Lut believed in his uncle Ibrahim, migrated with him, and was sent as a prophet to Sodom, a place that had normalized open indecency and highway robbery, and celebrated both. He stood essentially alone, calling to purity in a town where corruption was the culture. Their answer dripped with sarcasm: “Expel them from your town; they are purist people.” (Quran 7:82).
When angels came to him disguised as handsome young guests, the town mobbed his house, and Lut lived the worst night of his life, powerless to protect his guests, until the angels revealed who they were: we are messengers of your Lord; they will never reach you. By dawn, the cities were lifted and overturned, and stones of baked clay rained down. Lut and his believing family walked out at night without looking back. Only his wife, who sided with the corrupt, stayed and shared their end.