Dead Sea Region, Jordan
Coordinates: 31.047287, 35.502523
This is the Cave where it is said that Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام sought refugee after fleeing from Sodom
This cave is supposed to be the place where Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام spent some of his final years with his 2 daughters.
According to the Bible, Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام moved to a cave after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The cave was found in 1991. Excavations here in the 1990s revealed a 7th-century Byzantine church with a dedication to ‘St Lot’, and with access to the cave through the north apse.
Description of the Site
You can only observe the cave from about 5 meters away. You will have a great view of the surrounding area.
It is 2km northeast of Safi and you can easily access from the Dead Sea Highway.
After parking your car, a ten minute steep walking, you reach the place covered with a roof.
The views from the church over the Dead Sea and the nearby town of Safi are amazing.
There’s also a museum underneath about the reality of the place and the type of people who lived there.
The cave is part of the Lowest Place on Earth Museum, The drive up to Cave is a dirt road but easily navigable in a regular sedan if you drive slowly.
After you drive as far as possible, there is still a strenuous climb ahead of you. You should be in good shape OR take your time.
There is no-one to guide you at the cave. You are on your own. Also, you can’t get into the cave.
Definitely dress up for it with hat sunscreen sunglasses.
Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام in Islam
Hz. Lut عليه اسلام known as Lot in the Old Testament, is a prophet of Allah in the Quran.
According to Islamic tradition, Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام was born to Haran and spent his younger years in Ur, later migrating to Canaan with his uncle Hz. Ibrahim عليه اسلام.
He was sent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as a prophet, and was commanded to preach to their inhabitants on monotheism and the sinfulness of their lustful and violent acts.
His Preaching
Though Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام was not born among the people he’d been sent to preach to, the people of Sodom are still regarded as his “brethren” in the Quran.
Like the Biblical narrative, the Quran states that Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام’s messages were ignored by the inhabitants of the cities, and Sodom and Gomorrah were subsequently destroyed.
Quranic narrative
Angels visit Hz. Ibrahim عليه اسلام
The Quran states that Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام was a nephew of Hz. Ibrahim عليه اسلام who had been sent to the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as a prophet after migrating to Canaan, but he was rejected by the cities’ inhabitants.
One day, a group of angels visited Hz. Ibrahim عليه اسلام as guests in order to inform him of the fact that his wife Bibi Sarah رضي الله عنها was pregnant with Hz. Ishaq عليه اسلام.
Destruction of People of Hz. Lut عليه اسلام except a few
While there, they also told him that they had been sent by Allah to the “guilty people” of Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام to destroy them with “a shower of stones of clay”.
Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام and those who believed in him, were to be spared, but his wife was to die in the destruction, with the angels stating that “she is of those who lag behind”.
The Quran also draws upon Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام’s wife as an “example for the unbelievers” as she was married to a righteous man but refused to believe in his message and was thus condemned to Hell.
Sins of People of Hz. Lut عليه اسلام
The people of the twin cities transgressed against the bounds of Allah. According to the Quran, their sins included inhospitality and robbery they hated strangers and robbed travellers, apart from other mistreatments and rape.
It was their sin of sexual misconduct as well which was seen as particularly egregious, with Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام strongly chiding them for approaching men with sexual desire instead of women.
Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام exhorted them to abandon their sinful ways, but they ridiculed him and threatened to evict him from the cities. by saying that this man wants to be ‘Pure’.
Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام prayed to Allah and begged to be saved from the consequences of their sinful acts.
Angels appearing as Men
Then two angels, disguised as handsome males, came to Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام.
He became distressed due to his powerlessness to protect the visitors from the people of the cities.
The cities residents demanded that Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام surrender his guests to them. He pointed to his daughters for his guests, but unlike the Judeo-christian beliefs,
Hz. Lut عليه اسلام offered them for lawful marriage after conversion to Islamic monotheism, as pious and pure alternatives to their unlawful wishes, and perhaps a source of guidance, but they were unrelenting and replied “we have no need of your daughters: indeed you know quite well what we want!”
The Quran remarks “they moved blindly intoxicated in the frenzy of approaching death”.
The exegetes Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi and Tabari do not read ‘daughters’ to mean Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام’s literal daughters. They argue that since a prophet is like a father to his nation, Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام was directing the evildoers to turn away from their sins and engage in healthy relationships with the daughters of the nation, i.e. women in general.
Angels reveal their Identity
The angels then revealed their true identities to Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام, and told him that they had been sent by Allah to “bring down upon the folk of this township a fury from the sky because they are evil-doers”.
They advised Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام to leave the place during the night and not look back, informing him that his wife would be left behind on account of her sinful nature.
Keeping his faith in Allah, Hz. Hz. Lut عليه اسلام left the cities during the night with his believing family members and others who believed in him. When morning came, Allah turned the cities upside down, and rained down on them stones hard as baked clay, putting an end to the lives of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
