وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِۦٓ أَتَأْتُونَ ٱلْفَـٰحِشَةَ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ 54
Translations
And [mention] Lot, when he said to his people, "Do you commit immorality while you are seeing?
Transliteration
Wa-Lootan idh qala liqawmihi ata'tuna al-fahishat wa-antum tubsirun
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah records Prophet Lut's (Lot's) stern rebuke to his people, calling them to account for committing the abominable sin of sodomy while being fully aware of its wickedness. The phrase 'wa-antum tubsirun' (while you see/are aware) emphasizes that they committed this sin with full consciousness and knowledge of its depravity, aggravating their transgression. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi note that this rhetorical question serves as both a warning and an indictment, highlighting the people's deliberate choice of evil despite their rational capacity to recognize right from wrong.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in Surah An-Naml, a Meccan chapter that recounts stories of various prophets and their peoples. The broader context presents Lut's mission to his people and their rejection of his call to monotheism and moral righteousness. This particular verse emphasizes the gravity of the sin and the people's culpability, serving as a historical lesson for the Meccan audience about the consequences of rejecting divine guidance.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: 'The greatest sin after associating partners with Allah is to intentionally kill a soul, and the next is to bear false witness.' (Related to conscious transgression). Additionally, there are numerous hadiths warning against indecency and immorality, such as in Sunan Ibn Majah regarding the prohibition of immoral acts.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that knowledge and awareness of right and wrong increase human responsibility before Allah—committing sin while fully aware of its wrongness is a grave transgression. Modern readers should reflect on how awareness without action becomes complicity, and the importance of both knowing and actively choosing righteousness in their daily lives.
Related Ayahs
أَمَّن يَبْدَؤُا۟ ٱلْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُۥ وَمَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ أَءِلَـٰهٌ مَّعَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ قُلْ هَاتُوا۟ بُرْهَـٰنَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ
Is He [not best] who begins creation and then repeats it and who provides for you from the heaven and earth? Is there a deity with Allāh? Say, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful."
فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَى ٱلْحَقِّ ٱلْمُبِينِ
So rely upon Allāh; indeed, you are upon the clear truth.
قِيلَ لَهَا ٱدْخُلِى ٱلصَّرْحَ ۖ فَلَمَّا رَأَتْهُ حَسِبَتْهُ لُجَّةً وَكَشَفَتْ عَن سَاقَيْهَا ۚ قَالَ إِنَّهُۥ صَرْحٌ مُّمَرَّدٌ مِّن قَوَارِيرَ ۗ قَالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّى ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِى وَأَسْلَمْتُ مَعَ سُلَيْمَـٰنَ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
She was told, "Enter the palace." But when she saw it, she thought it was a body of water and uncovered her shins [to wade through]. He said, "Indeed, it is a palace [whose floor is] made smooth with glass." She said, "My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to Allāh, Lord of the worlds."
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَآ أَتَوْا۟ عَلَىٰ وَادِ ٱلنَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّمْلُ ٱدْخُلُوا۟ مَسَـٰكِنَكُمْ لَا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَـٰنُ وَجُنُودُهُۥ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
Until, when they came upon the valley of the ants, an ant said, "O ants, enter your dwellings that you not be crushed by Solomon and his soldiers while they perceive not."