In Islam , Jahannam ( Arabic : جهنم ) is the place of punishment for evildoers in the afterlife , or hell . This notion is an integral part of Islamic theology, and has occupied an important place in the Muslim belief. It is often called by the proper name Jahannam. However, "Jahannam" is simultaneously a term specifically for the uppermost layer of Hell .
137-640: The importance of Hell in Islamic doctrine is that it is an essential element of the Day of Judgment , which is one of the six articles of faith (belief in God, the angels, books, prophets, Day of Resurrection, and decree) "by which the Muslim faith is traditionally defined." Punishment and suffering in Hell, in mainstream Islam, is physical, psychological, and spiritual, and varies according to
274-607: A messiah ) – the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has declared in Ordinance XX of the Second Amendment to its Constitution , that Ahmadis are non-Muslims and deprived them of religious rights. Several large riots ( 1953 Lahore riots , 1974 Anti-Ahmadiyya riots ) and a bombing ( 2010 Ahmadiyya mosques massacre ) have killed hundreds of Ahmadis in that country. Whether this is unjust takfir or applying sharia to collective apostasy
411-507: A Muslim father who later rejects Islam is called a murtadd fitri , and a person who converted to Islam and later rejects the religion is called a murtadd milli . Takfir ( takfeer ) ( Arabic : تكفير takfīr ) is the act of one Muslim excommunicating another, declaring them a kafir , an apostate. The act which precipitates takfir is termed mukaffir . The Quran references apostasy ( 2:108 , 66 ; 10:73 ; 3:90 ; 4:89 , 137 ; 5:54 ; 9:11 – 12 , 66 ; 16:06 ; 88:22–24 ) in
548-499: A Muslim to avoid being an apostate, it is also an act of apostasy, in Shāfiʿī te doctrine and other schools of Islamic jurisprudence, for a Muslim to accuse or describe another devout Muslim of being an unbeliever , based on the hadith where Muhammad is reported to have said: "If a man says to his brother, 'You are an infidel,' then one of them is right." Historian Bernard Lewis writes that in "religious polemic" of early Islamic times, it
685-457: A case were Rashidun (rightly guide) Caliph Umar admonishes a Muslim leader for not giving an apostate the opportunity to repent before being executed: Malik related to me from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Qari that his father said, "A man came to Umar ibn al-Khattab from Abu Musa al-Ashari. Umar asked after various people, and he informed him. Then Umar inquired, 'Do you have any recent news?' He said, 'Yes. A man has become
822-500: A chance to repent, but "innate apostates are not. Orthodox apostasy fiqh can be problematic for someone who was raised by a non-Muslim (or non-Muslims) but has an absentee Muslim parent, or was raised by an apostate (or apostates) from Islam. A woman born to a Muslim parent is considered an apostate if she marries a non-Muslim, even if her Muslim parent did not raise her and she has always practiced another religion ; and whether or not they know anything about Islam, by simply practicing
959-526: A chance to repent, eliminating Al-Shafi'i's third condition for them although his view was not accepted by his Shafi'i madhhab. Describing what qualifies as apostasy Christine Schirrmacher writes there is widespread consensus that apostasy undoubtedly exists where the truth of the Koran is denied, where blasphemy is committed against God, Islam, or Muhammad, and where breaking away from the Islamic faith in word or deed occurs. The lasting, willful non-observance of
1096-460: A cone-shaped furnace... and their shrieks are drowned by the curses of their fellow damned at the stench of their putrid flesh. In the next mansion unfaithful wives hang by their breasts, their hands tied to their necks. Undutiful children are tortured in a fire by fiends with red-hot forks. Lower down, shackled in collars of fire, are those who failed to keep their word. Murderers are being knifed by demons in endless expiation of their crime. Lastly, in
1233-469: A couple of indications that physical rather than "spiritual or psychological" punishment predominates in jahannam according to scholars Smith and Haddad. For example, the Quran notes that inmates of jahannam will be denied the pleasure of "gazing on the face of God", but nowhere does it state "that this loss contributed to the agony" the inmates experience. While the Quran describes the regret the inmates express for
1370-642: A crime). Starting in the 19th century the legal code of many Muslim states no longer included apostasy as a capital crime, and to compensate some Islamic scholars called for vigilante justice of hisbah to execute the offenders (see Apostasy in Islam#Colonial era and after ). In contemporary times the majority of Islamic jurists still regard apostasy as a crime deserving the death penalty , (according to Abdul Rashied Omar), although "a growing body of Islamic jurists" oppose this, (according to Javaid Rehman) as inconsistent with "freedom of religion" as expressed in
1507-468: A different "authentic" ( sahih ) Sunni hadith collection where Muhammad calls for the death of apostates or traitors. The wording of the hadith are almost identical, but in one, the hadith ends with the phrase "one who reverts from Islam and leaves the Muslims", and in the other it ends with "one who goes forth to fight Allah and His Apostle" (in other words, the council argues the hadith were likely reports of
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#17328524031471644-480: A higher priority than fighting self-professed non-Muslims—Jews, Christians, Hindus, etc. An open letter to ISIL by 126 Islamic scholars includes as one of its points of opposition to ISIL: "It is forbidden in Islam to declare people non-Muslim unless he (or she) openly declares disbelief". There is general agreement among Muslims that the takfir and mass killings of alleged apostates perpetrated not only by ISIL but also by
1781-450: A kafir after his Islam.' Umar asked, 'What have you done with him?' He said, 'We let him approach and struck off his head.' Umar said, 'Didn't you imprison him for three days and feed him a loaf of bread every day and call on him to tawba that he might turn in tawba and return to the command of Allah?' Then Umar said, 'O Allah! I was not present and I did not order it and I am not pleased since it has come to me!' The argument has been made (by
1918-417: A level for Zoroastrians there is one for "witches and fortunetellers". Another description of the layers of hell comes from "models such as that recorded by al-Thalabi (died 427/1035)" corresponding to "the seven earths of medieval Islamic cosmology"; the place of hell before the Day of Resurrection . This idea derives from the concept of "seven earths", each beneath the surface of the known world, serving as
2055-424: A linear conceptualization of time. The difference between the earth and the otherworld is not that of time but rather that of space. Paradise and hell are spatially connected to earth. At Judgement Day, paradise and hell do not perish or be created anew, rather paradise and hell are "brought near" (26:90-91) Before that event, paradise is suggested to be somewhere in the high regions of the world and hell located in
2192-621: A married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims." Ali burnt some people and this news reached Ibn 'Abbas, who said, "Had I been in his place I would not have burnt them, as the Prophet said, 'Don't punish (anybody) with Allah's Punishment.' No doubt, I would have killed them, for the Prophet said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him.'" A man embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism. Mu'adh bin Jabal came and saw
2329-523: A place "where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched" ( Mark 9:48 ). In the apocryphal book of 4 Ezra , written around the 2nd century BCE, Gehinnom appears as a transcendental place of punishment. This change comes to completion in the Babylonian Talmud , written around 500 CE. It can be thought that the narrative of Hell in Islam is largely shaped by the offerings of human sacrifices by passing it over fire or burning it to Molech , which
