THE PUNISHMENT OF THE PEOPLE OF HELL

 

1 – The Intensity of the Suffering of the People of HellThe Fire is an intense punishment, in which there are different types
of torment and people would give the dearest possessions that they own in order to escape:

 

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَمَاتُوا۟ وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌۭ فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِم مِّلْءُ ٱلْأَرْضِ ذَهَبًۭا وَلَوِ ٱفْتَدَىٰ بِهِۦٓ ۗ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن نَّـٰصِرِينَ ٩١

 

Indeed, those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers – never would the [whole] capacity of the earth in gold be accepted from one of them if he would [seek to] ransom himself with it. For those there will be a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers.

[Qur’an 3: 91]

 

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَوْ أَنَّ لَهُم مَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًۭا وَمِثْلَهُۥ مَعَهُۥ لِيَفْتَدُوا۟ بِهِۦ مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ مَا تُقُبِّلَ مِنْهُمْ ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ ٣٦

 

Indeed, those who disbelieve – if they should have all that is in the earth and the like of it with it by which to ransom themselves from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection, it will not be accepted from them, and for them is a painful punishment.

[Qur’an 5:36]

 

Muslim reports from Anas ibn Maalik that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“One of the people of Hell who found the most pleasure in the life of this world will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection, and will be dipped into the Fire of Hell. Then he will be asked: ‘O ’ son of Adam, have you ever seen anything good? Have you ever enjoyed any pleasure?’ He will say, ‘No, by Allah, O ’ Lord.”

(Muslim); Mishkaat al-Masabeeh, 3/102.

 

Just a few short moments will make the kuffaar – disbelievers – forgetall the good times and pleasure that they had enjoyed. Bukhari andMuslim report from Anas ibn Maalik that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will say to one whose punishment in the Fire is the lightest, ‘If you had whatever you wanted on earth, would you give it to save yourself?’ He will say, ‘Yes.’ Allah will say, ‘I wanted less than that from you: when you were still in the loins of Adam, I asked you not to associate anything in worship with Me, but you insisted on associating others in worship with Me.’

Bukhari: Kitaab ar-Raqaaq, Baab Sifat al-jannah wan-naar, Fath al-Baari, 11/ 416. See also Mishkaat al-Masabeeh, 3/102.

 

The horror and intensity of the Fire will make a man lose his mind, and he would give up everything he holds dear to escape it, but he will never be able to:

يُبَصَّرُونَهُمْ ۚ يَوَدُّ ٱلْمُجْرِمُ لَوْ يَفْتَدِى مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمِئِذٍۭ بِبَنِيهِ ١١

وَصَـٰحِبَتِهِۦ وَأَخِيهِ ١٢

وَفَصِيلَتِهِ ٱلَّتِى تُـْٔوِيهِ ١٣

وَمَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًۭا ثُمَّ يُنجِيهِ ١٤

كَلَّآ ۖ إِنَّهَا لَظَىٰ ١٥

نَزَّاعَةًۭ لِّلشَّوَىٰ ١٦

 

(..the sinner’s desire will be: would that he couldredeem himself from the Penalty of that Day by[sacrificing] his children, his wife and his brother, his kindred who sheltered him, and all, all that is on earth, so it could deliver him. By no means! For it would be the Fire of Hell! Plucking out [his being] right to the skull!)

(Qur’an 70: 11-16)

 

This horrendous ongoing punishment will make the life of these evildoers one of continual sorrow and pain.

