What Does the Quran Say About Homosexuality?

Across at least seven distinct passages — from Surah Al-A’raf to Surah Al-Ankabut — Allah recounts the story of Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) and explicitly identifies the sexual practice of his people as a grave moral violation. 

Classical scholars of the Quran interpreted these passages with remarkable unanimity: homosexual acts are forbidden in Islam, representing one of the major sins (kaba’ir) in the Shariah.

What Does the Quran Say About Homosexuality?

The Quran states that homosexual acts are forbidden in Islam, representing one of the major sins (kaba’ir) in the Shariah. 

The Quran addresses homosexual acts through the story of Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) in at least seven passages — including Surah Al-A’raf (7:80–81), Surah Hud (11:77–83), and Surah Al-Ankabut (29:28–29) — explicitly identifying the act of men approaching men sexually as al-fahishah (the gravest immorality) and documenting the divine punishment that followed. 

What Does the Quran Say About Gays and Lesbians? 

Islam classifies homosexual acts — whether between men (liwat) or between women (sihaq) — as major sins (kaba’ir), with this ruling supported by full scholarly consensus since the era of the Companions. 

The Quran’s Central Narrative on Homosexuality Through The Story of People of Lut

The story of Prophet Lut (peace be upon him) appears repeatedly in the Quran, making it one of the frequently cited moral lessons in the entire scripture. This repetition is itself significant; when Allah returns to an account multiple times, it signals the weight of its lessons.

The account of People of Lut unfolds across Surah Al-A’raf (7:80–84), Surah Hud (11:77–83), Surah Al-Hijr (15:58–77), Surah Ash-Shu’ara (26:160–175), Surah An-Naml (27:54–58), Surah Al-Ankabut (29:28–35), and Surah Al-Qamar (54:33–39).

Prophet Lut was sent specifically to a people who had introduced a practice — male intercourse with male — that had never existed among any previous civilization. The Quran describes his address to them in Surah Al-A’raf:

وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُم بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ 

“And [We had sent] Lot when he said to his people, ‘Do you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds?'” (Quran 7:80)

إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِّن دُونِ النِّسَاءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّسْرِفُونَ 

“Indeed, you approach men with desire, instead of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people.” (Quran 7:81)

Allah sent Prophet Lut to the people of Sodom to call them away from their wickedness. They used to have sexual intercourse with males instead of females. Never before the people of Lut did a male have sex with another male. 

A Repeated Condemnation of Homosexuality in Surah An-Naml and Surah Al-Ankabut 

Some may wonder whether the story of Lut’s people is merely historical rather than a binding Quranic ruling. The answer lies in how the Quran repeats and contextualizes the condemnation across different surahs revealed at different periods.

In Surah An-Naml, Allah recounts:

أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ ٱلرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِّن دُونِ ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ 

“Do you commit immorality while you are seeing [i.e., are aware]? Do you indeed approach men with desire instead of women? Rather, you are a people behaving ignorantly.”” (Quran 27:54)

And in Surah Al-Ankabut:

أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ وَتَقْطَعُونَ السَّبِيلَ وَتَأْتُونَ فِي نَادِيكُمُ الْمُنكَرَ 

“Indeed, you approach men and obstruct the road and commit in your meetings [every] evil.” (Quran 29:29)

What Does Al-Fahishah Mean in Quranic Usage?

The Arabic word used to describe the act of Lut’s people is al-fahishah — with the definite article al, making it “the immorality” rather than simply “an immorality.” This linguistic precision is not accidental. 

When Allah mentions fornication (zina) elsewhere in the Quran, He uses the indefinite form — fahishah, one immorality among others. 

When He describes the act of the people of Lut, however, He uses al-fahishah — the definite form — signaling that this act represents the fullest concentration of moral corruption.

This grammatical point illuminates why this act among the most serious of the major sins.

What Happened to the People of Lut as a Punishment for Homosexuality?

The Quran documents the divine punishment that followed their persistent refusal, making it a vivid warning for all generations:

فَلَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُنَا جَعَلْنَا عَالِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهَا حِجَارَةً مِّن سِجِّيلٍ مَّنضُودٍ 

“So when Our command came, We made the highest part [of the city] its lowest and rained upon them stones of layered hard clay.” (Quran 11:82)

Imam Ibn Kathir notes that the angels who descended upon Prophet Lut’s household were Jibreel, Mika’eel, and Israfeel (peace be upon them), sent precisely to execute this divine decree. 

The combination of punishments was unlike any that had been sent upon another nation: blindness first struck the transgressors when they attempted to reach the guests in Lut’s home, then a thunderous cry, then the complete overturning of the cities, and finally a rain of marked stones. Surah Al-Hijr adds:

وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهِم مَّطَرًا ۖ فَسَاءَ مَطَرُ الْمُنذَرِينَ 

“And We rained upon them a rain [of stones]. And evil was the rain of those who were warned.” (Quran 15:74)

The severity of this punishment — described across multiple surahs — communicates through narrative what the prohibitive verses establish through command. The Quran builds both the evidential and the experiential case simultaneously.

Responding to Contemporary Revisionist Interpretations on Homosexuality

Some writers in recent decades have argued that the people of Lut were punished for inhospitality or violence — not for the sexual act itself. This interpretation was not held by a single recognized classical scholar of Ahlus Sunnah across fourteen centuries. It contradicts the plain text of the Quran, which explicitly names the act (ittyan al-rijal — approaching men sexually) as the defining transgression. 

Imam Ibn Kathir, Imam al-Tabari, Imam al-Qurtubi, and every other recognized master of Quranic tafsir identified the act of male same-sex intercourse as the central sin of Lut’s people, with other crimes — such as public lewdness and highway crime mentioned in Surah Al-Ankabut — as additional transgressions layered upon the primary one.

Responsible engagement with Islamic scholarship requires drawing on authentic Islamic sources and the established tradition, rather than reading modern agendas backward into the Quranic text.

Read Also: What Does the Quran Say About Alcohol?

Read Also:What Does the Quran Say About Women?

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Summary

The Quran addresses homosexual acts through the recurring narrative of Prophet Lut (peace be upon him), using the term al-fahishah — the gravest immorality — and documenting the unprecedented divine punishment that followed the people of Lut’s persistence. Across all four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, scholars from the era of the Companions through the present have maintained complete consensus that these acts are among the most serious of major sins.

Every human being who has committed any sin stands at the door of Allah’s mercy through sincere tawbah. The Islamic tradition holds the prohibition of the act and the possibility of divine forgiveness together — both rooted in the Quran, both essential to a complete understanding of what Allah has revealed.

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