2466-444: A pomegranate out of a vision from paradise. Muhammad reportedly states that fever flows from hell. The infernal tree Zaqqum manifests in this world. Some animals, scorpions and snakes in particular, are said to travel between the world and hell. People may interact with the souls of the deceased, receive blessings, or ease the dead's abode in the otherworld. Māturīdi scholar Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi (944–983) explains that
2603-570: A prison is strong. Inmates have chains around their necks (Q.13:5, 34:33, 36:8, 76:4, etc.), are "tethered" by hooks of iron (Q.22:21), and are guarded by "merciless angels" ( zabāniyyah ; Q.66:6, 96:18). Its inmates will be thirsty and hungry "constantly". Their fluids will include boiling water (Q.6:70), melted brass, and/or be bitterly cold, "unclean, full of pus". In addition to fire (Q.2:174), it has three different unique sources of food: Psychological torments are humiliation (Q.3:178) and listening to "sighs and sobs". (Q.11:106). There are at least
2740-539: A punishment of the grave (for those who disbelieved) between death and the resurrection. Not everyone consigned to hell will remain there, as it is believed by both scholars and lay Muslims that "all but the mushrikun , those who have committed the worst sin of impugning the tawḥīd of God, have the possibility of being saved;" and God's intercession to save sinners from hellfire is a "major theme" in popular Islamic stories about Judgement Day. Scholars did not always agree on questions of who might go to hell; whether
2877-454: A sentence to hell, interprets (parts of) hell as being similar in function to purgatory in Christianity, with the exception to this comparison being that hell in this context is for the punishment of the sinner's complete body, as opposed to only the soul being punished in purgatory. Arguments questioning the permanence of hell take the view that hell is not necessarily solely there to punish
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#17328524031473014-466: A sort of underworld , with hell at its bottom. Sources Miguel Asin Palacios and Patrick Hughes, Thomas Patrick Hughes describe these levels as: A large number of hadith about Muhammad's tour of hell during the miʿrāj, describe the various sinners and their torments. A summary of the uppermost level of hell, "reserved for deadly sins" and "subdivided into fourteen mansions, one close above the other, and each
3151-417: A square is set up and the king or lord of the day ;( māliki yawmi-d-dīn ) comes and shows his shin; looks are fearful, are invited to prostration; but those invited in the past but stayed away, cannot do this.( Al-Qalam 42-43) Islam, like Christianity , conceptualizes the relationship between Dunyā (world) and Ākhirah (hereafter) in a diachronic timeline. Humanities' history in the world begins with
3288-464: A third place". "What some have called" the "Limbo" Theory of Islam, as described by Jane Smith and Yvonne Haddad, implies that some individuals are not immediately sent to The Fire or The Garden, but are held in a state of limbo. Smith and Haddad believe it is "very doubtful" that the Qur'anic meant for al-aʿrāf to be understood as "an abode for those ... in an intermediate category, but this has come to be
3425-488: A true believer, even if you ignored "clear" ( ẓāhir ) hadith about hell. Amina Wadud notes that the Qur'an does not mention any specific gender when talking about hell, Q. 43:74–76 , for example, states that "the guilty are immortal in hell's torment"; and when discussing paradise, includes women, Q. 3:14–15 , for example, states that "Beautiful of mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and offspring..." In terms of classical Islam, "the only options" afforded by
3562-461: A variety of names. The following is an example of the Qur'anic verses about Hell: Among the different terms and phrases mentioned above that refer to Hell in the Qur'an, Fire ( nār ) is used 125 times, Hell ( jahannam ) 77 times, and Blazing Fire ( jaḥīm ) 26 times, or 23 by another count. The description of Jahannam as a place of blazing fire appears in almost every verse in the Qur'an describing Hell. One collection of descriptions of Hell found in
3699-576: Is a field of study in Islam concerning future events that would happen in the end times . It is primarily based on sources from the Quran and Sunnah . Aspects from this field of study include the signs of the final age, the destruction of the universe and Judgement Day . The general consensus among the Islamic authorities is that the end times will be preceded by a series of signs . However, Islamic texts from
3836-550: Is a place of punishment for a different sin", was done by Asin Palacios: The first mansion is an ocean of fire comprising seventy lesser seas, and on the shore of each sea stands a city of fire. In each city are seventy thousand dwellings; in each dwelling, seventy thousand coffins of fire, the tombs of men and women, who, stung by snakes and scorpions, shriek in anguish. These wretches, the Keeper enlightens Mahomet, were tyrants. In
3973-500: Is as from the Asr prayer to the setting of the sun'". Some "weak" hadith sources points out to a lifespan of 6 or 7 thousand years of the Earth , equated onset with the descent of Adam to the world , and its lifespan of 1400 or 1500 years after Muhammad. In addition to this information, which also expresses the belief of the "first Muslim scholars", Michael Cook states that Ibn Ishaq calculated
4110-423: Is called irtidād (which means relapse or regress) or ridda in Islamic literature. An apostate is called murtadd , which means 'one who turns back' from Islam. (Another source – Oxford Islamic Studies Online – defines murtadd as "not just any kāfir (non-believer)", but "a particularly heinous type".) Ridda can also refer to secession in a political context. A person born to
4247-453: Is commonly defined as the abandonment of Islam by a Muslim , in thought, word, or through deed. It includes not only explicit renunciations of the Islamic faith by converting to another religion or abandoning religion , but also blasphemy or heresy by those who consider themselves Muslims, through any action or utterance which implies unbelief, including those who deny a "fundamental tenet or creed " of Islam. An apostate from Islam
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4384-451: Is disputed. The three types (conversion, blasphemy and heresy) of apostasy may overlap – for example some "heretics" were alleged not to be actual self-professed Muslims, but (secret) members of another religion, seeking to destroy Islam from within. (Abdullah ibn Mayun al-Qaddah, for example, "fathered the whole complex development of the Ismaili religion and organisation up to Fatimid times,"
4521-499: Is for worshippers who neglect their prayers, and Saqar (also described as one of the seven levels above) is for those who did not pray, did not feed the poor, waded in vain dispute with vain talkers, and denied the Day of Judgement until they died. Islamic eschatology — Events — — Figures — — Events and terms — — Events — Islamic eschatology ( Arabic : عِلْم آخر الزمان في الإسلام , ‘ilm ākhir az-zamān fī al-islām )
4658-467: Is held responsible for their actions. Concepts of reward and punishment were seen as beyond this world, a view that is also held today. According to scholars Jane I. Smith, Yvonne Y. Haddad, "the vast majority of believers", understand verses of the Quran on Jannah (and hellfire) "to be real and specific, anticipating them" with joy or terror. Besides the material notion of the paradise, descriptions of it are also interpreted as allegories , whose meaning
