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Jahannam

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Jahannam (Arabic: جهنم) is the Islamic equivalent to Hell. It is also mentioned in the Quran as: "That which Breaks to Pieces",[1] '"Blazing Fire"[2] and "The Abyss".[3] The term comes from the Hebrew Gehenna, originally the name of a valley outside Jerusalem.[4][5][6]

Description

Jahannam is described as having seven gates, each for a specific group of sinners,[7] the sinners have degrees (or ranks) based on their deeds[8] and hypocrites are in the lowest of the depths of the Jahannam. Sinners are the fuel for the fire of Jahannam[9] along with disbelieving Jinns [10] and stones.[11] The fire burns their skins, changing their colour to black due to its intensity. Jahannam has a shadow of smoke ascending in three columns, which yields no shade of coolness against the fierce blaze. Its sparks are described to be as "huge as a palace."[12] Jahannam is described to have nineteen angels, who will punish wrongdoers. The leader of these angels, as stated in the Quran, is Maalik. According to Prophet Muhammad he is an angel, very severe and harsh, and he will listen to the request of dwellers of hell after 1000 years and that will also be in negative.

The food of Jahannam described in Hadith and the Quran includes a bitter thorn plant, Dhari, which does not nourish sinners, along with a tree named Zaqqum. Zaqqum is described in the Quran as a tree that springs out of the bottom of hellfire; the shoots of its fruit-stalks are like the "heads of devils" and eating it is similar to eating molten brass that will boil their insides "like scalding water". Sinners drink boiling water that will cut their bowels when they consume it. If they call for relief, they shall be given water described to be like molten brass, which will scald their faces. The residents of Jahannam wear garments of fire that will scorch them.[13]

Weighing Process

Inhabitants

Various groups of people described to be in Jahannam include; disbelievers,[14] hypocrites,[15] polytheists,[16] the People of the Book who reject the truth,[17] arrogant rejectors of truth,[18] sinners and criminals,[19] tyrants,[20] the unjust,[21] transgressors,[22] concealers of God's revelations,[23] persecutors of believers,[24] people who commit suicide and murders.[25] Other people mentioned in Hadith include, but are not limited to; the arrogant, the proud and the haughty. Some prominent people mentioned in the Hadith and Quran are; Fir'awn, the wives of Nuh and Lut, Abu Lahab and his wife.

Punishment

Some Muslim sects believe that unfaithful Muslims not true to their religion will be punished in Jahannam, other sects believe that Muslim souls are saved from its punishment. Most Sunni Muslims believe in the punishment of the unfaithful Muslims, but they also believe that they will eventually be forgiven. All Muslims believe that a disbeliever or non-Muslim who knew Islam and it's beliefs may remain there in Jahannam for eternity for not believing while they were living in the 'Dunia'; (literally means the lower one but it translates as the world, or the first life) — each person is judged according to their own circumstances. However, those who commit shirk will be condemned to the worst punishments in Jahannam for eternity.[26] The Quran states that God may choose to make the punishment of hell temporary if He wills it according to His wisdom and knowledge.[27]

The Quran and Hadith offer detailed descriptions of the methods of torture in Jahannam. The Quran states the punishments will be: the burning of skin, only to be replaced for reburning;[28] garments of fire to be worn, and boiling water will scald the skin and internal organs;[29] faces on fire;[30] lips burnt off;[31] backs on fire;[32] roasting from side to side;[33] faces dragged along fire;[34] bound in yokes then dragged through boiling water and fire.[35] The Hadith introduces punishments, reasons and revelations not mentioned in the Quran, the least-suffering person in Jahannam will have his/her brain boiling from standing on hot embers;[36] and Hadith also relates that a person who committed suicide will be tortured on the Day of Judgment by the very means he/she used to end his/her life,[37] as well as in Jahannam.[38][39]

Jahannam in Islamic Discourse and Literature

The word Jahannam also appears in secular texts and colloquial expressions,[40] and in Arab Christian writings.[41] However it is used to refer to Hell and not specifically the Islamic concept of "Jahannam."

