I have a question regarding the biblical story of Sodom. I believe this incident might be in the Quran as well, when Lot tells the people that they may take his daughters but spare the two male guests (angels, in fact).
Now what did he mean by “take my daughters” – in marriage or something else?
Answer
Mawlana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani has done tafsir of verse 78 of surah Hud (11), which mentions this incident thus (I am abbreviating and paraphrasing it):
Lut, alaihisslaam, made all possible efforts within his means to save his guests from being harassed by the unscrupulous men of his nation. The last thing he did was to offer them the possibility of marrying his daughters and thus, satisfying their desires. In the opinion of most scholars, by “daughters”, the prophet meant all the marriageable ladies of his nation, since as a spiritual father of the nation, he had a right to use the word “daughters” for them.
According to some others, he offered his own daughters as a final, desperate attempt to rescue his guests after having exhausted all other possibilities of bringing the perverted men of his nation to their senses. It was the very last attempt to prick their conscience.
I am personally inclined to accept the last opinion.