Part 9

ad-Daree is a thorny plant know as ash-Shubruq that grows in the Hijaaz. Ibn 'Abbaas said, "It is a lowgrowing thorny plant; when it grows tall it is called daree". Qataadah said, "It is one of the very worst types of food" (Ibn Rajab, at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p.115). This food of the people of Hell will be of no benefit whatsoever to them, and they will not enjoy it in the least; this is one of the forms of punishment that they will suffer. Allaah (swt) says: "Verily the tree of Zaqqum will be the food of the sinful, like molten brass, it will boil in their insides, like the boiling of scalding water." (44:43-46). The Tree of Zaqqum is described in another aayah: "Is that [Paradise] the better entertainment or the tree of Zaqqum [a horrible tree in Hell]? For We have truly made it [as] a trial for the wrongdoers. For it is a tree that springs out of the bottom of Hellfire, The shoots of its fruit-stalks are like the heads of devils; Truly they will eat thereof and fill their bellies therewith. Then on top of that they will be given to drink a mixture made of boiling water. Then, shall their return by to the blazing Fire of Hell". (37:62-68) Elsewhere in the Qur'aan, Allaah (swt) says: "Then, will you truly - O you that go wrong, and treat [Truth] as Falsehood]! You will surely taste of the tree of Zaqqum. Then you will fill your insides therewith, and drinkboiling water on top of it. Indeed you will drink like diseased camels raging with thirst! Such will be their entertainment on the Day of Requital!" (56:51-66) What we may understand from these aayaat is that this tree is a repulsive tree, whose roots go deep into the bottom of Hell, and whose branches stretch forth all over. Its fruits are so ugly that they are likened to the heads of devils, so that everyone may easily understand just how ugly they are, even though they have never seen them. Although this tree is so vile and obnoxious, the people of Hell will become so hungry that they will have no choice but to eat from it until they are full. When they have filled their bellies, this food will start to churn like boiling oil, which will cause a great deal of suffering to them. At that point they will rush to drink al-Hameem, which is an extremely hot water, and they will drink it like camels that drink and drink but their thirst is never quenched because of some disease. Then it will tear their innards: "..[they] will be given to drink, boiling water, so that it cuts up their bowels [to pieces]" (47:15) This is the hospitality that will be offered to them on that awesome Day. May Allaah (swt) protect us from this by His Grace and Mercy. When the people of Hell eat this vile food of ad-Daree and az-Zaqqum, they will choke because of its foulness: "Verily with Us are fetters [to bind them] and a raging Fire [to burn them], And a food that chokes and a Penalty grievous". (73:12-13) The food that makes people choke is the food that sticks in the throat. The Prophet (saw) portrayed for us the ugly and terrifying nature of az-Zaqqum: "If one drop from az-Zaqqum were to land on this world, the people of earth and all their means of sustenance would be destroyed. So how must it be for the one who must eat it?" It was reported by Al-Tirmidhi, who said, it is a sahih hasan hadith. [Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 3/105, narrated by Ibn 'Abbaas]

al-Jannah wa an-Naar – In the Light of the Qur'aan and Sunnah

Another kind of food that will be eaten by the people of Hell is al-Ghasleen. Allaah (swt) says: "So no friend has he here this Day, Nor has he any food except corruption [or filth] from the washing of wounds [al-Ghasleen], which none do eat but those in sin". (69:35-37) "Yea, such! - Then shall they taste it - a boiling fluid and a fluid dark, murky, intensely cold [ghassaaq]! And other penalties of a similar kind - to match them!" (38:57-58) al-Ghasleen and al-Ghassaaq mean the same thing, which is the festering pus that oozes out of the skin of the people of Hell. It was suggested that it refers to the offensive discharge that flows from the private parts of adulterous women, and the decaying skin and flesh of the kuffaar. al-Qurtubee said, "It is the juice of the people of Hell" [Yaqhadhat uli al-I'tibaar, p. 86] Allaah tells us that al-Ghasleen is just one of many similarly obnoxious punishments. The drink of the people of Hell will be al-Hameem. Allaah (swt) says: "...and if they implore relief, they will be granted water like melted brass that will scald their faces. How dreadful the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!" (18:29) "...and he will be made to drink boiling, festering water. He will sip it unwillingly, and he will find great difficulty in swallowing it.." (14:16-17) These aayaat mention four kinds of drink that the people of Hell have to endure: (1) al-Hameem: an extremely hot water. As Allaah says: "In its midst and in the midst of the boiling hot water will they wander round!" (55:44) This was explained as being ultra-hot water. And Allaah (swt) says: "They will be given to drink from a boiling hot spring." (88:5) (2) al-Ghassaaq: as discussed above. (3) al-Sadeed (pus): what flows from the flesh and skin of the Kaafir. Muslim reports from Jaabir that the Prophet (saw) said, "Anyone who drinks intoxicants will be made to drink the mud of khabaal". They asked, "O Messenger of Allaah, what is the mud of khabaal?" He said, "The sweat of the people of Hell", or "the juice of the people of Hell". (4) al-Muhl: according to the hadith of Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri narrated by Ahmad and Al-Tirmidhi the Prophet (saw) said: "It is like boiling oil, and when it is brought near a person's face, the skin of the face falls off into it". Ibn 'Abbaas said, "It is like very thick oil". Some of the sinners will be fed the burning coals of Hell as an appropriate punishment: "Those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans, eat us a Fire into their own bellies, and they will soon be enduring a blazing Fire!" (4:10)

