Seven Gates of Hell

The Seven Gates of Hell


Allah says:
لها سبعة أبواب لكل باب منه جزء مقسوم
"Indeed the hell fire is the dwelling place of them all. It has seven gates and within each gate there is an
appropriate punishment for each inhabitant…" (Hijr: 44)

Imam As Sa'di (Rahimahullah) mentions in his tafseer: "The gates of Hell are structured one gate below the
other descending, opposite the gates of paradise, which have one gate above the other ascending. The
distance between each gate is 500 years prepared for Iblees and all of his followers.

The First Gate: This gate is called Jahannam, as Allah mentions in many verses in the Qur'an:

قالوا لا تنفروا في الحر قل نار جهنم أشد حرا لو كانوا يفقهون
"They said (i.e. the hypocrites): "Don't go out for war during the heat!" Say (i.e. Muhammad) the fire of
Jahannam is even hotter if you only understood." (Tawbah: 81)

This gate is called Jahannam because the fire will scorch the faces of the men and women who enter it!!!
Their faces will be sullen and glum. It will eat away at their flesh and Allah says:

كلما نضجت جلودهم بدلنناهم جلودا غيرها ليذوقوا العذاب
"Every time the fire eats away their flesh We will replace it with new flesh so they can taste the
punishment…" (Nisaa':56)

Imam As Sa'di (Rahimahullah) mentioned in his tafseer: this is in response to their obstinacy and resistance
in the life of this world. Just as they continued to reject obedience to Allah and submission to Him, likewise
the fire will continue to burn up their flesh and when it reaches the point of almost being obliterated, Allah
will remove the old flesh and replace it with new flesh, a just recompense for their rebellion in this life."

The Second Gate: This Gate is called Ladha', as Allah says in the Qur'an:

كلا إنها لظى نزاعة للشوى تدعوا من أدبر وتولى وجمع فأوعى...
"There is no way out for them, except the Ladha (i.e. Fierce Blaze) will certainly scorch the inward organs
and the outward flesh! It will invite everyone who turned away from following the truth, heedless of it
and gathered wealth but refused to spend it in the cause of Allah…" (Ma'arij:15)

This level of hell is called Ladha because the fire will eat away at their body parts one by one, both
internally and externally. It will invite those who abandoned Tawheed (i.e. Islamic monotheism) and turned
away from that which the Prophet (Sallahu alaihi wa salam) came with.
The Third Gate: This gate is called Saqar, as Allah says:

سأصليه سقر وما أدراك ما سقر ولا تبقي واتذر لواحة للبشر عليها تسعة عشر...
"We will throw him into the Saqar and what will make you know what Saqar is? It is a scorching fire, it
spares nothing and leaves nothing behind it will shake them vehemently and over it are nineteen angels "
(Mudathir: 26-30)

It is called Saqar because it will eat up the flesh of the human being and not his bones. But listen to what
Allah mentioned about those who enter this particular level of hell:

في جنات يتسائلون عن المجرمين ما سلككم في سقر قالوا لم نك من المصلين ولم نك نطعم المسكين وكنا نخوض مع الخائضين
وكنا نكذب بيوم الدين حتى أتانا اليقين.
"Those in paradise will ask the criminals what has landed you all in Saqar? They will say: "We were not of
those who used to pray and we didn't feed the poor and we used to talk vainly with those who talked vain
talk and we used to deny the Day of Recompense until death came to us and we saw the reality of all that
we denied" (Mudathir:40-47)

So there are a total of four things that they were guilty of, which ultimately landed them in this level of the
hell fire:

The First: They did not offer salat (i.e. prayer) and the scholars also use this as a proof to show that
abandoning the salat is Kufr (i.e. disbelief). And it also shows how serious it is because it was the first thing
they mentioned out of all the offenses they were guilty of. In essence they refused to give Allah His right.
The Second: They did not feed the poor. Meaning they refused to benefit the needy on all levels.
The Third: They used to talk vainly with those who talk in vain. Meaning they used to indulge in falsehood
and used it to argue unjustly against the truth.
The Fourth: They used to deny and reject the Day of Recompense and this is the end result of delving into
falsehood.


The Fourth Gate: This gate is called Al Hutamah, as Allah says:

كلا لينبذن في الحطمة وماأدراك مالحطمة نار الله الموقدة التي تطلع على الأفئدة إنها عليهم مؤصد فعمد ممددة
"Nay they will be thrown into Al Hutamah (i.e. Crushing Fire). And what will make you know what Al
Hutamah is? The fire of Allah kindled by men and stones which scorches the hearts. Surely it is vaulted over
them in pillars widely extended." (Humazah: 4-9)

It is called Al Hutamah because it will shatter the bones of the human being and burn the heart and other
internal organs. The fire will start at his feet and burn all the way through until it reaches the heart!!! Allah
says:

إنها ترمي بشرر كالقصر كأنه جمالة صفر
"Indeed it (i.e. the hell fire) spits out sparks the size of mansions, as if they were yellow herds" (Mursalat: 32-
33)

The individual in the fire will turn completely black when the sparks ascend up and scorch their faces, hands
and bodies. They will cry tears until their tear ducts are completely exhausted then they will cry blood and
when the blood is completely exhausted they will cry pus until the pus is completely exhausted!!!! They will
leave behind a pool so great that if a ship wanted to set sail on top of what they cried it would have no
problem doing so!!!