 

Pictures of Their Punishments 

 

The Punishment of the People of Hell Will Vary in Degree 

 

As Hell has various levels, in some of which the torment and horror is greater than in others, so the people of Hell will be given different levels of punishment. According to a hadith narrated by Muslim and Ahmad from Samurah, the Prophet ﷺ said, concerning the people of Hell: “There are some whom the Fire will take up to their ankles, others up to their knees, others up to their waists, and others up to their collarbones”. According to another report, “up to their necks” 

The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ has told us about those who will receive the lightest punishment in Hell. Muslim reports from al-Nu’maan ibn Basheer who said: The person who will have the least punishment among the people of Hell on the Day of Resurrection is a man who will be given shoes and laces of fire, because of which his brains will boil like water in a mirjal (copper vessel). He will not think that anyone could be more severely punished than himself, yet he will be the one with the lightest punishment”.

(Sahih Muslim, Kitaab al-Imaan, 1/196, no. 364; Muslim also reports from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri in the same chapter, no. 361)

 

We have already studied that there are many aayaat that confirm the different levels Hell and each level have a punishment accordingly.

Ibn Rajab said, “Know that the different levels of punishment suffered by the people of Hell will be according to the levels of their deeds for which they entered Hell”. Then he quotes the evidence for that, such as the words of Ibn ‘Abbaas, “The punishment of those who were extreme in their disbelief and spread corruption on earth, calling others to kufr, will not be like the punishment of those who did not do such things”. Then Ibn Rajab says, “Similarly, the punishments of the monotheists in Hell will be at different levels, according to their deeds. The punishment of those who were guilty of major sins (kabaa’ir) will not be like that of those who were guilty of minor sins (saghaa’ir). The punishment may be reduced for some of them because of other good deeds, or for whatever reason Allaah (swt) wills. Hence some of them may die in the Fire”.

(at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p. 142-143) 

 

 

Roasting of the Skin 

 

The Fire of the Almighty will burn the skin of the disbelievers. The skin is the site of sensation, where the pain of burning is felt, and for this reason, Allaah (swt) will replace the burnt skin with a new one, to be burnt anew, and this will be repeated endlessly: “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 Allaah is Exalted in Power, All-Wise” (4:56) 

 

Melting 

 

One of the kinds of torment will be the pouring of al-Hameem over their heads. al-Hameem is ultra-heated water; because of its extreme heat, it will melt their innards and everything inside: “… 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”. (22:19-20) 

at-Tirmidhi reported from Abu Hurayrah (ra) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “al-Hameem will be poured on their heads and will dissolve through until it reaches their sides and all their innards will drop out, until it comes out of his feet, and everything is melted, then he will be restored as he was.” He (at-Tirmidhi) said, “It is a sahih ghareeb hasan hadith”. (at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p.145, Jaami’ al-Usool, 10/540) 

 

Scorching (the face). 

 

The noblest and most dignified part of a person is the face, hence the Prophet ﷺ forbade us to strike the face. One of the ways in which Allaah (swt) will humiliate the people of Hell is by gathering them on their faces, blind, deaf and dumb, on the Day of Resurrection: 

• Then they will be thrown on their faces in the Fire: “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?” (27:90) 
• The Fire will burn and cover their faces forever, with no barrier between them and it: “If only the unbelievers knew [the time] when they will not be able to ward off the Fire from their faces, nor yet from their backs, and [when] no help can reach them!” (21:39) 
• “Their garments of liquid pitch, and their faces covered with fire”. (14:50) 
• Look at this horrific scene that makes one shudder! “The Day that their faces will be turned upside down in the Fire, they will say, “Woe to us! Would that we had obeyed Allaah and obeyed the Messenger.” (33:66) 

Do you not see that just as meat and fish are turned over when they are cooked, so their faces will be turned over in the Fire of Hell. We seek refuge with Allaah (swt) from the punishment of the people of Hell. 

 

Dragging 

 

Another of the painful torments that the Disbelievers will suffer is being dragged on their faces into Hell: “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.“

(54:47-48) 

 

Their pain at being dragged will be increased by the fact that they will be tied up in chains and fetters: “…But soon shall they know – when the yokes [shall be] round their necks, and the chains, they shall be dragged along, in the boiling fetid fluid, then shall they be burned”.

