Boreal
THE ISLAMIC HEREAFTER
Hell
2:119 We have sent you with the Truth as a bearer of good
tidings and as a warner. You are not to be questioned about the people of
Hell.
Nonetheless, here we go:
76:4 We have prepared for the unbelievers chains and fetters and a blazing fire.
89:26 And none shall bind with fetters like His.
The Fire of Hell is not magic.
52:13 On the Day they will be driven into the Fire of Hell by force.
52:14 “This is the Fire which you used to deny.
52:15 “Is this magic or do you not see?
52:16 “Burn in it. Bear up or do not bear up; it is the same for you. You are only rewarded for what you used to do.”
The keeper of Allah’s Hell is a fellow by the name of Malik.
43:74 Indeed, the criminals shall suffer the punishment of Hell forever.
43:75 They will not be relieved and they are in it completely confounded.
43:76 We did not wrong them, but they were the wrongdoers themselves.
43:77 They call out: “O Malik, let your Lord be done with us.” He will say: “You are surely staying on”.
Another word for Hell is Gehennam.
32:12 If only you could see how the criminals are hanging their heads down before their Lord, saying: “Our Lord, we have seen and heard; so send us back that we might do the righteous deed. Now we believe with certainty.”
32:13 Had We wished, We would have granted every soul its guidance, but My Word is now fulfilled: “I shall fill Gehennam (Hell) with jinn and men, all together.”
And still another is Saqar, a place where everything is flammable.
74:25 “This is only the discourse of mortals.”
74:26 I will roast him (the reference is to al-Walib Ibn al-Mughirah an enemy of Islam) in Saqar.
74:27 If only he knew what is Saqar.
74:28 It leaves nothing or spares nothing.
74:29 Scorching mankind.
Saqar is guarded by nineteen angels.
74:30 Upon it stand nineteen guards.
Allah revealed the number of angels guarding Hell as further proof for Christians and Jews that He knows what He is talking about.
74:31 We have only made angels the guardians of the Fire; and we have not fixed their number except as a temptation for those who have disbelieved; so that those who received the Book (Christians and Jews) might be certain and those who have believed increase in belief; and that those who received the Book and the believers together may not doubt; and that those in whose hearts there is a sickness together with the unbelievers [might say]: “What did Allah mean by this allegory?” Thus Allah leads those whom he wishes astray and guides those whom He wishes rightly. None knows the hosts of your Lord except He. He is only a reminder for mankind.
Hell’s Fire will never go out; God will look after that personally.
17:97 Whoever Allah guides is certainly well-guided, and those whom He leaves in error you shall not find for them, besides Allah, any protectors. We shall gather them on the Day of Resurrection, falling on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf. Their dwelling shall be Hell, and whenever it abates, We shall rekindle its flames.
Hell is a warning for mankind!
74:32 By the moon;
74:33 And the night when it recedes;
74:34 And the morning when it lights up.
74:35 Surely it is one of the great ordeals (Hell),
74:36 A warning to mankind;
74:37 To whoever of you wishes to advance or retreat.
The Compassionate is not above getting His Hands dirty if it means making sure the suffering of unbelievers never subsides.
4:56 Those who have disbelieved Our Signs, We shall surely cast them into the Fire; every time their skins are burnt, We will replace them by other skins, so that they might taste the punishment. Allah indeed is Mighty and Wise!
God will collectively ensure that once the skin of those He sentenced to roast for an eternity is nothing but ashes in the hot, searing winds of Hell it is replaced by a fresh nerve-filled epidermis. Those whom Allah mentions by name as deserving of His personal attention, such as the hapless Abu Lahab and his wife, will have it worst of all, if that is even possible.
THE FIBRE
111 Al-Masad
In the Name of Allah,
the Compassionate, the Merciful
111:1 Perish the hands of Abu Lahab, and may he perish too;
111:2 Neither his wealth nor what he has earned will avail him anything.
111:3 He will roast in a flaming fire,
111:4 And his wife will be a carrier of fire-wood,
111:5 She shall have a rope of fibre around her neck.
What Abu Lahab did to deserve this horrific punishment had nothing to do with his wife.
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
When the Verse: 'And warn your tribe of near kindred.' (26.214) was revealed. Allah's Apostle went out, and when he had ascended As-Safa mountain, he shouted, "O Sabahah!"
The people said, "Who is that?"
Then they gathered around him, whereupon he said, "Do you see? If I inform you that cavalrymen are proceeding up the side of this mountain, will you believe me?"