al-Jannah wa an-Naar – In the Light of the Qur'aan and Sunnah

"Those who conceal Allaah's revelations in the Book, and purchase for them a miserable profit swallow into themselves naught but Fire.." (2:174) As for the dress of the people of Hell, Allaah (swt) has told us that garments of fire will be tailor-made for them, as it says in the Qur'aan: "..But for those who deny [their Rabb] for them will be cut out a garment of Fire; over their heads will be poured out boiling water" (22:19) When Ibraaheem at-Taymi recited this Aayah he used to say, "Glory be to Allaah, Who has created garments out of fire" (at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p.126) Allaah (swt) says, "And you will see the sinners that Day bound together in fetters. Their garments of liquid pitch and their faces covered with Fire". (14:49-50) This pitch or tar is melted copper. According to a hadith narrated by Muslim from Abu Maalik al-Ash'ari, the Prophet (saw) said, "The woman who wails for the dead, if she does not repent before she dies, she will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection, wearing a shirt of tar and a shield of scabs." Ibn Maajah reported this with the wording, "The woman who wails over the dead, who does not repent before she dies, Allaah (swt) will cut out for her a garment of tar and a shield of scabs".

The Punishment of the People of Hell: The Intensity of the Suffering of the People of Hell The Fire is an intense punishment, in which there are different types of torment, to escape which people would give the dearest possessions that they own: "As for those who reject Faith, and die rejecting - never would be accepted from any such as much gold as the earth contains, though they should offer it for ransom. For such is [in store] a penalty grievous and they will find no helpers". (3:91) "As to those who reject faith - if they had everything on earth and twice repeated, to give as ransom for the Penalty of the Day of Judgement, it would never be accepted of them. Theirs would be a grievous Penalty." (5:36) Muslim reports from Anas ibn Maalik that the Messenger of Allaah (saw) said: "One of the people of Hell who found the most pleasure in the life of this world will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection, and will be dipped into the Fire of Hell. Then he will be asked: O son of Aadam, have you ever seen anything good? Have you ever enjoyed any pleasure?" He will say, "No, by Allaah (swt), O Rabb"" (Muslim, Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 3/102). Just a few short moments will make the kuffaar forget all the good times and pleasure that they had enjoyed. al-Bukhaari and Muslim report from Anas ibn Maalik that the Messenger of Allaah (saw) said, "On the Day of Resurrection, Allaah will say to one whose punishment in the Fire is the lightest, "If you had whatever you wanted on earth, would you give it up to save yourself?" He will say, "Yes". Allaah (swt) will say, "I wanted less than that from you: when you were still in the loins of Aadam, I asked you not to associate anything in worship with Me, but you insisted on associating others in worship with Me"". (al-Bukhaari, in Kitaab ar-Raqaaq, Baab Sifaat al-Jannah wan-Naar, Fath al-Baari, 11/416, See also Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 3/102)

al-Jannah wa an-Naar – In the Light of the Qur'aan and Sunnah

The horror and intensity of the Fire will make a man lose his mind, and he would give up everything he holds dear to escape it, but he will never be able to: "..the sinner's desire will be: would that he could redeem himself from the Penalty of that Day by [sacrificing] his children, his wife and his brother, his kindred who sheltered him, and all, all that is on earth, so that it could deliver him. By no means! For it would be the Fire of Hell! Plucking out [his being] right to the skull". (70:11-16) This horrendous ongoing punishment will make the life of these evildoers one of continual sorrow and pain.

Pictures of Their Punishments (1) The Punishment of the People of Hell Will Vary in Degree As Hell has various levels, in some of which the torment and horror is greater than in others, so the people of Hell will be given different levels of punishment. According to a hadith narrated by Muslim and Ahmad from Samurah, the Prophet (saw) said, concerning the people of Hell:"There are some whom the Fire will take up to their ankles, others up to their knees, others up to their waists, and others up to their collarbones". According to another report, "up to their necks" (Muslim in Kitaab al-Jannah wa Sifaat Na'imihaa, Baab Shiddat Harr an-Naar, 4/2185) The Messenger of Allaah (saw) has told us about those who will receive the lightest punishment in Hell. alBukhaari reports from al-Nu'maan ibn Basheer who said: "I heard the Messenger of Allaah (saw) say, "The person who will have the least punishment among the people of Hell on the Day of Resurrection will be a man under the arch of whose feet will be placed a smouldering ember, and his brains will boil because of it." In another report also narrated by al-Bukhaari from an-Nu'maan ibn Basheer, the Prophet (saw) said, "The person who will have the least punishment among the people of Hell on the Day of Resurrection will be a man under the arch of whose feet will be placed two smouldering embers, because of which his brains will boil like water boils in a mirjal [copper vessel] or qumqum [narrow-necked vessel]." (al-Bukhaari in Sahih, Kitaab ar-Raqaaq, Baab Sifaat al-Jannah wan-Naar, Fath al-Baari, 11/417, and Muslim in his Sahih, Kitaab al-Imaan, 1/196, no. 363) According to a report narrated from an-Nu'man ibn Basheer by Muslim, the Prophet (Saw) said: The person who will have the least punishment among the people of Hell on the Day of Resurrection is a man who will be given shoes and laces of fire, because of which his brains will boil like water in a mirjal (copper vessel). He will not think that anyone could be more severely punished than himself, yet he will be the one with the lightest punishment". (Sahih Muslim, Kitaab al-Imaan, 1/196, no. 364; Muslim also reports from Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri in the same chapter, no. 361) al-Bukhaari and Muslim both narrate from Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (saw) say, when his uncle Abu Taalib was mentioned: "Maybe my intercession will help him on the Day of Resurrection, so that he may be put in a shallow part of Hell, with fire reaching to his ankles and causing his brain to boil". (al-Bukhaari in Kitaab ar-Riqaaq, Baab Sifaat al-Jannah wan-Naar, Fath alBaari, 11/417 and Muslim in Kitaab al-Imaam, Baab Shifa'at an-Nabi (saw), 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib, 1/195, hadith no. 360)