Jahannum

Jahannum is the destination of the wicked,

who receive back the pain they inflicted during this life.

By the time God was speaking with Iblis

Jahannum was already prepared (7.18)

for jinn and humans (7.179)

a dreadful resting place (3.197)

a painful punishment (9.34)

in a timeless forever (9.68)

We are told there are other torments (38.58)

but they are not described,

though perhaps as a reminder of the horrors humans are capable of committing,

the Qur'an summarises all their cruelty and torture

with one simple mention of hooked iron rods (22.21)

The range of torment that can be reflected on the wicked

may be matched in the punishments of Jahannum,

with unending hunger and nothing to eat but cactus thorns (88.6)

and suffering thirst

enough to even overcome the pain of drinking boiling water

or the disgust of drinking human pus (38.57)

But overwhelmingly

the pain of Jahannum's torment is described in terms of fire,

and as an example of a source of pain, fire must be one of the most universal you can get

From the earliest human use of fire it has been known

that if you get too close to fire it hurts.

Everyone learns that fairly early in their lives.

And if a fire is hot enough, nothing can stand in its way,

everything is helpless before it.

In this world it consumes them.

But in the Afterlife, outside time, with a punishment of forever,

while the skin is burned away it is also constantly regenerated

to suffer pain without end (4.56)

On the Day of Reckoning

when the scales of our deeds are weighed,

we will all be repaid what we have earned.

And we will not be able to speak with our mouths,

so prone to untruth,

but our hands and feet will speak as to what they have done.

And the Qur'an warns us

of the kinds of people destined for punishment,

the heartless and self-absorbed (7.179)

misers who hoard their money (9.34/35)

hypocrites (9.68)

and those ungrateful for God's provision,

who will end up clothed in fire (22.19)

Qur'an also refers to Jahannum as Saqar,

though some think that is just the name of one of its gates,

of which we are told there are seven (15.44)

with another passage saying that

over it are nineteen guardian angels,

their number set as a trial for the ungrateful (74.30)

And the implication of such numbers is open to debate,

but as with all such discussion, the motive is all important.

The Qur'an warns against the ungrateful trying to interpret its meaning to suit themselves (74.31)

Better to search for a personal meaning that also best pleases God.

Finding meanings that are more relevant and memorable for ourselves

makes us more Mindful of God

and embeds the Qur'an in our personal way of life.

Then on the Day of Judgement,

by reason of following that way,

with God's Mercy, we will enter Jannat,

the Garden,

promised to those who believe and do good deeds (22.23)