by Raiiq Ridwan. (may Allah have mercy upon
him)
My fingers tremble and my mind is uneasy as I begin writing. However, it is
a reality that the Hellfire exists and it is indeed the logical consequence for
those who have sinned against Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala (Glorified is
He) and disobeyed His commands.
While those who will die as disbelievers will be in Hell for eternity, even
some Muslims will enter Hell for a period of time to be purified of their sins
and then entered into paradise, those who pray 5 times per day and persist in committing
some sins. Often times we hear brothers and sisters say “Even if we do enter
hell, we will eventually go to Paradise insha’Allah (God willingly).”
Pondering over this article to follow, I doubt that anyone would want even a
millisecond in such a dreadful place!
Hellfire has 7 gates1, and it has been prepared for the wrongdoers. In a hadith (saying
of the Prophet) the Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) said that the heat of the Hellfire is multiplied 70
times compared to the fire of this world2. Try dipping a finger into the kitchen stove just once and feel the pain
it brings, and then imagine a fire 70 times hotter burning your whole body.
Indeed as the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said that after a few moments in Hellfire, all the pleasures of this world
we had will be utterly forgotten.3
On the Day of Judgment, Hellfire will be brought by 4.9 billion angels4 and it is as if it is a living being; it howls, coughs, roars up and it
breathes, boiling and surging up as it is trying to tear itself from the
angels to attack the people to burn them for their sins.
How will our day be? How will it be when we see the Hellfire for ourselves?
How much will we repent and regret that day, on a day where repentance and
regret will be of no use; the Hell we laughed off when people reminded us of
fearing it, the Hell we were destined to go to with all the sins we committed,
and the Hellfire we deserved for being heedless of the warnings of Allah (swt).
Let us make it in ourselves to regret and repent today while there is still
time. Know that as Muslims we ourselves may fall into hypocrisy and know that
the hypocrite will be in the lowest depths of the hellfire.5 The lowest of the fire is so deep that a stone was thrown into the fire
and it took 70 years to reach the bottom.6
Hellfire will come that Day determined to take revenge on those whom Allah
created and they worshipped others besides Him. Revenge will be taken on those
whom Allah provided and yet they were sinful, and upon those whom Allah
bestowed His favor and Mercy and they forgot Him, the Most High.
Hellfire will be fueled by people and stones, by the false-gods worshipped
and by the disbelievers among the jinn.7
On that fateful Day, Allah will tell our father Adam alayhi salam
(peace be on him), “Send forth those who are destined for Hell”, and our father
Adam will ask “Who are those?” And Allah (swt) will give a reply that is sure
to tear at the hearts of every believer, “Out of every thousand, 999 go to Hell
and 1 to paradise.8” Fear Allah! Fear Allah for these
numbers!
The food of the people of Hell will be from the tree of Zaqqum,
which will boil the intestines like scalding water.9 The Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned that if a drop of Zaqqum would have fallen on this Earth,
it would ruin every provision on earth. Now, how about those who will have to
eat from it?10 The drink of the inhabitants of hell will be boiling water, and a
disgusting boiling fluid made of pus and blood.11
Brothers and sisters, by Allah I do not have words to describe this Hell
and how horrible its torment can be. How can I describe something which seeks
refuge in Allah from itself? How can I describe Hell which has a valley called Gubb
Al-Hazan which is so terrible that Hellfire itself seeks refuge from it 100
times a day?12 How can I describe a Hell whose inmates are burned continuously day and
night? The least of punishment given to any of its inmates is the wearing of a
pair of shoes of fire, which boil the brain13!
The following are some of the categories of people who will enter Hellfire,
although there are more:
1. Disbelievers
2. Hypocrites
3. Arrogant Rejecters of truth
4. Sinners and Criminals
5. The Unjust
6. The ones who transgress the limits set by Allah
7. Tyrants
7. Tyrants
8. Murderers
9. Those who persecute the believers
10. Those who prefer the world and neglect the hereafter
11. Those who
commit suicide
12. Everyone who is cruel, proud and arrogant
13. The one who is treacherous
14. The traitor
15. One who has a habit of abusing people and using obscene language
16. The one
who doesn’t pray, and also the one who doesn’t pray on time
Hellfire is indeed a horrible destination, and it has an insatiable
appetite. As Allah (swt) mentions,
“On the
Day We will say to Hellfire, ‘have you been filled?’ it will say, ‘Are there
some more?’” (Qur’an, 50:30)
Prophet
Muhammad ﷺ also adds to this,
“Hell will continue to ask, ‘Is there anything
more?’ until Allah, the Exalted, and High will place His foot thereon, Then it
will say, ‘Enough, enough, by Your honor,’ and some of its parts will draw
close together.’”
For a more vivid, and more referenced description of Hellfire, you can
visit the following link where Sister Safa has taken a painstaking duty of
compiling all the verses and ahadeeth on Hellfire, http://forums.almaghrib.org/showthread.php?t=26711
May Allah (swt) indeed save ourselves from the Hellfire and may Allah (swt)
make us of those who fulfill His command in Surah Tahreem,
”O you
who believe! Save yourselves and your families a Fire (Hell) whose fuel
is men and stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who
disobey not, (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do that
which they are commanded.” (Qur’an 66:6)
I end with a short poem on Hellfire by the renowned scholar of Ibn
Al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy upon him,
A place its inhabitants are banished to,
where they are forbidden from tasting any
pleasure,
their cleanliness is changed to blackness on
their faces,
and they are beaten by hammers stronger than
mountains,
over it are angels, harsh and severe,
if you only saw them.
So their sadness is permanent, no happiness
after it, and their state, unchangeable,
they will never leave, living there forever and
ever.
Upon it are angels, harsh and severe.
What sadness for them, that the Creator is angry
with them!
They are exposed in front of all the people,
they cry over wasting their lives,
and every time they cry the punishment
increases!
What happened to their chasing of the dunya!?
What happened to them striving in sins?!
It seems like only a dream…then their bodies are
burned, and then healed, then burned. Upon it are angels, harsh and severe……
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