4795-451: Is known as a murtadd ( مرتدّ ). What statements or acts qualify as apostasy and whether and how they should be punished, are disputed among Islamic scholars. While liberal Islam rejects physical punishment of apostasy, Islamic supremacism calls for the death penalty of those who refuse to repent of apostasy from Islam. The penalty of killing of apostates is in conflict with international human rights norms which provide for
4932-754: Is mentioned in several narrations. Some hadith describe the size of hell as enormous. It is so deep that if a stone were thrown into it, it would fall for 70 years before reaching the bottom (according to one hadith). Another states that the breadth of each of Hell's walls is equivalent to a distance covered by a walking journey of 40 years. According to another source (Qurṭubī) it takes "500 years" to get from one of its levels to another. Traditions often describe this in multiples of seven: hell has seventy thousand valleys, each with "seventy thousand ravines, inhabited by seventy thousand serpents and scorpions". According to one hadith, hell will be vastly more populous than Paradise. Out of every one thousand people entering into
5069-462: Is not a fruitful path and that utmost caution is to taken in applying it", but in other writing, he made sure to condemn as beyond the pale of Islam "philosophers and Ismaili esotericists". Ibn Hazm and Ibn Taymiyyah also "warned against unbridled takfir" while takfiring "specific categories" of theological opponents as "unbelievers". Gilles Kepel writes that "used wrongly or unrestrainedly, this sanction would quickly lead to discord and sedition in
5206-519: Is one who submits to God). Sahih Muslim quotes Muhammad as saying that suicides would reside in Jahannam forever. According to the hadith collection Muwaṭṭaʾ of Imam Mālik (711–795), Muhammad said: "Truly a man utters words to which he attaches no importance, and by them he falls into the fire of Jahannam." Al-Bukhari in book 72:834 added to the list of dwellers in Jahannam: "The people who will receive
5343-565: Is qualified by the doctrine that ultimately salvation can only be attained through God's judgement. Muslim scholars mostly agree that ultimately all Muslims will be saved (though many may need to be purified by a spell in hellfire but disagree about the possibility for salvation of non-Muslims. Apostasy in Islam Political Militant [REDACTED] Islam portal Apostasy in Islam ( Arabic : ردة , romanized : ridda or ارتداد , irtidād )
5480-492: Is reported to have talked of angels guarding hell, each with "a mace of iron", and describes Jahannam as a place "built inside like a well and it had side posts like those of a well, and beside each post there was an angel carrying an iron mace. I saw therein many people hanging upside down with iron chains, and I recognized therein some men from the Quraish ". Hadiths introduce punishments, reasons and revelations not mentioned in
5617-708: Is right." According to sharia, to be found guilty the accused must at the time of apostasizing be exercising free will, an adult, and of sound mind, and have refused to repent when given a time period to do so (not all schools include this last requirement). The free will requirement excludes from judgement those who embraced Islam under conditions of duress and then went back to their old religion, or Muslims who converted to another religion involuntarily, either force or as concealment ( Taqiyya or Kitman ) out of fear of persecution or during war . Some of these requirements have served as "loopholes" to exonerate apostates (apostasy charges against Abdul Rahman , were dropped on
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5754-567: Is said to have mountains, rivers, valleys and "even oceans" filled with disgusting fluids; and also to be able to walk (controlled by reins), and ask questions, much like a sentient being. In the Hebrew Bible, Gei-Hinnom or Gei-ben-Hinnom , the "Valley [of the Son] of Hinnom" is an accursed Valley in Jerusalem where child sacrifices took place. In the canonical Gospels, Jesus talks about Gehenna as
5891-531: Is simply a matter of reason: The fact is that whatever Muhammad (peace be upon him) has told us about life after death is clearly borne out by reason. Although our belief in that Day is based upon our implicit trust in the Messenger of God, rational reflection not only confirms this belief but it also reveals that Muhammad's (peace be upon him) teachings in this respect are much more reasonable and understandable than all other view-points about life after death. One of
6028-440: Is something that (the opponents believe) a just God would never allow to happen. While Qadar is the consensus of Muslims, it is also an issue scholars discourage debate and discussion about. Hadith narrate Muhammad warning his followers to "refrain from speaking about qadar "; and according to the creed of Al-Tahawi , "the principle of providence" is such a secret that God did not let even angels, prophets and messengers in on
6165-439: Is the state of joy believers will experience in the afterlife. For some theologians, seeing God is not a question of sight, but of awareness of God's presence. Although early Sufis, such as Hallaj , took the descriptions of paradise literal, later Sufi traditions usually stressed out the allegorical meaning. On the issue of Judgement Day, early Muslims debated whether scripture should be interpreted literally or figuratively, and
6302-633: The Mahdīy . The Dajjāl is supposed to become a cause of misguidance and causes havoc on earth, but is ultimately stopped by either the Mahdīy or Jesus , who returns from heaven. In Islam, "the promise and threat" ( waʿd wa-waʿīd ) of Judgement Day ( Arabic : یوم القيامة , romanized : Yawm al-qiyāmah , lit. 'Day of Resurrection' or Arabic : یوم الدین , romanized : Yawm ad-din , lit. 'Day of Judgement'), has been called "the dominant message" of
6439-545: The Armed Islamic Group of Algeria and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 's jihadis were wrong, but there is less unanimity in other cases, such as what to do in a situation where self-professed Muslim(s) – post-modernist academic Nasr Abu Zayd or the Ahmadiyya movement – disagree with their accusers on an important doctrinal point. (Ahmadi quote a Muslim journalist, Abdul-Majeed Salik, claiming that, "all great and eminent Muslims in
6576-463: The Fiqh Council of North America , among others) that the hadiths above – traditionally cited as proof that apostates from Islam should be punished by death – have been misunderstood. In fact (the council argues), the victims were executed for changing their allegiances to the armies fighting the Muslims (i.e. for treason), not for their personal beliefs. As evidence, they point to two hadith, each from
6713-399: The Quran , and is considered a fundamental tenet of faith by all Muslims, and one of the six articles of Islamic faith . The two themes "central to the understanding of Islamic eschatology" are: Although Islamic philosophers and scholars were in general agreement on a bodily resurrection after death, interpretations differ in regard to the specifications of bodily resurrection. Some of
6850-571: The Torah describes as taking place in the Gehenna (Jeremiah 7; 32–35). While the Gehenna gives its name to Hell, the fire used for the offerings turns into Hellfire, and Molech turns into Malik , the guardian of Hell in the Qur'anic narrative. (Q.43:77) According to Einar Thomassen , much of how Muslims picture and think about Jahannam comes from the Qur'an. He found nearly 500 references to Jahannam in it, using
6987-553: The freedom of religions , as demonstrated in human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provide for the freedom of religion. Until the late 19th century, the majority of Sunni and Shia jurists held the view that for adult men, apostasy from Islam
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#17328524031477124-402: The shariʿah, " and more recently the status of Muslims authorities and governments that do not implement classical shariʿah law in its completeness. There are differences of opinion among Islamic scholars about whether, when and especially how apostasy in Islam should be punished. From 11th century onwards, apostasy of Muslims from Islam was forbidden by Islamic law, earlier apostasy law
