Hell is a terrible place which is the manifestation of the Divine Wrath of Allāh, the Subduer. The Mercy of Allāh and His blessings are infinite – and the farthest a human can imagine is merely a whiff of the comforts and luxuries present in the Hereafter.
Similarly, His Anger is dreadful and immense – the worst punishment and pain one can imagine is only a sample of the terrors and torment awaiting as punishment in Hell. I will mention some of the punishments mentioned in the glorious Qur’ān and the ĥadīth, so that believers may fear and seek Allāh’s refuge and refrain from committing sins, whose recompense is punishment in Hell.
In the ĥadīth it is said: “When a man seeks refuge from Hell, Jahannam [Hell] will itself say: ‘O Allāh, my Creator!
He seeks refuge from me; give him refuge and deliver him.” In the Qur’ān, we frequently come across warnings such as: “Save yourselves from Jahannam [Gehenna]” and “Fear Hell fire”. Our Master ﷺ would often seek refuge from Hell, to teach us that we should do so often. The sparks of fire from Gehenna will fly as high as towering castles, as if they were a continuous stream of yellow camels coming incessantly. The fuel of Hell will be humans and stones. The [hotness of the] fire in this world is merely 1/70th of the intensity of the fire of Hell. The person who will receive the least amount of punishment in Hell, will be made to wear shoes of fire and the heat of which will cause his brains to boil, like the boiling of a copper vessel. That person will think that he has been given the harshest punishment even though his would be the lightest.
Allāh táālā will ask him: “If the whole earth [and everything in it] were yours, would you give it as ransom to escape this punishment?” That person will say: “Of course!” Allāh táālā will tell him: “I had commanded you to do something easier, before you were born We had only commanded you to not commit disbelief [kufr], but you did not listen.” The fire of Hell was kindled for a thousand years until it became red; thereafter, it burned for another thousand years and became white; eventually it turned black.
The fire of Hell is now pitch black and does not emit any light. The angel Jibril عليه السلام informed RasūlAllāh ﷺ with an oath that if Hell were opened as much as the eye of a needle, all the humans on earth would die due to its heat. And he said with an oath: If any of the guards of Hell were to appear in this world, people would die of sheer horror.
And he said it with an oath: If one link from the chains in Hell were to be placed on a mountain of this world, they would tremble and shake and become pulverised. The fire of this world seeks the refuge of Allāh, beseeching Him to not return it to Hell (and who does not know the heat of the fire in this world!). Surprisingly, humans do things that will take them to Hell, and do not fear that fire from which even the fire of this world seeks refuge!
Only Allāh knows how deep Hell is – it is mentioned in the ĥadīth that if a rock were dropped from its outer edge, it would keep falling and not reach the bottom even after seventy years; but a ball of lead, the size of a human head, cast from the sky, will reach the earth by nightfall, even though it is at a distance of 500 years; and then there are many levels, ravines and gorges in Hell. Some ravines are so terrifying that Hell itself seeks refuge from them more than seventy times every day. This is the ghastliness of the place – would this not be terrifying enough even if there was no punishment therein?
Yet, disbelievers will be punished in various ways in such a horrendous pit.
The angels of Hell will pound the dwellers of Hell with steel maces, so heavy that if one such mace were to be placed on the earth, all the men and jinn would not be able to lift it. There are scorpions and snakes in it as thick as the necks of bactrian camels, whose bite will cause pain and burning for a thousand years. Water, boiling hot and viscous like oil (left over after frying) will be given as drink [to those in Hell] – it will be so hot, that when it comes near one’s face, the skin of the face will melt and drip from it. Boiling hot water will be poured upon their heads. The pus from the festering wounds of other inhabitants of Hell will be given to them to drink; [pieces from] a thorny bush will be given to them to eat.
If a drop from this tree [Zaqqūm] were to fall on earth, its stench and toxicity would destroy the living of the people on earth; its thorns will choke those who eat it. They will ask for water to push it down their throats and they will be served boiling water; when it comes near their faces, the skin of their faces will melt and drop to the ground, [they will still drink it] and it will rend their intestines to pieces which will flow like a soup out of their bodies towards their feet. The thirst will force them to drink such water – and they will rush to drink it as a thirsty camel would drink water. The inhabitants of Hell will discuss among themselves and decide to call upon Mālik, the chief of the guards of Hell.
