Hell is the abode which Allaah (swt) has prepared for those who do not believe in Him (swt), those who rebel
against His (swt) laws and disbelieve in His Messengers. It is the punishment for His (swt) enemies, the
prison for evildoers.
It is the ultimate humiliation and loss; there is nothing worse:
"Our Lord! Verily, whom You admit to the Fire, indeed, You have disgraced him, and never will the
Dhaalimoon [polytheists and wrongdoers] find any helpers" (3:192)
"Know they not that whoever opposes and shows hostility to Allaah and His Messenger, certainly
for him will be the fire of Hell to abide therein? That is extreme disgrace". (9:63)
"The losers are those who will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection.
Verily, that will be a manifest loss!" (39:15)
How could Hell be other than we have described, when it is full of utterly indescribable torment, pain and
grief? It is eternal and its inhabitants will remain there forever. Allaah (swt) has condemned them and their
place in the Fire:
"Evil indeed it [Hell] is as an abode and as a place to dwell" (25:66)
"This is so! And for the Tagheen [transgressors] - will be an evil final return - Hell! Where they
will burn, and worst [indeed] is that place to rest!" (38:55-6)
Paradise and Hell Have Already Been Created
at-Tahhaawi said, in his book on al-'Aqeedah al-Salafiyyah (correct belief in accordance with that of the early
generations of Islaam) that is known as al-'Aqeedah al-Tahhaawiyyah.
"Paradise and Hell have already been created. They will never come to an end or cease to exist. Allaah (swt)
created Paradise and Hell before the rest of creation, and He (swt) created inhabitants for each of them.
Whoever He (swt) wishes (will enter) Paradise by His grace and mercy, and whoever He (swt) wishes (will
enter Hell) as a result of His (swt) justice. Every person will behave according to that for which he was
created, and his destiny will be that for which he was created; good deeds and evil deeds are foreordained
for all men".
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abul-'Izz al-Hanafi remarked, in his commentary on this text:
"With regard to his saying that Paradise and Hell have already been created, Ahl as-Sunnah agree that
Paradise and Hell have been created and are in existence at the present moment. Ahlus-Sunnah continued to
hold this view, until some odd ideas of the Mu'tazilah and Qaadariyyah came along, which denied that. These
groups said: "Allaah will create them (ie Paradise and Hell) on the Day of Resurrection." They said this
because of their false arguments by means of which they seek to improve regulations on what Allaah (swt)
should do; (they say) it befits Allaah (swt) to do this, or it does not befit Allaah (swt) to do that. They
compare Him to His creation and their actions. This is a kind of anthropomorphism with regard to deeds; they
have allowed the ideas of Jahmiyyah (a sect of Mu'tazilah named after the deviant, Jahm ibn Safwan) to
creep into their thinking, and have become mu'attalah (those who deny that Allaah can see). They said, "It
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al-Jannah wa an-Naar – In the Light of the Qur'aan and Sunnah
does not make sense for Paradise to be created before the time of reward, because it will not be used or
inhabited for a very long time. They rejected the aayaat and reports that contradict these false notions they
seek to project onto Allaah (swt). They misinterpreted the texts and accused those who disagreed with them
of going astray and concocting bid'ah".
Proofs from the Qur'aan and Hadeeth in support of this are, for example:
"Race with one another in hastening towards forgiveness from your Lord, and Paradise the width
whereof is as the width of the heaven and the earth, prepared for those who believe in Allaah and
His Messengers. That is the Grace of Allaah, which He bestows on whom He is pleased with. And
Allaah is the Owner of Great Bounty". (57:21)
"...for Paradise as wide as are the heavens and the earth, prepared for al-Muttaqun" (3:133)
"And fear the fire, which is prepared for the disbelievers" (3:131)
"And indeed he (Muhammad) saw him (Jibreel) at a second descent (ie another time), near Sidrat
al-Muntahaa (lote tree of the utmost boundary (beyond which none can pass), near it is the
Paradise of Abode" (53:13-15)

