What Crimes Did the People of Lut Commit?
ما الجرائم التي ارتكبها قوم لوط؟
They used to engage in indecent activities publicly. They dedicated a place for that, and practiced immorality openly in their gatherings. They would look at each other’s private parts. They were cutting off the road for travelers, taking money and assaulting them. When their Prophet reminded them of Allah, they said, ironically and defiantly, “Bring forth to us Allah’s torment.” They threatened Lut with expulsion from the city. When Lut’s guests came into the city, they wanted to commit acts of indecency with them. “And the men of his people, who were used to shameful deeds, came to him rushing. He pleaded, ‘O my people! Here are my daughters for marriage, they are pure for you. So fear Allah, and do not humiliate me by disrespecting my guests. Is there not even a single right-minded man among you?’ They argued, ‘You certainly know that we have no need for your daughters. You already know what we desire!'” (Surah Hud 11:78-79). “And remember when Lot rebuked the men of his people: ‘You certainly commit a shameful deed that no man has ever done before you. Do you really lust after other men, abuse the travellers, and practice immorality openly in your gatherings?’ His people’s only response was to say mockingly, ‘Bring Allah’s punishment upon us, if what you say is true'” (Surah Al-Ankabut 29:28-29). “Their people’s only response was to say, ‘Expel them from your town, they are people who keep themselves pure'” (Surah Al-A’raf 7:82).
ارتكاب الفاحشة أمام الناظرين، وأنتم تنظرون. جعلوا لذلك مكانا: وتأتون في ناديكم المنكر. ينظر فيه بعضهم إلى عورة بعض. كانوا يقطعون الطريق على المسافرين، يسلبون الأموال ويعتدون على الأعراض، وتقطعون السبيل. لما ذكرهم نبيهم بالله قالوا على وجه السخرية والتحدي: ائتنا بعذاب الله. هددوا لوطا بالطرد من المدينة: لتكونن من المخرجين. لما دخل أضياف لوط إلى المدينة أرادوا فعل الفاحشة فيهم. قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ هَـٰؤُلَاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ ۖ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَلَا تُخْزُونِ فِي ضَيْفِي ۖ أَلَيْسَ مِنكُمْ رَجُلٌ رَّشِيدٌ ﴿٧٨﴾ قَالُوا لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا لَنَا فِي بَنَاتِكَ مِنْ حَقٍّ وَإِنَّكَ لَتَعْلَمُ مَا نُرِيدُ ﴿٧٩﴾ (سورة هود: 78-79). وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُم بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٢٨﴾ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ وَتَقْطَعُونَ السَّبِيلَ وَتَأْتُونَ فِي نَادِيكُمُ الْمُنكَرَ ۖ فَمَا كَانَ جَوَابَ قَوْمِهِ إِلَّا أَن قَالُوا ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابِ اللَّـهِ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ﴿٢٩﴾ (سورة العنكبوت: 28-29). وَمَا كَانَ جَوَابَ قَوْمِهِ إِلَّا أَن قَالُوا أَخْرِجُوهُم مِّن قَرْيَتِكُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ أُنَاسٌ يَتَطَهَّرُونَ ﴿٨٢﴾ (سورة الأعراف: 82).
1. Crimes Beyond the Central Sin | جرائم تتجاوز الذنب الأساسي
The central sin covered in What Were the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah Known For? was only one part of a wider pattern of criminality. Highway robbery, assaulting travelers, and public indecency all appear in the same verses, showing a society where multiple forms of wrongdoing had become normalized together rather than one isolated sin in an otherwise ordinary community.
الذنب الأساسي المذكور في مقال بم عُرفت مدينتا سدوم وعمورة؟ لم يكن سوى جزء واحد من نمط أوسع من الإجرام. فقطع الطريق، والاعتداء على المسافرين، والفاحشة العلنية، كلها ترد في الآيات ذاتها، مُظهرة مجتمعا أصبحت فيه أشكال متعددة من الخطأ طبيعية معا لا ذنبا واحدا معزولا في مجتمع عادي في غير ذلك.
2. Punishing Purity Rather Than Wrongdoing | معاقبة الطهر بدلا من الذنب
Surah Al-A’raf 7:82 records their reason for wanting to expel Lut and his followers: “they are people who keep themselves pure,” stated as a complaint, not a compliment. Scholars point to this as a striking inversion, a community that had come to view righteousness itself as the problem and its absence as normal.
تسجل سورة الأعراف 7:82 سبب رغبتهم في طرد لوط وأتباعه: “إنهم أناس يتطهرون”، مذكورة بوصفها شكوى لا مديحا. ويشير العلماء إلى هذا انقلابا مذهلا، مجتمع أصبح يرى الصلاح نفسه هو المشكلة وغيابه هو الطبيعي.
3. Mockery as the Final Response to Warning | السخرية كرد نهائي على التحذير
When reminded of Allah, their response was not silence or defensiveness but a demand to “bring forth Allah’s torment,” a direct challenge rather than an attempt at self-justification. This response, repeated nearly word for word in Surah Al-Ankabut, is treated by commentators as the point at which a warning stops being received as guidance and becomes something openly dared.
حين ذُكّروا بالله، لم يكن ردهم صمتا أو دفاعا عن النفس بل مطالبة بأن “يأتيهم بعذاب الله”، تحديا مباشرا لا محاولة لتبرير النفس. ويُعامل المفسرون هذا الرد، المكرر بألفاظ متطابقة تقريبا في سورة العنكبوت، بوصفه النقطة التي يتوقف فيها التحذير عن أن يُستقبل هداية ويصبح تحديا معلنا.
4. The Final Act That Sealed Their Fate | الفعل الأخير الذي حسم مصيرهم
Their attempt to assault Lut’s own guests, angels appearing as men, was the culmination of this pattern, an act against visitors under a host’s direct protection, considered one of the gravest violations in that society’s own moral code, let alone the wider crime itself. What happened to them immediately after this final act is covered in How Did Allah Destroy the People of Lut?
كانت محاولتهم الاعتداء على ضيوف لوط أنفسهم، ملائكة بصورة رجال، ذروة هذا النمط، فعل ضد زوار تحت حماية مضيف مباشرة، يُعد من أفدح الانتهاكات في المدونة الأخلاقية لذلك المجتمع نفسه، ناهيك عن الجريمة الأوسع ذاتها. أما ما حدث لهم مباشرة بعد هذا الفعل الأخير، فمذكور في مقال كيف أهلك الله قوم لوط؟
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
What crimes did the people of Lut commit besides their central sin?
Highway robbery of travelers, public indecency, and mockery of their Prophet’s warnings.
How did they respond when Lut warned them?
By mockingly demanding that Allah’s punishment be brought upon them immediately.
Why did they want to expel Lut and his followers?
Because they kept themselves pure, a trait his people treated as a complaint rather than a virtue.