Ibn Majah

1؎: Regarding the perpetrator of major sins (kabirah), in the hadiths concerning the warnings (wa‘id) about the Hereafter, it is mentioned that he is accursed, or there is a warning that he will not enter Paradise, or that he will enter Hell. The summary of the scholars’ opinions in this regard is as follows:

1 «لا يدخل الجنة»: He will not enter Paradise, meaning he will not enter the higher levels of Paradise in terms of blessings, delight, and joy. This does not mean that he will not enter any level or rank of Paradise at all.

2. It has also been said that the perpetrator of major sins will not enter Paradise until those who did not commit major sins are entering Paradise, because he will be in the stage of reckoning and questioning for his sins, or he will be in Hell as a recompense for his sins, and after serving his punishment, he will enter Paradise. Some have expressed this meaning in these words: «إن النفي هو الدخول المطلق الذي لا يكون معه عذاب، لا الدخول المقيد الذي يحصل لمن دخل النار ثم دخل الجنة», meaning: The hadiths negate entry into Paradise in an absolute sense, i.e., entry without punishment, not the negation of entry with the condition that he will enter Paradise after having entered Hell and serving his punishment.

3. Another opinion is that the hadiths contain a condition and exception, i.e., if Allah punishes him (the perpetrator of major sins), then he will not enter Paradise, or he will not enter Paradise unless Allah forgives him. Regarding the hadiths that warn of Hell for the perpetrator of certain sins, Imam Nawawi states that for the perpetrator of major sins less than disbelief (kufr), all the hadiths concerning the warning of Hell should be understood as stating that this is his punishment; sometimes he will deserve the punishment, and sometimes he will be pardoned from it. Then, if he is punished (as recompense for his crime), he will enter Hell, but he will not remain there forever; rather, by Allah’s grace and mercy, he will necessarily be taken out. No one who dies upon tawhid will remain in Hell forever and eternally; this is a unanimously agreed-upon principle among Ahl al-Sunnah.

The more correct and sound view regarding the hadiths of promise and warning (wa‘d wa wa‘id) concerning the Hereafter is that they should be taken upon their apparent meaning, and it should be believed that these actions are causes and reasons for the establishment and realization of the promises and warnings, but these promises or warnings will not be applied to any specific individual unless all the conditions and restrictions are present in him, and there are no impediments in this regard. Shaykh al-Islam Imam Ibn Taymiyyah has clarified this issue in numerous places. This is because, in many hadiths, entry into Paradise for righteous deeds is mentioned on the condition that the believer avoids and stays away from shirk (associating partners with Allah). And in those general narrations in which entry into Paradise or the prohibition of Hell is mentioned for the testimony of faith (kalimah shahadah «لا الہ الا اللہ») or the two testimonies (shahadatayn), other hadiths have mentioned their conditions and restrictions, due to which it is necessary and obligatory to interpret the general hadiths in light of the restricted ones. In the general hadiths «لا الہ الا اللہ محمد رسول اللہ», the testimony of tawhid is stated as a requirement for entry into Paradise, for which the presence of conditions and restrictions and the absence of impediments is necessary. This is why, when it was said to Imam Hasan al-Basri that some people say that whoever says «لا الہ الا اللہ» will enter Paradise, he replied: Whoever says the testimony of tawhid and fulfills its rights and obligations will enter Paradise.

Wahb ibn Munabbih was asked by a questioner: Is the testimony of tawhid «لا الہ الا اللہ» not the key to Paradise? He replied: Why not, but a key is not without teeth; if you bring a key with teeth, the door of Paradise will open for you, otherwise it will not. The scholars have mentioned that there are seven conditions that must necessarily be present in the one who professes the testimony (the one who says «لا الہ الا اللہ») so that he may benefit from this testimony: (knowledge, certainty, sincerity, truthfulness, love, submission, acceptance).

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, while explaining the meaning of the hadith: «إن الله حرم على النار من قال: لا إله إلا الله يبتغي وجه الله» “Allah has made Hell forbidden for the one who says «لا الہ الا اللہ» seeking Allah’s pleasure,” states: The Lawgiver has not stated that its attainment (i.e., entering Paradise and not entering Hell) is by mere verbal affirmation, because the enemies of Islam, the hypocrites, used to repeat the testimony of tawhid with their tongues, and yet they are deserving of the worst level of Hell. Therefore, both verbal affirmation and affirmation of the heart are necessary and obligatory. And in the affirmation of the heart, there is knowledge and confirmation of the testimony, and in the testimony, there is the denial of all false deities and the affirmation of the divinity and worship of Allah alone, and the knowledge of the reality of negating divinity from all besides Allah, that divinity and worship are exclusive to Allah and its affirmation for anyone else is impossible. As a result of this knowledge, recognition, certainty, and state being firmly established in the heart, Hell is forbidden for the one who professes the testimony, and whatever reward and recompense the Lawgiver has specified in every statement is the complete and perfect matter.

Imam Sulayman ibn ‘Abdullah states that saying the testimony of tawhid with the tongue, without understanding its meaning and without acting upon its requirements, is by consensus not beneficial (Taysir al-‘Aziz al-Hamid).

