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قQuranicpediaEncyclopedia of the Glorious Qur’an

Jahannam جَهَنَّم

In review — pending scholar verification

Hell in Islam — the abode of punishment for those who died in disbelief or unrepented major sin; described in the Quran with seven gates, levels of severity, and intense imagery of fire, scalding water, and bitter food.

Overview

Jahannam (Arabic: جَهَنَّم) is the abode of punishment in Islamic eschatology — the Fire prepared by Allah for those who died upon disbelief (kufr) or upon major sin without repentance. The word jahannam appears 77 times in the Quran; together with related names (an-Nār, al-Jaḥīm, as-Saʿīr, Saqar, al-Ḥuṭamah, Laẓā, al-Hāwiyah) the topic comprises a substantial portion of the Quran's eschatological material — running parallel to the description of Paradise on every page.

Belief in Hell is part of belief in the Day of Judgement and the Hereafter, the fifth article of Iman. The Quran's description is intentionally vivid and severe — every detail of punishment is paired with a sin that earns it (arrogance, oppression, withholding zakat, consuming usury, killing the innocent, false witness, neglect of prayer). Sunni doctrine holds that disbelievers and those who died upon shirk remain in Hell forever (Surah An-Nisa 4:48, 4:116), while sinning monotheists who entered Hell are eventually removed by intercession or by Allah's mercy.

Names of Hell

  • Jahannam — the most common name, often translated "Hell" — Surah Al-Baqarah 2:206
  • an-Nār — "the Fire" — Surah At-Tahrim 66:6
  • al-Jaḥīm — "the Blazing Fire" — Surah Al-Mā'idah 5:10
  • as-Saʿīr — "the Searing Blaze" — Surah Al-Mulk 67:5
  • Saqar — Surah Al-Muddaththir 74:26–30
  • al-Ḥuṭamah — "the Crusher" — Surah Al-Humazah 104:4–9
  • Laẓā — "the Blazing Flame" — Surah Al-Maʿarij 70:15
  • al-Hāwiyah — "the Abyss" — Surah Al-Qari'ah 101:9
  • Dār al-Bawār — "the Abode of Ruin" — Surah Ibrahim 14:28

Gates and levels

The Quran assigns Hell seven gates:

"And indeed, Hell is the promised place for them all. It has seven gates; for every gate is a portion of them designated." — Surah Al-Hijr 15:43–44

The classical scholars (Ibn Kathir, al-Qurtubi) understand the seven gates as ordered levels of severity, descending from least to most severe. The hypocrites are placed at the deepest level — ad-darak al-asfal:

"Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire — and you will never find for them a helper." — Surah An-Nisa 4:145

Quranic references

  • Surah At-Tahrim 66:6 — "O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded."
  • Surah Al-Mulk 67:6–11 — "For those who disbelieved in their Lord is the punishment of Hell. Whenever a group is thrown into it, its keepers ask them: Did there not come to you a warner?…"
  • Surah An-Naba 78:21–30 — Hell as a place of ambush; the disbelievers will taste neither cool nor drink there "except scalding water and foul purulence (Ḥamīm and Ghassāq), an appropriate recompense."
  • Surah As-Saffat 37:62–68 — the tree of Zaqqūm grown in the bottom of Hell, its fruit like the heads of devils.
  • Surah Al-Mā'idah 5:10 — "But those who disbelieved and denied Our signs — those are the companions of the Blazing Fire."
  • Surah Ibrahim 14:16–17 — "Before him is Hell, and he will be given to drink from purulent water; he will gulp it but cannot swallow… and death will come to him from every direction, but he will not die."
  • Surah Al-Furqan 25:11–14 — "When it sees them from a far place, they will hear its fury and roaring."
  • Surah Al-Humazah 104:4–9 — al-Ḥuṭamah, "the kindled Fire of Allah which mounts directed at the hearts."
  • Surah Al-Hashr 59:18–20 — "Not equal are the companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise. The companions of Paradise — they are the attainers."
  • Surah Al-Bayyinah 98:6 — "Indeed, those who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures."
  • Surah An-Nisa 4:48 — "Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating others with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills."

