Prophet to the People of Sodom
Prophet Lut لُوط
The nephew (or cousin, per most tafsirs) of Ibrahim. He migrated with him from Iraq and was settled in the cities of the plain — Sodom and her sisters — where he was sent to call a people who were 'the first of the worlds' to commit a particular sin. His wife sided with the wrongdoers; angels in human form visited him on the night of judgement; Allah overturned the cities and rained stones upon them.
The Migration with Ibrahim
Lut is the only prophet the Qur'an describes as having migrated with Ibrahim. After Ibrahim was thrown into the fire in Iraq and emerged unharmed, he left his homeland for Sham. The Qur'an records: 'And Lut believed in him. And Abraham said: Indeed, I am emigrating to my Lord. Indeed, He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.' (Qur'an 29:26). Lut, still young, attached himself to his uncle's prophethood and went out with him — the first migration in the prophets' chain after the flood.
Settled in the Cities of the Plain
Allah settled Lut in a group of cities collectively called al-Mu'tafikat (the Overturned Ones — Qur'an 9:70, 69:9). The largest was Sodom. Lut began as a guest and a foreigner there; in time Allah raised him among them as a prophet. The Qur'an records his opening words: 'When Lut said to his people: Do you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds? Indeed, you approach men with desire, instead of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people.' (7:80-81). The sin was old by the time the prophet came, but the prophet came precisely because they were the first to practice it openly as a society.
The Answer of His People
They had no argument. They answered with rejection: 'But the answer of his people was only that they said: Expel the family of Lut from your city! Indeed, they are people who keep themselves pure.' (Qur'an 27:56). Their highest insult against Lut and the believers was that they 'kept themselves pure' (yatatahharun) — a perfect inversion of moral language by a society that had inverted moral life. The Qur'an highlights it as a sign that a sin pursued long enough makes the conscience speak backward.
The Visit of the Angels
Allah sent angels in human form, as young men of striking beauty, first to Ibrahim and Sarah to give the news of Ishaq, then onward to Lut. The Qur'an describes Lut's distress when they arrived at his door: 'And when Our messengers came to Lut, he was anguished for them and felt for them great discomfort, and said: This is a trying day. And his people came rushing to him, and from before, they had been doing evil deeds. He said: O my people, these are my daughters — they are purer for you. So fear Allah and do not disgrace me concerning my guests. Is there not among you a man of reason?' (Qur'an 11:77-78). The 'daughters' is interpreted by most mufassirun as the women of his community — i.e., he was urging them to marry legally.
The Angels Reveal Themselves
When the mob reached the door, the angels said: 'O Lut, indeed we are messengers of your Lord. Never shall they reach you. So set out with your family during a portion of the night, and let not any of you look back — except your wife; indeed, she will be struck by that which strikes them. Indeed, their appointment is the morning. Is not the morning near?' (Qur'an 11:81). Jibril (in some narrations) struck the men of the mob blind at the door (a detail in Surah 54:37: 'And We blinded their eyes — so taste My punishment and My warning.').
The Overturning
Lut led his believing family out by night. At dawn, the punishment came. The Qur'an describes it with two simultaneous actions: 'So when Our command came, We made the highest part of the city its lowest, and We rained upon them stones of layered hard clay, marked from your Lord. And it is not from the wrongdoers far away.' (Qur'an 11:82-83). Jibril (per the tafsir tradition) lifted the cities to the heavens until the inhabitants heard the crowing of the roosters and the barking of the dogs, then overturned them. The stones rained simultaneously to ensure no one fled. 'And it is not from the wrongdoers far away' — the warning is for every society, not just that one.
فَلَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُنَا جَعَلْنَا عَالِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهَا حِجَارَةً مِّن سِجِّيلٍ مَّنضُودٍ مُّسَوَّمَةً عِندَ رَبِّكَ ۖ وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ
Fa-lamma ja'a amruna ja'alna 'aliyaha safilaha wa amtarna 'alayha hijaratan min sijjilin mandud. Musawwamatan 'inda rabbik, wa ma hiya min az-zalimina bi-ba'id.
So when Our command came, We made the highest part of it its lowest and rained upon them stones of layered hard clay, marked from your Lord. And it is not from the wrongdoers far away.
His Wife
The Qur'an makes a chilling point about marriage and faith using two of the prophets' wives. 'Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Nuh and the wife of Lut. They were under two of Our righteous servants, but they betrayed them, so those prophets did not avail them from Allah at all, and it was said: Enter the Fire with those who enter.' (Qur'an 66:10). The wife of Lut, the Qur'an notes throughout the story, 'remained behind' — she sided with her city against her husband, leaked the secret of the angels' arrival, and looked back at the punishment when she was told not to (per Surah 7:83 and 26:171). Marriage to a prophet did not save her; her own choice destroyed her.
The Ruins as a Sign
Allah says: 'And indeed, you pass by them in the morning and at night. Then will you not use reason?' (Qur'an 37:137-138). The classical mufassirun identify the site as the Dead Sea region (the lowest point on the earth's surface — fittingly, after Allah 'made the highest part its lowest'). The Prophet ﷺ said: 'May Allah curse him who does the deed of the people of Lut — three times he said it.' (Sunan an-Nasa'i 4436, classed sahih by al-Albani). The story of Lut closes with the Qur'an's gentle universal call: 'And in that is a sign for those who fear the painful punishment.' (51:37).
Lessons
- A prophet stays with his message even among strangers — Lut began as a guest in his cities and ended as their warner.
- When a society normalizes a sin, moral language inverts itself — the pure are called impure (Qur'an 27:56).
- Marriage does not save faith — the wife of Lut and the wife of Nuh were under prophets and entered the Fire (66:10).
- Do not look back at what Allah has destroyed — the obedient walk forward without nostalgia.
- Allah's stones are 'marked' — every act of mercy and every act of justice is named (11:83).
- The ruins of a destroyed people are a sign — pass them with the Prophet's ﷺ posture: covered head and quick step.
Quran references
7:80-84 · 11:69-83 · 15:51-77 · 26:160-175 · 27:54-58 · 29:26-35 · 51:31-37 · 54:33-40 · 66:10