What is Hell?

THE DESCRIPTION OF HELL

Who is Hell created for?

Hell is the abode which Allaah (ﷻ) has prepared for those who

do not believe in Him (ﷺ), those who rebel against His (ﷺ)

laws and disbelieve in His Messengers. It is the punishment for

His (ﷺ ) enemies, the prison for evildoers.

It is the ultimate humiliation and loss;

there is nothing worse:

"Our Lord! Verily, whom You admit to the Fire,

indeed, You have disgraced him, and never will the

Dhaalimoon [polytheists and wrongdoers] find any

helpers" (Quran 3:192)

"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". (Quran 9:63)

The losers are those who will lose themselves

and their families on the Day of Resurrection.

Verily, that will be a manifest loss!"

(Quran 39:15)

Let's learn about Jahannam so it acts as a deterrent whenever

we get tempted to sin.

The Gates of Hell

Allah ﷻ says:

"And surely, Hell is the promised place for them all.

It (Hell, has seven gates, for each of these gates is a

[special class (of sinners] assigned". (Quran 15:43-44)

"The unbelievers will be led to Hell in crowds until,

when they arrive there, its gates will be opened.

(Quran 39: 71)

To them will be said, "Enter you the gates

of Hell to dwell therein. And how evil is this

abode of the arrogant.' (Quran 39: 72)

The Levels of Hell

There are variations in the degrees of heat in Hell, and in

the levels of punishment which Allah st has prepared for

its inhabitants; there is not just one level. As Allah says:

"For all there will be degrees [or ranks]

according to what they did" (Quran 6:132)

"Verily the hypocrites will be in the lowest

depths (grade] of the Fire" (Quran 4:145)

The Stern Angels of Hell

Standing over Hell are mighty and stern

angels who never disobey Allah subhaanahu

wa taala. They do whatever He commands

them, as Allaah subhaanahu wa ta'ala

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 flinch not [from executing]

the Commands they receive from Allah, but do precisely

what] they are commanded."

(Quran 66:6)

The Names of Hell

Jahannam: This name implies a deep pit.

Jahim: A blazing fire.

Sair: An ignited or kindled fire.

Saqar: It is given this name because of the intensity of its heat.

Lazà: blazing flames.

Häwiya: a deep drop, like someone being dropped

from the top to the bottom of a deep place.

Hutama: Debris and broken pieces, because it crushes

and breaks everything that is thrown into it.

The Drinks of the people of Hell

There will be four kinds of drink that

the people of Hell have to endure:

(1) al-Hameem: an extremely hot water.

"They will be given to drink from a boiling hot spring."

(Quran 88:5

(2) al-Ghassaaq/al-Ghasleen: Which is the festering pus that

oozes out of the skin of the people of Hell.

"So no friend has he here this Day; Nor has he

any food except corruption or filth from the

washing of wounds (al-Ghasleen], which none

do eat but those in sin". (Quran 69:35-37)

(3) al-Sadeed (pus): Which flows from the flesh and skin of the

unbelievers.

The Prophet age said, "Anyone who drinks intoxicants

will be made to drink the mud of khabaal (sweat

or juices of the people of hell). Sahih Muslim

(4) al-Muhl: The Prophet kg said: "It is like boiling oil, and when

it is brought near a person's face, the skin of the face falls off into

it". Ibn 'Abbaas said, "It is like very thick oil". (Ahmad & Tirmidhi)

 The Food of the people of Hell

The food of the people of hell is described as only

increasing in torment. It does not provide nourishment

nor does it relieve hunger.

"No food will there be for them but a bitter Dare obnoxious

thorny plant, which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger".

(Quran 88:6-7)

"Verily the tree of Zaqqum will be the food of the

sinful, like molten brass, it will boil in their insides,

like the boiling of scalding water."

(Quran 44:43-46).

Some of the sinners will be fed the

burning coals of Hell as an appropriate

punishment:

"Those who unjustly eat up the property of

orphans, eat us a Fire into their own bellies,

and they will soon be enduring a blazing Fire!"

(Quran 4:10)

"Those who conceal Allah's revelations in

the Book, and purchase for them a miserable

profit - swallow into themselves naught

but Fire

" (Quran 2:174)

Hell is vast, huge and immensely deep

Those who will enter Hell are innumerable, yet one of

them will be so huge that his molars will be as big as

Mount Uhud, and the distance between his shoulders

will be equivalent to three days walking. Nevertheless,

Hell will accommodate the huge number of Kuffaar

and evildoers who have existed throughout history.