Hadith on Jahannam

Abu Huraira reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "Hell complained to its Lord saying: O my Lord! Some parts of me have consumed others. So He permitted it two exhalations: one in winter and one in summer. The most severe heat you experience is from its samūm; the most severe cold you experience is from its zamharīr." — Sahih al-Bukhari 537; Sahih Muslim 617
Abu Huraira reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "The fire of the children of Adam, which they kindle, is one part out of seventy parts of the fire of Hell." The Companions said: "By Allah, even this would have been enough." He ﷺ said: "It has been increased by sixty-nine parts, each as hot as the others." — Sahih al-Bukhari 3265; Sahih Muslim 2843
An-Nuʿman ibn Bashir reported the Prophet ﷺ said: "The lightest punishment of the people of Hell on the Day of Resurrection will be a man under whose two arches of the foot will be placed two coals of fire — and his brain will boil from them as a kettle boils." — Sahih al-Bukhari 6561; Sahih Muslim 213
Abu Saʿid al-Khudri reported the Prophet ﷺ said, describing the last man to leave Hell: "He will continue to walk on, falling on his face and being stood up by Allah, until — when he reaches Paradise — he will say: O my Lord, give me this and let me enter. Allah will say: O son of Adam, what will satisfy you, that I may give you ten times this world along with it?" — Sahih al-Bukhari 6573; Sahih Muslim 186

Food, drink, and clothing

The Quran describes the diet of Hell as the antithesis of every nourishment:

  • Zaqqūm — a tree growing from the bottom of Hell, its fruit like the heads of devils (Surah As-Saffat 37:62–66; Ad-Dukhan 44:43–46).
  • Ḍarīʿ — a thorny dry plant "that does not nourish nor avail against hunger" (Surah Al-Ghashiyah 88:6–7).
  • Ghislīn — pus and discharge from the people of Hell themselves (Surah Al-Haqqah 69:36).
  • Ḥamīm — boiling water that scalds the face and ruptures the bowels (Surah Muhammad 47:15; Al-Anʿam 6:70).
  • Ghassāq — purulent discharge (Surah Sad 38:57; An-Naba 78:25).
  • Muhl — molten copper-like liquid (Surah Al-Kahf 18:29).
  • Garments of fire and tar (Surah Al-Hajj 22:19; Ibrahim 14:50).

The Bridge and entry

The Sirat bridge is stretched over Hell, and only believers cross successfully (Sahih al-Bukhari 7437; Sahih Muslim 183). Authentic hadith further describe sinning monotheists who fall in being eventually removed by intercession; their burnt remains are placed in the river of life (nahr al-ḥayāh) at the gates of Paradise, where they regrow as seeds grow in the silt of a flood (Sahih al-Bukhari 6560; Sahih Muslim 184).

Significance

The Quran's and Sunnah's sustained description of Hell is paired throughout with the description of Paradise — what Ibn al-Qayyim called the two motives of the heart, "fear (khawf) and hope (rajāʾ)". Belief in the Fire is integral to Islamic ethics: it underwrites taqwā — the moral consciousness that one is accountable to Allah — without which the believer's life-orientation cannot be calibrated. The Prophetic supplication Allahumma innī aʿūdhu bika min ʿadhāb jahannam ("O Allah, I take refuge in You from the punishment of Hell") is a recurring formula in the daily prayers and at the close of every tashahhud in the obligatory salah.

See also

References

  1. The Quran (Sahih International translation): Surahs Al-Baqarah 2:24, 2:206; An-Nisa 4:48, 4:116, 4:145; Al-Maidah 5:10; Al-Anʿam 6:70; Al-A'raf 7:38; At-Tawbah 9:35, 9:81; Yunus 10:27; Hud 11:106–107; Ibrahim 14:16–17, 14:28, 14:50; Al-Hijr 15:43–44; An-Nahl 16:29; Al-Kahf 18:29; Al-Hajj 22:19–22; Al-Furqan 25:11–14; As-Sajdah 32:14; As-Saffat 37:62–68; Sad 38:57; Az-Zumar 39:71; Ghafir 40:46–50; Fussilat 41:28; Az-Zukhruf 43:74–77; Ad-Dukhan 44:43–48; Muhammad 47:15; Al-Hashr 59:18–20; At-Tahrim 66:6; Al-Mulk 67:6–11; Al-Maʿarij 70:15–18; Al-Muddaththir 74:26–30; Al-Mursalat 77:30–34; An-Naba 78:21–30; Al-Ghashiyah 88:1–7; Al-Humazah 104:4–9; Al-Bayyinah 98:6; Al-Qari'ah 101:9–11.
  2. Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith nos. 537, 3265, 6560, 6561, 6573, 7437. Trans. M. Muhsin Khan.
  3. Sahih Muslim, hadith nos. 183, 184, 186, 213, 617, 2843. Trans. Abdul Hamid Siddiqui.
  4. Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, at-Takhwīf min an-Nār wa-at-Taʿrīf bi-Ḥāl Dār al-Bawār, ed. Bashir Muhammad Uyun (Maktabat Dar al-Bayan).
  5. al-Qurtubi, at-Tadhkirah, sections on the Fire.
  6. Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Ḥādī al-Arwāḥ ilā Bilād al-Afrāḥ (which also treats the Fire).
  7. Umar Sulayman al-Ashqar, al-Jannah wa-an-Nār (Dar al-Nafāʾis).
  8. Ibn Kathir, al-Bidāyah wa-an-Nihāyah, eschatological volumes.