The Wife of Nuh and the Wife of Lut — The Disbeliever Under the Roof of a Prophet
stories
Level: intermediate
women
st-082
فَخَانَتَاهُمَا فَلَمۡ يُغۡنِيَا عَنۡهُمَا مِنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيۡـًٔا وَقِيلَ ٱدۡخُلَا ٱلنَّارَ مَعَ ٱلدَّٰخِلِينَ
— التحريم 10
Quranic context: At-Tahrim 10
Verse: "Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Nuh and the wife of Lut. They were under two of Our righteous servants but betrayed them, and they availed them nothing against Allah."
The betrayal: Not betrayal of conjugal fidelity — but betrayal of the mission and religion. Nuh's wife would reveal the identities of weak believers to undermine his call. Lut's wife would inform her people of the guests who came to him.
The great theological lesson: Kinship and marriage avail nothing before Allah. "They availed them nothing against Allah" — their husbands' prophethood did not intercede for them on the Day of Judgment. Faith is personal.
The contrast: The same surah contrasts them with Maryam and the wife of Pharaoh — both believed in harder circumstances. The Quranic juxtaposition: a woman can be the greatest example of virtue or the greatest example of betrayal — gender does not determine it, choice does.
Source: Ibn Kathir (8/176); Al-Tabari (28/147); Al-Qurtubi (18/193)
Question: What type of betrayal did the wives of Nuh and Lut commit, and why did their connection to prophets not benefit them?
Answer: Betrayal of the prophetic mission, not marital fidelity — one exposed believers, the other informed the hostile people of guests. Kinship did not benefit them because faith is personal: every soul is pledged for what it earned.