7261-596: The sins of the condemned person. Its excruciating pain and horror described in the Qur'an often parallels the pleasure and delights of Jannah (paradise). It is commonly believed by Muslims that confinement to hell is temporary for Muslims but not for others, although there are disagreements to this view and Muslim scholars disagree over whether Hell itself will last for eternity (the majority's view), or whether God's mercy will lead to it eventually being eliminated. The common belief among Muslims holds that Jahannam coexists with
7398-487: The "specific parties" at each of the gates); and of there being "seven heavens ˹in layers˺, and likewise for the earth" (Q.65:12), (though this doesn't indicate that the seven layers of earth are hell). The one mention of levels of hell is that hypocrites will be found in its very bottom. According to Thomassen, those specifically mentioned in the Qur'an as being punished in Hell are "most typically" disbelievers ( kāfirūn ). These include people who lived during Muhammad's time,
7535-553: The (new) religion of their parent(s) they become apostates (according to the committee of fatwa scholars at Islamweb.net). In the 19th, 20th and 21 century issues affecting shariʿah on apostasy include modern norms of freedom of religion, the status of members of Baháʼí (considered unbeliever/apostates in Iran) and Ahmadi faiths (considered appostates from Islam in Pakistan and elsewhere), those who "refuse to judge or be judged according to
7672-623: The Classical era, Middle Ages, and modern times have differed enormously as what those signs might include. Suggestions have included an era of trials and tribulations , immorality , mighty wars , unnatural phenomena, an invasion by Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) into Arab lands, and/or the return of justice to the world. Once all the events are completed, the universe shall be destroyed and every human being would be resurrected to be held accountable for their deeds. Muhammad says : `Your appointed time compared with that of those who were before you
7809-463: The Day of Judgement and thus, must be created afterwards. Māturīdism objects by asserting that paradise and hell do fulfill the before mentioned functions. Ash'ariya argued that although the trumpet's sounding will precede all being destroyed, creation was a "constant process". Muslim theologians ( mutakallimun ) referred to multiple verses of the Quran for evidence that paradise and hell coexist with
7946-503: The Fall of Adam and ends with God's Judgement. In contrast to Christianity, however, Adam's fall does not result in an utter separation from the transcedent world. The two otherworldy abodes (paradise and hell) exist in proximity, both in a spatial as well as in a temporal sense, to the Dunyā . Since in Islamic beliefs, God does not reside in paradise, Islamic tradition was able to bring bridge
8083-408: The Muslims." Allah's Apostle said: "The blood of a Muslim man who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle should not lawfully be shed except only for one of three reasons: a man who committed fornication after marriage, in which case he should be stoned; one who goes forth to fight Allah and His Apostle, in which case he should be killed or crucified or exiled from
8220-486: The Pledge of allegiance to Allah's Apostle for Islam and the bedouin got a fever where upon he said to the Prophet "Cancel my Pledge." But the Prophet refused. He came to him (again) saying, "Cancel my Pledge.' But the Prophet refused. Then (the bedouin) left (Medina). Allah's Apostle said: "Medina is like a pair of bellows (furnace): It expels its impurities and brightens and clears its good." The Muwatta of Imam Malik offers
8357-481: The Qur'an as suffering in Hell or destined to suffer there are: Pharaoh (Firʿawn; the pharaoh of The Exodus ; Q:10:90-92), the wives of Noah and Lot (Q:66–10), and Abu Lahab and his wife, who were contemporaries and enemies of Muhammad (Q:111). The punishments of Hell described in the Qur'an tend to revolve around "skin sensation and digestion". Its wretched inhabitants sigh and wail, their scorched skins are constantly exchanged for new ones so that they can taste
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#17328524031478494-463: The Qur'an for the resurrected are an eternity of horrible punishments of The Fire or the delightful rewards of The Garden. Islamic tradition has raised the question of whether or not consignment to the Fire is eternal, or eternal for all, but "has found no reason to amend" the limit of two options in the afterlife. But one verse in the Quran has "led to a great deal of speculation concerning the possibility of
8631-496: The Qur'an include "rather specific indications of the tortures of the Fire": flames that crackle and roar; fierce, boiling waters, scorching wind, and black smoke, roaring and boiling as if it would burst with rage. Hell is described as being located below Paradise, having seven gates and "for every gate there shall be a specific party" of sinners (Q.15:43–44). The Qur'an also mentions wrongdoers having "degrees (or ranks) according to their deeds", (which some scholars believe refers to
8768-493: The Quran to refer to hell, with a category of inmates assigned to each level. "Various similar models exist with a slightly differing order of names", according to Christian Lange, and he and A. F. Klein give similar lists of levels. Al-Laza and al-Saqar are switched in Lange's list, and there is no accompanying type of unbelievers for each level. In A. F. Klein's list, it is the names of the levels that's not included, and instead of
8905-518: The Quran. Writing in the Encyclopedia of Islam , Heffening holds that contrary to the Quran, "in traditions [i.e. hadith], there is little echo of these punishments in the next world... and instead, we have in many traditions a new element, the death penalty." Allah's Apostle said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder,
9042-594: The Quran. In both Quranic verses and hadiths, "the Fire" is "a gruesome place of punishment that is always contrasted with Jannah , "the Garden" (paradise). Whatever characteristic "the Garden offered, the Fire usually offered the opposite conditions." Several hadith describes a part of hell that is extremely cold rather than hot, known as Zamhareer . According to Bukhari , lips are cut by scissors. Other traditions added flogging . An Uighur manuscript also mentions drowning, stoning and falling from heights. Based on hadiths,
9179-710: The Quranic injunctions Quran 88:21 - 88:22 and Quran 2:256 ("there is no compulsion in religion"); and a relic of the early Islamic community when apostasy was desertion or treason. Still others support a "centrist or moderate position" of executing only those whose apostasy is "unambiguously provable" such as if two just Muslim eyewitnesses testify; and/or reserving the death penalty for those who make their apostacy public. According to Christine Schirrmacher, "a majority of theologians" embrace this stance. As mentioned above , there are numerous doctrinal fine points outlined in fiqh manuals whose violation should render
9316-492: The Sufi "spiritual and internalized interpretations of hell" of ibn ʿArabī , and Rumi , seeing paradise and hell "primarily as metaphors for inner psychic" developments. Thus "hellfire is actually a state of realization of one's failures as a human being", and not a supernatural subterranean realm. Egyptian modernist Muhammad ʿAbduh , thought it was sufficient to believe in the existence of an afterlife with rewards and punishment to be
