HELL-FIRE

Hell-fire is the abode that Allah (SWT) has prepared for those who do not believe in its existence, rebel against His Divine Law and disbelieve His Messengers. It is the means of torturing His enemies and the prison where He detains the criminal. It represents the greatest humiliation and worst loss. Allah (SWT) says: “Our Lord! Verily, any whom You admit to the Fire, indeed, You have disgraced him, and never will wrong-doers find any helpers.” (III: 192) Allah (SWT) also says: “Know they not that whoever opposes and shows hostility to Allah and His Messenger, certainly for him will be the Fire of Hell to abide therein? That is extreme disgrace.” (IX: 63) Allah (SWT) also says: “So worship what you like besides Him. Say (O Muhammad): ‘The losers are those who will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection.’ Verily, that will be a manifest loss.” (XXXIX: 15)

Moreover, the Fire is eternal and its dwellers will abide in it perpetually; therefore, Allah (SWT) abuses the residence of the dwellers of Hell-fire at great length. Allah (SWT) says: “Evil indeed it (Hell) is as an abode and as a place to rest in.” (XXV: 66) Allah (SWT) also says: “This is so! And for the Taghun (transgressors, disobedient to Allah and His Messenger, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, criminals, etc.), will be an evil final return (Fire)! Hell, where they will burn, an evil bed (indeed, to lie on).” (XXXVIII: 55-56)

The creation of the Fire:

Abu Harairah said that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “The Fire was fueled for a thousand years till it got red, and then it was fueled for another thousand years till it got white, and it was again fueled for anther thousand years till it got black. So, it is black and dark.”[109]

Allah (SWT) says: “Truly, Hell is a place of ambush, a place of destination for the Taghun (those who transgress the boundary limits set by Allah, like polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, hypocrites, sinners, criminals, etc.)” (LXXVIII: 21-22) i.e., an ambush for the rebels who disobey the Messengers.[110]

In Sahih Muslim, Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “… By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, if you should see what I have seen you would laugh a little and weep a lot” They asked: “What have you seen, O Allah’s Messenger? “ He said: “I have seen Paradise and the Fire.”[111]   

Making every nation follow its own leader:

At the end of the Day of Judgment, Allah will send the dwellers of the Fire in multitudes to the Fire. Every nation then will be ordered to follow the deity they used to worship. Such false deities will then fall down into the Fire and their worshippers will fall down into the Hell-fire after them. Pharaoh will be an example, as Allah (SWT) says: “He will go ahead of his people on the Day of Resurrection, and will lead them into the Fire, and woeful indeed is the place to which they are led.” (XI: 98)

Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated on the authority of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “On the Day of Resurrection, a call-maker will announce: ‘Let every nation follow that which they used to worship.’ Then none of those who used to worship anything other than Allah, like idols and other deities, but will fall in Hell (Fire), till there will remain none but those who used to worship Allah, both those who were obedient (i.e., good) and those who were disobedient (i.e. bad) and the remaining party of the people of the Scripture. Then the Jews will be summoned and it will be said to them: ‘Who did you use to worship?’ They will say: ‘We used to worship Ezra, the son of Allah.’ It will be said to them: ‘You are liars, for Allah has never taken anyone as a wife or a son. What do you want now?’ They will say: ‘O our Lord! We are thirsty, so give us something to drink.’ They will be directed (to a certain direction) and addressed thus: ‘Will you drink,’ whereupon they will be gathered unto Hell (Fire) which will look like a mirage whose different sides will be destroying each other. Then they will fall into the Fire. Afterwards the Christians will be summoned and it will be said to them: ‘Who did you use to worship?’ They will say: ‘We used to worship Jesus, the son of Allah.’ It will be said to them: ‘You are liars, for Allah has never taken anyone as a wife or a son,’ Then it will be said to them: ‘What do you want?’ They will say: ‘O our Lord! We are thirsty, so give us something to drink.’ They will be directed (to a certain direction) and addressed thus: ‘Will you drink,’ whereupon they will be gathered unto Hell (Fire) which will look like a mirage whose different sides will be destroying each other. Then they will fall into the Fire.”[112]

The rage and fury of the Fire on seeing the infidels:

The texts of the Qur’an and the Sunnah that describe the Fire imply that it is a creature that sees, speaks and complains. In the Holy Qur’an the Fire will see its people heading towards it from a distance, whereupon it will produce such horrible sounds as will indicate its indignation and rage against those criminals. Allah  (SWT) says: “When it (Hell) sees them from a far place, they will hear its fury and its raging sigh.” (XXV: 12)

Imam Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi narrate part of al-A’mash’s hadith, on the authority of Abu Salih that Abu Hurairah said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “On the Day of Resurrection a neck will emerge from the Fire with two eyes that will see and two ears that will hear and a tongue that will speak, saying: ‘I have been put in charge of three (types of people): every stubborn tyrant, every one worshipping a false deity besides Allah, and painters.’”[113]    

