerous petrified couples
were found in the act of intercourse. The most interesting thing
is that there were couples of the same sex and couples of young
boys and girls. The faces of some of the petrified human corpses
unearthed from Pompeii were unharmed. The general expression on
those faces was bewilderment.

Here lies the most incomprehensible aspect of the calamity. How
did thousands of people wait to be caught by death without seeing
and hearing anything?

This aspect of the event shows that the disappearance of
Pompeii was similar to the destructive events mentioned in the Qur’an,
because the Qur’an particularly points to “sudden annihilation” while
relating these events. For example, the “inhabitants of the city”
described in Surah Ya-seen died all at once in a single moment. The
situation is told as follows in the 29th. verse of the surah;

It was no more than a single mighty Blast, and behold!
they were (like ashes) quenched and silent.

In the 31st verse of Surat al-Qamar, again the
“instantaneous annihilation” is emphasised when the destruction of
Thamud is recounted;

For We sent against them a single Mighty Blast, and they became
like the dry stubble used by one who pens cattle.

The death of the people of Pompeii took place
instantaneously as just as the events recounted in the above
verses.

Despite all these, things have not changed much where
Pompeii once stood. The districts of Naples where debauchery prevails do
not fall short of those licentious districts of Pompeii. The Island of
Capri is a base where homosexuals and nudists reside. The Island of
Capri is represented as a “Homosexual paradise” in tourist commercials.
Not only on Capri and in Italy, but in nearly all the world, a similar
moral degeneration is at work and people insist on not learning from the
awful experiences of past peoples.

Next :
The People of ‘Ad and Ubar, the Atlantis of the Sands

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