The Prophet (saw) saw Sidrat al-Muntahaa, a tree in Heaven, and near it, Paradise, as is mention in al-
Bukhaari, and Muslim in the hadith of Anas (ra). At the end of this narrative of al-Israa, the Prophet (saw)

said, "Then Jibreel brought me to Sidrat al-Muntahaa which was veiled in colours indescribable.
Then I entered Paradise, and its lights were of pearls and its soil was musk".
Muslim, Abu Dawud and Imaam Ahmad report from Abu Hurayrah (ra) that the Messenger (saw) said,
"When Allaah (swt) created Paradise and Hell, He sent Jibreel to Paradise, saying "Go and look at
it and at what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants". So he went and looked at it and at
what Allaah had prepared therein for its inhabitants.... then He sent him to Hellfire saying, "Go
and look at it and what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants" So he looked at it and saw that
it was in layers, one above the other...."
Muslim reports from Aishah (ra) that there was a solar eclipse in the time of the Messenger (saw) and he
said, "Whilst I was standing here I saw everything that you have been promised, I even saw
myself picking some of the fruits of Paradise, when you saw me stepping forward. And I saw
Hellfire, parts of it consuming other parts, when you saw me stepping backward".
al-Bukhaari and Muslim report from Ibn 'Abbas the same incident, "I saw Paradise and I tried to take a
bunch of its fruit. If I had managed to do so, you would have eaten from it until the end of time.
And I saw the Fire of Hell, and I have never seen anything so horrific or terrifying. I saw that the
majority of its inhabitants are women."
Muslim also reports from Anas that the Prophet (Saw) said, "By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if
you had seen what I saw, you would laugh little and cry much." They said, "What did you see, O
Messenger of Allaah?", He said, "I saw Paradise and Hell".
The Prophet (saw) also ascended into jannah on the night of Mi'raj in his 'Isra (night journey): for example -
* "...I saw four rivers flowing out from beneath Sidrat al-Muntahaa, two visible and two hidden."
(Muslim, Kitaab al-Imaan, Baab al-'Israa, 1/150, no.164) * "Whilst I was walking in Paradise I saw a
river whose banks were domes of hollow pearls and I asked, "What is this, O Jibreel?" He said,

al-Jannah wa an-Naar – In the Light of the Qur'aan and Sunnah
"This is al-Kawthar which your Rabb has given to you". (from Anas ibn Maalik, Sahih al-Bukhaari,
Kitaab ar-Riqaaq, Baab fil-Hawd, Fath al-Baari, 11/464)
* al-Bukhaari and Muslim report from Jaabir that the Messenger of Allaah said, "I entered Paradise where
I saw ar-Rumaysa, the wife of Abu Talhah. And I heard footsteps and asked, "Who is that?" He
(Jibreel) said, "That is Bilaal". And I saw a palace with women in its courtyard. I asked, "Whose is
this?" They said, It is for 'Umar ibn al-Khattab" (Mishkaat al-Masaabih, 3/226)
Imaam Ahmed, Ibn Hibbaan and al-Haakim report from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (saw) said, "The
children of the believers are in Paradise, being cared for by Ibraahim (as) [and in the narration of
Abu Nu'aym, ad-Dawylami, and Ibn Asakir it adds- "and Sarah, until they give them back to their
parents on the day of Resurrection"]
al-Bukhaari and Muslim also report from 'Abdullaah ibn 'Umar (ra) that the Messenger of Allaah (saw) said,
"When anyone of you dies, he will be shown his position morning and evening. If he is one of the
people of Paradise then he will be one of the people of Paradise, and if he is one of the people of
Hell, then he will be one of the people of Hell, and he will be told, "This is your position, until
Allaah (swt) resurrects you on the Day of Resurrection".

 A very important series begins on the list today, concerned with the subject of alJannah and anNaar the Paradise and the HellFire. One of these two will be the end destination moreover the eternal abode, for each and every one of us. Therefore it is crucial for us to reflect on what Allah has prepared for mankind for those who are obedient and recognise His favours, and for those who reject His sins and rebel against Him.