9453-661: The Verses: 'How shall Allah guide a people who disbelieved after their Belief up to His saying: Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful' was revealed. So he sent word to him, and he accepted Islam. There was a Christian who became Muslim and read the Baqarah and the Al Imran, and he used to write for the Prophet. He then went over to Christianity again, and he used to say, Muhammad does not know anything except what I wrote for him. Then Allah caused him to die and they buried him. A bedouin gave
9590-562: The afterlife at all". Islamic Modernists , according to Smith and Haddad, express a "kind of embarrassment with the elaborate traditional detail concerning life in the grave and in the abodes of recompense, called into question by modern rationalists". Consequently, most of "modern Muslim Theologians" either "silence the issue" or reaffirm "the traditional position that the reality of the afterlife must not be denied but that its exact nature remains unfathomable". The beliefs of Pakistani modernist Muhammad Iqbal (died 1938), were similar to
9727-599: The afterlife, nine hundred and ninety-nine of them will end up in the fire. (According to at least one scholarly salafi interpretation, the hadith expresses the large disparity between the number of saved and damned rather than a specific literal ratio.) Malik in Hadith quotes Muhammad as saying that the "fire of the children of Adam [humans] which they kindle is a seventieth part of the fire of Jahannam ." He also describes that fire as "blacker than tar". In book 87 Hadith 155, "Interpretation of Dreams" of Sahih al-Bukhari , Muhammad
9864-512: The arrivals of the apocalypse. Some references to the Quran were frequently understood in apocalyptic terms, such as fitna , Dabba , and Gog and Magog . At the time of the Mongol conquests , ibn Kathir identified the latter with the historical Turks and Mongols. The apocalyptic writings frequently feature extra-Quranic figures such as the Dajjāl (corresponding to Armilos and Anti-Christ ) and
10001-420: The battlefield; and slandering chaste, innocent women." According to a series of hadith, Muhammad claims the majority of the inhabitants of hell will be women, due to an inclination for gossip, conjecture, ungratefulness of kind treatment from their spouses and idle chatting. The Salafi Muslim scholar ʿUmar Sulaymān al-Ashqar (d. 2012) reaffirms the arguments of al-Qurṭubī , that women have an attachment to
10138-467: The celestial bodies as perceived in the Quran: While the stars are lamps illuminating the sky in ordinary cases, turns into stones ( Al-Mulk 1-5) or (shahap; meteor, burning fire) ( al-Jinn 9) thrown at demons that illegally ascend to the sky; When the time of judgment comes, they spill onto the earth, but this does not mean that life on earth ends; People run left and right in fear.( At-Takwir 1-7) Then
10275-471: The coexistence of the otherwordly abodes exist in order to inspire hope and cause fear. The overlap of the earthly and otherwordly domain is anchored in the Quran itself. Challanging the pre-Islamic Arabian conception of time ( dahr ) as a linear and irreversible process, time has become subject to God. In general, the Quran "is lacking a notion of time as divided into past, present and future." Therefore, Quranic eschatology cannot be understood through
10412-434: The concept and meaning modifications in adapting to the time he lived in, highlights the concept of Sufyani instead of Dajjal and applies numerologic methods to some Āyah / hadith fragments, making signs of his followers community as Mahdi (Collective ID; Sahs al-manawi”) and possible dates for apocalypse. In the apocalyptic scenes, clues and descriptions are included regarding the nature, structure and dimensions of
10549-422: The context of attitudes associated with impending punishment, divine anger, and the rejection of repentance for individuals who commit this act. Traditionally, these verses are thought to "appear to justify coercion and severe punishment" for apostates (according to Dale F. Eickelman ), including the traditional capital punishment. Other scholars, by contrast, have pointed to a lack of any Quranic passage requiring
10686-402: The creation of heaven and hell would wait until Judgement Day; whether there was a state between heaven and hell; whether those consigned to hell would be there for eternity. "Fear, hope, and finally ... faith", have been given (by Jane I. Smith, Yvonne Y. Haddad) as motivations offered by the Quran for the belief of Muslims in an Afterlife, although some ( Abū Aʿla al-Mawdūdī ) have asserted it
10823-464: The current world. It is implied someone has gone to the Garden or the hell (3:169, 36:13-26, 66:10, 3:10-11, 6:93). In the Story of Adam and Eve , they once resided in Garden of Eden, which is often considered to be Jannah. This identification, however, is not universal. Al-Balluti (887 – 966) reasoned that the Garden of Eden lacked the perfection and eternal character of a final paradise: Adam and Eve lost
10960-574: The deeds that put them in hell, it is "for the consequences" of the deeds "rather than for the actual commission of them". There are "scores" of narrations or "short narratives traced back to the Prophet or his Companions" from "the third/ninth century onwards", that "greatly elaborate" on the Quranic image of hell. Similarly to how the Qur'an speaks of the seven gates of Hell, "relatively early" narrations attest that Hell has seven levels. This interpretation became "widespread" in Islam. The bridge ( ṣirāṭ ) over Hell that all resurrected souls must cross
11097-458: The depths. The coexistence of the dunyā with the otherworld was contested by the Mu'tazila . They argued that since before the Day of Resurrection all except God will be destroyed by the trumpet , paradise and hell have no function until after the annihilation of the world. However, God creates only with a purpose. By denying the stay of souls in either abode, paradise and hell have no function before
11234-651: The difference between legitimate Muslim sects and illegitimate apostate groups can be subtle and Muslims have not agreed on where the line dividing them lies. According to Gianluca Parolin, "collective apostasy has always been declared on a case-by-case basis". Among Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and others in Ja'fari fiqh , a distinction is made between "fetri" or "innate" apostates who grew up Muslims and remained Muslim after puberty until converting to another religion, and "national apostates" – essentially people who grew up non-Muslim and converted to Islam. "National apostates" are given
11371-401: The divine origin of the Qur'an (Q.74:16–26) or the coming of Judgement Day (Q.25:11–14). In addition are those who have committed serious criminal offenses against other human beings: the murder of a believer (Q.4:93, 3:21), usury (Q.2:275), devouring the property of an orphan (Q.4:10), and slander (Q.104), particularly of a chaste woman (Q.24:23). Some prominent people mentioned in hadith and
11508-847: The doctrine of predestination multiple times during his mission. Thus the consensus of the Sunni Muslim community has been that scripture indicates predestination. Nonetheless, some Muslim theologians have argued against predestination, (including at least some Shia Muslims, whose article of faith includes Adalah (justice), but not Qadar . At least some Shia – such as Naser Makarem Shirazi – denounce predestination). Opponents of predestination in early Islam, ( al- Qadariyah , Muʿtazila ) argued that if God has already determined everything that will happen, God's human creation cannot really have free will over decisions to do good or evil, or control of whether they suffer eternal torment in Jahannam —which
11645-463: The evil, but to purify their souls, whereas the purpose of the Garden is simply to reward the righteous. Evidence against the concept of hell being in part temporary, is the Quran verse stating that hell will endure as long as Heaven will, which has been established as eternal. Orthodox Islam teaches the doctrine of Qadar ( Arabic : قدر , aka Predestination , or divine destiny in Islam ), whereby everything that has happened and will happen in