The gates of the Fire:

Allah (SWT) tells us that the Fire has seven gates. Allah (SWT) says: “And surely, Hell is the promised place for them all. It has seven gates, for each of those gates a (special) class (of sinners) is assigned.” (XV: 43-44)

Interpreting this Verse, Ibn Kathir (may Allah bestow His Mercy on him) said: “It means that He has assigned to each gate a portion of the followers of the devil and they will inevitably enter it. May Allah grant us refuge against it! Every one will enter through a certain gate according to his deeds and will settle down at a specific depth according to his deeds.”[114]

The descending levels of the Fire:

The Fire varies in the intensity of its heat and in the torment Allah has prepared for its dwellers. It is not just one level. Allah (SWT) says: “Verily, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depth (level) of the Fire; no helper will you find for them.” (IV: 145)

The vastness of the Fire and its deep bottom

The Fire is vast and wide; its bottom is very deep. Allah (SWT) says: “On the Day when We will say to Hell: ‘Are you filled?’ It will say: ‘Are there any more (to come)?’”

In the two Sahihs, it is narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A slave of Allah may utter a word without thinking whether it is right or wrong, whereupon he may slip down in the Fire a distance equal to that between east and west.”[115]

In Sahih Muslim, Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “We were with Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) when he heard something falling, whereupon he asked: ‘Do you know what this is?’ We said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He said: ‘this is a stone that was cast in the Fire seventy years ago and has been falling down till it has just reached its bottom.’”[116]   

The keepers of the Fire:

The Fire is managed by huge, stern angels that do not disobey Allah, Who has created them, and that do what they are commanded to do. Allah (SWT) says: “O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is men and stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who disobey not the Commands they receive from Allah, but do what they are commanded.” (LXVI: 6)

The fuel of the Fire:

Stones, the wicked and the infidels will be the fuel of the Fire. Allah (SWT) says: ““O you who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is men and stones…” (LXVI: 6) Allah (SWT) also says: “…then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.” (II: 24)

Ibn Rajab said: (In it there are five types of torture, nonexistent anywhere else: quickness of igniting, foulness of smell, abundance of smoke, tight adherence to bodies and the intensity of its heat when it has been heated.”[117]

The intensity of its heat and the enormity of its smoke and flames:

Allah (SWT) says: “And those on the Left Hand,- Who will be those on the Left Hand? (They will be) in fierce hot wind (simoom) and boiling water, and in the shades of black smoke, neither cool, nor refreshing” (LVI: 41-44)

The Verse here refers to three things people usually use to cool themselves when suffering from hot weather and distress: water, fresh air and shades. “The Verse illustrates that these things will not be of any use for the dwellers of the Fire. On the contrary, they will represent more torment, for the air of the Hell-fire will be simoom (hot dry strong wind); its water will be boiling water, and its shades will be patches of black smoke.”[118]

Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) tells us about the fire of Hell, saying: “Your (ordinary) fire is one of 70 parts of the (Hell) Fire." Someone asked, "O Allah's Apostle! This (ordinary) fire would have been sufficient (to torture the unbelievers),” He said: “The (Hell) Fire has 69 parts more than the ordinary (worldly) fire, each part being as hot as this (worldly) fire."[119]

The abnormal hugeness of the dwellers of the Fire:

The dwellers of the Fire will enter it in a huge tremendous stature that cannot be estimated except by their Creator. In the hadith attributed by Abu Hurairah to Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him), he said: “The width between the two shoulders of a Kafir (disbeliever) will be equal to the distance covered by a fast rider in three days.”[120] Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) also narrated that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “The molar tooth of an unbeliever or the canine tooth of an unbeliever will be like Uhud[121] and the thickness of his skin a distance of three nights’ journey.”[122] In the narration of Ahmad we read: “And his thigh will be as big as Warqan[123] and his seat in the Fire will be equal to the distance between me and al-Rabdhah.[124],[125]

The severity of the torture the dwellers of the Fire will suffer from:

The torture in the Fire will be very severe and in it there will be such horrors and sorts of torture as to make one forget the delights one enjoyed in this life. In Sahih Muslim, Anas Ibn Malik said that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “On the Day of Resurrection one amongst the dwellers of Hell who had led a life of ease and plenty amongst the people of the world will be made to dip only once in the Fire and then it will be said to him: ‘O, son of Adam, did you find any comfort, did you happen to get any material blessing?’ He would say: ‘By Allah, no! O my Lord…’”[126] Just a few moments of torture will make the most prosperous disbeliever forget all the times of happiness and joy he had experienced. In the two Sahihs, Anas Ibn Malik narrates that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Allah will say to the person who will have the minimum punishment in the Fire on the Day of Resurrection: ‘If you had things equal to whatever is on the earth, would you ransom yourself (from the punishment) with it?’ He will reply: ‘Yes.’ Allah will say: ‘I asked you a much easier thing than this while you were in the backbone of Adam, that is, not to worship others besides Me, but you refused and insisted to worship others besides Me.’”[127]

The intensity and horrors of the Fire will make one lose one’s reason and be willing to give up all his beloved persons to save oneself from the Fire, but in vain: “…the criminal would desire to ransom himself from the punishment of that Day by his children.” (LXX: 11) Such non-stop tremendous horrible torture will cause the criminals and sinners to lead a continuously painful distressing life.

