Hell
From WikiAhmadiyya, the free encyclopedia on Islam and Ahmadiyyat
Hell is a punishment described in the Quran that will be delivered in the life after death to some evil doers. However, due to the forgiving nature of God, many sinners will be saved from the punishment altogether:
Abu Said Al-Khudri reported: The Prophet of Allahsa
said: "There was a man from among a nation before you who killed
ninety-nine people and then made an inquiry about the most learned
person on the earth. He was directed to a monk. He came to him and told
him that he had killed ninety-nine people and asked him if there was any
chance for his repentance to be accepted. He replied in the negative
and the man killed him also completing one hundred. He then asked about
the most learned man in the earth. He was directed to a scholar. He told
him that he had killed one hundred people and asked him if there was
any chance for his repentance to be accepted. He replied in the
affirmative and asked: 'Who stands between you and repentance? Go to
such and such land; there (you will find) people devoted to prayer and
worship of Allah, join them in worship, and do not come back to your
land because it is an evil place.' So he went away and hardly had he
covered half the distance when death overtook him; and there was a
dispute between the angels of mercy and the angels of torment. The
angels of mercy pleaded: 'This man has come with a repenting heart to
Allah,' and the angels of punishment argued: 'He never did a virtuous
deed in his life.' Then there appeared another angel in the form of a
human being and the contending angels agreed to make him arbiter between
them. He said: 'Measure the distance between the two lands. He will be
considered belonging to the land to which he is nearer.'...Allah
commanded (the land which he wanted to leave) to move away and
commanded the other land (his destination) to draw nearer and then He
said: "Now measure the distance between them.' It was found that he was
nearer to his goal by a hand's span and was thus forgiven". It is also
narrated that he drew closer by a slight movement on his chest.
- Bukhari
Muslims who act in an evil manner may face punishment, while people of other religious traditions who act with goodness will not face any punishment::
The Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians - whichever party from among these truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds - shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.
- Quran 2:63
The Quran also states only God is eternal and therefore the punishment of Hell, while lengthy, will not last forever - as its inmates will not be immortal:
Whatever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah; and He is the Mighty, the Wise. His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and He causes death; and He has power over all things. He is the First and the Last.
- Quran 57:2-4
He thinks that his wealth will make him immortal. Nay! he shall surely be cast into the crushing punishment.
- Quran 104:4-5
Moreover, the Quran and ahadith illustrate how the inmates of Hell will eventually be taken out and admitted into heaven in accordance with the will of God:
God replied, ‘I will inflict My punishment on whom I will; but My mercy encompasses all things'
- Quran 7:157
As for those who will prove unfortunate, they shall be in the Fire, wherein there shall be for them sighing and sobbing, Abiding
therein so long as the heavens and the earth endure, excepting what thy
Lord may will. Surely, thy Lord does bring about what He pleases.
- Quran 11:107-108
Then there will be set up between them a wall with a door in it. The inside of it will be all mercy and in front, outside it, will be torment.
- Quran 57:14
Allah, Exalted and Great, would say: The angels have interceded, the
apostles have interceded and the believers have interceded, and no one
remains (to grant pardon) but the Most Merciful of the mercifuls. He
will then take a handful from Fire and bring out from it people who
never did any good and who had been turned into charcoal, and will cast
them into a river called the river of life, on the outskirts of
Paradise. They will come out as a seed comes cut from the silt carried
by flood.
- Muslim
There will come on Hell a day when its shutters will strike against each
other and there will be none in it. That will happen after the inmates
of Hell have lived in it for centuries.
- Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal
See also
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