They said, "We have never heard you telling a lie."
Then he said, "I am a plain warner to you of a coming severe punishment."
Abu Lahab said, "May you perish! You gathered us only for this reason?"
Then Abu Lahab went away. So the "Surat: ul-LAHAB" 'Perish the hands of Abu Lahab!' (111.1) was revealed.
Bukhari 60.495
Allah tends to anthropomorphize, i.e., ascribe human features to objects, referring to His beloved Fire as the Smasher whose flames burn through the flesh to reach and sear the hearts of people bound to pillars.
104:5 And if only you knew what is the Smasher.
104:6 It is Allah’s kindled Fire,
104:7 Which attains even the hearts.
104:8 Upon them it is closing in;
104:9 On pillars stretch out.
The same applies to Hell, which Allah considers a living thing.
67:6 And to those who have disbelieved in their Lord, the punishment of Hell is reserved; and what an evil resort!
67:7 When they are cast into it, they hear its heavy breathing, as it boils over.
67:8 It almost bursts with rage. Every time a new throng is cast into it, its keepers ask them: "Has no warner come to you?”
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25:11 No, they deny the Hour; yet We have prepared for those who deny the Hour a blazing Fire.
25:12 When it (Hell) sights them from a distance, they hear its raging and exhalation.
25:13 And if they are hurled in a narrow space therein, tied up in fetters, they would call out there for ruination.
25:14 Call not out today for one ruination, but call out for many ruination.
Allah appears much more at ease when describing the horrors of Hell than when expounding on the delights to be found in Paradise. The fact that Hell is a place where no distinction is made between men, women and children probably makes it easier to describe than Paradise, with its double standard for men and women. Think evil thoughts of Allah and He will make them come true.
48:6 And that He may punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the unbelievers, men and women, who think evil thoughts of Allah. Upon them is the evil turn of fortune. Allah is wrathful at them, curses them and has prepared Hell for them; and what a wretched fate!
15:43 “Hell shall be the appointed place for them all.
Hell has seven gates by which sinners will enter depending on the sins they committed.
15:44 "Seven gates it has; and to each gate a part of them is assigned."
Those condemned to roast in Allah’s Fire exist in a state between life and death.
87:10 He who fears shall remember;
87:11 And the most wretched shall refrain from it;
87:12 He who shall roast in the great Fire,
87:13 Then, he will neither die therein nor live.
Allah seems to have a fondness for couches.
7:41 Hell shall be their couch and over them shall be canopies [of fire]. Thus We punish the wrongdoers.
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38:55 “That is that, but the aggressors shall have the worst resort.
38:56 “Hell, in which they roast. Wretched is their couch!”
Refreshments are available but leave a lot to be desired—unless you happen to be a fan of stinking, boiling water topped with pus.
10:4 Unto him you shall all return; it is Allah’s Promise in truth. He originates the creation, then He brings it back to reward equitably those who believe and do the good deeds. But those who disbelieve shall drink boiling water and shall be severely punished on account of their disbelief.
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14:16 Behind him is Hell, and he is given stinking water to drink.
14:17 He sips it but can hardly swallow it, and death surrounds him from every side, but he will not die; and beyond this is still a terrible punishment.
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38:57 “That, let them taste it, as boiling water and pus
38:58 “And another of the same kind, manifold.
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56:90 But if he is one of the Companions of the Right;
56:91 Then “Peace upon you”, from the Companions of the Right.
56:92 However, if he is one of those who denounce and err (a Companion of the Left);
56:93 Then he will be served boiling water,
56:94 And will be scorched by the Fire.
56:95 That is indeed the certain Truth.
56:96 So, glorify the Name of Your Lord, the Great One.
You might be able to chase the beverage down with some freezing hail (Verse 78:25), which would indicate that parts of Allah’s Hell may indeed freeze over, and that it has some form of cloud cover.
78:21 Hell is, indeed, lying in ambush;
78:22 A refuge for the transgressors;
78:23 Tarrying therein for ages;
78:24 Wherein, they do not taste any coolness or fresh drinks,
78:25 Except for boiling water and freezing hail;
78:26 As an appropriate reward.
78:27 Indeed, they did not expect any reckoning;
78:28 And denounced Our Signs as lies.
78:29 Everything We have enumerated fully in a Book.
78:30 So taste. We will only increase your punishment.
And the food! You will eat like cattle, pus-eating cattle.
