Majmu Al Fatawa

The Shayk was asked: About the hadith of Anas ibn Malik from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:

“There are seven that do not die, nor perish, nor taste destruction: the Fire and its inhabitants, the Tablet, the Pen, the Kursi, and the Throne.” Is this hadith authentic or not?

He answered: This report in this wording is not from the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), rather it is from the speech of some scholars.

The Salaf of the Ummah, its leading scholars, and all of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaʿah have agreed that among the created things are those which do not cease to exist and will not perish such as Paradise and Hellfire, the Throne, and other things.

No one held the view that all created things will perish except a group from the people of kalam among the innovators, like Jahm ibn Safwan and those who agreed with him from the Muʿtazilah and those like them.

This is a false view which opposes the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, and the consensus of the Salaf of the Ummah and its leading scholars.

In the Book and the Sunnah are clear proofs for the everlasting nature of Paradise and its inhabitants, and for the everlasting nature of other things as well, which this short paper is not sufficient to mention. Groups from the people of kalam and the philosophers have used intellectual arguments to support the impossibility of all created things perishing. And Allah knows best.

Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (18/307)

Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wal naql

And these people say, “No, we do not accept that whatever has existed and then ceased, or whatever will exist, if some of it is smaller or shorter than other parts, must necessarily be finite.” Those who believe that the bliss of Paradise is everlasting and never ending, from among the Muslims and the People of the Book, all accept this.

No one from among the people of kalam differed in this except for Jahm and those who agreed with him in saying that the bliss will come to an end, and Abu al-Hudhayl who said that movements will come to an end.

Both of these are strange and deviant opinions, and the Salaf, the leading imams, and the majority of Muslims have all agreed on declaring those who say these things to be misguided. One of the greatest things the Salaf and the imams rejected and condemned the Jahmiyyah for was their claim that Paradise will perish.

Darʾ taʿāruḍ al-ʿaql wal naql By Ibn Taymiyyah (2/357)

Majmu Al Fatawa

And it has been narrated from ʿAli رضي الله عنهsomething that includes a general meaning. In the tafsir of al-Thaʿlabi, it is reported from Salih ibn Muhammad, from Sulayman ibn ʿAmr, from Salim al-Aftas, from al-Hasan (d. 110 AH) and Saʿid ibn Jubayr رضي الله عنه, from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه that a man once asked him for something but he did not give him anything. The man then said, “I ask you by the Face of Allah.”

So ʿAli said to him, “You have lied. It is not by the Face of Allah that you asked me. Rather, the Face of Allah is the truth. Have you not seen the saying of Allah: ‘Everything will perish except His Face’ (meaning the truth)? But you asked me by your own face, a created thing.”

And from Mujahid (d. 104 AH) it was said: “except Him.”

And from Ad-Dahhak (d. 105 AH): “Everything will perish except Allah, Paradise, Hellfire, and the Throne.”

And from Ibn Kaysan (d. 120 AH): “except His dominion.”

Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (2/428)

Majmu Al Fatawa

The Prophet ﷺ clarified that this burning is for the people of the Fire who truly belong to it. As for those who are not truly its people, then the Fire will affect them because of their sins. Allah will cause them to die in it until they become like charcoal, then intercession will be made for them and they will be brought out. They will be brought to the River of Life and will grow again just as a seed grows in the soil carried by a flood.

This meaning is widely and strongly reported from the Prophet ﷺ rather it is mass transmitted, through many hadiths in the two Sahihs and other collections, from the hadiths of Abu Saʿid (d. 74 AH), Abu Hurayrah (d. 59 AH), and others.

These hadiths are a refutation of two groups. They refute the Khawarij and the Muʿtazilah who say that the people of tawheed will stay in the Fire forever. This verse is a proof against them. And they also refute those who go to the extreme among the Murji’ah who claim that no one from the people of tawheed will enter the Fire at all.

For the Prophet’s report that the people of tawheed will be taken out of the Fire after entering it is a denial of what both of these groups claim.

It is also a refutation of those who say, “It is possible that Allah will not admit anyone from the people of tawheed into the Fire,” as is said by a group of the Murji’ah from among the Shiʿah, and the Murji’ah from the people of kalam who affiliate themselves with the Sunnah, such as the group known as al-Waqifah from the companions of Abu al-Hasan and others like Qadi Abu Bakr and those similar to him. The mass transmitted texts clearly indicate that some people of tawheed will enter the Fire and then be taken out.

As for the claim that none of the people of tawheed will enter it, I do not know of anyone in particular who held that view for certain such that it could be attributed to him by name, but it has been reported from Muqatil ibn Sulayman (d. 150 AH). It is said that those who held this view used this verse as proof.

They were answered in two ways.

