The Hell

By: Ayatullah Shaheed Sayyid Abdul Husain Dastghaib
Hell is a fathomless, wide and spacious pit. God's anger will turn into fire in it. It is the last jail wherein will be various kinds of punishments, chastisements, pains, troubles, hardships and calamities. They will be such that we cannot even imagine them. We cannot even understand them. In fact it is exactly opposite to paradise. In paradise, there will be every kind of comfort and pleasure and joy and not even an iota of pain or trouble. But in hell, there will be nothing except hardships, troubles, sorrows, griefs and sufferings. There will be no room at all for peace and happiness and comfort. Here are some of the tortures (punishments) being meted out to offenders in hell as mentioned in the Holy Quran: Summa…Zaqqoom. (Surah Waqiah 56:51-52), meaning: Verily, O Misguided! And O deniers! You will have to, surely and certainly, eat Zaqqoom (fruit and leaves of the thorny thoohar). Fa Ma Li Ooo Na…Buttoon (Surah Ibid: 53) meaning: So, due to sheer hunger you will have to fill your stomachs with it. Fa Shaa Ri Boon…Hameem. (Surah Ibid: 54) Meaning: Then you will have to drink extremely hot water (due to extreme thirst you will have no alternative but to drink it).

Punishment Of Hunger And Thirst In Hell
It is mentioned in traditions that the people of hell will be given the punishment of hunger so that they will willy-nilly eat the fruit of the Thoohar tree (balanites). Thereafter they will be made of taste the chastisement of thirst so they may drink more and more from hameem (boiling water): Wa Shqoo…Amaaihim (Surah Muhammad 47: 15). That water will be so hot that it will tear their intestines into bits. It is mentioned that even a drop of it shall break worldly mountain into particles if dropped on them.
Fa Shaariboo Na Shurbal Heem (Surah Ibid: 55) meaning: They will drink this hot water like those camels which had remained thirsty for years. (Heem is plural of Aheem. It means a camel suffering from an illness called Khiyaam. It is like the illness called Marz Istiquaa (in which man remains ever thirsty). No amount of water satisfies them).
Haazaa…Deen (Surah Ibid: 56) meaning: On the Day of Judgement, these sinners will be offered Zaqqoom and Hameem. This will be only the initial punishment. Later chastisement in hell is beyond description.

Zaqqoom – Burning Food For Sinners
The Lord of the universe says: Inna Shaja Rata…Hameem (Surah Dukhan: 43-46) meaning: Verily the (fruit and leaves of Zaqqoom tree) will be the food of those who are great sinners. It is said that they will be deniers and inimical fellows and that Zaqqoom is a thing which will be melted in fire like copper. It is also said that Muhl will be the boiling oil of Zaitoon (Olive) which will boil in stomach like boiling water.

It Will Melt The Outer And The Inner Bodies Of The Offenders
Zuqqoom will boil in the stomachs of deniers like water boiling on fire or like olive oil heated on fierce fire. Then this boiling water will be shed on their heads which will melt all the outer and inner organs of the sinners: Yusabbu…Aleema (Surah Hajj 22:19) meaning: We have big size shackles which cannot be unlocked and fiercely leaping fire and foods which will get stuck up in throats and very a painful punishment.
Imam Baqir (a.s.) is reported to have said that the tree of Zaqqoom will rise up from the deep pit of hell. Its leaves, thorns and fruits all will be of fire. It will be bitter than Musabbar (Aloes) and worse than corpse in bad smell and harder than iron.

Ghisleen, Zaree, Sadeed And Ghassaq
Ghisleen is one of the food to be given in hell: Wa Laa…Ghisleen (Surah Haaqqah 69:36). It is mentioned in tafseer Majmaul Bahrain that whatever will come out the stomachs of the people of hell after eating Zaqqoom will their food once again.
One of the hell food will also be Zaree. It is said that it will be like a thorn, bitter than aloes and more bad smelling than a corpse or carcass and more inflammable than fire itself.
One more hell food is Sadeed: Wa Yusqaa…Ghassaqaa (Surah Ibrahim 14:16). It will be the dirty blood and pus flowing from the private parts of the adulterers in hell.
Another hell food will be Ghassaq: Illaa Hameeman Wa Ghassaaqaa (Surah Naba 78:25). Some commentators have written that it is a spring in hell. Poisons of various poisonous animals flow in it.

Clothing Of The People Of Hell
Qutti at…naar. (Surah Hajj 22: 19) clothing of fire have been prepared for the people of hell. It is said that it will be a dress made up of molten copper.
Almighty Allah says: Saraa Beeluhum…Naar (Surah Ibrahim 14:50) meaning: Their dresses will be made of Qitraan and that their faces will be covered with fire.
Qitraan is a black bad-smelling thing which grows in the skin of a camel afflicted by a disease causing itch. It is being burnt along with the afflicted part of the animal's skin, when it burns out very swiftly.
It is mentioned that if such a dress of hell is made to hang between the sky and earth its foul smell and heat will kill all on earth.

Discharge, Shackles And Chains
Yu'rifoonal…Aqdaam. (Surah Rehman 55:41) meaning: The sinners will be identified by their facial signs which will be blue eyes and black cheeks. At that time they will be dragged towards hell by catching hold of their forehead hair and sometimes their legs or that some by their forehead hair and some by their legs and they will be flung into hell.
Izil Aghlaa…Yusjaroon. (Surah Momin 40:71-72). Meaning: When shackles will be put in their necks, they will be dragged by chains towards hell and then they will be burnt in hell-fire.
Taral Lazeena… Muswaddah. (Surah Zumur 39:60) meaning: You will see that the faces of those people are black who were telling lies about God.
Tal Fakhu…Kaalihoon. (Surah Mominoon 23:104) meaning: Fire will burn their faces and they will become very ugly. Like the burnt down heads of sheep their teeth will be visible and their lips will be hanging.