Why Does Allah Describe Hellfire Differently?

Alhamdulillah.

[Silence]

Last week or during the week, we listened to the verses that lead up to the middle and longest verse of surah. In this verse, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us one description of the hellfire and he gives us a name of one of the gates or as some mention one of the levels. So a gate to one of the levels of the hellfire which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refers to as now this name will come up again during this surah but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says describing the hellfire describing safar he says And so he tells us subhanahu waala that is a reference to the hellfire. A reference more specifically to one of the gates of the hellfire. Elsewhere Allah specifies in that the hellfire has seven gates and that the gates of the hellfire has a designated group that will enter through that particular gate to enter their respective place in the hellfire. And the hellfire is a place that was described throughout the Quran with many different descriptions. You wouldn't open one chapter of the Quran or one place in the Quran and find all of the descriptions of the hellfire there. Similarly, you wouldn't open a chapter or a place in the Quran and find all of the descriptions of paradise there. They are descriptions that have been mentioned throughout the Quran from the beginning to the end for a number of reasons and for a great wisdom. But one of the most important reasons is that each chapter of the Quran, so we have 114 chapters. Each one of these chapters has a particular theme and a particular climate to it. It has a very particular tone to it. Some chapters are more have a darker tone. Some chapters have a lighter tone. Some chapters have a more serious tone. Some chapters have. And you will find through each of these chapters, every single verse, if you examine them close enough, you'll find that there is a common thread that makes every verse and every description and every point mentioned in that chapter to be working towards that common theme of the chapter. The same thing goes with the stories of the prophets. For instance, the story of Maisam has been mentioned in many many many dozens of chapters of the Quran. However, each time it's mentioned, it's from a different angle under a different light. Different details are mentioned. Other things are left more vague. And the reason for that is to match the general tone of the chapter. The same thing goes with the same detail, the same incident. So for instance in surah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the story of Ibraim and his guests, his mysterious guests that show up and they were angels, but he didn't know they were angels at the time. And they were sent to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah to the people of L to destroy that those twin towns and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions that he prepared for them a meal and in both chapters surah and surah he mentions that that meal was aid. meaning a calf, some cow meat, right? Beef, however that was that he slaughtered one of the heads of cattle that he had for his guests. However, the same detail is not mentioned in both places. In Allah says that he made for them roasted that that it was roasted in that it was a very full and very fatty animal. It wasn't lean meat that he made for them. Why is this important and why did it change? Right? They don't contradict each other. to the contrary. The general tone of surah and what a person's subconscious picks up through the verses of surah. Surah is a very very terrifying chapter of the Quran. As a matter of fact, it is considered to be the chief of most terrifying chapters of the Quran. And it is a cluster of chapters that is referred to in the sunnah as that these are a cluster or a group a collection of chapters that the tone in them is extremely terrifying and very visually distressing. They they are distressing to the to the to the reader to the listener. And so it is appropriate to mention the heat and the roasting of even that meal. So even that good thing and that meal matches the tone of hoot. When we look at it is more important for the tone of the chapter to mention the generosity of Ibraim. So, it's not he went and pecked out the weakest going to die anyways of his heads of cattle and slaughtered that for his guests. Two birds with one stone. No, he picked out the best that he had for his guests because that chapter deals withhed and the the effects that has on the heart and the kinds of actions that come from the people of true Tohit. And so generosity is one of those traits that is overwhelming for the people of Tohit. Here is no different. We find in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions one aspect of the aspects of the hellfire and that is that he says he says that it neither leaves nor lets. What does that mean? Meaning it neither leaves the people in it to live nor does it allow them to die. It neither leaves the people in it to rest nor does it allow them reprieve etc. insert any terrifying combination between those two. He says subhanahu waala that it will be brought out on the day of judgment for everyone to see and that specifically meaning that it specializes in changing the color of its inhabitants. Meaning people that are in it, they are charred. They are burnt. their skins are constantly replenished and in constant change due to the heat of the hellfire. Now we go into another verse which is a very interesting verse. It's commonly misunderstood and that is that Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala said He tells us that the gatekeepers of the hellfire are 19 in number. When you say just the word 19 that, anything could come to mind. And Abu Jahil and Wii and the other antagonists of the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam when they heard these verses they started to make fun of these verses and the hellfire and so Abu Jah took it upon himself and said there's only 19 of them I could take 19 on my own some of them said I'll take half and you all take half and we'll overthrow the the gatekeepers of hell that doesn't sound so terrifying 19 why that specific number and so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then sent down the verse that these are not 19 human beings these are angels they are the gatekeepers of hell and he mentions subhanahu wa ta'ala that these are the chief gatekeepers of hell 19 in number under their command and is employed an endless amount of angels commissioned by Allah Suba to specialize in fitting and fashioning all aspects of punishment and curtailing these punishments for the inhabitants of the hellfire. When a person is entered into the hellfire, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us. It is not just a random place. It's not a random place in the sense that you know this bad place that many people are thrown into and and no every single person will be punished based on his or her actions and exactly in a way that is fitting for his or her life's legacy. Just like paradise. Paradise is the exact opposite. Most of what we see of the descriptions of hell, we can affirm their opposite in paradise. And this is actually one of the evidences, one of the types of evidences that is used by the companions in understanding the descriptions of the hellfire and the descriptions of paradise. Meaning that when we find a description of paradise of something, its exact opposite is true for the hellfire. And when we find a description of the hellfire, its exact opposite is true for paradise. And this is why there are the companions Abbas and others extrapolate that the hellfire is a general name but it doesn't mean that it's only fire that is in hell. There is also extreme cold that is in hell. There is extreme fire. There is extremely cold drink, there is extremely hot drink, etc. It is a place of extremes and contrasts. But the word enables to the hellfire. And the hellfire is shaped a cone. and it has gates that are opened and sealed and it has varying degrees and varying types of punishment. So for instance the companions understood that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he says in he says for who are als.

