I also felt something in the answer to be incomplete or not covered in your answer. Do we believe in eternal punishment or hell as a hospital? Eternal punishment? Eternal? No, no. Or do we believe in hell as a hospital? Yes, sort of. A hospital together with, along with, a sort of punishment. Hospital is a punishment in fact, you know, with all those smells of medicines and when the medicines are applied, the pain or, you know, the stringent feeling it causes, and the operations and all that, it’s all a punishment, yet it is also a way of curing you of diseases and reforming you spiritually.
So you are quite right that this aspect of the question needs to be answered in more detail. Even the opinion of the Muslim clergy is divided on this issue very sharply. Most of the non-Ahmadi scholars believe that hell is eternal, like unfortunately many Christians believe that, and also the Jews believe the same. Not all of them, but some. But the Ahmadis are very categorical on this issue. They prove it from the Holy Qur’an, they assert on the authority of the Holy Qur’an that hell is temporary and heaven is everlasting. And also they believe this on the authority of the Holy Prophet of Islam as well, who expounding the Holy Qur’an, of course, whatever he said was as exposition of the Holy Qur’an, at one stage tells us in detail what would happen to the inmates of hell ultimately.
He goes on describing that one after the other, the lesser, the people with lesser sins would be relieved from hell and permitted to enter heaven. And then would come the turn of those with graver sins, and so the turn of those with still graver sins would come. Now if they have some deformities, unless they are cured of those deformities, they cannot enter heaven, because no deformed soul would enter heaven. So this is why I said, yes, you’re right, it’s not only a punishment, but it’s also a reformatory, a sort of hospital, where operations would be carried upon them and some treatments would be given to them, ultimately for their cure, with the end of curing them.
The Holy Prophet of Islam continues to tell us that a time would come when the gravest of the sinners, the one who earned the greatest wrath of Allah, would be left alone in hell. All the inmates would have abandoned hell, and one after the other they would have been transferred to heaven. So ultimately Allah will show mercy on him and would relieve him from the hellish punishment. That he would not permit him to enter heaven, but coming out of hell would appear like heaven to him, for a while. Then having developed that taste which would have nothing to do with sin, a new type of taste in which living without sin would be heaven to him, that is the initial stage. He would acquire some more taste for goodness, and then in that metaphorical way the Holy Prophet goes on to explain, he would beg Allah to show him something of the heaven by opening a window, just a window.
And Allah would open a window to him and say, what a beautiful scene, you know, what a wonderful scene, can I have a gust of heavenly wind? So Allah would say, all right, you can have a gust of heavenly wind. So ultimately he would say, Allah, can I creep a bit closer to the gate of heaven? So Allah, you know this is a way of telling things, how Allah loves his creatures and how ultimately he would treat the most sinful even. So Allah would say, yes, you can come closer. Then he would say, just one step into the heaven, please. So Allah would say, all right, have one step.
So he would have one step and the second step would follow very quickly, very rapidly. And say, once I am inside, please let me remain inside. So Allah would say, okay, yes, you can enjoy heaven. So this is sometimes the treatment of Allah to us here in this world as well. This is how he relieves us of our sins and carries us to goodness and greater goodness. So the same is manifested there in the world to come, inshallah, and the heaven would remain filled but the hell would remain so empty that in the same tradition the Holy Prophet tells us as if a house is totally deserted and abandoned, there is nobody to bolt the doors and windows and things.
And when the wind blows, they shatter against each other and make noises and no one to look after that place. So would hell come to that stage ultimately with no inmates. After that categorical declaration, how can the Muslims, some of the Muslims believe that hell is forever? I can’t understand that. Is that right? Thank you.