(40:70-72) 

 

Qataadah said, “They will be dragged once in the Fire, and once in al-Hameem.”

 

Blackening of the faces. 

 

Allaah (swt) will blacken the faces of the people of Hell in the Hereafter: “On the Day when some faces will be [lit up with] white and some faces will be [in the gloom of] black; to those who faces will be black [it will be said]: “Did you reject Faith after accepting it? Taste then the Penalty for rejecting Faith”. (3:106) 

This is intense blackness, as if the darkness of night had covered their faces “But those who have earned evil will have a reward of like evil, and ignominy will cover their faces. No defender will they have from [the wrath of] Allaah. Their faces will be covered, as it were, with pieces from the darkness of night. They are Companions [or dwellers] of the Fire, they will abide therein [for aye!] (10:27) 

 

The Fire Will Surround the Disbelievers 

 

The people of Hell are the Disbelievers whose sins and disobedience surround them, leaving no hasanah for them. Allaah (swt) said, in response to the Jews who claimed that the Fire would only touch them for a certain length of time: “Nay, those who seek gain in evil and are girt round by their sins – they are companions [or dwellers] of the Fire; therein shall they abide [forever]” (2:81). Eternity in Hell is for the disbelievers and mushrikeen, so evil and sin in this aayah has to be interpreted as meaning kufr and shirk. 

Sins and evil deeds surround the Disbelievers like a bracelet around the wrist, so their punishment should fit their crimes. Hence the Fire will surround the Disbelievers on all sides, as Allaah (swt) says: “There will be a bed of Hell [Fire] and over them coverings [of Hellfire]”

(7:41) 

 

The “bed” is what comes under them, and the “coverings” are what come over them. What is meant is that fires will surround them from above and below, as Allaah (swt) says: “On the Day when the torment [Hellfire] shall cover them from above them and from underneath their feet”

(29:55) 

 

“They shall have coverings of Fire above them, and coverings of Fire beneath them”.

(39:16) 

 

The “surrounding” may be interpreted in another way, which is that Hell will have a wall to surround the disbelievers so that they will never be able to get out or escape form it, as Allaah (swt) says: “..Verily We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose [smoke and flames] like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in; If they implore relief, they will be granted water like melted brass, that will scald their faces. How dreadful the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!”

(18:29) 

 

 

The Fire Will Leap Up Over Their Hearts 

 

We have already explained that the physical bodies of the people of Hell will be made huge in size. In spite of that, the Fire will penetrate their bodies until it reaches their innermost depths: “Soon will I cast him into Hellfire! And what will explain to you what Hellfire is? Naught does it permit to endure, and naught does it leave alone, Darkening and changing the colour of man!” (74:26-29) 

Some of the Salaf said concerning the phrase, “naught does it leave alone” that it meant, “it eats bones and flesh and brains and does not leave anything untouched” (Ibn Rajab, at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p.146) 

Allaah (swt) says: “By no means! He will be sure to be thrown into that which Breaks to Pieces. And what will explain to you what that which Breaks to Pieces is? [It is] the Fire of the [wrath of] Allaah, kindled [to a blaze], that which mourns [right] to the hearts”. (104:4-6) 

Muhammad ibn Ka’b al-Qurtubee said, “The Fire eats into him until it reaches his heart, then his body will be created anew. 

 

Their entrails will be spilled out in the Fire 

 

al-Bukhaari and Muslim report from Usaamah ibn Zayd that the Prophet ﷺ said: “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, and he will be forced to walk around and around like a donkey in a treadmill. The people of Hell will gather around him 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.” Then he will walk around and around like a donkey in a treadmill” (al-Bukhaari and Muslim)

 

The Chains, Fetters and Hammers of the People of Hell 

 

Allaah (swt) has promised that the people of Hell will have chains fetters and hammers in the Fire: 

