Lot believed with him and said, "I am emigrating to my Lord. He is the Almighty, the Most Wise."

Lot was a messenger of God and one of the first to believe Abraham. When Abraham's people answered his preaching by trying to burn him, "Lot believed with him and said, 'I am emigrating to my Lord'" (29:26). God saved them both and brought them "to the land that we blessed for all the people" (21:71). God gave Lot "wisdom and knowledge" and counted him among the righteous (21:74-75), and the Quran names him plainly: "Lot was one of the messengers" (37:133). He was sent to a town that Dr. Khalifa's translation identifies as Sodom (29:31). The Quran calls its people his own, saying "Their brother Lot" (26:161).
His message was the message of every messenger: "You shall reverence GOD, and obey me," and he asked nothing in return, since his wage came only from the Lord of the universe (26:163-164). He confronted the abomination his people practiced openly. They had sex with men "lustfully, instead of the women" (27:55), forsaking "the wives that your Lord has created for you" (26:166). He told them that no one in the world had done this before them (7:80). Their corruption went beyond that, because they also committed highway robbery and allowed "all kinds of vice" in their society (29:29). They answered with threats and mockery. They said he would be banished unless he stopped (26:167). They called for his family to be evicted because "they are people who wish to be pure" (7:82, 27:56). They dared him to bring God's retribution (29:29), and they forbade him from having contact with outsiders (15:70). Lot prayed, "My Lord, grant me victory over these wicked people" (29:30).
The answer came through angels. They first visited Abraham with the good news of Isaac and told him they were on their way to destroy Lot's town. Abraham argued on behalf of Lot's people, but he was told that God's judgment had already been issued (11:69-76). When the angels reached Lot, he did not recognize them, and he was distressed for them (15:62, 11:77). The men of the city came rushing to his house for his guests. Lot pleaded with them: "it would be purer for you, if you take my daughters instead," and he asked, "Have you not one reasonable man among you?" (11:78). They replied, "you know exactly what we want" (11:79). Lot wished he had the strength or an ally to resist them (11:80). Then the angels revealed who they were and told him the men could not touch him (11:81). The Quran adds that God blinded the men who tried to bargain for his guests (54:37).
Lot was ordered to leave with his family during the night, to walk behind them, and to let none of them look back (15:65, 11:81). His wife was the one exception. She was "condemned along with those who are condemned" (11:81). In the morning the town was turned upside down and showered with "hard, devastating rocks" (11:82, 15:73-74). In the whole town, God found "except one house of submitters" (51:36).
The Quran draws several lessons from the story. It is "a lesson for those who possess intelligence," and "This will always be the system" (15:75-76). God saves the righteous and destroys transgressors who were warned and mocked the warning (54:33-39). The ruins were left standing as a lesson, and people still pass by them "by day. And by night" (29:35, 37:137-138). Lot's wife also teaches something on her own: being married to a righteous servant of God could not save her. The Quran cites her, together with Noah's wife, as an example that no one can help another against God (66:10). Dr. Khalifa's heading for that verse is "The Myth of Intercession Shattered."
Verses
SubmissionAI can make mistakes. Check the sources.
The people of Lot disbelieved the messengers.
Their brother Lot said to them, "Would you not be righteous?
"I am an honest messenger to you.
"You shall reverence GOD, and obey me.
"I do not ask you for any wage; my wage comes only from the Lord of the universe.
"Do you have sex with the males, of all the people?
"You forsake the wives that your Lord has created for you! Indeed, you are transgressing people."
They said, "Unless you refrain, O Lot, you will be banished."
He said, "I deplore your actions."
"My Lord, save me and my family from their works."
When our messengers went to Abraham with good news (about Isaac's birth), they also said, "We are on our way to annihilate the people of that town (Sodom). For its people have been wicked."
He said, "But Lot is living there." They said, "We are fully aware of everyone who lives in it. We will of course save him and his family, except his wife; she is doomed."
When our messengers went to Lot, they were mistreated, and he was embarrassed by their presence. He said, "This is a difficult day."
His people came rushing; they had grown accustomed to their sinful acts. He said, "O my people, it would be purer for you, if you take my daughters instead. You shall reverence GOD; do not embarrass me with my guests. Have you not one reasonable man among you?"
They said, "You know well that we have no need for your daughters; you know exactly what we want."
He said, "I wish I were strong enough, or had a powerful ally!"
(The angels) said, "O Lot, we are your Lord's messengers, and these people cannot touch you. You shall leave with your family during the night, and let not anyone of you look back, except your wife; she is condemned along with those who are condemned. Their appointed time is the morning. Is not the morning soon enough?"
When our judgment came, we turned it upside down, and we showered it with hard, devastating rocks.
Such rocks were designated by your Lord to strike the transgressors.
GOD cites as examples of those who disbelieved the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were married to two of our righteous servants, but they betrayed them and, consequently, they could not help them at all against GOD. The two of them were told, "Enter the Hellfire with those who deserved it."