Archeology and Modern Science Testify Veracity of Qur’anic concept of history

By: Moulana Aneesur Rahman Nadvi

Introduction
The narration of stories of ancient human races and nations is an important part of the fundamental discourses of the Holy Qur’an, under which the stories of the rise and fall of ancient nations and races have been narrated in the Qur’an in an enlightening manner. The essence of this Qur’anic philosophy of history is that all the nations and races that have passed on the earth in the past have been sent for a certain period of time to be tested and examined. Therefore, those nations who have been successful in trials and tribulations, Almighty Allah has exalted them on earth and given their descendants the opportunity to flourish and thrive on earth. And those who disobeyed the commandments of God and violated Him were annihilated, and they were wiped off the face of the earth forever.

Qur’anic narration of stories and its philosophy is a permanent chapter of the basic sciences of the Holy Qur’an. Shah Waliullah Dehlavi (d. 1762) has considered the narrations of rise and fall of the nations mentioned in the Qur’an as one of the five basic sciences of the Qur’an, which he has termed it as ‘the knowledge of reminding the days of God’ Ilmut Tazkir bi aala illah. That is, about one-fifth of all Qur’anic discourses are based on narrations of the rise and fall of the various nations and the lessons and admonitions related to them, so that man may seek advice from them, and choose the right course of action for themselves. For this reason, in many places in the Qur’an, Allah has inspired man to explore the earth and to investigate and learn from the remnants and remains of these perished nations.

“(O Prophet!) Say: Explore throughout the earth and then see the fate of the deniers.” (Quran: 6:11)

The Qur’an mentions many nations which Allah wiped out from the surface of the earth for their disobedience. Among these nations and races are the people of Noah, the people of Aad, the people of Thamud, the people of Lot, and Pharaoh. In the article under discussion, the people of Lot will be discussed in some detail, the evidence of the destruction of which has recently been discovered by modern science. These investigations have not only witnessed the tragic destruction of the people of Lot today, but have also proved the authenticity and veracity of the Qur’anic philosophy of history.

Mention of Lot and his people in the Qur’an
Lot (pbuh) was a great prophet and nephew of prophet Abraham (pbuh). He was amongst the first to believe in prophet Abraham (Qur’an: 29: 26). With Abraham (pbuh), he first migrated from Iraq to Syria and then to Egypt. Later on the advice of Abraham (pbuh), he chose the area of East Jordan for preaching.

The people of Lot (pbuh) were indulged in the most heinous and inhumane acts of homosexuality. This unnatural misconduct of theirs had crossed the boundaries of personal behavior and had become their national emblem. No other nation on earth had ever committed such a crime. Lot (pbuh) exhorted his people to refrain from this evil and encouraged them to fulfill their sexual desires according to natural principles:

“(And remember) When Lot said to his people: Do you commit such obscene which no one has ever done before you? You fulfill your lusts with men instead of women. In fact, you are transgressors.”
(Quran:7:80-81)

But the people of Lot (AS) proved to be disobedient and rebellious. They were indulged completely in this heinous and immoral act. Lot’s preaching and sermonizing had no effect on them. Instead of receiving sermons and advice, they began to taunt them for being chaste and threatened to deport Lot (pbuh) and his followers if they did not desist from it. The Holy Qur’an states:

“The only response from his people was that they said, ‘Expel them from your land, these people wish to remain chaste.’” (Qur’an: 7:82)

The people of Lot (pbuh) not only rejected the sermons of Lot (pbuh) but also openly challenged Lot (pbuh) to bring the punishment of Allah upon them if he is truthful (Quran: 29:29). When his people did not desist from their immorality and wickedness even after all the efforts of Lot (pbuh), Lot prayed to Almighty Allah to save him and his followers from these people. Allah sent a message to Lot through the angels to go away from his people with his family (except his wife) in the darkness of night (Quran: 11: 81). He did so and early in the morning the torment of Allah engulfed the people of Lot (pbuh), and the settlements of the people of Lot were destroyed and were wiped off the surface of the earth.