• “For the Rejecters We have prepared iron chains, yokes and a blazing Fire”. (76:4) 
• “With Us are fetters [to bind them] and a Fire [to burn them] and a food that chokes, and a penalty grievous”. (73:12-13) 
• “The stern command will say, “Seize him and bind him, and burn him in the blazing Fire, further, make him march in a chain, whereof the length is seventy cubits”. (69:30-32) 
• “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 be] said to them: “taste the torment of burning!” (22:21-22) 

 

They will be accompanied by their objects of worship and their devils in Hell 

 

The Disbelievers and Mushrikeen used to glorify the false deities that they worshipped instead of Allaah (swt); they would defend them and give of themselves and their wealth in their worshipping. On the Day of Resurrection, Allaah (swt) will cause those deities that they used to worship instead of Him to enter the Fire, as a source of humiliation and shame for them, so that they will know that they were misled and that they worshipped something that has no power either to benefit them or to harm them: “Verily, you [disbelievers] and the [false] gods that you worship besides Allaah are [but] fuel for Hell! To it will you [surely] come! If these had been gods, they would not have got there! But each one will abide therein.” (21:98-99)

For this reason the sun and moon will be thrown into Hell, and will be fuel for it, to punish those wrongdoers who used to worship them instead of Allaah. 

 

Their sorrow, regret and supplications 

 

When the Disbelievers see Hell, they will be filled with intense regret, at a time when regret will be of no avail: “…they would declare [their] repentance when they see the penalty but the judgement between them will be with justice, and no wrong will be done unto them.” (10:54) 

When the Disbelievers looks at the record of his deeds, and sees his kufr and shirk, for which he deserves eternal Hell, he will pray for oblivion and death: “But he who is given his Record behind his back, soon will he cry for perdition, and he will enter a blazing Fire”. (84:10-12) 

They will repeat their prayer for oblivion when they are thrown into the Fire and its heat touches them: “And when they are cast, bound together, into a constricted place therein, they will plead for destruction there and then! This Day plead not for a single destruction: plead for destruction oft-repeated”. (25:13-14) 

Their screams will grow louder and more desperate and they will call on their Rabb, hoping that He (swt) will take them out of the Fire: “Therein will they cry aloud [for assistance]: “Our Rabb! Bring us out, we shall work righteousness, not the [deeds] we used to do.” (35:37) 

At that time, they will come to realise the error and foolishness of their kufr: “They will further say: “Had we but listened or used our intelligence we would not [now] be among the companions of the blazing Fire”. (67:10) 

“They will say, “Our Rabb! Our misfortune overwhelmed us, and we became a people astray. Our Rabb! Bring us out of this; if ever we return [to evil] then shall we be wrongdoers indeed!” He [Allaah] will say, “Be driven into it with ignominy! And speak not to Me!” (23:106-108) 

Then they will ask for intercession so that their Rabb might annihilate them, they will call upon the keepers of Hell: “Pray to your Rabb to lighten us the penalty for a day [at 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 prayer of those without faith is nothing but [futile wandering] in [mazes of] error”. (40:49-50) 

Everything they ask for will be refused. There will be no coming out of the Fire, no reduction in the torment, and no oblivion. Rather it is ongoing, eternal punishment, and at that time they will be told: “…and whether you are patient of it, or impatient of it, it is all the same. You are only being requited for what you used to do.” (52:16) 

Those evildoers lost their own souls and their families when they preferred kufr to eemaan. Listen to the wailing and cries when they are punished: “The Day when their faces will be turned upside down in the Fire, they will say, “Woe to us! Would that we had obeyed Allaah and obeyed the Messenger!” And they would say, “Our Rabb, verily we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the (right) Path. Our Rabb, give them double penalty and curse them with a very great curse!” (33:66-68). This is why we should be extra careful of not leading any one astray or playing a part in others sinning.

 

REFERENCE:
BOOK: “The Final Day PARADISE AND HELL In the Light of the Qur’an and Sunnah”
Dr. ‘Umar S. al-Ashqar

“compiled by Monis Begum”