Surah Hud (11) — Ayah 107

(Ayah 108,107) ➊ {خٰلِدِيْنَ فِيْهَا مَا دَامَتِ السَّمٰوٰتُ وَ الْاَرْضُ:} "As long as the heavens and the earth endure" means eternal punishment, because when the eternity of something is intended to be expressed, the Arabs use the idiom of {’’ مَا دَامَتِ السَّمٰوٰتُ وَ الْاَرْضُ ‘‘}, otherwise there is no suspension, i.e., it does not mean that the punishment will remain as long as the heavens and the earth endure, and then not. Yes, if by the heavens and the earth are meant the heavens and the earth of the Hereafter, then even without the idiom, eternity is meant, because the earth and heavens of this world will be changed on that day, as He said: «{ يَوْمَ تُبَدَّلُ الْاَرْضُ غَيْرَ الْاَرْضِ وَ السَّمٰوٰتُ وَ بَرَزُوْا لِلّٰهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ }» [ إبراہیم : ۴۸ ] "On the Day when the earth will be changed to another earth, and the heavens [as well], and they will appear before Allah, the One, the Irresistible." In the heavens and earth of the Hereafter, Paradise will be established and it will remain forever. Therefore, those heavens and earth are also eternal, as Allah has mentioned the statement of the people of Paradise: «{ وَ قَالُوا الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ الَّذِيْ صَدَقَنَا وَعْدَهٗ وَ اَوْرَثَنَا الْاَرْضَ نَتَبَوَّاُ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ حَيْثُ نَشَآءُ }» [ الزمر : ۷۴ ] "And they will say: All praise is due to Allah, Who has fulfilled His promise to us and has made us inherit the land so that we may dwell in Paradise wherever we wish." So the meaning will be that the inhabitants of Hell will remain in Hell and the inhabitants of Paradise will remain in Paradise forever. (Ibn Kathir)

➋ {اِلَّا مَا شَآءَ رَبُّكَ:} This word has come in the mention of both {’’ شَقِيٌّ ‘‘} and { ’’ سَعِيْدٌ ‘‘ }, i.e., the wretched will remain in the Fire forever, as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord wills. Similarly, regarding the blessed, it is also said that they will remain in Paradise forever, as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord wills. In both verses, "except as your Lord wills" relates to the people of Tawheed. In the first verse, the meaning will be that sinful monotheists, after serving their punishment, will be taken out of Hell, as Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: [ يَدْخُلُ أَهْلُ الْجَنَّةِ الْجَنَّةَ وَأَهْلُ النَّارِ النَّارَ ثُمَّ يَقُوْلُ اللّٰهُ تَعَالَی أَخْرِجُوْا مَنْ كَانَ فِيْ قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ مِنْ إِيْمَانٍ، فَيُخْرَجُوْنَ مِنْهَا قَدِ اسْوَدُّوْا فَيُلْقَوْنَ فِيْ نَهْرِ الْحَيَا أَوِ الْحَيَاةِ، شَكَّ مَالِكٌ فَيَنْبُتُوْنَ كَمَا تَنْبُتُ الْحِبَّةُ فِيْ جَانِبِ السَّيْلِ، أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّهَا تَخْرُجُ صَفْرَاءَ مُلْتَوِيَةً ؟ ] [ بخاری، الإیمان، باب تفاضل أہل الإیمان فی الأعمال : ۲۲۔ مسلم : ۱۸۴ ] "The people of Paradise will enter Paradise and the people of the Fire will enter the Fire, then Allah will say: 'Whoever has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of faith, take him out of it!' So they will be taken out in such a state that they will have become blackened, then they will be thrown into {’’نَهْرُ الْحَيَا‘‘} (the river of rainwater) or {’’نَهْرُ الْحَيَاةِ‘‘} (the river of life) (Imam Malik was in doubt), so they will sprout forth as seeds sprout by the side of a flood. Have you not seen that it grows yellow and wrapped up?"

