Part 20

The Sirat Abu Hurairah related that the Prophet said, "Then a Bridge will be laid over the Fire of Hell." The Messenger of Allah added, "I will be the first to cross it — and the supplication of the Messengers on that Day, will be 'Allahumma Sallim, Sallim,' — 'O Allah, save us, save us!' — and hanging over that Bridge there will be hooks similar to the thorns of As-Sa'dan (a thorn tree). Have you seen the thorns of As-Sa'dan?" The Companions replied, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He continued, "So the hooks hanging over that Bridge will be like the thorns of As-Sa'dan except that the immensity of their size is known only to Allah. These hooks will catch people according to their actions. Some people will be ruined because of their evil actions, and some will be cut to pieces and will fall down into the Fire of Hell — but they will be saved afterwards when Allah has completed judging His slaves and decides to take whomever He wishes out of the Fire from among those who used to testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah. "Allah will order the angels to take them out and the angels will recognise them by the signs 62 Al-Tirmidhi, 10/107 who classified it as hasan gharib; Ibn Majah, 4300; Al-Hakim, 1/529; Ahmed, 2/213; Ibn Hibban, 2524. 63 Muslim, 6/ 90-91; Al-Tirmidhi, 11 /14-15. of the traces of prostration on them, for Allah has forbidden the Fire to burn away the traces of prostration from the bodies of the sons of Adam. So they will take them out, and by then they will be very charred, and then some water called Ma'ul-Hayat — the Water of Life — will be poured over them and they will spring back to life just as a seed springs to life on the bank of a stream of rainwater."64 Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri related that the Prophet said, "Then the Bridge will be laid across the Fire of Hell." We, the Companions of the Prophet said, "O Messenger of Allah ! What is the Bridge like?" He related that the Prophet said, "It is slippery, with obstacles on it — and hooks like the thorn-pod that is wide at one end and narrow at the other, with thorns with curved points. A thorn-pod like this is found in Najd and it is called As-Sa'dan. "Some of the believers will cross the bridge as swiftly as the blink of an eye and others as quick as lightning, or a strong wind, or fast horses or she-camels. So some will cross safely without coming to any harm; some will cross safely but after receiving a few scratches, and some will fall down into the Fire of Hell. The last person to cross will be dragged over."65 64 hadith sahih transmitted by al-Bukhari, 1 / 204; Muslim, 182; Ahmed, 2/ 275-276; Ibn Abu A'sim, 1 /208. 65 hadith sahih reported by al-Bukhari, 9/532; and Muslim. SIX HEAVEN AND HELL The Fire In his book Ihya' Ulum'ud-Deen, Al-Ghazali, may Allah have mercy on him, says, "O you who are negligent towards yourself, distracted by what you have of the life of this world, which is destined not to last — stop being preoccupied with the life of this world and consider your final destination — for you have been warned that the Fire of Hell will be experienced by everyone. Allah says: ( There is not one of you who will not come to it. That is the final decision of your Lord. Then We will rescue those who had taqwa and We will leave the wrongdoers in it on their knees. ) (19: 71-72) "So you will certainly be one of those who pass over the Fire of Hell, but you can not be certain whether or not you will reach the Garden — or fall into the Fire. So you must fear that terrifying time and prepare yourself for it." The Depth and Heat of the Fire Abu Hurairah related: "Once we were in the company of the Messenger of Allah when we heard a terrible sound, at which the Messenger of Allah said, 'Do you know what that was?' We said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' Then he said, 'That was a stone which was thrown into the Fire seventy years ago — it was falling all that time and only then did it hit the bottom.'"66 'Utbah gave a talk in which he first praised Allah and glorified Him and then said, "To continue, truly knowledge of the end of this world cannot be acquired too soon. Nothing will be left of it — not even as much water as remains in a cup after it has been drained by its owner. You are moving towards an abode which knows no end, so you should send good ahead of you — for we have been told that a stone will be thrown in from the edge of the Fire and it will keep falling for seventy years without reaching the bottom of it.67 Hell has seven gates. Allah says: ( Hell is the promised meeting-place for all of them. It has seven gates and each gate has its allotted share.