When Abu Bakr radi Allahu anhu intended to fight those who refused to pay zakat, ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu objected to him, citing the well-known hadith: «أمرت أن أقاتل الناس حتى يقولوا: لا إله إلا الله، فمن قالها فقد عصم مني ماله ونفسه إلا بحقه، وحسابه على الله» (agreed upon). Abu Bakr radi Allahu anhu explained to him that fighting those who do not fulfill the rights of the testimony of tawhid is not prohibited, because the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: Whoever says the testimony, his wealth and life are protected with me except for a right that makes killing obligatory, i.e., the requirement of justice. He said that zakat is a right of wealth, meaning that those who do not pay it will be fought against. ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu and the other noble Companions radi Allahu anhum accepted Abu Bakr’s understanding and reasoning of the hadith and joined him in fighting those people.

In another agreed-upon hadith of Ibn ‘Umar radi Allahu anhuma, the sanctity and inviolability of the blood and wealth of Muslims is further clarified, as the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: “I have been commanded by my Lord to fight the people until they bear witness to the testimony of tawhid and messengership («لا الہ الا اللہ محمد رسول اللہ»), and until they establish prayer and pay zakat. When they fulfill the obligations, their blood and wealth become inviolable and protected with me, except for the right of Islam, i.e., the cause that makes killing obligatory and the requirement of justice, and (after the fulfillment of justice and the implementation of the prescribed punishments) their reckoning is with Allah.”

When it is known that worldly punishments are not waived merely by professing the testimony of tawhid and messengership, but in the case of not fulfilling any right of Islam, a person becomes deserving of punishment, then similarly, in the Hereafter, the matter of deserving punishment or reward depends on performing or neglecting these actions.

In summary, the meaning of Hell being forbidden for the one who professes the testimony of tawhid, and the matter of being taken out of Hell through intercession, is that whoever fulfills the conditions and restrictions of the testimony of Islam by fulfilling its rights and obligations, and the obstacles to the path of Paradise are removed for him, then this promise will be established and realized for him.

Regarding the hadiths of warning (wa‘id) concerning the rulings of the Hereafter, the correct view is also that they should be maintained upon their apparent meaning and application, and not applied to any specific individual. This issue can be further understood by the example that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam cursed ten people in relation to alcohol: the one who distills it, the one who has it distilled, the one who drinks it, the one who carries it, etc. However, in Sahih al-Bukhari, it is narrated that ‘Umar radi Allahu anhu said: There was a man named ‘Abdullah, known by the nickname Himar, who used to make the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam laugh. This man was flogged by the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam for the prescribed punishment of drinking alcohol. Once, this Companion was brought again to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and was flogged again. A man said: May Allah curse him, how many times has he been brought for drinking alcohol! The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to him: Do not curse him, for by Allah, I know nothing about him except that he loves Allah and His Messenger.

In this hadith, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam forbade cursing this specific man who had repeatedly drunk alcohol, while in the earlier hadith, the drinker of alcohol is cursed. Therefore, from a general curse, it does not necessarily follow that a specific and identified person is cursed, especially if there are impediments (that prevent the curse from applying) that keep him away from this warning.

The practice of stating the hadiths of warning in general terms and not applying them to any specific person is necessary in all those hadiths in which there is a threat of Hell in the Hereafter for a particular act. For example, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: «إذا التقى المسلمان بسيفهما، فالقاتل والمقتول في النار» “When two Muslims confront each other with swords, both the killer and the killed are in the Fire.” Regarding the prohibition of unjust fighting among Muslims, it is obligatory to act upon this hadith and to believe that the one who does this act is threatened with this warning. However, even so, we do not judge that the participants in the battles of Jamal and Siffin will enter Hell, because those who participated in these battles had excuses and interpretations, and they had such good deeds that require that this hadith not be applied to them.

For this reason, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah summarized this issue in these words: “Acting upon the requirements of the hadiths of warning is obligatory with the belief that the one who commits this act is threatened with the warning for this crime, but for this warning to apply to a specific person, the presence of conditions and restrictions and the absence of impediments is necessary.” In another place, he says: And this is just as the texts of warning are, as Allah the Exalted says: «إن الذين يأكلون أموال اليتامى ظلما إنما يأكلون في بطونهم نارا وسيصلون سعيرا» (Surah al-Nisa: 10), and these texts of warning are true, but it is not testified that this warning is realized for a specific individual. Thus, it is not testified for any specific person who faces the qiblah that he is threatened with Hell, because it is possible that this warning does not apply to him due to the absence of a condition or the presence of an impediment.”

The scholars have mentioned eleven causes for the falling away of the punishment for sins, due to which the enforcement of the warning is prevented or suspended:

1. Tawhid (monotheism)
2. Repentance (tawbah) (this is by consensus a barrier to the enforcement of the warning)
3. Seeking forgiveness (istighfar)
4. Good deeds (which erase bad deeds)
5. The supplication of the believers for the believer, such as the funeral prayer
6. Good deeds performed to benefit the deceased, such as charity and alms, etc.
7. The intercession (shafa‘ah) of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and others for sinners on the Day of Judgment
8. Worldly pains and calamities through which Allah forgives mistakes
9. The hardships and trials in the grave, which are also expiation for sins
10. The terrors, hardships, and difficulties of the Day of Judgment
11. The mercy and pardon of Allah, and His forgiveness without intercession.