One answer, given by a group among them Al-Zajjaj (d. 311 AH), is that this is a specific Fire.

However, His saying afterwards, “And he who is most wretched will be kept away from it” does not leave much room for promise, because if someone is kept away from that specific Fire, it is still possible for him to enter another one.

The second answer, given by others, is that “they will not burn in it” means they will not experience a burning that is lasting and eternal. And this is closer to the truth.

The detailed meaning is that the burning mentioned here is absolute burning, which is to remain in it and be punished in a lasting way such that the fire constantly reaches them.

As for the one who enters and then exits, then this is a kind of burning, but not the absolute burning, especially if he died in it and the Fire did not consume all of him. It has been authentically reported that the Fire does not consume the parts of the body that performed sujud.

Majmu Fatawa By Ibn Taymiyyah (16/195-197)

Minhaj As Sunnah

The second argument: They said, “Whoever acts for a reason is completed by that reason. For if the presence of the reason were not more fitting than its absence, it would not be a reason. And whoever is completed by something other than himself is deficient in himself, and this is impossible for Allah.”

They brought forth against the Muʿtazilah and those who agreed with them from the Shiʿah an argument that, based on their own foundations, cuts them off. They said: “The reason for which He acted, if its existence and nonexistence are equal with regard to Him, then it is impossible for it to be a reason.

But if its existence is more fitting, and it is something separate from Him, then that necessitates that He is completed by something other than Himself. And if it resides within Him, then that necessitates that He is a place for events to occur.”

As for those who allow for taʿlil (reason-based action), they are themselves in disagreement. The Muʿtazilah and their followers among the Shiʿah affirm a type of reasoning that is not rational. They claim that He acts due to a reason that is separate from the doer, even though its existence and nonexistence are equal in relation to Him.

As for Ahl al-Sunnah who affirm taʿlil, they say: “Indeed, Allah loves.”

Then it was claimed that Paradise and Hellfire will perish. And Abu al-Hudhayl al-ʿAllaf claimed that the movements of the people of Paradise and the people of Hellfire will come to an end, and they will remain in a constant state of stillness (Abu al-Hudhayl is Muhammad ibn al-Hudhayl ibn Abd Allah ibn Makhul al-ʿAbdi al-ʿAllaf, the leading figure of the Basran Muʿtazilah and head of the Hudhayli sect.

He was born in Basrah in the year 135 AH and died either in 226 AH, or 227 AH, or 235 AH, according to three opinions. Al-Shahrastani said in al-Milal wa al-Nihal (1/54): Among the views unique to Abu al-Hudhayl, unlike the rest of the Muʿtazilah, is his belief that the movements of the people of the two eternal abodes will come to an end, and that they will settle in a permanent stillness.

For the people of Paradise, pleasures will gather in that stillness, and for the people of Hellfire, pains will gather in that stillness. This is close to the view of Jahm, who claimed that Paradise and Hellfire will perish. For a biography of Abu al-Hudhayl and a discussion of his doctrine, see: Lisan al-Mizan 5/413, Wafayat al-Aʿyan 3/396, Tarikh Baghdad 3/366, al-Milal wa al-Nihal 1/53–56, al-Farq bayn al-Firaq 73–79, al-Maqalat 1/217, 224, 225, and ʿAli Mustafa al-Ghurabi: Abu al-Hudhayl al-ʿAllaf, Cairo, 1949).

That is because they believed that infinite sequence in created events is impossible, both in the past and in the future, so they made these claims by which the Imams of Islam declared them misguided.

As for the infinite sequence of events in the past, there are two views among the people of Islam, from among the people of hadith, kalam, and others.

Among them are those who say: “Allah has always been speaking when He wills, and He has always been acting when He wills, performing actions that take place within Himself, by His power and will, one after another.” They say: “He has always been speaking by His will, and acting by His will, one thing after another,” while also holding that everything other than Allah is originated, created, and brought into existence after not having existed.

Minhaj As Sunnah Nabawiyyah By Ibn Taymiyyah (1/145-147)

The Salaf of the Ummah, its leading scholars, and all of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaʿah have agreed that among the created things are those which do not cease to exist , such as Paradise, Hellfire, the Throne, and other things.

No one held the view that all created things will perish except for a group from among the people of kalam who innovated, like Jahm ibn Safwan and those who agreed with him from among the Muʿtazilah and those like them.

This is a false view that contradicts the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger, and the consensus of the Salaf of the Ummah and its leading scholars, because of what is clearly indicated therein regarding the everlasting nature of Paradise and its inhabitants, and the everlasting nature of other things too, which this short paper is not enough to mention.

Groups among the people of kalam and the philosophers have used rational arguments to try to prove the impossibility of all created things perishing.

Bayan Talbis Al Jahmiyyah By Ibn Taymiyyah (1/581)