Jahannam in the Qur'an

Jahannam in Hadith

Jahannam in Theological Academic Discourse

Al Ghazali, an influential Muslim theologian of the 9th century, wrote in his book, The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife, of a Jahannam through which all people must pass upon entrance into the afterlife. Of hell he says, “This is a fixed ordinance of the Lord. Then shall We deliver those that were Godfearing, and leave the wrongdoers therein crouching.” This discourse concerns itself with the description of the “wrongdoer” and graphic, sometimes violent scenes of Jahannam.[42]

13th century Muslim scholar, Al-Qurtubi personifies hell in his discourse, Paradise and Hell-fire in Imam al Qurtubi as a violent being. He writes, “On the Day of Judgment, hell will be brought with seventy thousand reins. A single rein will be held by seventy thousand angels…” Al Qurtubi also provides in depth explanations of specific Quranic scripture on Jahannam. [43]

In his discourse, The Soul’s Journey After Death, Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya, a theologian in the 14th century, writes explicitly of the individual punishments one may face in Jahannam. These punishments, Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah writes, are directly related to the wrongdoer’s earthly transgressions. [44]

See also

References

  1. ^ Quran 104:4
  2. ^ Quran 2:119
  3. ^ Quran 101:9
  4. ^ Cyril Glassé, Huston Smith The new encyclopedia of Islam 2003 p175 "Hell. The place of torment where the damned undergo suffering most often described as fire, a fire whose fuel is stones and men. Names of hell used in the Koran are an-nar ("the fire"), Jahannam ("Gehenna"), ."
  5. ^ Mohd. Nor bin Ngah Kitab Jawi: Islamic thought of the Malay Muslim scholars: No.4 1983 -p17 "41 Allah also created seven Hells for the non- believers and sinners: Jahannam (Gehenna) for the sinners among Muslims, Sa'ir for Christians, Saqar for Jews, Hamim for proud people, ..."
  6. ^ Richard P. Taylor -Death and the afterlife: a cultural encyclopedia 2000 "JAHANNAM From the Hebrew ge-hinnom, which refers to a valley outside Jerusalem, Jahannam is the Islamic word for hell."
  7. ^ Quran 15:43–44
  8. ^ Quran 6:132
  9. ^ Quran 3:10
  10. ^ Quran 72:14–15
  11. ^ Quran 2:24
  12. ^ Quran 77:32–33
  13. ^ Quran 4:145
  14. ^ Quran 2:39
  15. ^ Quran 22:19
  16. ^ Quran 98:1–6
  17. ^ Quran 98:6
  18. ^ Quran 7:36
  19. ^ Quran 43:74–76
  20. ^ Quran 14:15–17
  21. ^ Quran 10:52
  22. ^ Quran 79:34–39
  23. ^ Quran 2:159
  24. ^ Quran 85:10
  25. ^ Quran 4:93
  26. ^ Quran 9:63
  27. ^ Quran 6:128
  28. ^ Quran 4:56
  29. ^ Quran 22:19–20
  30. ^ Quran 14:49–50
  31. ^ Quran 23:103–104
  32. ^ Quran 21:39–40
  33. ^ Quran 33:66
  34. ^ Quran 54:47–48
  35. ^ Quran 40:69
  36. ^ Sahih Muslim, 001:0414
  37. ^ Sahih al-Bukhari, 8:73:73
  38. ^ Sahih al-Bukhari, 8:73:126
  39. ^ Sahih al-Bukhari, 2:23:445
  40. ^ Larousse: Dictionnaire Arabe-Français 2008
  41. ^ e.g. وان اعثرتك يدك فاقطعها .خير لك ان تدخل الحياة اقطع من ان تكون لك يدان وتمضي الى جهنم الى النار التي لا تطفأ . Mark 9:43
  42. ^ Ghazali, Abu Hamid Muhammad (1989). On the Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife. Cambridge, U.K.: Islamic Texts Society.
  43. ^ Ford, Khadija, and Reda Bedeir (1425). Paradise and Hell-fire in Imâm Al-Qurtubî. El-Mansoura Egypt: Dar Al-Manarah.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  44. ^ Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah, Layla Mabrouk (1987). The Soul's Journey after Death. Dar Al-Taqwa.
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