The Qur’anic narrative of the catastrophic destruction of Lot’s people
The horror of the destruction of the people of Lot has been described in various styles in a number of places in the Holy Qur’an. According to them, the torment of Allah which fell on the people of Lot was in the form of a rain of stones from the sky. Some of the verses are as follows:

“And We rained down upon them a rain (of stones), so see what was the end of the criminals.” (Qur’an: 7: 84)

“When Our command came, We turned those settlements upside down and rained down upon them clustered stones of baked clay.”(Qur’an:11:82-83)

“Then, the terrible explosion struck them in the early hours of the morning. Then, We turned those settlements upside down, and We rained down on them stones of baked clay. Indeed in this, there are signs for the people who have insight. And indeed, the ruins of these cities still lie on a known path. Indeed in that are signs for the people who believe.” (Qur’an: 15: 73-77)

The settlement of people of Lot
The Dead Sea, also known as the Sea of Lot, was once the home of the people of Lot. The area is located on the current Israeli-Jordanian border. There were several cities of the people of Lot in this area. According to a narration of Tabarani, the settlements of the people of Lot are called “the city of Sodom and its environs.”(1) In his history, Tabari has mentioned the names of five cities of people of Lot, which are as follows: Saba’a, Sa’ra, Umrah, Duma and Sodom, all of which were located in and around the present Dead Sea.(2) Hakim has also narrated a tradition in Mustadrak in which a total of five cities are mentioned with some differences of names.(3)

The whole area of the Dead Sea which exists today in the form of a small ocean, was in fact, consisted of dry lands at that time and was a lush area with greenery everywhere. But when divine punishment fell on the people of Lot, the situation changed drastically and the whole area turned into a poisonous sea for living creatures and a barren wasteland. Numerous Muslim historians and geographers have recorded their observations about this region that traces of the destruction of the nation of Lot were still preserved until their times. For example, Abu Obaid Bakri Andalusi (1040-1094), a famous eleventh-century geographer and author of Al-Masalak wal-Mamalik, writes that these celestial stones were preserved until his time (11th century AD), and they were black and shiny in color. He writes:

“These were five cities in total. Sodom was the largest city among them. Its remains are preserved until today, ie 332 AH, which is lying deserted. No human lives in it. Marked stones are still present there. The traveler finds them bright and black.”(4)

Zakaria Qazvini writes that the region of the people of Lot was the most beautiful region of the world, full of water, exceptionally fertile, full of grains, fruits and greenery, but it has now become a symbol of destruction.(5) Another Muslim geographer Ibn al-Wardi (1292-1349) names the Dead Sea as “Sea of Sodom and Gomorrah”,(6) suggesting ruined cities of Sodom and Gomorrah may have buried in the present Dead Sea.

Biblical Statement
Bible mentions two cities of people of Lot: Sodom and Gomorrah. According to the Bible, this area of Jordan was extremely fertile, full of fresh water, and as lush and beautiful as everlasting paradise. (Genesis 10:13). But because of disobedience of God, they were destroyed by raining fire and brimstone from heaven. (Genesis: 19: 24-25) Abraham (AS) witnessed the destruction of Lot’s people from his city, which rose in the form of thick smoke, like the smoke rising from a furnace. (Genesis 19:28)

Archeological Discoveries of 20th Century
Archaeologists have long believed that the cities of people of Lot, mentioned in the Qur’an, the Hadith, and the Bible, particularly the city of Sodom, is buried in the southern part of the Dead Sea. The first archeological investigation in this regard was made by the American archaeologist William F. Albright (1891-1971). He studied the southern part of the Dead Sea in 1924 CE and concluded that the city of Sodom was buried beneath this part of the Dead Sea. He also postulated that the water level in this southern part of the Dead Sea rose later, meaning that this part was previously landlocked. Subsequent investigations proved that the water level in the Dead Sea actually rose later, but researchers did not come across any traces of ancient structures there. However, during his research in the Dead Sea, Albright discovered traces of a ruined city called Bab edh-Dhra, which he dated to 3150-2200 BC.(7)

First excavation of Bab edh-Dhra city took place in 1960 and the second one in 1973. Evidence gathered from the site showed that it was a well-settled and fortified city, equipped with a massive cemetery, homes, building structures, and enough infrastructures to house large number of inhabitants. The examination of the cumulative data collected from here has revealed that the city was destroyed by an enormous fire, which is confirmed by an extremely thick layer of ash present at the site. In view of these facts, many scholars have identified Bab edh-Dhra as the Biblical city of Sodom.(8) Most of experts believe that the city was reduced to ashes by an earthquake and subsequent volcanic eruption.