“O Mālik! Ask your Lord to annihilate us.” After a thousand years, Mālik will say: “Why do you complain to me? Tell this to Him, whom you have disobeyed.” The people of Hell will call upon Allāh, invoking Him by His Divine Names of Mercy for a thousand years, and will not get any reply. He will then say: “Begone! Do not speak to me.
Stay in Hell.” It is at this moment that the disbelievers will lose all hope and will shriek and wail, making noises like that of a donkey’s braying. In the beginning, there will be tears and after that, they will cry tears of blood.
Their weeping will cause big holes in their throats – the tears of blood and pus will be so much as if they were rivers in which ships can float. The faces of the people of Hell will be so horrifying and revolting that if such a face were seen in this world, the people on earth would die due to its stench and ugliness. Their bodies will be enlarged such that the distance between each shoulder would be a distance of three days. Each molar will be as huge as the Uĥud mountain.
The thickness of their skin will be 42 cubits. Their tongues will be as long as 3 miles and will be dangling out of their mouths for a couple of more miles; others will trample upon it. Their seats will be as huge as the distance between Makkah and Madīnah. Their mouths will be gaping – the upper lip will be stretched up to the middle of their faces and the lower lip will be dangling until their navels. These descriptions imply that the faces and bodies of the people in Hellfire will not be like those of humans – moreover, the human form is the best form of creation, which is beloved to Allāh táālā as it resembles the form of His Beloved Messenger ﷺ.
The form of the dwellers of Hell will be (despicable) as described earlier. Eventually, the disbelievers will be locked in boxes of fire that can accommodate their bodies, a fire lit inside those boxes and a lock of fire placed upon it. This box will be placed in another box and another fire burning between these boxes, and yet another lock of fire placed on the second box.
Similarly, the second box will be placed in a third box and a lock of fire placed upon it. Every disbeliever will think that he or she must be the only person who has remained in Hell. This is an additional torment apart from the physical punishment which will be everlasting and never ending.
After the last man to be allowed into Paradise will have entered it, and only those who are to stay in there forever will have remained, ‘death’ will be brought in the form of a ram and stationed between Paradise and Hell and an announcer will call the dwellers of Paradise, who will peek out in trepidation, fearing that they may be ordered to leave.
The announcer will call the dwellers of Hell, who will come to peek in expectation, eagerly hoping that their punishment would end, and they will be asked: “Do you recognise this?” Everyone will reply: “Yes! This is Death.” The ram (i.e. Death) will be slaughtered and the announcer will say: “O dwellers of Paradise! You will live in there for ever and you will never die. O dwellers of Hell!
You will live in there for ever and there will not be any death.” At this moment, the dwellers of Paradise will rejoice as their happiness will be doubled and the dwellers of Hell will be in double the agony.
We beseech Allāh to forgive us and grant us safety in our religious affairs, and in this world and in the Hereafter.
Footnotes
Musnad Aĥmad §12170.
And fear [Hell] fire which has been prepared for disbelievers. Sūrah Aāl Ímrān 3:131.
Şaĥīĥ Muslim §133.
Indeed it throws sparks [big as] palaces; as if they were yellow camels. Sūrah Mursalat, 77;32-33. Qaşr is described as a fortress by Ibn Masúūd; şufr, lit. yellow, but Qurţubī has said that it may may mean black.
So fear the [Hell] Fire whose fuel are humans and stones; prepared for disbelievers. Sūrah Baqarah 2:24.
