Just as from the
Quran and the Traditions we know about Heaven that there are joys and
comforts in it with which not even the foremost pleasures of the world
are worthy of comparison, about Hell, too, we learn that its tortures
are so terrible that the greatest sorrows and sufferings of the earthly
existence bear no resemblance to them.
In fact, the image that is formed in our minds of the boons and blessings
of Paradise or of the pain and punishment of Hell is most imperfect
for the simple reason that all the words in our vocabulary have been
coined simply for the tings and experiences of the present worlds. Thus,
when we say ‘grape’ or ‘apple’ our mind turns
only to the grapes or apples we see or eat there. But how can we, from
it, form an idea of the state and quality of the grapes or apples of
Paradise which will be a thousand times more evolved than what we find
on earth and have not seen as much as a sample of them in our lives?
In the same way, from the words ‘snake’ a scorpion’
we can only think of the snakes and scorpions of this world and not
of Hell which will be immeasurably larger and more poisonous and of
which we have not seen even a picture here below.
In any event, it is just not possible to understand fully the state
of things in Heaven and Hell in the present existence. It will be known
only in the Hereafter that what we had heard or read about the supreme
happiness of Heaven or the extreme pain and anguish of Hell was most
imperfect account of them.
Moreover, as we have said earlier, the description of Heaven and Hell
contained in the Quran and the Traditions is not, at all, intended to
impart to us, in this world, the knowledge of what was going to happen
in those places so that a complete picture of Paradise and Hell could
emerge before our mind’s eye. Its real object is that of Tabsheer
[Glad Tidings] and Anzar [Warning] i.e., to persuade the bondmen to
tread the path of virtue and lead a life that was likely to take them
to Heaven by producing in them an overpowering desire for Paradise and
an anxious fear of Hell, and, for it, what has been revealed in the
Quran and the Traditions is more than enough.
Now, to take up the Traditions.
(121) It is related by Abu Hurairah that the Apostle of God said: “The
fire of this world of yours is the seventieth part of the Fire of Hell.”
He was asked, “O Apostle of God! Was the fire of the world not
enough?” The Prophet replied, “The Fire of Hell has been
increased by sixty-nine degrees as compared with the fire of this world
and the heat of each degree is equal to the heat of the fire on earth.”
-Bukhari
and Muslim
Commentary.-The temperature of various kinds of fire in the present
world differs from each other, as for instance, the fire of wood possesses
greater heat than the fire of straw, and the fire of coal possesses
greater heart than the fire of wood. It has now become possible to measure
the degrees of heat of the different types of fire, and, as such, it
should not be difficult to realise the significance of this saying of
the Prophet.
As we had the occasion to point out earlier, in the Arabic language
the figure of seventy is often used, in such circumstances, to emphasise
the excess or profusion of a thing. In this Tradition, too, it may have
been mentioned in the same sense. In that case, the Tradition would
mean that the Fire of Hell was much fiercer than the fire of this world.
It, further, tells that when the Prophet gave this description of the
Fire of Hell, he was asked, “O Apostle of God! Was the world’s
fire not enough?” To it, the Prophet gave no other reply than
to repeat, a little more candidly, what he had said earlier. Perhaps,
he wanted to warn against asking such questions about the will and judgement
of the Lord. Whatever He does is the right thing. Our endeavour should
entirely be to do all we could to save ourselves from the Fire of Hell.
(122) It is related by Noman bin Basheer that the Apostle of God said:
“The mildest punishment to be inflicted on a person in Hell is
that he will be made to wear a pair of sandals made of fire which will
be so hot as to set his brain boiling as if something was cooking in
a pot on a stove. He will not imagine that anyone was undergoing a more
severe punishment [i.e., he will consider himself to be receiving the
hardest punishment], though his punishment will, in truth, be the mildest
in Hell.”
-Bukhari
and Muslim
(123) Anas related to us that on the Day of Judgement a person will
be brought from among the dwellers of Hell [i.e., from among those who
will be destined to end up in Hell owing to their Apostasy and Polytheism
or lewdness and depravity] who will have lived in greatest pomp and
luxury in the world. He will be dipped once in the Fire of Hell [and,
then, taken out of it immediately] and asked, “O son of Adam!
Have you ever known comfort?” “No, Our Lord !” he
will reply. “I swear by Thy Name that I have never known what
comfort is.” Afterwards, a person will be brought from among the
dwellers of Paradise [i.e., from among them who will be deserving of
Paradise owing to their piety and devoutness] who will have led a life
of utter pain and misery on earth. He will be dipped once in Heaven
[i.e., he will be taken to Heaven and, then, led out of it immediately]
and asked, “O son of Adam! Have you ever known misery?”
“No, Our Lord!” he will reply. “I swear by Thy Name
that I have never known what pain or misery is.”
-Muslim
Commentary.-It shows that the chastisement of Hell is so severe that
a moment of it will make one forget the joys and comforts of a Lifetime
and the blissfulness of Paradise is so wonderful that a moment of it
will make one forget the pain and suffering of the whole duration of
one’s life.
(124) It is related by Samura binJundub that the Apostle of God said:
“Among the people of Hell there will be some whom fire will seize
up to the ankles, and there will be some whom fire will seize up to
the thighs, and there will be some whom fire will seize up to the waist,
and there will be some whom fire will seize up to the breast-bone.”
-Muslim
Commentary.-It shows that the state of everyone will not be the same
in Hell. Punishment will vary according to one’s sins and transgressions.
(125) It is related by Abu Sa’eed Khadri that the Apostle of God
said: “Ghassaq [i.e., the stinking pus that will come out from
the wounds of the people of Hell and about which it is said in the Quran
that it shall be their food at the time of intense hunger] is such that
if a bucket of it was thrown into the world, the whole world would be
filled with its stench.”
-Tirmidhi
(126) Abdullah bin Abbas narrated that [once] the Prophet recited the
verse: O ye who believe ! Fear God as He should be feared, and die not
except in a state of Islam, [and in connection with the fear of God
and His chastisement], he observed, “If a drop of Zaqqum [The
infernal tree, mentioned in the Quran, the fruit of which those doomed
to the eternal punishment of Hell shall eat] were to fall on the earth,
it would be enough to pollute all the articles of food and drink found
here. Now, imagine what will the condition be of those who shall eat
it.”
-Tirmidhi
(127) Noman bin Basheer related to us, he relates that “I heard
the Apostle of God say [in one of his sermons], ‘I have given
you the warning of the Fire of Hell. I have admonished you against the
chastisement of Hell.’ He said the same thing over and over again……
He was saying it so loudly that had he been standing where I am now,
his voice would have been heard by the people in the market, and [at
that time he was lost in his thoughts so completely] that the blanket
he was wearing round his shoulders dropped [on the ground] near his
feet.”
-Darmi