THE HEN
The Hen
Abu Nu’aym reported a narration on the authority of Ibn Abbas (radi Allahu ‘anhuma) that he said: “Paradise is in the seventh Heaven and Allah will place where he wishes on the Day of Judgment. Hell is on the seventh earth.”
Ibn Mas’ud (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) said: ‘Paradise is in the lofty seventh heaven while Hell is in the lowest seventh earth.’
He then read the following verses:
“No! Indeed, the record of the wicked is in sijjin.” (Al-Mutaffifin (83): 7)
Allah, the Most High said:
“No! Indeed, the record of the righteous is in ‘illiyyun.” (Al-Mutaffifin (83): 18)
Allah, the Most High said:
“And in the heaven is your provision and whatever you are promised.. “ (Al-Dhariyat (51): 22)
Based on this verse, scholars have said that Paradise is in the seventh Heaven, while other scholars claim that Hell is indeed on earth; extrapolating from the verses of the Qur’an that mention the disbelievers being shown Hell in the morning and evening in barzakh (The interim period between worldly life and the Hereafter.) and from the fact that the doors of the sky will not be opened for them.
In the hadith narrated on the authority of Al-Bara’ Ibn (Azib (radiyAllahu ‘anhu), the Prophet (pbuh) said in explaining the way the soul is seized, “The soul of the person is brought to the Earth’s heaven and permission is requested for it to be opened,it is refused and the Prophet (pbuh) then read:
“Indeed, those who deny Our verses and are arrogant toward them—the gates of Heavenwill not be opened for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel enters into the eye of a needle [i.e., never]. And thus do We recompense the criminals. “ (Al-A’raf (7): 40)
He (pbuh) said: “Allah said: ‘Write his book (of deeds) in sijjin, in the lowest Earth.’ The soul is then thrown off.” Reported by Ahmad and others. (Ahmad in his Musnad, 4/278, 295, 296, Abu Dawud, #4753 and others.)
Abu Hurayrah (radijAllahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) described the seizing of the disbeliever’s soul, “So it comes out like the foulest stench of a corpse. They bring him to the gates of the Earth, where they say: ‘How foul is this stench!’ Then they take him to the souls of the disbelievers.” Reported by Ibn Hibban, Hakim among others. (Ibn Hibban, #773, Hakim, 1/302-303 and others.)
‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn ‘As (radi Allahu ‘anhuma) said: ‘The souls of the disbelievers are in the seventh Earth.’
Section One:
The Seas will Erupt and Overflow on the Day of Judgment
It is said that the seas will erupt and overflow on the Day of Judgment and it will eventually become one sea. Allah said in the Qur’an:
“And say, ‘The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills—let him believe; and whoever wills—let him disbelieved. Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them.” (Al-Kahf (18): 29)
Allah, the Most High said,
“And when the seas are filled with flame.” (Al-Takwir(81): 6)
Ibn ‘Abbas (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) commented on the latter verse saying, ‘It erupts until it becomes fire.’” He added, ‘The sun, moon and stars will fall into the sea. Allah will send upon it a westerly wind that will blow upon it until a fire is kindled.’ This was reported by Ibn Abi Dunya and Ibn Abi Hatim. It was reported by them also that Ibn ‘Abbas (radi Allahu ‘anhuma) commented on the following verse thus:
“And indeed, Hell will encompass the disbelievers. “ (Al-Tawbah (9): 49)
This is the sea into which the stars will be strewn and into which the sun and moon will fall. This is indeed Hell.
Sa’id Ibn Musayyib narrated that a Jewish man once asked ‘Ali (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) regarding the whereabouts of Hell. ‘Ali (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) replied, ‘The sea.’ Adding, ‘I am quite positive that he (the questioner) believes (what I said).’ In another narration, ‘Ali asked a Jew regarding the whereabouts of Hell. He replied: ‘It is under the sea.’ ‘Ali (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) replied in the affirmative and read the following verses.
“And when the seas are filled with flame.”
Ubayy Ibn Ka’b (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) said. ‘The Jinn told men, ‘We have come with some news. Go to the sea and behold, it was a raging fire.” Ibn Ka’b (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) commented on the verse:
“[It will be] on the Day the earth will be replaced by another earth, and the heavens [as well]…. “ (Ibrahim (14): 48)
That the heavens change into gardens while the Earth becomes a flaming sea. It is reported in the Sunan of Abu Dawud that Abdullah Ibn Amr (radi Allahu ‘anhuma) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “One is not to travel in the sea except for Hajj, (Umrah or War for verily below the sea is the fire and below the fire is the sea. “ (Abu Dawud, #2489)
Mu’awiyah Ibn Sa’id said: ‘Verily this sea, that is the Roman sea, is the centre of the Earth. Confluence of all the rivers is to this sea. Even the great sea pours into it. All the wells deposit copper crusts into it and this will cause it to overflow on the Day of Judgment.’
When the fish swallowed Prophet Yunus (alayhi as-salam), it traveled around the seven seas and stopped at the sea bed next to Hell’s pit. Prophet Yunus (‘alayhi as-salam) glorified Allah from within the fish, which was heard by Qarun who was dwelling in Hellfire.”
Some are of the opinion that Hell is in the sky. Mujahid commented on the verse:
“And in heaven is your provision and whatever you are promised. “ (Al-Dhariyat (51): 22)
That it refers to heaven and Hell. Imam Ahmad recorded a narration on the authority of Hudhayfah (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) who narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “I was presented with Buraq (A horse-like creature with wings for flying.) and Jibrll and I reached Baitul-Maqdis (in Jerusalem) as soon as we sat on it. The doors of the skies were opened for us and I saw heaven and Hell. “ (Ahmad in his Musnad, 5/387, 392, 394,)
However the hadith mentions that he saw Hell while he was in the skies and thus, it can be argued that his seeing it does not tantamount to it being in the skies. To substantiate this point, it can be noted that the dead see both heaven and Hell in their graves. This does not mean that heaven is on Earth.The Prophet (pbuh) also saw Paradise and Hell while performing the lunar-eclipse prayer. It was also narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) saw Hell while on his way to Baitul-Maqdis. (Ibn Hibban, #2606 and others)
‘Ubadah Ibn Samit (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) stood in front of the eastern wall of Baitul-Maqdis and wept. He then said that it was the exact spot where the Prophet (pbuh) told us that he saw Hell.
By Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali
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