Examples of the punishment of the dwellers of the Fire:

1.     Variation in the punishment of the dwellers of the Fire:

Since the Fire consists of grades or descending steps that vary in the degrees of torture and terror, its dwellers will also vary in the type of punishment they will receive. In the hadith narrated by Muslim and Ahmad on the authority of Samrah (may Allah be pleased with him) the Prophet (peace be upon him) said about the dwellers of the Fire: “Some of them will be covered by fire up to their ankles, some up to their knees, some up to their waists and some up to their collar-bones.”[128] In Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Nu’man Ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) saying: “The least punished person among the dwellers of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection will be a man under whose sole of the feet a smoldering ember will be placed, because of which his brain will boil.”[129]

2.     The sighs and sobs of the dwellers of the Fire:

When the dwellers of the Fire are tormented in it and taste all sorts of punishment, their breathing will be just sighing and sobbing to increase their torture and humiliation. Allah (SWT) says: “As to those who are wretched, they will be in the Fire. There will be for them therein (nothing but) the heaving of sighs and sobs.” (XI: 106)

The scholar al-Shinqiti (may Allah bestow His Mercy on him) said: “The scholars give various meanings to the words “zafir” and “shahiq”. The closest sense is that they together describe the braying of the donkey that starts with long exhalation and ends with inhalation repeated in its chest.”[130]

3.     Replacing the skin that has been burned through by the fire:

The Fire of the All-Powerful will burn the skins of the dwellers of the Fire. The skin is the site of sensitivity to burns; therefore, Allah will replace their burned skins with other new intact skins repeatedly. Allah (SWT) says: “We shall cast into fire those who reject Our Signs. Whenever their skins have been roasted through, We shall change them for fresh skins, so that they may taste the torture: for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise.” (V: 56) 

Modern science has discovered that feeling the heat of fire is perceived through the living skin, where Allah (SWT) has created sensitive neural ends in the skin. When the skin is burned through, these neural ends die and one will not feel the heat of the fire any longer. In this case abiding in the Fire forever would not cause any pain to the unbeliever, for the centers of sensing pain would have been damaged. But the Creator, Who knows the secrets of the creation of man, knows this secret: therefore, He referred to it in His Divine Book 1400 years ago. Allah (SWT) shows the way the unbelievers will suffer from torture in the Fire continuously, saying: “We shall cast into fire those who reject Our Signs. Whenever their skins have been roasted through, We shall change them for fresh skins, so that they may taste the torture….” (V: 56)

So, the Creator reveals his knowledge of the secrets of creating the skin and that it is the site of feeling the pain caused by fire, and that if the skin is burned through, the neural ends die and there will be no more torture. So, Allah (SWT) warned the infidels against something that became known to humanity 1400 years later, namely, the creation of the skin anew with new nerves that are sensitive to the pain caused by fire, and thus the punishment of the dwellers of the Fire will continue. The truthfulness of the description of this fact implies the truthfulness and validity of this warning.

4.     Melting and cutting bowels out:

Among the various kinds of punishment will be the pouring of boiling water on the heads of the dwellers of the Fire. Such intensively hot water will melt their intestines and the contents of their bodies. Allah (SWT) says: “…As to those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them, boiling water will be poured down over their heads. With it will be melted what is within their bodies as well as (their) skins.” (XXII: 19-20) Allah (SWT) also says: “… and they will be given boiling water to drink so that it will cut up their bowels (to pieces).” (XLVII: 15)

Again we encounter a scientific miracle represented by the precise description of punishment with boiling water that the dwellers of the Fire will drink, and the illustration of the way the torment caused by drinking such boiling water will be effected. Medicine has discovered that the bowels or intestines are lined with a mucous membrane that is not affected by heat. One may swallow hot water or food quickly to be relieved from pain by sending the water or food down the digestive tract. The only way to make one feel the pain caused by boiling water is to cut up the bowels so that the boiling water reaches the lower layers that are rich with neural ends that are sensitive to heat and that respond to the severe pain caused by boiling water as if caused by stabbing daggers.

