Former Prophets

Sodom Overturned, The People of Lut

The morning after the divine punishment in the Dead Sea basin (Q 11:82-83, 15:73-77)

The time of Lut (peace be upon him)

Imagined 360° reconstruction of Sodom Overturned, The People of Lut

Educational historical reconstruction

Where

The Dead Sea basin / southern Jordan rift

31.0000, 35.5000 · View on OpenStreetMap

Background

The Qur'an records the prophet Lut (peace be upon him) and the destruction of his people in several extensive passages: principally Surat al-A'raf (Q 7:80-84), Surat Hud (Q 11:69-83), Surat al-Hijr (Q 15:51-77), Surat al-Shu'ara' (Q 26:160-175), Surat al-Naml (Q 27:54-58), Surat al-'Ankabut (Q 29:28-35), Surat al-Dhariyat (Q 51:31-37), and Surat al-Qamar (Q 54:33-39). Lut (peace be upon him) was the nephew of the prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him), they had migrated together from Mesopotamia, and was sent as a prophet to the people of Sadum (Sodom) and 'Amura (Gomorrah) and the cities of the plain, who had fallen into foundational moral transgression (fahisha) particularly involving violations against the natural order (Q 7:80-81, Q 26:165-166). Lut (peace be upon him) called them to abandon their transgression; they rejected him and threatened to expel him and his family (Q 27:56). The Qur'an records the arrival of the angelic messengers, described as carrying first the news of the destruction to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) along with the news of the birth of Ishaq (peace be upon him) (Q 11:69-76), then proceeding to Lut (peace be upon him) in disguise as travellers (Q 11:77-79). At dawn the destruction came as recorded at Q 11:82-83: fa-lamma ja'a amruna ja'alna 'aliyaha safilaha wa-amtarna 'alayha hijaratan min sijjilin mandud ('When Our command came, We made the upper part of it the lower, and rained upon it stones of baked clay, layered'). Lut (peace be upon him) and his family were delivered, except his wife who had betrayed him and 'looked back' (Q 11:81, Q 26:171). The Sunni qisas al-anbiya' tradition (Ibn Kathir's Qisas al-Anbiya', al-Tha'labi's 'Ara'is al-Majalis) preserves the narrative and locates the site of the destruction at the Dead Sea basin, the southern depression of the Jordan rift valley, the deepest land surface on earth; the standing physical signs of the salt plain and the dark fired-clay stones of the region are the 'ibra (admonition) referenced by Q 51:37 and Q 54:39. The dating is by anchor (the time of Lut peace be upon him), contemporary with his uncle Ibrahim (peace be upon him). This scene depicts the morning after the destruction: the overturned ruined town on a low rise in the plain, the leaden Dead Sea to the north, the salt-encrusted plain stretching south, the scattered dark stones of sijjil. No figures are depicted.

What you see

A wide low-lying basin between the Judaean uplands and the mountains of Moab, the deepest depression on the earth's surface, with the leaden Dead Sea visible to the north and the salt-encrusted plain stretching south. The air is heavy with sulphur.

On a low rise in the plain near the sea, a ruined town, buildings overturned and inverted, walls collapsed, the whole settlement appearing as if it has been rotated and slammed back down. The Qur'an records the destruction at Q 11:82-83: fa-lamma ja'a amruna ja'alna 'aliyaha safilaha wa-amtarna 'alayha hijaratan min sijjilin mandud, 'When Our command came, We made the upper part of it the lower, and rained upon it stones of baked clay, layered.'

Scattered across the plain among the ruins, stones of dark fired clay, the sijjil of the Qur'an. The ground itself is encrusted with salt; brittle white crystals catch the morning light. The Qur'an records the wife of Lut (peace be upon him) was destroyed with the rest as she had betrayed him (Q 11:81); the Sunni qisas tradition associates her transformation with the salt formations of the region.

The Qur'anic narrative: Lut (peace be upon him), the nephew of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), was sent to a people of foundational moral transgression (Q 7:80-84). He was visited by angelic messengers who first carried the news to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) (Q 11:69-76); they delivered Lut (peace be upon him) and his family at the moment of the destruction, except his wife (Q 11:81).

The Qur'anic warning of the destruction of the people of Lut is one of the principal Qur'anic studies of fawahish, gross moral transgression, and its consequence. The site is preserved by the Sunni topographical tradition as a place of admonition, like al-Hijr; the leaden Dead Sea and its salt plain are the standing physical sign.

The light is the cool morning light of the Dead Sea basin. The dating is by anchor: the time of Lut (peace be upon him), contemporary with his uncle Ibrahim (peace be upon him); the Sunni qisas tradition does not fix a year.

The narrative: Q 7:80-84, Q 11:69-83, Q 15:51-77, Q 26:160-175, Q 27:54-58, Q 29:28-35, Q 51:31-37, Q 54:33-39. The Sunni qisas: Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya'; al-Tha'labi; al-Tabari.

Primary sources

The Qur'an: Surat al-A'raf 7:80-84, Surat Hud 11:69-83, Surat al-Shu'ara' 26:160-175, Surat al-Dhariyat 51:31-37: The principal Qur'anic passages on the people of Lut (peace be upon him).

Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya': Standard Sunni stories of the prophets; the chapter on Lut (peace be upon him).

al-Tabari, Tarikh and Jami' al-Bayan: Standard Sunni history and tafsir.

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