11782-627: The five pillars of Islam, in particular the duty to pray, clearly count as apostasy for most theologians. Additional distinguishing features are a change of religion, confessing atheism, nullifying the Sharia as well as judging what is allowed to be forbidden and judging what is forbidden to be allowed. Fighting against Muslims and Islam (Arabic: muḥāraba ) also counts as unbelief or apostasy; Kamran Hashemi classifies apostasy or unbelief in Islam into three different "phenomena": While identifying someone who publicly converted to another religion as an apostate
11919-405: The fourteenth and lowest mansion of the first storey, are being crucified on burning pillars those who failed to keep the rule of prayer; as the flames devour them, their flesh is seen gradually to peel off their bones. The three valleys in Jahannam described in the Quran on separate occasions are: Of these valleys, Ghayy is for those who postpone their prayers to the time of the next prayer, Wayl
12056-613: The gaze of man. Still further down liars and slanderers hang by their tongues from red-hot hooks lacerating their faces with nails of copper. Those who neglected the rites of prayer and ablution are now monsters with the head of dogs and the bodies of swine and are the food of serpents. In the next mansion drunkards suffer the torture of raging thirst, which demons affect to quench with cups of a liquid fire that burns their entrails. Still lower, hired mourners and professional women singers hang head downwards and howl with pain as devils cut their tongues with burning shears. Adulterers are punished in
12193-490: The grounds he was "mentally unfit"). Traditional Sunnī and Shīʿa Islamic jurisprudence ( fiqh ) and their respective schools ( maḏāhib ) agree on some issues—that male apostates should be executed, and that most but not all perpetrators should not be given a chance to repent; among the excluded are those who practice sorcery ( subhar ), treacherous heretics ( zanādiqa ), and "recidivists". They disagree on issues such as whether women can be executed, whether apostasy
12330-419: The here and now, inability to control their passions; but allows that despite this, many women are good and pious and will go to Paradise, and some are even superior to many men in piety. However, other hadith imply that the majority of people in paradise will be women. Since the number of men and women are approximately equal, al-Qurṭubī attempts to reconcile the conflicting hadith by suggesting that many of
12467-455: The history of Islam as well as all the sects in the Muslim world are considered to be disbelievers, apostates, and outside the pale of Islam according to one or the other group of religious leaders".) In the case of the Ahmadiyya – who are accused by mainstream Sunni and Shia of denying the basic tenet of the Finality of Prophethood (Ahmadis state they believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a mahdi and
12604-626: The impending Day of Judgement, leaves no room for apocalyptic events in the far future. Apocalyptic narratives are only composed 150-200 years later from different religious elements. The first known complete Islamic apocalyptic work is the Kitāb al-Fitan (Book of Tribulations) by Naim ibn Hammad . The extensive usage of Hebrew and Syriac vocabulary in Islamic apocalyptic writings suggests that apocalyptic narratives formed from vivid exchange between different religious traditions. These exchanges most likely did not happen among scholars, but orally among
12741-485: The implementation of force to return apostates to Islam, nor any specific corporal punishment to apply to apostates in this world – let alone commands to kill apostates – either explicitly or implicitly. Some verses have been cited as emphasizing mercy and a lack of compulsion with respect to religious belief ( 2:256 ; 4:137 ; 10:99 ; 11:28 ; 18:29 ; 88:21–22 ). The classical shariah punishment for apostasy comes from Sahih ("authentic") Hadith rather than
12878-525: The importance of faith in avoiding hell, stating: "... no one will enter Hell in whose heart is an atom's weight of faith." "Eschatological manuals" were written after the hadith, they compiled the hadith on hell, and also developed descriptions of Jahannam "in more deliberate ways". While the Quran and hadith tend to describe punishments that nonbelievers are forced to give themselves, the manuals illustrate external and more dramatic punishment, through devils , scorpions, and snakes. Manuals dedicated solely to
13015-539: The land; or one who commits murder for which he is killed." Scholars of Islam differ as to what constitutes apostasy in that religion and under what circumstances an apostate is subject to the death penalty. [note?] Al-Shafi'i listed three necessary conditions to pass capital punishment on a Muslim for apostasy in his Kitab al-Umm . (In the words of Frank Griffel) these are: Three centuries later, Al-Ghazali wrote that one group, known as "secret apostates" or "permanent unbelievers" (aka zandaqa ), should not be given
13152-494: The location of paradise and hell, but not all of them "are easily pictured or indeed mutually reconcilable". For example, some describe hell as in the lowest earth, while one scholar (Al-Majlisī) describes hell as "surrounding" the earth. Islamic scholars speculated on where the entrance to hell might be located. Some thought the sea was the top level, or that the sulphourus well in Hadramawt (in present-day Yemen), allegedly haunted by
13289-704: The loss of custody of their children. In the contemporary Muslim world, public support for capital punishment varies from 78% in Afghanistan to less than 1% in Kazakhstan ; among Islamic jurists, the majority of them continue to regard apostasy as a crime which should be punishable by death . Those who disagree argue that its punishment should be less than death, should occur in the afterlife, (human punishment being inconsistent with Quranic injunctions against compulsion in belief), or should apply only in cases of public disobedience and disorder ( fitna ). Apostasy
13426-487: The man with Abu Musa. Mu'adh asked, "What is wrong with this (man)?" Abu Musa replied, "He embraced Islam and then reverted back to Judaism." Mu'adh said, "I will not sit down unless you kill him (as it is) the verdict of Allah and His Apostle." Other hadith give differing statements about the fate of apostates; that they were spared execution by repenting, by dying of natural causes or by leaving their community (the last case sometimes cited as an example of open apostasy that
13563-492: The method of usage of ḥadīth , apocalyptic literature dictates the Quran rather than explaining the text. Thus, David Cook suggested that at a certain point, the Quran was rather competing with apocalyptic literature than they were complementary. Islamic apocalyptic narratives were later expanded and developed by Islamic authors notably Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid , al-Ghazali , Ibn Arabi , Al-Qurtubi , Ibn Kathir , and as-Suyuti ). The authors list various signs as meanings of
13700-430: The moment of death and the time of their burial ceremony, "the spirit of a deceased Muslim takes a quick journey to Heaven and Hell, where it beholds visions of the bliss and torture awaiting humanity at the end of days". In The Soul's Journey After Death , Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya , a theologian in the 14th century, writes explicitly of punishments faced by sinners and unbelievers in Jahannam. These are directly related to
13837-416: The most commonly held interpretation". As for who the inhabitants of the inhabits al-aʿrāf are, the "majority of exegetes" support the theory that they are persons whose actions balance in terms of merit and demerit – whose good deeds keep them from the Fire and whose evil deeds keep them from the Garden. They will be the last to enter the Garden, at the mercy of their Lord. In Classical Islam, there