We have seen the Qur’an deciding that torture is carried out through cutting up the intestines. If the Verse had said that the intestines will be replaced when they have been burned through like the skins, the infidels would have said that changing the intestines would entail the presence of mucous membranes inside them that would prevent one from feeling the heat of boiling water. But the Verse shows that the torment with boiling water will be through cutting up the bowels and not through changing them. Similarly, if the Verse had said that the skins would be cut up on being exposed to fire, pain would disappear when it reached the flesh.

But the description of the way to torment one through one’s skin and bowels is given by Allah, Who knows the secret of the structures of the skin and the bowels. In order to keep the punishment through the skin ongoing, Allah (SWT) tells us He will change it; to keep it ongoing in the bowels, He will cut them up so that the boiling water may reach the sensitive neural ends in the bowels. Again the truthfulness and the precision of the description are confirmed and so is the truthfulness of the statement that was said 1400 years ago, when nobody knew anything about the anatomy of the skin and intestines.[131]

 5. Scorching

The most honored part of man is his face; therefore, Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) prohibited slapping on the face. Among the kinds of humiliation that will be received by the infidels on the Day of Resurrection will be gathering them on their faces and they will be blind, deaf and dumb. Allah (SWT) says: “and We shall gather them together on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf. Their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase for them the fierceness of the Fire.” (XVII: 97) Fire will scorch and burn their faces, roasting them. Allah (SWT) says: “And those whose scales (of good deeds) are light will be those who will have lost their own selves: in Hell will they abide. The Fire will scorch their faces, and therein they will grin, with displaced lips (disfigured).” (XXIII: 103-104)

Imam Ahmad narrates in his Musnad, on the authority of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri that the prophet (peace be upon him) said: “They will grin in it because the fire will deform them by causing the upper lip to stretch out upwards till it reaches the middle of his head, and the lower lip to hang loosely till it reaches his navel.”[132]  

Imagine the horror of the following scene that would make one shudder: “The Day their faces will be turned over in the Fire, they will say (remorsefully): ‘Would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!’” (XXXIII: 66)

Have you not seen how meat and fish are turned over in the oven? Their faces will, likewise, be turned over in the Fire. We seek refuge with Allah from the punishment of the dwellers of the Fire! 

 6.  Dragging in the Fire

Another type of severe punishment in the Fire will be dragging the infidels on their faces. In order to increase their pains they will be dragged on their faces while chained with iron collars and chains. Allah (SWT) says: “Soon shall they know, when the iron collars (shall be) round their necks and the chains; they shall be dragged along….” (XL: 70-71) Qatadah said: “They will be dragged once in the Fire and another time in boiling water.”[133] Allah (SWT) says: “The Day they will be dragged through the Fire on their faces. (They will hear:) Taste the touch of Hell.” (LIV: 48)

 7.  Blackening the faces

Allah (SWT) will blacken the faces of the dwellers of Hell in the Hereafter. Allah (SWT) says: “On the Day when some faces will become white, and some faces will become black. To those whose faces will be black, it will be said: ‘Did you reject Faith after accepting it? Taste then the torment for rejecting Faith.’” (III: 106) They will be pitch black as if the darkness of the night has covered their faces. Allah (SWT) says: “And those who have earned evil deeds will have a recompense of like evil, and humiliating disgrace will cover them (their faces). No defender will they have from (the Wrath) of Allah. Their faces will be covered as it were with patches from the darkness of night. They are the dwellers of the Fire; they will abide therein forever.” (X: 27) Allah (SWT) also says: “And other faces that Day will be dust-stained. Darkness will cover them. Such will be the rejecters of Allah, the doers of iniquity.” (LXXXI: 40-42)

 8.  Surrounding the infidels with fire

Since the sins and misdeeds of the infidel surround him as a bracelet surrounds one’s wrist, the fire will equitably surround him on all sides, as Allah (SWT) says: “And indeed Hell surrounds the unbelievers (on all sides).” (IX: 49) 

The fire will surround the unbelievers on all sides and they will have no hope of escaping from it. When some of them try to go out and make use of certain means, the angels will return them to the fire and rebuke them: “…Every time they wish to get away from it, they will be forced into it, and it will be said to them: ‘Taste the chastisement of the Fire which you used to deny.’” (XXXII: 20)

Those who have been surrounded by their sins and disobedience and have not retained even a single good deed will abide in the Fire forever, as Allah (SWT) tells us about the Children of Israel, who said: “The Fire will touch us for just a few numbered days.” Allah (SWT) says: “Yes! Those who earn evil and are surrounded by their sin will be the dwellers of the Fire wherein they will abide forever.” (II: 81)