Many hadiths of this meaning have come that, after punishment or through intercession or merely by Allah's grace, sinful Muslims will eventually come out of Hell and enter Paradise, and there is consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah on this. Although some have deduced from this the eventual annihilation of Hell, and in this regard a weak hadith and some strange statements have also been transmitted, but this meaning is against other verses of the Qur'an, in which the words {’’ خٰلِدِيْنَ ‘‘} and {’’ اَبَدًا ‘‘} are mentioned regarding the inhabitants of Hell, and it is also clearly against those hadiths in which it is stated: [ يُجَاءُ بِالْمَوْتِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ كَأَنَّهٗ كَبْشٌ أَمْلَحُ حَتّٰي يُجْعَلَ بَيْنَ الْجَنَّةِ وَالنَّارِ، ثُمَّ يُذْبَحُ، ثُمَّ يُنَادِيْ مُنَادٍ يَا أَهْلَ الْجَنَّةِ ! لاَ مَوْتَ، يَا أَهْلَ النَّارِ! لاَ مَوْتَ، فَيَزْدَادُ أَهْلُ الْجَنَّةِ فَرَحًا إِلٰى فَرَحِهِمْ، وَيَزْدَادُ أَهْلُ النَّارِ حُزْنًا إِلٰی حُزْنِهِمْ ] [ مسلم، الجنۃ و نعیمہا، باب النار یدخلہا الجبارون :۲۸۴۹، 2850/43۔ بخاری : ۶۵۴۸ ] "Death will be brought in the form of a ram and slaughtered between Paradise and Hell, and a caller will announce: O people of Paradise! (Now) there is no death, and O people of the Fire! Now there is no death! So the joy of the people of Paradise will increase with more joy, and the grief of the people of Hell will increase with more grief." And in a narration of Muslim (42/2850) it is: [ كُلٌّ خَالِدٌ فِيْمَا هُوَ فِيْهِ ] that everyone will remain forever in the place where he is. There are many such Sahih hadiths, therefore there is no clear and firm evidence for the eventual annihilation of Hell.

➌ {اِنَّ رَبَّكَ فَعَّالٌ لِّمَا يُرِيْدُ :} This is a refutation of those who consider the effect of every action to be inherent, as if the inevitable result of eating poison is death. Thus, the Mu'tazilah and Kharijites say that a Muslim who commits major sins and does not repent is also eternally in Hell. Once someone enters the Fire, he will never come out of it. Allah has said regarding the people of wretchedness (who will enter Hell, including both disbelievers and sinful Muslims) that they will remain in Hell forever, except as your Lord wills. Because, without doubt, your Lord is the Doer of whatever He wills. From this it is known that the effect of anything is only by Allah's command; if He wills, the Fire burns, water drowns, poison causes death; if He wills otherwise, then neither does the Fire burn, nor does water drown, nor does eating poison cause death, even though this is against their inherent effect. Similarly, Allah will take out the sinful Muslims from Hell; He is the Doer of whatever He wills, no one can restrain His hand.

➍ { وَ اَمَّا الَّذِيْنَ سُعِدُوْا … :} In this second verse, regarding the people of felicity (the people of Paradise), the words "except as your Lord wills" are also mentioned. Here too, it refers to sinful Muslims, i.e., the people of Paradise will remain in Paradise forever, however, some people will be brought to Paradise from Hell under Allah's will. It is as if they did not remain in Paradise forever, but after entering Paradise, since no one will ever leave it, therefore at the end it is said: «{ عَطَآءً غَيْرَ مَجْذُوْذٍ }» i.e., Paradise is a gift that will never be cut off. (Ruh al-Ma'ani)

➎ Shah Abdul Qadir (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in his notes that this, i.e., the verse: «{ مَا دَامَتِ السَّمٰوٰتُ وَ الْاَرْضُ اِلَّا مَا شَآءَ رَبُّكَ }», can have two meanings: one is that they will remain in the Fire as long as the heavens and the earth have remained in the world, except as your Lord wills, and He alone knows that. The second is that they will remain in the Fire as long as the heavens and the earth of that (final) world remain, i.e., forever, except if your Lord wills to suspend it, but He has already willed not to suspend it. In this statement, there is a difference between Allah's eternity and the servant's, that with the servant's eternity, it is attached that if Allah wills, He can annihilate him." (Muwaddih) Thus, Shah Sahib has also answered the famous objection that Allah's Being is also eternal, and the people of Paradise and Hell will also remain forever in Paradise and Hell, so both become equally eternal, whereas He said: «{ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهٖ شَيْءٌ }» [ الشوریٰ : ۱۱ ] "There is nothing like unto Him." The answer is that the servant's remaining forever in Hell or Paradise and being eternal is dependent on Allah's will, whereas Allah's eternity is not dependent on anyone's will. He Himself has always been and will always be; He is both pre-eternal and everlasting.