Question

Is it a false belief for a person to claim that punishment [in the Hereafter] will end and that Hell will perish? This contradicts the well-established texts of the Quran and the Sunnah. Please provide the answer with evidences.

Fatwa

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.

The followers of the Sunnah (tradition) believe that Paradise and Hell will not perish. This was stated by At-Tahaawi, may Allah have mercy on him. Ibn Hazm, may Allah have mercy on him, also mentioned that all sects of this Ummah (nation), except Al-Jahm ibn Safwaan, agree that Paradise and its bliss and Hell and its torment are eternal.

The texts of the Quran and Sunnah support this fact. For example, Allah The Almighty Says (what means) about the inhabitants of Hell:

• {Indeed, those who disbelieve and commit wrong [or injustice] -- never will Allah forgive them, nor will He guide them to a path. Except the path of Hell; they will abide therein forever. And that, for Allah, is [always] easy.} [Quran 4:168-169]

• {Indeed, Allah has cursed the disbelievers and prepared for them a Blaze. Abiding therein forever, they will not find a protector or a helper.} [Quran 33:64-65]

• {And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger - then indeed, for him is the fire of Hell; they will abide therein forever.} [Quran 72:23]

• {Indeed, the criminals will be in the punishment of Hell, abiding eternally. It will not be allowed to subside for them, and they, therein, are in despair.} [Quran 43:74-75]

• {And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits - He will put him into the Fire to abide eternally therein, and he will have a humiliating punishment.} [Quran 4:14]

• {That is the recompense of the enemies of Allah -- the Fire. For them therein is the home of eternity as recompense for what they, of Our verses, were rejecting.} [Quran 41:28]

Thus, Hell will last and never perish. Likewise, its inhabitants from among the disbelievers and hypocrites will remain. Only the sinning monotheists will be allowed to leave Hell due to intercession or after they will have been purified and refined.

With respect to Paradise and its dwellers, Allah The Almighty Says (what means):

• {Indeed, they who have believed and done righteous deeds -- those are the best of creatures. Their reward with Allah will be gardens of perpetual residence beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever, Allah being pleased with them and they with Him. That is for whoever has feared his Lord.} [Quran 98:7-8]

• {They will not taste death therein except the first death, and He will have protected them from the punishment of Hellfire.} [Quran 44:56]

• {Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds -- they will have the Gardens of Paradise as a lodging, Wherein they abide eternally. They will not desire from it any transfer.} [Quran 18:107-108]

• {Its fruit is lasting, and its shade. That is the consequence for the righteous.} [Quran 13:35]

• {Indeed, this is Our provision; for it there is no depletion.} [Quran 38:54]

There are also many other verses.

In a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Sa‘eed, the Prophet mentioned that on the Day of Resurrection Allah The Almighty will create death in the form of a black and white ram (with the white area being greater than black). It will be put in a place between Paradise and Hell. Then it will be asked, "O people of Paradise! Do you know what this is?" Thereupon they will turn their heads and look carefully, and say, "Yes, this is Death." Then it will be asked again, "O people of Hell! Do you know what this is?" They will turn their heads and look carefully, and say, "Yes, this is Death." Then it will be ordered to slaughter the ram, and it will be said, "O people of Paradise! Eternity for you and no death. O people of Hell! Eternity for you and no death."

This is the truth which the followers of the Sunnah unanimously agree upon, based on the well-established texts of the Quran and Sunnah.

And Allah knows best.