 9. The arrival of the fire to the hearts

The fire will enter the bodies of those tormented in it till it reaches the deepest thing in them: their hearts. Allah (SWT) says: “The kindled fire of Allah, which will reach the hearts.” (CIV: 6-7). Thabit al-Banani, on reading this Verse, said: “The fire will burn them down to their hearts while they are still alive.”[134] Allah (SWT) also says: “I will cast him into Hell-fire. And what will make you know exactly what Hell-fire is? It will permit nothing to endure, nor will it leave (anything intact)! Burning the skins!” (LXXIV: 26-29)

Commenting on the Saying of Allah (SWT) (It will permit nothing to endure, nor will it leave (anything intact)!), one of our scholarly predecessors said: “It will eat up the bones, flesh, and brain and will not leave them intact.”[135]

 10. The coming out of the bowels in the Fire

In the Sahihain (al-Bukhari and Muslim) Usamah Ibn Zaid narrates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown in the Fire, so that his intestines will come out, and he will go around as a donkey goes around a millstone. The people of the Fire will gather around him and say: ‘O so-and-so! What is wrong with you? Didn't you use to order us to do good deeds and forbid us to do bad deeds?’ He will reply: ‘Yes, I used to order you to do good deeds, but I did not do them myself, and I used to forbid you to do bad deeds, yet I used to do them myself.”[136]

 11. The iron chains, iron collars and maces to torture the dwellers of the Fire with

Allah (SWT) has prepared for the dwellers of the Fire in the Fire chains, iron collars and hammers. Allah (SWT) says: “Verily, We have prepared for the disbelievers chains, iron collars, and a blazing Fire.” (LXXVI: 4) Iron collars are put around necks: “And We shall put iron collars round the necks of those who disbelieved. Are they requited aught except what they used to do?” (XXXIV: 33)

Chains represent another type of punishment. The unbelievers will be inserted through the chain the way beads are inserted in a piece of string. It is narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas that (the chain will be run through the unbeliever’s anus to emerge from his mouth, and so the unbelievers will be aligned on it the way grasshoppers are aligned on a stick to be roasted.)  Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) described the chain, saying: “If a bullet like this (pointing to a skull) were thrown from the heaven to the earth—the distance between them being 500 years’ journey—it would arrive before night falls. If it were thrown from the head of the chain it would run for forty years day and night before it reaches its source or bottom.”[137] 

Allah (SWT) says: “(It will be said): ‘Seize him and fetter him, then throw him in the blazing Fire. Then fasten him with a chain the length of which is seventy cubits.’” (LXIX: 30-32) Allah (SWT) says: “Verily, with Us are fetters (to bind them with)….” (LXXIII: 12) The Arabic words for “fetters chains, etc.” used in this Verse have the connotation of severe punishment and making an example of the unbelievers. Allah (SWT) has also prepared for the dwellers of the Fire iron maces that will be dropped on the wrongdoers when they try to go out of the Fire and they will be returned to the Fire once more. Allah (SWT) said: “And for them are maces of iron (to punish them). Every time they seek to get away thereof, from anguish, they will be driven back therein, and (it will be) said to them: ‘Taste the torment of burning!’” (XXII: 21-22)

The food, drink and dress of the dwellers of the Fire:

The food of the dwellers of the Fire will be Dari’[138] (poisonous plant) and zaqqum and their drink will be boiling water, filth from the washing of wounds and dirty wound discharges. Allah (SWT) says: “No food will there be for them but a poisonous thorny plant, which will neither nourish nor avail against hunger.” (LXXXVII: “6-7) Allah (SWT) also says: “Verily, you will eat of the trees of Zaqqûm. Then you will fill your bellies therewith, and drink boiling water on top of it. So you will drink (that) like thirsty camels! That will be their entertainment on the Day of Recompense.” (LVI: 52-56)

The Zaqqum tree is an evil tree the roots of which go deep into the bottom of the Fire, and its branches extend throughout the Fire. The fruit of this tree is very abominable in shape; therefore, it is compared in another Verse to the heads of devils that are convincingly thought of as very ugly though unseen. In spite of the ugliness and nastiness of this tree the dwellers of the Fire will be so hungry that they will have to eat from it till their stomachs are filled, whereupon what they will have eaten begins to boil like oil. When they get badly distressed and annoyed they will rush towards boiling water to drink the way camels drink water repeatedly without being satisfied because of being sick. Then the boiling water will cut up their bowels. Allah (SWT) says: “… and they will be given boiling water to drink so that it will cut up their bowels (to pieces).” (XLVII: 15) Allah (SWT) also says: “Nor any food except Ghislin (filth from the washing of wounds). None will eat it except sinners.” (LXIX: 36-37) Ibn ‘Abbas says that “ghislin” means the blood and water that will leak from their flesh. Ali Ibn Abi Talhah says that “ghislin” means the pus of the dwellers of the Fire. Allah (SWT) says: “Nothing cool will they taste therein, nor any drink except hamim (boiling water), and ghassaq (dirty wound discharges).” (LXXVIII: 24-25) Al-Rabi’ Ibn Anas said: (“Hamim” is what is extremely hot. “Ghassaq” means what will be accumulated from the pus, sweat, tears and discharges of the wounds of the dwellers of the Fire. It will be too cold (to drink) and too stinking to face.[139] 