Bukhārī §3265; Muslim §2843; Tirimdhi §2589; Muwaţţa Mālik §1872; Ibn Ĥibbān §7462; Bayhaqī in Al- Baáth §550-551. In another narration: “The temperature of the fire in this world is 1/100th of that in Hell.” [Musnad Aĥmad §8921]. This is an expression to indicate that the fire in Hell is hotter than the fire on earth. The temperatures of fires on earth can reach up to 50000C and scientists say that the centre of the sun may be hotter than 15 Million Celsius. “During the period of peak energy output, a 1-megaton (Mt) nuclear weapon can produce temperatures of about 100 million degrees celsius at its center, about four to five times that which occurs at the center of the Sun.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK219184
Muslim §211, §212, §213; Sunan Dārimī §2890; Musnad Aĥmad §2636, §2690, §9576, §9660, §11100, §11739, 18390. 83
Lit.‘When you were still in the loins of Ādam’ i.e., long before you were born. This is a pointer towards the covenant Allāh táālā took from the souls before they were born as children of Ādam عليه السلام: “Am I not your Lord Sustainer [Rabb]?” Sūrah Al-Aárāf 7:172.
The wording of Bukhārī: Do not assign partners with me [shirk], but you refused [to listen] and committed polytheism. In other narrations: “kufr”.
Bukhārī §3334, §6538, §6557; Muslim §2805; Musnad Aĥmad §12312, §12289, §13288.
Targhīb §5371 vide Tirmidhī §2591; Ibn Mājah §4320; Bayhaqī in Al-Baáth §555.
Hotter objects emit radiation of shorter wavelengths; very hot objects are beyond the visible and UV bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. “The dominant frequency (or color) range of the emitted radiation shifts to higher frequencies as the temperature of the emitter increases. For example, a red hot object radiates mainly in the long wavelengths (red and orange) of the visible band. If it is heated further, it also begins to emit discernible amounts of green and blue light, and the spread of frequencies in the entire visible range cause it to appear white to the human eye; it is white hot.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_radiation
Targhīb §5394 and §5359 vide Ţabarānī in Awsaţ §2583.
In the narration of Anas ibn Mālik: This fire of yours is a part of the seventy grades of fire in Hell. If it were not quenched twice with water, you would not benefit from it all. And indeed, it [fire of this world] beseeches Allāh to not return it to Hell. Targhīb §5362 citing from Ibn Mājah §4318, Ĥākim in Mustadrak §8814.
Muslim §2967 and §2844; Tirmidhī §2575; Bazzar §3494, Abū Yaálā §7243; Ibn Ĥibbān §7468. 84
Tirmidhī §2588.
Targhīb §5383 citing from Ibn Abī’d Dunyā and Bukhārī in his Tārīkh 8/124.
Targhīb §5379 vide Bayhaqī in Al-Baáth 530. In this ĥadīth it is said that this place is prepared for scholars who are insincere and are show-offs [qurrā’a al-murā’yīn]. In another ĥadīth narrated by Ibn Ábbās رضي الله عنهما: Indeed there is a valley in Hell, from which Hell itself seeks the refuge of Allāh 400 times a day, and which Allāh has prepared for the ostentatious and hypocrites among the followers of Muĥammad ﷺ. Targhīb §5381.
Targhīb §5393 vide Musnad Aĥmad §11233; Mustadrak §8834.
Targhīb §5397 vide Musnad Aĥmad §17712; the wording of the ĥadīth is: “Indeed in the Hell are snakes [or pythons] as thick as the necks of bactrian camels and when one of them bites, the intense pain will last for seventy autumns...” Also in Ibn Ĥibbān §7471 and Mustadrak §8815.
The author has not cited this as a ĥadīth; it is as a hyperbole to mean, ‘the pain will last for a long time’.
Targhīb §5400; Aĥmad 11672§; Tirmidhī §2581, §2584, §3322; Ibn Ĥibbān §7473; Mustadrak §3907.
Poured upon their heads will be boiling hot water. Sūrah Ĥajj 22:19. Targhīb §5401; Tirmidhī §2582; Bayhaqī in Al-Baáth §579.
And he will be given purulent water to drink. Sūrah Ibrāhīm 14:16. Targhīb §5402; Tirmidhī §2583; Mustadrak §3397.
