THE HELL

THE HELL

In Islam, we believe that there is heaven and hell. They exist not just in a mere state of mind. Al-Quran has stated that those who have done good deeds will be rewarded Jannah (Paradise). However, those who have done evil deeds will be rewarded Jahannam (Hell). Hell is a place for those who do not believe in Allah S.w.t, rejected His laws and the prophet’s teachings. Hell is an awful, humiliating place for people in the Hereafter. “Our Lord! Surely, whom You admit to the Fire, indeed You have disgraced him, and never will the wrongdoers find any helpers.” (Quran 3:192)

It is stated in the Quran that Angel Malik is the chief guardian of the Hell but there are other nineteen angels guarding the Hell alongside of Angel Malik. All of these Angels are stated to have the strength to overcome the human strengths. Therefore, the inhabitants of the Hell cannot escape from it. As Angels are called as ‘maksum’, they follow Allah’s order. They are strict and stern following the orders. They will do precisely what Allah has ordered them to do. “Soon I will cast him into Hell Fire. And what will explain to you what is Hellfire? Nothing does it allow to endure, and nothing does it leave alone! Darkening and changing the color of man! Over it are nineteen (angels as keepers of Hell).” (Quran 74:26-30)

No one knows where the specific location of the Hell is except for Allah S.W.T. as he is The Great. However, there are certain hadiths and linguistic evidence explained that Hell is located at ‘the seventh most bottom layer of the earth’. Hell is described as a huge and immensely deep. We know this through many hadiths. There was once when Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) was sitting with his friends and they heard a sound of something fell. The prophet asked if they know what sound it was. His friends were clueless. Then, the prophet answered it was a sound of a rock fell seventy years ago and it had just landed on the edge of the Hell. “If a stone as big as seven pregnant camels were thrown from the edge of Hell, it would fly through it for seventy years, and yet it would not reach the bottom.” and “That was a stone thrown into Hell seventy years ago and it is yet in the way (the other side) of Hell until now.”

Ibnu Juraij once said “There are seven levels of Hell. First is known as Jahannam, followed by Lazha, Hutamah, As-Sa’ir, Saqar, Al-Jahim and lastly Al-Hawiyah which Abu Jahal is in it”. Salam Al-Madani heard a conversation between Al-Hasan to Abu Sufyan from Dhahak, he said “Hell has seven doors and seven levels. The top level is for the wrong-doers who will be tortured but later will be taken out from Hell (Muslims). The second level is for the Jews. The third level is for the Christian. The forth level is for the Shabi’un (The animal worshippers). The fifth level is for the ‘Majusi’ (The fire worshippers). The sixth level is for the Arab Pagans and lastly it’s for the Hypocrites.” From this, we can tell that the hypocrites are in the lowest level of the Hell. Therefore, they will suffer the worst punishment. “Surely, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths (grade) of the Fire.” (Quran 4:145). “For all will be (ranked) by degrees according to what they did.”(Quran 6:132)

As there are seven levels of Hell, it is logic to think that there are also seven gates of Hell. Each gate has an allotted share of the damned that will enter through it. Each will enter according to his deeds and assigned a level of Hell accordingly. When the unbelievers are brought to Hell, its gates will open; they will enter it, and stay in it forever. “And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups until, when they reach it, its gates are opened and its keepers will say, ‘Did there not come to you messengers from yourselves, reciting to you the verses of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?’ They will say, ‘Yes, but the word (meaning the decree) of punishment has come into effect upon the disbelievers.’” (Quran 39:71)

Everything people use to cool down in this world – air, water, shade – will be useless in Hell. The air of Hell will be hot wind and the water will be boiling. The shade will not be comforting or cooling, the shade in Hell will be the shadow of black smoke as mentioned in the verse: “And shadow of black smoke.”(Quran 56:43) The heat of the Hell will be seventy times hotter than the earth’s fire. This is proven by Abu Hurairah r.a. quoted from Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him): “For God’s sake, this is hot”. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) said “Indeed the Hell’s fire is scorching seventy times than the earth’s fire”. However, there is also a cold fire known as Zamharir. Abu Nu’aim narrated from Ibnu Abbas that Ka’ab said “In Hell there is an air (Zamharir) that is so cold it could rip off the meat until the inhabitants of the Hell requested their hot air back”.

The inhabitants will experience intense, horrifying, daunting and tormenting tortures in Hell. Their skins will be burnt and replaced the whole time. They will get to eat from Zaqqum, a special tree in the Hell. Its roots go deep into the bottom of the Hell, stretching it over. Its fruits are so ugly that it resembles the heads of devils. When they eat the fruits of Zaqqum, their internal organs will start to boil. At that point, they will rush to drink the hot water. They will drink like thirsty camels, but it will never quench their thirst. However, their internal organs will start to burn. Another meal in the Hell will be the yellow puss and the decaying flesh of the human bodies. The water in Hell is described as hot and sticky as in the verse: “A boiling fluid and fluid dark, murky, intensely cold.” (Quran 38:57) or yellow puss of the human bodies as in the verse: “Anyone who drinks intoxicants will be made to drink the mud of khabal. They asked, ‘O Messenger of God, what is the mud of khabal?’ He said, ‘The sweat of the people of Hell’ or the ‘juice of the people of Hell.’” (Saheeh Muslim) and also a drink like boiling oil described by the prophet as: “It is like boiling oil, when it is brought near a person’s face, the skin of the face falls off into it.” (Musnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi). When the inhabitants enter the gates of Hell, their faces would be dragged onto the ground while they are tied in chains and yokes. Their faces would be blackened and the fires would surround them as sheets wrapping their bodies. Though they plead from Angel Malik for forgiveness, their torture won’t be reduced but it is eternal. They will weep for a long time until their tears turn into blood.

In a closure, the Hell is simply not a place where every human being wants to be in the Hereafter. It is full of sorrow and misery. Hence, to avoid being thrown in the Hell, a person should really nurture his faith in Allah s.w.t and follow His orders and avoid His dislikes as there is no more life after the Hereafter.