Surah Adh-Dhariyat, Ayah 34

The Angels were sent to destroy the People of the Prophet Lut

Allah the Exalted said about Ibrahim, peace be upon him,

فَلَمَّا ذَهَبَ عَنْ إِبْرَهِيمَ الرَّوْعُ وَجَآءَتْهُ الْبُشْرَى يُجَـدِلُنَا فِى قَوْمِ لُوطٍ - إِنَّ إِبْرَهِيمَ لَحَلِيمٌ أَوَّاهٌ مُّنِيبٌ - يإِبْرَهِيمُ أَعْرِضْ عَنْ هَـذَآ إِنَّهُ قَدْ جَآءَ أَمْرُ رَبِّكَ وَإِنَّهُمْ آتِيهِمْ عَذَابٌ غَيْرُ مَرْدُودٍ

(Then when the fear had gone away from (Ibrahim), and the glad tidings had reached him, he began to plead with Us for the people of Lut. Verily, Ibrahim was, without doubt forbearing, used to invoke Allah with humility, and was repentant. "O Ibrahim! Forsake this. Indeed, the commandment of your Lord has gone forth. Verily, there will come a torment for them which cannot be turned back.")(11:74-76) Allah said here,

Small pebbles of baked clay would be sent down upon them: مُّسَوَّمَةً عِندَ رَ‌بِّكَ "marked, with your Lord, for the transgressors."... 51:34), that is, pebbles conspicuously marked by Allah. Some scholars say that each stone bore the name of the person with which he was to be destroyed, and if he ran in any particular direction, he was pursued by the same stone. Other verses say that these people were destroyed by Jibra'il's (علیہ السلام) turning their territory upside down. The two descriptions of the punishment are not mutually contradictory: Probably, the stoning incident took place first, and then the earth was turned upside down.

In these verses that scene has been described in which angels came to Abraham in order to give him the good news of his having children in his old age. Abraham was born in ancient Iraq. For a long time he preached to his people about the Unity of God and the Hereafter. But, except for his wife and nephew, Lot, nobody was ready to accept his word, until he reached old age. Now, in order to ensure the continuance of his mission, the second alternative was that he should have children who should be properly brought up by him. There is a blood relationship between father and son, which is a powerful factor in keeping a son attached to his father and make him like-minded whatever the conditions. Almighty God granted Abraham two sons in his old age. One was Isaac (Ishaq), through whom the preaching of the Unity of God continued among the Children of Israel. The second was Ishmael (Isma‘il), through whom a race was brought into being which was to support the Last of the Prophets in fulfilling his historic mission.