...I shall fill up Hell entirely with jinn and human beings. (Surat as-Sajda: 13)
Hell is the place of eternal punishment for those who deny Allah, spending their lives in ambivalence. The truth is that this world to which those who do not believe in the hereafter are excessively attached will surely vanish, while Hell will last forever. The "Companions of the Fire" will remain in it for all eternity. As a punishment that they will never be able to escape from, it will be unlike any other punishment:
That Day no one will punish as He punishes. (Surat al-Fajr: 25)
What will convey to you what Saqar is? It does not spare and does not ease up, ceaselessly scorching the flesh. (Surat al-Muddaththir: 27-29)
Some people hold to the superstition that they will enter Paradise after remaining in Hell for a certain time. The dreadful reality about Hell, however, is that the punishment there will never cease, and that there will never be a way out of it. The Qur'an makes it clear that it is a serious mistake to hold to such a superstition:
They say, "The Fire will only touch us for a number of days." Say, "Have you made a contract with Allah—then Allah will not break His contract—or are you rather saying about Allah what you do not know?" No indeed! Those who accumulate bad actions and are surrounded by their mistakes, such people are the Companions of the Fire, remaining in it timelessly, for ever; whereas those who believe and do right actions, such people are the Companions of Paradise, remaining in it timelessly, for ever. (Surat al-Baqara: 80-82)
Hell lies in wait—a homecoming for the profligate remaining in it for countless aeons, (Surat an-Naba' : 21-23)
Unless willed by Allah, it is impossible to leave Hell. Once the evildoers enter Hell, its doors will be closed for all eternity, and fire will cover them from everywhere:
Those who reject Our signs, they are the Companions of the Left. Above them is a sealed vault of Fire. (Surat al-Balad: 19-20)
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also states that there is no death for the inmates of Hell:
Allah would admit the inmates of Paradise into Paradise and the inmates of Hell into Hell. Then the announcer would stand between them and say: 0 inmates of Paradise, there is no death for you, 0 inmates of Hell, there is no death for you. You would live for ever therein. (Muslim)
Never forget that every individual who spends the limited time granted to him in this world carelessly will earn Hell, where its fire will engulf him for all eternity.
It is difficult to even grasp the severity of the torment beyond the sealed doors. From the Qur'anic account, we understand that Hell is a confined, noisy, gloomy and smoky place. Hell is the final destination, a place of torment, where heat overwhelms every cell of its inmates, and where disgusting food and drinks are consumed. Every moment in Hell is filled with unfathomable pain. The Inhabitants of Hell will see the most dreadful and abominable images; they will hear the most horrifying and distressing sounds, loud noises, screams, moans and cries. They will perceive the most offensive odours; taste the worst and most acrid flavours. Their bodies will be scorched from head to foot.
The faces of the people in Hell will be engulfed by fire; boiling water will be poured over their heads. And, they will be branded on their sides and their backs. With no rest or relief, the agony will last for all eternity.
A scorching blaze will engulf the inhabitants of Fire. Descriptions in the Qur'an provide a clear picture of the severity of the punishment inflicted on the inhabitants of the Fire; garments of flame will be cut out for them (Surat al-Hajj: 19) and they will wear shirts of tar (Surah Ibrahim: 50). Every time their skins are burned off, their bodies will be replaced with new skins (Surat an-Nisa': 56) so that they can constantly taste the unrelenting pain of fire. They will be chained and whipped. Hands tied to their necks, they will be cast into the core of Hell. (Surat al-Furqan: 13) They will lie in beds of Hell-fire covered in a linen of fire.
They will cry out and beg for relief, but to no avail; there will be none around to answer.
They will ask for the alleviation of the punishment, even only for a day, but their request will be answered with humiliation and more torment.
The roaring of the Fire is so great that it can be heard from very far away. The companions of Hell will be flung into the raging Fire (Surat al-Ma'arij: 15), which blazes fiercely (Surat al-Layl: 14), and burned as they shriek and cry.
Remember how it hurts when you burn even just your fingertip. So never forget to avoid a misdeed that could lead to enter such a place where the punishment of fire is so severe.