47:12 Allah shall admit those who believe and do the righteous deeds into gardens beneath which rivers flow; but the unbelievers shall take pleasure and eat like cattle, and the Fire shall be their abode.
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69:33 “He certainly did not believe in Allah, the Sublime.
69:34 “And did not urge feeding the destitute;
69:35 “Therefore, today he shall have no intimate friend, here;
69:36 “And no food except foul pus;
69:37 “Which only the sinners will eat.”
You will choke on your food trying to get it down. No kidding!
73:11 And let Me deal with those who deny and live in luxury; and give them a little respite.
73:12 We have indeed shackles and a blazing Fire;
73:13 And food upon which they choke and painful punishment.
At the bottom of the lowest level of Hell grows the tree of bitterness, the Zaqqum tree. Like Allah’s cocktails for the unbelievers, its fruits leave much to be desired.
44:43 The Tree of Zaqqum (the Tree of Bitterness) will certainly be (sic)
44:44 The food of the sinner.
44:45 Like molten lead, which boils in the bellies;
44:46 Like boiling water.
It’s not enough that the denizens of Hell will only have boiling drinking water; they will also be showered with it.
44:47 “Take him and trust him into the pit of Hell.
44:48 “Then poor over his head the agony of the boiling water;
44:49 “Saying: ‘Taste, you are truly the mighty and noble one.’ 44:50 “That is the punishment which you used to doubt.”
Workers of the world work, or else have a taste of that horrible tree.
37:58 “Are we not then going to die,
37:59 "Except for our first death? And will we not be punished?”
37:60 Surely, this is the great triumph.
37:61 For the like of this, let the workers work.
37:62 Is that a better outcome or the Tree of Bitterness?
37:63 We have made it a temptation for the wrongdoers.
37:64 It is a tree that grows out of the bottom of Hell;
37:65 Its shoots are like the heads of devils.
37:66 They shall eat from it till they fill their bellies.
What is it with God and boiling water?
37:67 In addition, they have with it a mixture of boiling water.
The Tree of Bitterness may just be a way station.
37:68 Then, their return is unto Hell.
Following in the footsteps of their parents, their parents’ parents…
37:69 Indeed, they found their fathers steeped in error.
37:70 And so they are fast following in their footsteps.
37:71 And before them, most of the ancients were in error.
37:72 We had sent among them some warners.
37:73 But behold what was the fate of those who were warned.
37:74 Except for Allah’s sincere servants.
Don’t expect a warm welcome—or is it, perhaps, expect a warm welcome?
38:59 “This is another throng marching with you; no welcome to them, they will roast in the Fire.”
People in Hell will fight amongst themselves, accusing one another of having lied about Allah. They will ask God to increase the punishments of those who misled them.
38:60 They say: “No welcome to you; you have offered it to us in advance, and what a wretched resting-place!”
38:61 They say: “Our Lord, whoever has offered this to us, multiply his punishment in the Fire.”
38:62 And they say: “What is it with us that we do not see men here we used to reckon among the wicked?
38:63 “We took them for a laughing-stock, or have our eyes been diverted away from them”?
38:64 This is perfectly true, the feuding of the people of the Fire.
Families in Hell will also have awnings, above and beneath them, which will be made of fire.
39:14 Say: “Allah alone I worship professing to Him my religion sincerely.
39:15 “Worship, then, what you wish, apart from Him.” Say: “Indeed, those who have lost themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection are the real losers. That is truly the manifest lost.”
39:16 They shall have over them awnings of fire and under them other awnings. That is what Allah frightens His servants with: “O My servants fear Me, then.”
What the Hell is a “three-pronged shade”?
77:29 Go forth to what you used to denounce as lies.
77:30 Go forth to a three-pronged shade (shadow of smoke; three columns: because when a big smoke arises, it is divided into several parts at the top, www.islamicstudies.info);
77:31 Which neither shades nor avail against the flames.
Even in Hell clothing is not optional.
14:50 Their garments made of pitch, and their faces covered with fire.
People in Hell will not need the services of a barber or hair stylist.
70:15 No, it is truly a blazing fire;
70:16 Which strips off the scalps.
70:17 It summons him who has turned his back and fled;
70:18 And amassed wealth and hoarded it.
The entertainment will be fireworks like you have never seen before.
77:32 It (Hell) shoots forth sparks as huge as a castle;
77:33 Which look like golden camel-herds.
77:34 Woe betide, on that Day those who denounce.