Modern scientific and archeological discoveries
In recent days, a team of scientists has discovered some archeological remains during excavations at Tall al-Hammam, a city northeast of the Dead Sea. The team began excavations here in the year 2005. After conducting several excavation campaigns for 13 years and studying the archeological and stratigraphic evidences collected from here, they found that this area had once the target of an impact event 3700 years ago and was subsequently destroyed. This will be discussed in detail later. This discovery of archeology and modern science is in itself a great revelation, because until now earthquake and volcano was blamed for the destruction of this region. But now, for the first time, an impact event has been blamed for it, which goes on to confirm the Qur’anic narrative in this regard. As discussed above in detail, Qur’an clearly states that the destruction of the people of Lot was caused due to the raining down of stones from the heavens.

Location of Bab edh-Dhra between northern and southern parts of Dead Sea

It is interesting to note here that until 2-3 decades ago, humans was utterly ignorant and unaware of the fact that the Earth would have ever encountered any kind of impact events. But an incident that took place in the year 1994 which changed the human thinking forever in this regard.(9) We will briefly discuss the history of the study of interplanetary collisions on Earth before discussing the main topic, as this will help us understand the main topic under discussion.

History of the study of impact event on Earth
As said earlier, it was a common perception in scientific circles till 2-3 decades ago that Earth is safe and protected from any celestial threat. But in July 1994, an unprecedented event occurred on Jupiter, the largest planet of our solar system. A comet, Schumacher, collided with the surface of Jupiter, with enormous force, resulting in a catastrophic destruction on Jupiter. Scientists observed the event directly through telescopes. Scientists estimate the force of this collision on Jupiter to be 100 million tons of TNT, eight billion times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the United States in World War II. It created an enormous dark impact scar wider than the size of Earth on the surface of Jupiter, i.e., an area equivalent to the size of earth on Jupiter was burnt to ashes.

Everybody at that time was eager to know what would have happened if this impact event had occurred on Earth instead of Jupiter? And what are the chances of such impact events on Earth in future? Scientific research in this regard began on war footing. The results presented by scientists after lengthy research were both shocking and terrifying. According to these researches the chances of collisions on earth in future are 100 percent. And more importantly, the Earth has been bombarded by celestial objects throughout its geologic history several times.(10) These investigations also revealed that in the recent past (few thousand years) there have been incidents of impact events in the Middle East and its surrounding regions.

Signs of impact events on Earth or other planets through which the past impact events are traced are the existence of impact craters on the surface. The meteors and comets collide with the Earth and other planets with such force and energy that it causes large craters on the surface of Earth and other planets. Due to geological factors, these craters often disappear from the surface, but some of these craters survive for thousands and even for millions of years. Through the discovery and mapping of these craters on Earth’s surface, scientists have successfully compiled the past history of impact events on Earth. ***
(to be Cont.)

References:
1- Al Mujam al-Kabir, Tabrani, Hadith: 12745
2- Tarikh Tabri, Tabri, V. 1, P. 307.
3- Mustadrak Hakim, Hadith: 4058
4- Al Masalik wal-Mamalik, Abu Obaid Bakri, P. 111.
5- Aa’sarul Bilad wa-Akhbarul Ibad, Zakariya Qazwini, P. 202.
6- Kharidatul Aja’eb wa Fareedatul Gharaeb, Ibn Wardi Bakri, P. 103.
7- The Popular Handbook of Archaeology of Bible, Joseph M. Holden & Norman Geisler, P. 214-15, Harvest House Publishers, Oregon, 2013.
8- Ibid.
9- For a detailed study on this topic refer my article “Impact Events on Earth”, Tameer-e-Fike, May-Aug 2019, Furqania Academy Waqf, Bangalore (India).
10- For further study refer my book “Climate Change and Doomsday”.