13974-593: The mystery. Scholars do not all agree on who will end up in Jannah and who in Jahannam, and the criteria for deciding. Issues include whether all Muslims, even those who've committed major sins, will end up in Jannah; whether any non-Muslims will be saved or all will go to Jahannam. According to the Quran, the basic criterion for salvation in the afterlife is the belief in the oneness of God ( tawḥīd ), angels , revealed books , messengers , as well as repentance to God, and doing good deeds ( amal salih ). This
14111-696: The period from Adam to the arrival of Muhammad as 5,432 years. The primary characters in apocalyptic Islamic narratives are: the Mahdi ("Guided One"), Isa (aka Jesus ) who descends from heaven in a Second Coming , the Dajjal ("Deceiving Messiah" aka False Messiah, viewed as similar to the Antichrist figure in Christianity), and the Beast . Characters can also be used by some religious groups with some shifts; Said Nursi with
14248-433: The polytheists ( mushrikūn ), or enemies of Muhammad who worshiped idols (Q.10:24), and the "losers", or enemies of Muhammad who died in war against him (Q.21:70), as well as broad categories of sinners: the apostates ( murtaddūn ; Q.3:86–87), hypocrites ( munafiqūn ; Q.4:140), self-content (Q.10:7–8, 17:18), polytheists ( mushrikūn ; Q.4:48,116), and those who do not believe in certain key doctrines of Islam: those who deny
14385-481: The primary beliefs pertaining to Islamic eschatology during the Early Muslim Period was that all humans could receive God's mercy and were worthy of salvation. These early depictions even show how small, insignificant deeds were enough to warrant mercy. Most early depictions of the end of days depict only those who reject Tawhid , (the concept of monotheism), are subject to eternal punishment. However, everybody
14522-422: The primordial paradise, while the paradisiacal afterlife lasts forever; if Adam and Eve were in the otherworldly paradise, the devil ( Shaiṭān ) could not have entered and deceive them, since there is no evil or idle talk in paradise; Adam slept in his garden, but there is no sleep in paradise. The discussion may have been incited by Jahm bin Ṣafwān who claimed that paradise and hell will end, but coexist with
14659-672: The ranks of the faithful. Muslims might resort to mutually excommunicating one another and thus propel the Ummah to complete disaster." The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), for example, takfired all those who opposed its policy of exterminating and enslaving members of the Yazidi religion . According to one source, Jamileh Kadivar, the majority of the "27,947 terrorist deaths" ISIL has been responsible for (as of 2020) have been Muslims it regards "as kafir", as ISIL gives fighting alleged apostates
14796-446: The reasons for which one can be accused of unbelief" in his work Faysal al-Tafriqa bayn al-Islam wa-l-Zandaqa ("The Criterion of Distinction between Islam and Clandestine Unbelief"). Some heretical or blasphemous acts or beliefs listed in classical manuals of Islamic jurisprudence and other scholarly works (i.e. works written by Islamic scholars) that allegedly demonstrate apostasy include: While there are numerous requirements for
14933-493: The religious crime of apostasy . Some jurists believe that blasphemy automatically implies a Muslim has left the fold of Islam. A Muslim may find himself accused of being a blasphemer, and thus an apostate on the basis of one action or utterance. In collective apostasy, a self-proclaimed Islamic group/sect are declared to be heretics/apostates. Groups treated as collective apostates include zindiq , sometimes Sufis , and more recently Ahmadis and Baháʼís . As described above,
15070-404: The resurrected will stand in a grand assembly, each person's Book of Deeds – where "every small and great thing is recorded" – will be read, and ultimate judgement made. The resurrected will then walk over the bridge of As-Sirāt , those judged worthy for the Garden continuing to their heavenly abode, those damned to The Fire, falling off the bridge into the pit of Jahannam. There will also be
15207-446: The same incident but had different wording because "reverting from Islam" was another way of saying "fighting Allah and His Apostle"): Allah's Apostle said, "The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves
15344-435: The school of thought that prevailed ( Ashʿarī ) "affirmed that such things as" connected with Judgement day as "the individual records of deeds (including the paper, pen, and ink with which they are inscribed), the bridge, the balance, and the pond" are "realities", and "to be understood in a concrete and literal sense." According to Smith and Haddad, "The great majority of contemporary Muslim writers, ... choose not to discuss
15481-429: The second mansion beings with blubber lips writhe under the red-hot forks of demons, while serpents enter their mouths and eat their bodies from within. These are faithless guardians, devoured now by serpents even as they once devoured the inheritances committed to their trust. Lower down usurers stagger about, weighed down by the reptiles in their bellies. Further, shameless women hang by the hair that they had exposed to
15618-407: The severest punishment from Allah will be the picture makers ". Use of utensils made of precious metals could also land its users in Jahannam: "A person who drinks from a silver vessel brings the fire of Jahannam into his belly". As could starving a cat to death: "A woman was tortured and was put in Hell because of a cat which she had kept locked till it died of hunger." At least one hadith indicates
15755-525: The sinners are thought to carry signs in accordance with their sins. Hadith describe types of sinners populating hell. Seven sins doom a person to Hell, according to reports of as-Saheehayn , (i.e. the reports of the two most esteemed Sunni hadith collections: al-Bukhaari and Muslim): "Associating others with Allah ( shirk or idolatry ); witchcraft ; killing a soul whom Allah has forbidden us to kill, except in cases dictated by Islamic law ; consuming orphans' wealth; consuming riba (usury); fleeing from
15892-452: The souls of the wicked, was the entrance to the underworld. Others considered the entrance in the valley of Hinnom (surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem ). In a Persian work, the entry to hell is located in a gorge called Wadi Jahannam (in present-day Afghanistan ). Einar Thomassen writes that the seven levels of hell mentioned in hadith "came to be associated" with the seven names used in
16029-508: The subject in detail include al-Ghazali , Ibn Kathir , Ibn Majah , Muhammad al-Bukhari , and Ibn Khuzaymah . Small Resurrection ( al-qiyamah al-sughra ) happens, when the soul is separated from the body. The soul then turns to the afterlife ( akhira or malakut ), where it is interrogated by two angels, Munkar and Nakir. This grave period is known as the Barzakh , similar to the intermediate state in Christianity. At divine judgement ,
16166-468: The subject of Jahannam include Ibn Abi al-Dunya 's Sifat al-nar , and al-Maqdisi's Dhikr al-nar . Other manuals—such as texts by al-Ghazali and the 12th-century scholar Qadi Ayyad – "dramatise life in the Fire", and present "new punishments, different types of sinners, and the appearance of a multitude of devils," to exhort the faithful to piety. His hell has a structure with a specific place for each type of sinners. According to Leor Halevi , between
16303-405: The temporal world, just as Jannah does (rather than being created after Judgment Day). Hell is described physically in different ways by different sources of Islamic literature. It is enormous in size, and located below Paradise. It has seven levels, each one more severe than the one above it, but it is also said to be a huge pit over which the bridge of As-Sirāt crosses and the resurrected walk. It
