وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِۦٓ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ ٱلْفَـٰحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُم بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّنَ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ 28
Translations
And [mention] Lot, when he said to his people, "Indeed, you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds.
Transliteration
Wa Loota idh qala liqawmihi innakum lataa'toon al-fahishat ma sabaqakum biha min ahadin min al-'alamin
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah presents Prophet Lut's (Lot's) stern warning to his people regarding their unprecedented sin of homosexuality, which no nation before them had committed. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari emphasize that Lut condemned this abominable act as an innovation in transgression, making his people's deviation uniquely shameful. Al-Qurtubi notes that the phrase 'what no one before you has done' underscores both the gravity of their sin and their rejection of natural human disposition (fitrah).
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the Meccan surah Al-'Ankabut, which discusses various prophets and their messages of warning to their peoples. The mention of Lut here contextualizes his role as a messenger who confronted his community's moral corruption with clarity and conviction, fitting the surah's broader theme of prophetic struggle against disbelief and deviation.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: 'The most severely punished people on the Day of Resurrection are those who imitated the people of Lut' (Sunan Ibn Majah). Additionally, 'Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Lut, execute the one who does it and the one to whom it is done' (Jami' at-Tirmidhi).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers that moral clarity and prophetic warning are essential responses to societal corruption, and that abandoning natural human values leads to unprecedented degradation and divine punishment. It reminds us that the preservation of moral boundaries is not oppressive but protective of human dignity and social order.