Allah says in the Qur'aan:

"On the Day when We will say to Hell: "Are you filled?" It

will say: "Are there any more to come?" (Quran 50:30)

Indication of its vast depth is the fact that a stone thrown

from the top of Hell takes seventy years to reach the

bottom. (Sahih Muslim)

The great number of angels who will bring

Hell forth on the Day of Resurrection.

The Prophet Eye said, "Hell will be brought forth that

Day by means of seventy thousand ropes, each of which

will be held by seventy thousand angels." (Muslim 6810)

The sahaba heard a terrible sound. Thereupon Allah's

Apostle (k) ) said: Do you know what (sound) is this?

That is a stone which was thrown seventy years before

in Hell and it has'been constantly slipping down and

now it has reached its base. (Muslim 6813)

Various punishments in Hell that are mentioned

(1) The Punishment of the People of

Hell Will Vary in Degree

The lightest punishment is explained by the Prophet ty "The

person who will have the least punishment among the people of

Hell on the Day of Resurrection will be a man under the arch of

whose feet will be placed a smouldering ember, and his brains

will boil because of it." (Sahih Muslim).

(2) Roasting of the Skin

"Those who reject Our Signs, We shall soon cast them into

the Fire. As often as their skins are roasted through, We

shall change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the

penalty. For Allah is Exalted in Power, All-Wise" (Quran

4:56)

(3) Melting

. then as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be

cut out for them, boiling water will be poured down over their

heads. With it will melt or vanish away what is within their

bellies, as well as [their] skins". (Quran 22:19-20)

(4) Scorching (the face)

And if any do evil, their faces will be thrown headlong

into the Fire; "Do you receive a reward other than

that which you have earned by your deeds?"

(Quran 27:90)

(5) Dragging and blackening of faces

"Truly those in sin are the ones straying in mind, and

mad. The Day they will be dragged through the Fire

on their faces [they will hear]:"

"Taste the touch of Hell."

(Quran 54:47-48)

(6) The Night Fire Will Leap Up Over Their Hearts

When Thaabit al-Bananee read about this ayah, he said,

"The Fire will burn them until it reaches their hearts, while

they are still alive; this is how great their suffering is!" Then

he wept." (at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p.146)

(7) Their entrails will be spilled out in the Fire

A man will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection and thrown

into the Fire. Then his entrails will be spilled out into the Fire. The

people of Hell will gather around a man and say,

"O So-and-so,

what is wrong with you? Did you not enjoin us to do good and

forbid us to do evil?" He will say, "I used to order you to do good,

but I did not do it, and I used to forbid you to do evil, but I used to

do it." (Sahih Bukhari)

(8) They  Chains, Fetters and Hammers of the People of Hell

And for them are hooked rods of iron [to punish them]. Every

time they seek to get away therefrom, from anguish, they will

be driven back therein, and it will bej said to them: "taste the

torment of burning!" (Quran 22:21-22)

Nothing in this World is worth going to Hell for

No pleasure and no sin is worth going to hell

for. Allah is the most Merciful but He is also

the most just. And His justice is perfect.

According to a Hadith, just a dip in Hell fire makes one forget

the life-long pleasures that one had so imagine being there

for a period of time when a day is equivalent to years and

there is no respite, fire from all sides.

How can we sell our deen for this duniya which

is temporary and risk going to Hell fire (even if

it is for a period of time) and face the horrors?

But there is hope for all of us. If you sincerely repent all your

sins are forgiven. Allah says in a Hadith Qudsi that even if

your sins reached up to the sky and you repent, then all your

sins are forgiven.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷻ) said: "Whoever asks Allahﷻ Paradise

three times, Paradise says: 'O Allah, admit him into Paradise', and

whoever seeks refuge from the Fire three times, the Fire says: 'O

Allah, save him from the Fire." (Tirmidhi 2572 Sahih)

اللَّهُمَّ أَجِرْنِي مِنَ النَّارِ

Allahumma Ajirni minan naar (say 3 times)

May Allah forgive us our sins and give us the Hidayah to do deeds

that can bring about His Mercy and save us from Hell fire. Aameen