Question 326: Do believers go to hell? Or they suffer only Barzakh?
Answer 326: In the Holy Quran Allah (SWT) says: And there is not one of you but shall come to it, This is an unavoidable decree of your Lord. And We will deliver those who guarded (against evil), and We will leave the unjust therein on their knees. [1]
The interpreters of the holy Quran have different opinions about this previous mentioned verse of the holy Quran as follows:
First Interpretation: According to some of interpreters of the holy Quran, the meaning of the word ‘Waredoha’ that mentioned in this verse is to go near or approach. This means that all the human beings such as good and bad people, without exception, will go near the Hell in order to see how the wrongdoers and sinners will be judged and what final destination they will have on the Day of Resurrection, but Allah (SWT) will save the believers.
The following is a verse of the holy Quran that the interpreters give it as a reason to support their idea. In Surah Qasas verse 23 Allah (SWT) says: “And when he arrived at the watering (place) in Madyan”.[2]
Arabic version:
وَلَمَّا وَرَدَ مَاءَ مَدْيَنَ
Second Interpretation: According to most of interpreters of the holy Quran, the word ‘Waredoha’ means Entrance. Therefore, all the human beings, without exception, enter the Hell, however it would be cold and comfort for the believers as Nimrod’s fire had been cooled and comforted upon Abraham. In this regards, Allah (SWT) says: “We said: O fire! be a comfort and peace to Ibrahim.”[3]
It seems that the second interpretation is in harmony with the apparent of the verse. Because, the main meaning of the word ‘Waredoha’ is entrance and the next verse of this Surah ‘ثُمَّ نُنَجِّي الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوا وَّنَذَرُ الظَّالِمِينَ فِيهَا جِثِيًّا’ also support this meaning. Furthermore, the following are some traditions by which we can come to the conclusion that the second interpretation is correct.
A man asked Jaber bin Abdullah Ansari about this verse and Jaber pointed to his ears saying that I heard an issue from the Holy Prophet (pbuh) by my own ears that if I lie my ears would become deaf. The Prophet said: Al-Worood al-Dokhool. Meaning that the word ‘Worood’ is entrance. And there is not one of you good and bad people but will enter the Hell. But, the fire will be cooled and comforted for the believers ….[4]
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: The Hellfire will say to the believers ‘pass me soon, as your light (noor) is turning my flame off.’[5]
What the philosophy of entering Hell for the believers, according to the second interpretation, that is actually Alla’s (SWT) wisdom is that after seeing the chastisement of Hell they (the believers) shall be the Dwellers of the Garden and well pleased with and abide in that which their souls long for.[6]
Barzakh: There is a verse in the holy Quran which explicitly states that there is an intermediate world (Barzakh) between death and resurrection.[7] There are other examples in the Quran in which it speaks of or describe people who have passed away from the world and who have not yet reached the Day of Resurrection.[8] These verses indicate that there is an intermediate world called “Barzakh”.
There are many narrations in Shiite and Sunni sources which describe the intermediate world with more precise details.[9]
Based on the above, the existence of an intermediate world is unquestionable but there is a difference of opinion as to the specific features of this world; different Muslim scholars have provided varying details in their analysis.
Avael ul Maqalat is also a book authored by Shaykh Mufid, one of the prominent Shiite scholars of the fourth and fifth century of the Islamic calendar. He wrote the book in response to various questions and queries on ideological subjects including the intermediate world. Naturally, the inferences made by him with reliance on the verses and traditions are those of him, not of the entire Shiite community.
In this book, Shaykh Mufid accepts the intermediate world in a general way and describes the situation of people therein. He says: We can study the situation of people in the intermediate world under one of the following four groups:[10]
The first group of people is those who are alive enjoying divine bounties and living in close proximity to the imams. The second group of people is those who are alive and are being chastised. There is a third group of people also about whom we have no precise information nor have we come to a certain conclusion about the way they are living. Basically, we are not sure if they are having an intermediate life. Finally, the fourth group of people includes those people who do not have an intermediate life and that they are numb and dead in the period between this world and the hereafter.
Shaykh Mufid (r.a) then goes on analyzing the above four groups one after another:
- Those people who have complete inner vision of themselves in the world and are fulfilling their divine obligations in proper manner shall be alive and shall benefit from the bounties bestowed upon by them by the Lord.
- There are some people in this world who do not embrace the true religion on account of grudge and stubbornness. Such people who have the ability to know the truth or know it and still oppose it for the sake of material worldly benefits and continue to commit major sins are alive in the intermediate world. Unlike the first group, they have a life fraught with anguish, agony and punishment.
- There are also some people who despite believing in the right religion commit great sins. In fact, they do not commit sins owing to grudge and stubbornness or because they consider them as permissible; rather they commit sins on account of their being overpowered and overcome by their whims and carnal desires. What would be their situation like in the intermediate world, if they fail to repent before death?
Thereupon, Shaykh Mufid (r.a) says: We do not know as to how their situation in the intermediate world is as we maintain doubt about the destiny Almighty Allah has set for them. It is likely that:
1 – 3. God, the Exalted, may keep them alive in the intermediate world and subject them to punishment so that they may, after getting the punishment in the grave and in the intermediate world, be purified and go to Paradise.
2 – 3. This group of people has no intermediate life and that they will be held responsible for their deeds on the Day of Judgment. God, the Exalted, will deal with them and consider some of them to be liable to punishment in Hell and some others as worthy of forgiveness and mercy.
Finally, Shaykh Mufid (may Allah bless him) concludes that in spite of having access to the Quranic verses and also traditions, he could not have verified the situation of the third group. He says that God, the Glorified, may have wanted to conceal their situation from us.
- There are two other groups of people one of which includes apparently faithful people who do not have the least understanding and insight about religion, and the other includes unbelievers whose disbelief in the right religion is not because of grudge and stubbornness but because of lacking access to a proper cultural atmosphere and to the means of understanding. In other words, they are suffering from cultural poverty and weakness. According to Shaykh Mufid (r.a), these two groups of people do not have an intermediate life and that they are numb and dead in the period between this world and the hereafter.
Meanwhile, we should reiterate that the above classification and the inferences made by Shaykh Mufid with reliance on the verses and traditions are those of him, not of the entire Shiite community. Therefore, other Shiite scholars may have other juridical views in this regard.
For further information in this regards, please read the following answer:
[1] . Surah Marym, verses 71-72.
[2] . Surah Qasas, verse 23.
[3] . Surah Anbiya, verse 69.
[4] . Noor al-Thaqalayn, Vol. 3, Pg. 353.
[5] . Ibid.
[6] . Surah Anbiya, verse 102.
[7] . Al-Momenoon, 100, “و من ورائهم برزخ إلی یوم یبعثون”.
[8] . Aal-e Imran: 169 – 171; Yasin, 26-27.
[9] . See: Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir, Behar al-Anwra, vol.6, pg.202 onward, Al-Vafa Insititute, Beirut, 1401 A.H; Qurtubi, Al-Jame’ le-Ahkaam al-Quran, vol.13, pg. 150, Intisharat Naser Khosro, Tehran, 1985.
[10] . Shaykh Mufid, Avael ul Maqalat, p.g75 – 76, Congress on Shaykh Mufid (r.a), Qom 1413 A.H.