As to the dress of the dwellers of the Fire, it will be as Allah (SWT) describes: “…as to those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling water will be poured down over their heads.” (XXII: 19) Allah (SWT) also says: “Their garments will be of qatiran (pitch), and fire will cover their faces.” (XIV: 50) Ibn ‘Abbas used to say: “‘Qatiran’ is melted copper.” Abu Malik al-Ash'ari narrated that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: “Wailing belongs to pre-Islamic period, and if the wailing woman does not repent before she dies, Allah will make her garments of pitch and a chemise from the flames of fire.”[140] In the narration of Muslim we read: “If the wailing woman does not repent before she dies she will be made to stand on the Day of Resurrection wearing a long garment of pitch and a chemise of mange.”[141]

Classes of the punished

1.     Apostates

Allah (SWT) says: “And they will never cease fighting you until they turn you back from your religion if they can. And whosoever of you turns back from his religion and dies as a disbeliever, then the deeds of such people will bear no fruit in this life and in the Hereafter, and they will be the dwellers of the Fire. They will abide therein forever.” (II: 217)

2.     Hypocrites

Allah (SWT) says: “Allah has promised the hypocrites, men and women, and the disbelievers, the Fire of Hell, wherein shall they abide. It will suffice them. Allah has cursed them and for them is the everlasting torment.” (IX: 68) Allah (SWT) also says: “Verily, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depth (grade) of the Fire; no helper will you find for them.” (IV: 145)

3.     Infidels and polytheists

Allah (SWT) says: “But those who reject Faith and belie Our Signs shall be the dwellers of the Fire, wherein they will abide forever.” (II: 39)

      4.   Those who miss or do not observe prayers

Allah (SWT) says: “But after them there followed a posterity who missed prayers and followed lusts. So they will be thrown into Hell.” (XIX: 59) Allah (SWT) also says: “‘What has caused you to enter Hell?’ They will say: ‘We were not of those who used to offer their prayers’” (LXXIV: 42-43) Allah (SWT) also says: “So woe unto those performers of prayers who are neglectful of their prayers.” CVII: 4-5)

5.      Those who refuse to pay zakat

Allah (SWT) says: “And those who hoard up gold and silver, and spend it not in the Way of Allah, -announce unto them a painful torment. On the Day when it will be heated in the fire of Hell and with it will be branded their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs, (and it will be said unto them): ‘This is the treasure which you hoarded for yourselves. Now taste of what you used to hoard.’” (IX: 34-35)

6.     Those who refrain from performing Hajj (pilgrimage)

Abu Umamah said that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “If anyone is not prevented from performing hajj by an obvious need, a tyrant ruler or hindering sickness, and dies before having performed hajj, let him die as a Jew or a Christian as he wishes.”[142] 

7.     Those who invent false statements and attribute them to Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him)  

Al-Mughirah Ibn Shu’bah said that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Attributing false statements to me is not the same as attributing them to someone else. If one intentionally attributes false statements to me, one shall indeed take one’s seat in the Fire.”[143]

8.     Those who kill others without a just cause

Allah (SWT) says: “And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell to abide therein, and the Wrath and the Curse of Allah are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for him.” (IV: 93)

9.     Those who commit suicide

Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever kills himself with an iron weapon will be carrying that weapon in his hand and stabbing his abdomen with it in the (Hell) Fire, wherein he will abide eternally forever; whoever drinks poison and kills himself with it will be carrying his poison in his hand and drinking it in the (Hell) Fire, wherein he will abide eternally forever; whoever throws himself from a mountain and kills himself will be in the (Hell) Fire falling down into it and abiding therein perpetually forever.”[144]

10.                        Usurers

Allah (SWT) says: “Those who eat up usury will not stand (on the Day of Resurrection) except as stands one whom Satan has driven mad by his touch. That is because they say: ‘Trading is only like usury,’ whereas Allah has permitted trading and forbidden usury. So whosoever receives an admonition from his Lord and stops eating up usury shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allah (to judge); but whoever returns [to usury], such are the dwellers of the Fire - they will abide therein.” (II: 275)

11.                        Those who commit major sins

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Avoid the seven great destructive sins.” The people enquired: “O Allah's Messenger! What are they?" He said: “To worship partners besides Allah, to practice sorcery, to take the life which Allah has made sacred except for a just cause, (according to Islamic law), to eat up usury, to eat up an orphan's wealth, to give one’s back to the enemy, to flee from the battlefield at the time of fighting, and to slander chaste, believing oblivious women.”[145]

12.                        Other punishable cases

Allah (SWT) and His Messenger (peace be upon him) threatened with fire various types of people who disobey the commands of Allah (SWT) and follow the path of the misled, the arrogant, those who pretend to do righteous deeds, and those who devour the property of others unjustly. Besides, there are those who torment animals, the women who dress indecently, those who beat others unjustly, those who give prejudicial and unjust judgments, those who drink from gold and silver vessels, those who do not cleanse themselves after urinating and those who backbite and slander others.

Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah bestow His Mercy on him) was once asked: “What are the deeds of the dwellers of the Fire? And what are the deeds of the dwellers of Paradise?” He replied: “The deeds of the dwellers of the Fire are: worshipping partners besides Allah, disbelieving the Messengers, disbelief, envy, telling lies, treason, injustice, lewdness, betrayal, breaking ties with kith and kin, cowardice at the time of holy fighting (jihad), niggardliness, discrepancy between appearance and reality, despair of Allah’s soothing Mercy, feeling secure from the plan of Allah, impatience on afflictions and hardships, pride and vanity when prosperous, neglecting what Allah has enjoined, transgressing His ordained laws, violating what He has deemed sacred, fearing the created rather than the Creator, doing righteous deeds jut to show off and be popular, opposing the Book and the Sunnah in creed and practice, obeying others at the expense of disobeying the Creator, siding with falsehood and ridiculing Allah’s Signs, hiding what should be disclosed with respect to knowledge and testimonies, disobeying parents, taking the life that Allah has made sacred except for a just cause, devouring an orphan’s property, usury, fleeing from the battlefield and slandering chaste, believing, oblivious women.”[146]

The distress and regret of the dwellers of the Fire:

When the infidels see the Fire they will be very regretful. Allah (SWT) says: “…and they will feel regret in their hearts when they see the torment, and they will be judged with justice, and no wrong will be done unto them.” (X: 45) When the infidel looks into the record of his deeds and observes his disbelief and polytheism that will entitle him to admission into the Fire, he will invoke for being destroyed and annihilated. Allah (SWT) says:  “But as to that who will be given his record behind his back, he will cry for perdition and shall enter a blazing Fire.” (LXXXIV: 10-12) Their invocation for being destroyed will be repeated when they are cast into the Fire and suffer from its heat. Allah (SWT) says: “And when they are cast, bound together, into a narrow place therein, they will plead for destruction there and then. Today, plead not for one destruction, but plead for destruction oft-repeated.” (XXV: 13-14) Thereupon their cries will soar up and their wailing will intensify. Allah (SWT) says: “Therein they will cry: ‘Our Lord! Bring us out. We shall do righteous good deeds, not (the evil deeds) that we used to do.’ (Allah will reply): ‘Did We not give you lives long enough, so that whosoever would receive admonition, - could receive it? And the Warner came to you. So taste you (the fruits of your deeds). For wrong­doers there is no helper.’" (XXXV: 37) That time they will confess their misguidance, disbelief and lack of reason. Allah (SWT) says:  “And they will say: ‘Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!’ Then they will confess their sin. So, away with the dwellers of the blazing Fire.” (LXVII: 10-11) Allah (SWT) also says: “They will say: ‘Our Lord! You have made us die twice and You have given us life twice.  Now we confess our sins; then is there any way to get out (of the Fire)?’” (XL: 11)

But their request will be strongly rejected and they will be rebuked scornfully. Allah (SWT) says: “They will say: ‘Our Lord! Our wretchedness overcame us, and we were (an) erring people. Our Lord! Bring us out of this; if ever we return (to evil), then indeed we shall be wrong-doers.’” (XXIII: 106-107) Allah (SWT) also says:  “Those who disbelieve will be addressed (at the time of entering the Fire): ‘Allah’s aversion to you was greater (in the worldly life when you used to reject the Faith) than your aversion towards one another (now in the Fire of Hell, as you are now enemies to one another), when you were called to the Faith but you used to refuse.’” (XL: 10)

Then the dwellers of the Fire address the Keepers of the Fire asking them to intercede for them so that may Allah reduce their suffering. Allah (SWT) says: “Those in the Fire will say to the Keepers of Hell: ‘Pray to your Lord to reduce our penalty for a day (al least)!’ They will say: ‘Did there not come to you your Messengers with clear Signs?’ They will say: ‘Yes.’ They will reply: ‘Then pray (as you like). But the prayers of those without faith is nothing but (futile wandering) in (mazes of) error.’” (XL: 49-50) Thereupon they asked for intercession so that their Lord may destroy them: “And they will cry: ‘O Malik (Keeper of Hell)! Let your Lord make an end of us.’ He will say: ‘Verily you shall abide forever.’” (XLIII: 77)

All their requests will be rejected. They will not be taken out of the Fire; nor will its torment be reduced, nor will they be destroyed. Rather they will abide in the perpetual everlasting punishment and it will be then said to them: “Taste you therein its heat. The same is it to you whether you bear it with patience or not. You are only being requited for what you used to do.” (LII: 16)

Listen to their crying and wailing while they are in the torment expressing their regret, as Allah (SWT) tells us: “On the Day when their faces will be turned over in the Fire, they will say: ‘Oh, would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger.’ And they will say: ‘Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the (Right) Way. Our Lord! Give them double torment and curse them with a mighty curse!’”