In this permanent abode, people will of course feel hunger and thirst. However, in return for their ingratitude and their wrongdoings, they will be repaid with fruits of the bitter thorn (Surat al-Ghashiyya: 6) and the tree of Zaqqum. They will not taste any drink, except for boiling water and scalding pus. They will gag (Surat al-Muzzammil: 13), unable to swallow their food or drink (Surat an-Naba': 24-25), which will neither nourish nor satisfy them. (Surat al-Ghashiyya: 7)
All their efforts to escape the Fire will prove useless; once they will have entered it, there will be no return. Through this unbearable punishment, they will cry out for their own destruction. However, in Hell, one will neither die nor live; death will surround him from all sides but he will not die. (Surah Ibrahim: 17) The people of Hell will only suffer because of what they had earned. There will be no mercy for them, nor any alleviation of their pain.
The Hellfire does not kill, but causes intense pain. Aware now that this agony will last for all eternity, the people of Hell will realize how desperate, hopeless and defeated they are. Meanwhile, the faces of the arrogant and boastful, which they had so adored in this world, will be in flames. And, the face is the part of the body where pain is felt most severely because it is where all the sense organs intersect:
They will say on the Day their faces are rolled over in the Fire, "If only we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!" (Surat al-Ahzab: 66)
The Fire will sear their faces, making them grimace horribly in it, their lips drawn back from their teeth. (Surat al-Muminun: 104)
If you do not want your face to be covered in fire, never forget the reason behind your existence in this world, and that you will definitely encounter Hell, unless you earn Allah's good pleasure.
Apart from physical torment, the people of Hell will also writhe in spiritual anguish; that is, they will be abased, humiliated and disgraced. They will be consumed with feelings of regret, helplessness and hopelessness. The arrogant who are too proud to worship their Lord in this world will enter Hell abject. Humiliated and ashamed, they will be unable to keep their heads up:
On the Day that they are dragged face-first into the Fire: "Taste the scorching touch of Saqar!" (Surat al-Qamar: 48)
Seize him and drag him bodily into the middle of the Blazing Fire. Then pour the punishment of boiling water on his head. Taste that! You are the mighty one, the noble one! This is the very thing you used to doubt. (Surat ad-Dukhan: 47-50)
The Day they are shoved roughly into the Fire of Hell. (Surat at-Tur: 13)
As Allah states in another verse, "…they will be bundled into it head first, they and the misled." (Surat ash-Shu'ara': 94)
On that day, each one of them will admit their wrongdoing. As the Qur'an conveys to us, their words will be: "If only we had really listened and used our intellect, we would not have been Companions of the Blaze." (Surat al-Mulk : 10), "Oh! If only we could be sent back again, we would not deny the Signs of our Lord and we would be among the believers." (Surat al-An'am: 27), and"If only we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!" (Surat al-Ahzab: 66). On that day they will denounce one another.
They will ask for water and food from the people of Paradise, but it will all be forbidden to them:
If they call for help, they will be helped with water like seething molten brass, frying their faces. (Surat al-Kahf: 29)
They will shout out, "Our Lord! Take us out! We will act rightly, differently from the way we used to act!" (Surah Fatir: 37) But all such efforts will be futile. It will be of no help to them, and their bitter fate will never be altered.
Therefore, always remember the verse, "Respond to your Lord before a Day comes from Allah which cannot be turned back. On that Day you will have no hiding-place and no means of denial." (Surat ash-Shura: 47)
Never forget that Allah, Who decides between people with justice, has sent a warner to all of humanity, including you, and has granted every one enough time to take heed. Therefore, in the hereafter, there will be no one to help those who are referred to in the Qur'an as "wrongdoers." (Surah Fatir: 37) The truth, absolutely, is that no one will be requited except for what he earned in this world:
Then it will be said to those who did wrong, "Taste the punishment of eternity! Have you been repaid for anything other than what you earned?" (Surah Yunus: 52)
This is Hell of which Allah warns His servants in various ways. No one on the face of the earth can claim that he has not been warned about the eternal punishment of Hell. Allah describes the bitter regret the people will feel on that day:
…and that Day Hell is produced, that Day man will remember; but how will the remembrance help him? He will say, "Oh! If only I had prepared in advance for this life of mine!" (Surat al-Fajr: 23-24)
Never forget that on that day, heeding the warnings you received in this world will be of no help to you, and it will be impossible to get out of Hell, not after a year, a thousand years, a billion years, trillions of years, nor even all eternity.