Indeed the tree of Zaqqūm; food for the sinful [disbeliever]. Sūrah Dukhān 44:43-44. ‘sinful’ in the verse refers to disbelievers; some exegetes have said that it refers to Abū Jahl. Zaqqūm is a tree with small leaves and is extremely bitter [similar to cactus].
Tirmidhī §2585. Ibn Abī Shaybah has reported from Ibn Ábbās رضي الله عنهما: If a drop from the tree of Zaqqum were to fall on earth, it would ruin the lives of people on earth [Al-Durr al-Manthūr 36:72]. 85
And food that chokes and painful torment. Sūrah Muzzamil 73:13. Ibn Ábbās has said that it is food that gets stuck in the throat, neither goes down nor comes out. [Tafsīr Ibn Kathir, Tafsīr Ţabarī].
And if they ask for water, they will be given water like molten metal that will scald faces; miserable is the drink and wretched is their dwelling. Sūrah al-Kahf, 18:29. Ibn Ábbās has said: “muhl” means boiling water which is viscous like oil; Mujahid says it is vomit and blood; Đaĥĥāk says that it is black and boiling water; Abū Úbaydah says it is molten metal. [Tafsīr Nasafī and Tafsīr Qurtubi]. Tirmidhī §2586.
And they will be given boiling water to drink which will rend their intestines. Sūrah Qitāl 47:15. Targhīb §5402, Tirmidhī §2583.
Targhīb §5401, Tirmidhī §2582, Bayhaqī in Al-Baáth §579.
And they will drink as thirsty camels drink. Sūrah al-Wāqiáh 56:55.
And they will call out: O Mālik tell your Lord Almighty to annihilate us. He will say: You will indeed remain. Sūrah Zukhruf 43:77.
Aámash has said that Mālik will reply to their cries after a thousand years, in the ĥadīth of Tirmidhī §2586. However, in another ĥadīth in Targhīb §5433, citing from Ţabarānī and Mustadrak, it will be after 40 years.
He will say: Stay despised in Hell and do not speak to Me. Sūrah al-Mu’minūn 23:108. Targhīb §5433; Tirmidhī §2586.
Targhīb §5433; Tirmidhī §2586.
As for those who are wretched, so they will be in Hell and they will shout and scream violently as a donkey brays. Sūrah Hūd 11:106. Zafīr is said to be the braying of a donkey in a low voice and shahīq is the violent braying of a donkey [Tafsīr Qurţubī].
Targhīb §5434, §5435. Ibn Mājah §4324, Abū Yaálā §4134, Mustadrak §8852. 86
Targhīb §5409.
Bukhārī §6551, Muslim §2852; Targhīb §5410.
Dhirāá (Hāshimi) = Cubit = 61.2 cms. [Zuhaylī, Fiqh al-Islāmī wa Adillatuh, 1/74].
Targhīb §5412, Tirmidhī §2580; Kos is an ancient Indian unit of length which was approximately 3000 metres. In the ĥadīth, the Arabic word used to describe this is Farsakh = 3 miles which is approximately 5.5 kilometers. It is similar to (or drawn from) Parasang in Persian, a historical Iranian unit, about 3 to 3.5 miles (i.e. 4.8 to 5.6 km).
Muslim §2851, Tirmidhī §2577-78, Ibn Ĥibbān §7486.
Tirmidhī §2577; in another narration Targhīb §5415 citing from Aĥmad §11232, and Mustadrak §8832: “The seat of a kāfir in Hell will be the distance of three days..”
Targhīb §5418 vide Musnad Aĥmad §11836, Tirmidhī §3176, Mustadrak §3030. This ĥadīth is the explanation of the verse: And they will be scowling therein. Sūrah al-Mu’minūn 23:104.
Certainly, We have created man in the best form. Sūrah al-Ţīn 95:4.
Targhīb §5431; Bayhaqī in Al-Baáth §592. 87
Including those who will be in Hell for a period, and removed upon the intercession of our Master ﷺ.
Bukhārī §4730, §6544; Muslim §2849, §2850 Tirmidhī §2558, §3156, Musnad Imām Aĥmad §5993, §6022, §6138, §9449, §11066.
Bukhārī §6548. 88