The Fifth Gate: This particular gate is called Jaheem, as Allah mentions in many verses:

خذوه فغلواثم الجحيم صلوا ثم في سلسلة ذرعها سبعون ذراعا فاسلكوه إنه كان لا يؤمن بالله العظيم ولا يحض على طعام
المسكين...
"Seize him and shackle him!! Then roast him in Jaheem (i.e. hell fire) in chains that are seventy cubits long.
This is because he did not believe in Allah, the Magnificent and he did not encourage the feeding of the
poor." (Al Haqq: 30-34)

This gate is called Jaheem because it is actually one big piece of hot coal that is bigger than the lowest
heaven as we know it. And look at the crimes of the one who enters this particular gate:

The First: He did not have the correct belief in Allah. This is to correct the misunderstanding of those who
deride having the correct aqeedah and make discouraging statements such as "Why do they spend so much
time studying Aqeedah?!!" or "We can learn Tawheed in 10 minutes!" or those who simply say: "I just believe
in Allah!" This is a very nonchalant approach towards the greatest right over us as human beings, which is
the right of Allah (i.e. Tawheed) the right to be worshiped alone without any partners.

The Second: They refused to give the creation their rights, which is the most important right after the right
of Allah. He did not encourage the feeding of the poor.

The Sixth Gate: This gate is called Sa'eer, as Allah says:

فريق في الجنة وفريق في السعير
"A group in paradise and a group in Sa'eer (i.e. the blazing fire)" (Shurah: 7)


Allah also says about the people therein:

و قالوا لو كنا نسمع أو نعقل ما كنا في أصحاب السعير فاعترفوا بذنبهم فسحقا لأصحاب السعير
"And they will say: "If we had listened and used our intellect we would not be inhabitants of As Sa'eer (i.e.
blazing fire)!! They confessed their sins but away with the companions of As Sa'eer" (Mulk: 10-11)

This gate of Hell is called As Sa'eer because it is constantly kindling, rather it has never ceased to kindle from
the moment it was created!!

The Seventh Gate: This gate is called Al Haawiyah, as Allah says:

وأما من خفت موازينه فأمه هاوية وما أدراك ما هيه نار حامية
"As for the one whose scales are light, then the Hawiyah will embrace him like a mother embraces her child.
And what will make you know what Al Hawiyah is? It is a kindled fir burning hot." (Al Qa'riah: 8-11)

This gate of hell is called Al Hawiyah because whoever enters this level of the hell fire will never come out!!!
Notice Allah said that the fire will embrace him like a mother embraces her child!! In this level of the hell
fire there is a well that will let out a breeze of fire and when this breeze comes out it will be so hot and
powerful that all of the fires in the other levels of hell will seek refuge in Allah from it!!!

In this level of the hell fire there is a mountain made of fire and the enemies of Allah will be laid on their
faces on this mountain and their hands will be tied to their necks and their necks tied to their feet and over
them will stand the Zabaaniyah, who are angels that guard this particular level of the hell fire, as Allah
says:

سندعو الزبانية...
"And We will call the Zabaaniyah (i.e. angels who guard the hell fire)…" (Alaq: 18)

Saying of the Salaf: The blessed marriage according to the sunnah

Maa shaa 'Allah this was a beautiful explanation:


Yahyâ b. Yahyâ Al-NaysâbûrÎ reports:

I was once with Sufyân b. ‘Uyainah – Allah have mercy on him, when a man came to him and said, “O Abû Muhammad, I complain to you of so-and-so”, meaning his wife, “I am the lowest and most despicable thing to her.” [Sufyân] lowered his head for a few moments, then said, “Perhaps you wanted her in order to better your status.” The man said, “Indeed, o Abû Muhammad.” Sufyân said, “Whoever goes for glory will be tried with ignominy, whoever goes for wealth will be tried with poverty, but whoever goes for religiousness, Allah will bring together for him glory and wealth with the religion.” He then started to narrate to him:

We were four brothers: Muhammad, ‘Umrân, IbrâhÎm and I. Muhammad was the eldest, ‘Umrân was the youngest, and I was in the middle. When Muhammad wanted to marry, he desired status and married a woman of higher standing, so Allah tried him with ignominy. ‘Umrân desired wealth, so he married a richer woman and Allah tried him with poverty: [her family] took everything from him and gave him nothing.

I pondered their situation. Mu’ammar b. Râshid once came to us so I consulted him on the situation and told him the story of my brothers. He reminded me of the hadÎth of Yahyâ b. Ja’dah and the hadÎth of ‘Â`ishah. The hadÎth of Yahyâ b. Ja’dah states that the Prophet – Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – said, “A woman is married for four things: her religion, her status (lineage), her wealth or her beauty; so take the religious one and be successful.” The hadÎth of ‘Â`ishah states that the Prophet – Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – said, “The most blessed woman is she who is easiest to maintain.”

Thus, I chose [to marry a woman of] religion and modest dowry, in accordance with the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger – Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, and Allah gave me status and wealth along with the religion.

Abû Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliyâ` 7:289, 290.

Note
The first hadÎth is recorded by Al-BukhârÎ and Muslim. The second is found in Al-Nasâ`Î and other collections but has been graded weak by scholars including Shaykh Al-AlbânÎ. However, scholars point out there is another narration that supports and adds to its meaning. This hadÎth states:
It is from the blessing in a woman that she has an easy dowry, an easy proposal [via her guardian] and an easy womb (i.e. she is fertile and bares children without difficulty). One of the reporters of this narration, ‘Urwah, said “And I say from myself, one of the first signs of evil from a woman is for her to have a high dowry.”
This hadÎth is recorded by Imâm Ahmad and others and is graded hasan by Shaykh Al-AlbânÎ.