A Sin Without Precedent: Why the People of Sodom Were Destroyed

There are sins that not only destroy the perpetrator but also drag an entire civilisation towards ruin. There are transgressions that do not stop as personal violations, but instead become a culture, defended, normalised, and even celebrated. When a society reaches that point, history shows that destruction is often only a matter of time.

The Quran immortalises one of the most famous examples in human history: the people of Sodom, the nation visited by Prophet Lut (AS). Their story is not merely a record of the past, but a warning about how a society can lose its moral compass to the point of rejecting the truth that comes to them.

The name of Prophet Lut is mentioned 27 times in the Quran. He was the nephew of Prophet Ibrahim (AS). Unlike many other prophets who were sent to their own people, Prophet Lut was sent to a nation that was not of his own lineage. After migrating with Prophet Ibrahim to the region of Syam, Allah commanded Prophet Lut to go to the inhabitants of Sodom and call them to monotheism and a righteous life. However, the society he faced was no ordinary society.

Amidst their progress and worldly life, the people of Sodom were known for committing acts never before perpetrated by any human community. They made same-sex relations an open custom. The behaviour was no longer considered a deviation, but had become part of their social life.

Allah immortalised Prophet Lut’s call to his people in His decree: ‘And (We sent) Lut when he said to his people, “Do you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds?”’ (QS Al-A’raf: 80).

Commentators explain that the word ‘al-fahisyah’ in the verse refers to an act of extreme indecency that exceeds all bounds. Prophet Lut emphasised that such behaviour had never been committed by any human community before them. Yet the warning did not make them repent. On the contrary, they became even more vehement in rejecting Prophet Lut’s preaching. Various Quranic verses mention that they mocked, opposed, and even attempted to expel Prophet Lut and his followers from their land.