16440-407: The theories are the following: The trials, tribulations and details associated with it are detailed in the Quran and the hadith (sayings of Muhammad ); these have been elaborated on in creeds , Quranic commentaries ( tafsịrs ), theological writing, eschatological manuals to provide more details and a sequence of events on the Day. Islamic expositors and scholarly authorities who have explained
16577-477: The torment anew, drink festering water and though death appears on all sides they cannot die. They are linked together in chains of 70 cubits, wearing pitch for clothing and fire on their faces have boiling water that will be poured over their heads, melting their insides as well as their skins, and hooks of iron to drag them back if they should try to escape, and their remorseful admissions of wrongdoing and pleading for forgiveness are in vain. Hell's resemblance to
16714-457: The uneducated masses. A lot of apocalyptic material is attributed to Ka'b al-Ahbar and former Jewish converts to Islam , while other transmitters indicate a Christian background. Christian apocalyptic literature was known at latest since the 9th century in Arabic. Although apocalyptic literature barely cites the Quran, the narratives refer and paraphrase Islamic sacred scripture. In contrast to
16851-563: The universe—including sinful human behavior—is commanded by God. At the same time, we human beings are responsible for our actions and rewarded or punished for them in the Afterlife . Qadar /predestination/divine destiny, is one of Sunni Islam's six articles of faith and is mentioned in the Quran. Of course, the fate of human beings in the Afterlife is especially crucial. It is reflected in Quranic verses such as Muhammad also talked about
16988-509: The violator an apostate, but there are also hurdles and exacting requirements that spare (self-proclaimed) Muslims conviction for apostasy in classical fiqh . One motive for caution is that it is an act of apostasy (in Shafi'i and other fiqh) for a Muslim to accuse or describe another innocent Muslim of being an unbeliever, based on the hadith where Muhammad is reported to have said: "If a man says to his brother, 'You are an infidel,' then one of them
17125-493: The women in Hell are there only temporarily and will eventually be brought reside in Paradise; thereafter the majority of the people of Paradise would be women. Other people populating hell mentioned in hadith include, but are not limited to, the mighty, the proud and the haughty. Einar Thomassen writes that this almost certainly refers to those too proud and haughty to submit to God, i.e. unbelievers (the literal translation of Muslim
17262-460: The world and the hereafter without violating God's transcendence. Islamic literature is filled with interactions between the word and the hereafter and the world is closely interwined with both paradise and hell. Muhammad visited during his Miʿrāj (Night Journey) both paradise and hell. Same is said about the Islamic prophet ʾIdrīs . The palm-tree as well as the pomegranate are supposed to originate from paradise. A Walī (saint) grabs
17399-464: The world. Insisting on the impermanence of everything but God, he asserts that "eternity" is used hyperbolic and means that people abide in paradise and hell only as long as both worlds last. Most Sunnis, however, hold the opinion that paradise and hell are eternal. There is no universally accepted apocalyptic tradition among either Sunnis or Shias . The Quran is primarily an eschatological work, not an apocalyptic one. The Quran, concerned about
17536-587: The wrongdoer's earthly transgressions. In addition to those who engage in traditional sins of wine drinking, fornication, sodomy, suicide, atheism ( dahriyya ); hell is where those "who sleep during prayer (or speak of worldly matters during it), or deny the doctrine of predestinarianism or assert absolute free-will ( Qadarites ), are punished. Another tradition consigns to the seven different levels of hell, seven different types of "mischievous" Islamic scholars. Government authorities are also threatened with hell, but often in "oblique ways". There are many traditions on
17673-452: Was a consensus among the theological community regarding the finality of Jannah (also called Heaven, paradise, the Gardens); after Judgement Day, faithful servants of God would find themselves here for eternity. However, some practitioners in the early Muslim community held that the other abode of the hereafter (hell/Jahannam), or at least part of that abode, might not be eternal. This belief
17810-507: Was a crime as well as a sin, punishable by the death penalty , but with a number of options for leniency (such as a waiting period to allow time for repentance or enforcement only in cases involving politics), depending on the era, the legal standards and the school of law. In the late 19th century, the use of legal criminal penalties for apostasy fell into disuse, although civil penalties were still applied. As of 2021, there were ten Muslim-majority countries where apostasy from Islam
17947-455: Was accused by his different detractors of being (variously) "a Jew, a Bardesanian and most commonly as an Iranian dualist") In Islamic literature, the term "blasphemy" sometimes also overlaps with kufr ("unbelief"), fisq (depravity), isa'ah (insult), and ridda (apostasy). Because blasphemy in Islam included rejection of fundamental doctrines, blasphemy has historically been seen as an evidence of rejection of Islam, that is,
18084-442: Was based upon an interpretations of scripture that since the upper, less tortuous levels of hell were reserved for Muslims who were only in hell for as long as God deemed necessary. Once Muslims had their sins purged and were allowed into heaven, these levels would be empty and the need for their existence gone. These interpretations are centered on verses 11:106–107 in the Quran, stating, This possibility that God may yet commute
18221-412: Was common for one scholar to accuse another of apostasy, but attempts to bring an alleged apostate to justice (have them executed) were very rare. The tension between desire to cleanse Islam of heresy and fear of inaccurate takfir is suggested in the writings of some of the leading Islamic scholars. Al-Ghazali "is often credited with having persuaded theologians", in his Fayal al-tafriqa , "that takfir
18358-453: Was left unpunished). A man from among the Ansar accepted Islam, then he apostatized and went back to Shirk. Then he regretted that, and sent word to his people (saying): 'Ask the Messenger of Allah [SAW], is there any repentance for me?' His people came to the Messenger of Allah [SAW] and said: 'So and so regrets (what he did), and he has told us to ask you if there is any repentance for him?' Then
18495-456: Was only applicable if a certain number of witnesses testify which for the most past was impossible. Apostasy was punishable by death and also by civil liabilities such as seizure of property, children, annulment of marriage, loss of inheritance rights. (A subsidiary law, also applied throughout the history of Islam, forbade non-Muslims from proselytizing Muslims to leave Islam and join another religion, because it encouraged Muslims to commit
18632-590: Was punishable by death, but legal executions are rare. Most punishment is extra-judicial/vigilante, and most executions are perpetrated by jihadist and " takfiri " insurgents ( al-Qaeda , the Islamic State , the GIA , and the Taliban ). Another thirteen countries have penal or civil penalties for apostates – such as imprisonment, the annulment of their marriages, the loss of their rights of inheritance and
18769-486: Was straightforward, determining whether a diversion from orthodox doctrine qualified as heresy, blasphemy, or something permitted by God could be less so. Traditionally, Islamic jurists did not formulate general rules for establishing unbelief, instead, compiled sometimes lengthy lists of statements and actions which in their view implied apostasy or were incompatible with Islamic "theological consensus". Al-Ghazali , for example, devoting "chapters to dealing with takfir and
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