The most conceited of deities never tires of labelling those who did not heed His alleged messengers as being arrogant, a sin for which they will burn in Hell.
39:71 And the unbelievers shall be driven to Hell in throngs; so that when they have reached it, its gates will be opened and its keepers will say to them: “Have not Messengers from your own people come to you reciting to you the Revelations of your Lord and warning you against the Encounter of this your Day?” They will say: “Yes, indeed”; but the word of punishment has come to pass against the unbelievers.
39:72 It will be said: “Enter the gates of Hell, dwelling therein forever. Wretched is the dwelling of the arrogant.”
I doubt anyone would refuse to worship a god they considered the genuine article out of a mere sense of pride.
40:59 The Hour is indeed coming, no doubt about it; but most people do not believe.
40:60 Your Lord has said: “Call on me and I will answer you. Those who are too proud to worship Me shall enter Hell totally abased.”
Have too much fun and you are sure to go to Hell!
40:73 Then it will be said to them: “Where are those you used to set up as associates,
40:74 “Apart from Allah?” They will say: “They strayed away from us. Indeed, we did not call upon anything formerly.” Thus Allah leads the unbelievers astray.
40:75 That is because you used to rejoice on earth in what is other than the truth and because you use to frolic.
40:76 Enter then the gates of Hell, dwelling therein forever. Evil is the dwelling of the arrogant.
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“Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.” Ayatollah Khomeini
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Romping is also considered ‘having fun’. Don’t participate in romping or join those who do unless you want to be considered a criminal, one of those “who used to deny the Day of Judgement,” fated to burn in Hell.
74:38 Every soul is a hostage to what it has earned;
74:39 Except for the Companions of the Right;
74:40 In Gardens (Paradise), they will ask,
74:41 Concerning the criminals:
74:42 “What drove you into Saqar?”
74:43 They will say: “We were not among those who prayed,
74:44 “And we were not among those who fed the destitute;
74:45 “And we used to romp with the rompers;
74:46 “And we used to deny the Day of Judgement;
74:47 “Till the Certainty came to us.”
The only fun permitted is the type when you are naked with a wife or a slave-girl (Revelations 70:30-31).
70:22 Except for those who pray;
70:23 Those who are constantly at prayer;
70:24 And those who have set aside a fixed portion of their wealth,
70:25 For the beggar and the destitute.
70:26 And those who believe firmly in the Day of Judgement; 70:27 And those who fear the punishment of their Lord.
70:28 The punishment of their Lord cannot be averted; 70:29 And those who guard their private parts;
70:30 Except from their wives or what their right-hands possess (slave-girls); for they are not therein blameworthy.
70:31 He who seeks [pleasure] beyond that – those are the transgressors.
In keeping with Allah’s creative mind when it comes to inflicting pain, His retributions will be in keeping with the sin.
9:35 On the Day when all that will be heated in the Fire of Hell, and their foreheads, sides and backs will be branded with it. This is what you hoarded for yourselves; taste now what you used to hoard.
You can do the righteous deed and still be a wrongdoer. It's not enough to simply do the good deed; you have to do the good deed according to Allah's standards.
35:36 But the unbelievers shall have the Fire of Hell, wherein they will not be finished off and die, nor will its punishment be lightened for them. Thus we will reward every thankless person.
35:37 Therein they will cry out: “Our Lord, bring us out and we will do the righteous deed, differently from what we used to do.” Did We not prolong your life sufficiently for him to remember who is apt to remember? The warner came to you, so taste now. The wrongdoers shall have no supporter.
The Compassionate will forgive real criminals, even cold-blooded killers, but not those considered criminals for worshipping gods other than His Eminence, which He compares to worshipping Satan.
36:59 “Be singled out today, O criminals.
36:60 “Did I not exhort you, O Children of Adam, not to worship Satan? For he is a manifest enemy of yours.
36:61 “And worship Me; for this is a straight path.
36:62 “He has surely led astray numerous generations of you. Did you not understand, then?
36:63 “This, then, is Hell which you were promised.
36:64 “Burn in it today for what you used to disbelieve.”
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Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "Allah welcomes two men with a smile; one of whom kills the other and both of them enter Paradise. One fights in Allah's Cause and gets killed. Later on Allah forgives the killer who also get martyred (In Allah's Cause)."
Bukhari 52.80
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Heaven or Hell: which will it be? Only Allah knows for sure!
17:54 Your Lord knows you best. If He pleases, He will have mercy on you, and if He pleases He will torture you. We have not sent you (Muhammad) to be their guardian.