[Silence]

He says that in the hellfire there is and boiling water that they will be forced to drink and also extremely extremely cold that they will be forced to drink. And this contrast is what will what will introduce such severe punishment to the people of the hellfire. However, all of those descriptions, its opposite is true for paradise. Its opposite is true for paradise. so for instance when Allah describes paradise as as being a place that has no cold in it nor does it have any extreme cold nor extreme heat. That means that the hellfire is a place that has extreme cold and extreme heat etc. And this is actually a very interesting topic because when you look, you know, some anthropologists and some historians that study ancient religions and more obscure religions, you find that very ancient religions all have a concept of a place of punishment and a place of of bliss. this, but the descriptions are very different. So, for instance, in Alaska, the ancient tribes that were there, it said that they believed in a place that was bitter cold and that was their version of hell. It was extremely cold. And so they say, see this is just the figment of the human being's imagination. No, it's not the figment of the human being's imagination. This is if this came from a revelation of Allah is an aspect of the hellfire that is most befitting for the time and place. So for instance, if if we all lived in a really really cold place, bitter cold all the time it's cold. It is always freezing cold. What is the thing that we are most sensitive to at that point? Cold. And so what would scare us the most? Descriptions of a place where you will be eternally cold and you can never get warm again. That would scare us most thoroughly if you were to tell us and we lived in a frozen tundra of a place and you told us, "Oh, there's a place called hellfire and it's so hot." Well, for us that doesn't sound so bad if we live in a place that is always freezing cold. Likewise, the Quran was revealed to a people in one of the hottest deserts on earth. It was extremely hot. And so mentions of extreme cold as a punishment are not so extreme to people in those environments. A place of ice and a place of cold, they can't relate to that. That sounds rather soothing. It doesn't really sound very terrifying. And so each people are given a description of the hellfire, a description of paradise that is most influential to them and most appropriate for their culture. some people will ask a question about for instance paradise. Some of the descriptions of paradise in it are rivers of wine and rivers of milk and rivers of honey. Person will say well I don't honey. How is that good for me? This is just an example. This is just an example of what is in paradise. No matter what is described to us of paradise, it is impossible for you and I to ever conjure up an image vivid enough to adequately imagine paradise. Inah Muslim Abu narrates that the prophet Sam said that Allahawel himself has says has said He says, "Allah himself has said, I have prepared for my righteous servants a place that is so blissful and pleasureful that no eye has never ever seen the likes of, no ear has ever heard the likes of, nor has it ever been imagined by any human being. This statement here, it has never been imagined by any human being. Even if you read the Quran, even if you imagine it and you have the most vivid of imaginations, this is all a mere parable, an example of what paradise is. Paradise is a place that only when you enter it will you truly be able to come to grips with its bliss and beauty. And likewise can be said for the hellfire. The prophet sallall.aii Wasam said.

[Silence]

The prophet wasallam said if the believer had any idea of the true reality of the hellfire, no one would ever find it in himself to ever disobey Allah again. And if the disbeliever ever knew of the reality of the paradise that Allah has prepared for his believing servants, he would not find it in himself to ever despair of the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala again.

[Silence]

Alhamdulillah.