The intensity of the crying of the dwellers of the Fire:

The dwellers of the Fire will cry a lot and their tears will be plenty enough for ships to sail in. Their wailing and moaning will intensify and their tears will flow profusely and their crying will continue for a long time. Allah (SWT) says: “So let them laugh a little and (they will) cry much as a recompense for what they used to earn (by committing sins).” (IX: 82)

Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “The dwellers of the Fire will certainly cry so much that if ships were to sail in their tears, they would be able to do so, and they will cry shedding blood (not just tears).”[147] That is because Allah will make the body of the unbeliever so huge that a rider would cross the distance between his two shoulders in three days.

The quarrels of the dwellers of the Fire

Allah (SWT), referring to the quarrels of the dwellers of the Fire, says: “Behold, they will dispute with each other in the Fire! The weak ones (who followed) will say to those who had been arrogant: ‘We but followed you: can you then take (on yourselves) from us a share of the Fire?’ Those who had been arrogant will say: ‘We are all in this (Fire)! Truly, Allah has judged between (His) servants.’” (XL: 47-48) Allah (SWT) also says: “Then they will be thrown headlong into the (Fire); they and those straying in evil and the whole hosts of Iblis (Satan) together. While contending therein they will say: ‘By Allah, we were truly in a manifest error, when we held you (false gods) as equals (in worship) with the Lord of the worlds.’” (XXVI: 94-98)

Satan’s disowning his followers in the Fire:

The leader of temptation and misguidance will disown his followers in the Fire and stand among them delivering a speech in which he will repudiate them, as Allah (SWT) says: “And Satan will say when the matter has been decided: ‘Verily, Allah promised you a promise of truth. And I too promised you, but I betrayed you. I had no authority over you except that I called you and you responded to me. So blame me not, but blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I deny your former act in associating me as a partner with Allah. Verily, there is a painful torment for the wrong-doers.’” (XIV: 22)

The attempt of the dwellers of the Fire to come out of it:

When the dwellers of the Fire are tormented and they taste all sorts of torture therein, they will try to come out of it escaping from that punishment, as Allah (SWT) says: “They will long to get out of the Fire, but never will they get out thereof, and theirs will be a lasting torment.” (V: 37) Allah (SWT) also says: “And as to those who are disobedient (to Allah), their abode will be the Fire, every time they wish to get away thereof, they will be put back into it, and it will be said to them: ‘Taste you the torment of the Fire which you used to deny.’” (XXXII: 20)

Immortality in the Fire:

The dwellers of the Fire will abide in it perpetually equitably for rejecting as false the Signs of their lord, disbelieving His Messengers, transgressing His limits, and Committing acts of disobedience and sins in spite of being warned by Allah and His Messengers. They died while insisting that they would disbelieve in Allah if they should live eternally in this life; therefore, they deserve to be immortalized by Allah in the Fire. The dwellers of the Fire who will live eternally in it will not be transferred, annihilated, or granted partial relief from its torture. Allah (SWT) says: “But those who disbelieve, for them will be the Fire of Hell. Neither it will have a complete killing effect on them so that they die, nor shall its torment be lightened for them. Thus do We requite every disbeliever!” (XXXV: 36) Allah (SWT) also says: “Verily, those who disbelieve, and die while they are disbelievers, it is they on whom is the Curse of Allah and of the angels and of mankind, combined. They will abide therein (under the curse in Hell): their punishment will neither be lightened, nor will they be reprieved.” (II: 161-162)

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Death will be brought on the Day of Resurrection in the form of a white-colored ram. Then it will be made to stand between Paradise and Hell. It will be said to the dwellers of Paradise: ‘Do you recognize this?’ They will raise up their necks and look towards it and say: ‘Yes, it is death.’ Then it will be said: ‘O dwellers of the Fire, Do you recognize this?’ They will raise up their necks and look and say: ‘Yes, it is death.’ Then a command will be given for slaughtering that, and then it will be said: ‘O dwellers of Paradise! There is an everlasting life for you and no death. O dwellers of the Fire, there is an everlasting living for you and no death.’” Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) then recited this verse[148]: “And warn them (O Muhammad) of the Day of grief and regrets, when the case has been decided, while (now) they are in a state of carelessness, and they believe not.” (XIX: 39)

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