“If He pleases He will torture you” seems like what a sadist masquerading as the embodiment of compassion and mercy might say to justify His actions.
11:106 As for the wretched, they shall be in the Fire; they shall have therein groaning and moaning;
11:107 Abiding therein forever, so long as the heavens and earth shall endure, except as your Lord pleases. Your Lord does indeed what He wants.
11:108 But as for the blessed, they shall be in Paradise abiding therein as long the heavens and earth shall endure; except as your Lord pleases, a gift, uninterrupted.
11:109 So do not be in doubt as to what these [people] worship; they only worship as fathers worshipped before them, and We shall accord them their share (of the punishment) undiminished.
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18:29 And say: “The Truth is from your Lord. Whoever wishes, let him believe; and whoever wishes, let him disbelieve.” We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose canopy encompasses them all. If they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like molten brass which scalds the faces. Wretched is that drink and wretched is the resting-place!
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21:100 They groan with pain therein and they do not hear.
21:101 Those to whom We had given the fairest reward are kept away from it.
21:102 They do not hear its hissing, and they abide forever in what their hearts desire.
21:103 The greatest terror shall not cause them to grieve and the angels shall receive them saying: “This is your day that you were promised”;
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22:19 Here are two adversaries who dispute about their Lord. To the unbelievers, garments of fire shall be cut up and over their heads boiling water shall be poured;
22:20 Whereby whatever is in their bellies and in their skin shall be melted.
22:21 And for them are iron rods (to beat their heads with).
22:22 Every time they want, in their gloom, to get out of it (the Fire), they are brought back into it. [And it is said to them]: “Taste the agony of burning.”
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23:106 They will say: “Lord, our misery overcame us and we were are an erring people.
23:107 “Lord, bring us out of it (Hell); then, if we revert we are indeed wrongdoers.”
23:108 He (Allah) said: “Rot in it and do not talk to Me.
23:109 “There was a group of My servants who used to say: ‘Lord, we believe, so forgive us and have mercy on us; you are the best of the merciful.’
23:110 “But you took them for a laughingstock, till they made you forget My Name, while you were mocking them.
23:111 “I have rewarded them this day for their forbearance, making them the winners.”
Let us take a moment to remember the Companions of the Left, even if it is displeasing to the Compassionate. While the Companions of the Right are pounding away upon their couches, breaking hymens, popping grapes, sipping wine and drinking cool refreshing water, the Companions of the Left will be in Hell suffering all It has to offer.
56:41 As for the Companions of the Left; and what are the Companions of the Left?
56:42 Amid searing wind and boiling water;
56:43 And a shadow of thick smoke,
56:44 Which is neither cool nor bounteous.
On the Wall Between Heaven and Hell
Between Heaven and Hell is said be a fortress-like wall atop of which men will be seen on Judgement Day walking toward Paradise.
7:46 Between them (the people of Paradise and the people of the Fire) is a veil, and on the Ramparts are men who know everyone by his mark. And they will call out to the People of Paradise: “Peace be upon you.” That is, before they enter it, though they hope to do so.
7:47 And when their eyes are turned towards the people of the Fire, they will say: “Lord, do not place us among the wrongdoing people.”
7:48 And the people of the Ramparts will cry out to some men whom they will recognize by their marks saying: “Your amassing [of wealth] and your arrogance are of no avail to you.”
7:49 “Are those the people that you swore Allah will have no mercy on?” [To these people will be said]: “Enter Paradise, you have nothing to fear, and you shall not grieve.”
To these fortunate ones who will make their way to Paradise via the Ramparts and witness the terrible things the Compassionate will do to former companions and loved ones, it will be forbidden to share a single drop of water to alleviate the thirst of those who suffer.
7:50 Then the people of the Fire will call out to the people of Paradise: “Pour out upon us some water or part of what Allah has provided you with.” They will say: “Allah forbids them both unto the unbelievers,
7:51 “Who take their religion as amusement and sport, and the present life deludes them.” Today, We forget them as they forgot the encounter of this Day and used to deny Our Revelations.
7:52 And We have brought them a Book, which We have expounded with knowledge, as a guidance and mercy for a people who believe.
7:53 Do they only wait for its fulfilment? The Day its fulfilment comes, those who forgot it before will say: “The Messengers of our Lord brought the truth. Have we then any intercessors to intercede for us, or shall we be taken back, so as to do something other than what we used to do?” They have indeed lost their souls, and what they fabricated has failed them.