This letter attributed to Ibn Taymiyyah has not yet been printed in the published works of the Shaykh.

Second, this manuscript is rare, even though some scholars have tried to find it.

Shaykh Al-Albani said, “I had great hope that I would find this letter of Ibn Taymiyyah printed in Majmu‘ al-Fatawa gathered by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Qasim in thirty-five volumes. But sadly, I could not find any trace of it after checking all the volumes and using the detailed indexes prepared for them.”

Third, many people continue to ask about Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah’s opinion on the question of the Fire perishing. So publishing this letter may help answer that.

Fourth, the opponents of Shaykh al-Islam have used this letter as a reason to attack him and speak against him since his time. At the head of these critics was As Subki who died in the year 756 AH.

He wrote a letter titled al-I‘tibar bi-Baqa’ al-Jannah wa al-Nar as a reply to Ibn Taymiyyah’s letter. In it, he was harsh and unfair. His letter later spread in an effort to those who opposed Shaykh al-Islam in our time and those who followed them. So there was a need to correct this matter, as will be shown, if Allah wills.

Fifth, because this letter is very rare, people have differed a lot in confirming or denying that it truly belongs to Shaykh al-Islam. One example is what Dr. Ali al-Harbi said in his printed and well-known letter.

The view that Paradise and Hellfire will perish was unknown among the Salaf

Ibn Taymiyyah explains that the idea of Paradise and Hellfire coming to an end was never known from any of the Salaf. This includes the Companions, the Tabiʿin, or any of the imams of the Muslims. Those who held this view did not take it from the speech of the Prophet ﷺ, nor from anything he taught, nor from any sound reasoning he taught.

Rather, they relied on their own rational analogy, such as the claim that anything in which events occur must be originated. Ibn Taymiyyah considers this false according to both reason and revelation (Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Radd ʿalā man qāla bifanāʾ al-jannah wa al-nār, pp. 49–50).

The perishing of Hellfire was debated by the Salaf, not Paradise

As for the claim that Paradise will perish, it was never known from any of the Salaf. It was only said by Jahm ibn Safwan and those like him. But the claim that Hellfire will perish was discussed by some of the Tabiʿin and those after them.

Some scholars attributed the view of Hellfire ending to Companions like ʿUmar, Ibn Masʿud, Abu Hurayrah, and Abu Saʿid al-Khudri. For example, al-Hasan al-Basri said that ʿUmar said: “If the people of the Fire remained in the Fire for a time equal to the sand of ʿAlij, there would still be a day when they are brought out” (pp. 50–51).

This report was passed down without rejection

This narration was reported through reliable scholars of hadith and transmitted by respected figures like Sulaiman ibn Harb and Hammad ibn Salamah.

Though it is unclear whether al-Hasan heard it directly from ʿUmar, this type of report was circulated and accepted among the scholars of Sunnah and hadith without rejection, even by those who strongly condemned the innovators like the Khawarij and Jahmiyyah (pp. 51–52).

The meaning of their statement: punishment ends, not that all leave the Fire

Some of the early scholars who spoke of the Fire perishing only meant that the punishment would end, not that the people would be taken out while it remained.

The punishment would finish and cease, and this is what was meant by the Fire ending. This was their interpretation of verses like: “They will remain therein for ages” (al-Nabaʾ: 23) (pp. 53–54).

Early reports on the duration of the Fire

Ibn Abi Hatim and others reported that many of the Salaf said the “haqab” (age) means a period of eighty years, where each day is like a thousand years. This was said by Ibn ʿAbbas, Abu Hurayrah, Qatadah, al-Hasan al-Basri, Saʿid ibn Jubayr, and others (pp. 55–56).

Al-Hasan said: “Allah knows best what the ahaqab are. There is no fixed number in them except eternity,” showing that he saw them as a set number only known to Allah (pp. 56–57).

Some reports suggest the Fire will become empty

Other reports suggest Hell will be emptied. Ibn Masʿud was reported to have said: “A time will surely come upon Hell when its doors will rattle and there will be no one in it” (pp. 63–64). A similar narration from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs said that the Fire would one day be locked with no one left in it. Though these reports have chains with some weakness, they were passed around and known (pp. 64–65).

Consensus is not confirmed on the Fire being eternal

Ibn Taymiyyah states that the view that Hell is eternal is not established by a definite consensus. Many people assumed there was consensus only before they learned of early disagreement. He adds that the Quran does not clearly affirm the eternity of the Fire in the same way it does for Paradise (pp. 66–67).

Differences between the Quran’s language about Paradise and Hell

Ibn Taymiyyah explains that Paradise is described with words that affirm its everlasting nature in many places in the Quran, while the Fire is not. For example:

• Paradise: “Its fruit is everlasting, and so is its shade” (ar-Raʿd: 35)
• Paradise: “Indeed, this is Our provision, which will never be exhausted” (Saad: 54)
• Paradise: “For them is a reward uninterrupted” (Fussilat: 8)
• Paradise: “A gift never ending” (Hud: 108)

As for the Fire, it is mentioned with conditions and limitations:

• “They will remain therein for ages” (al-Nabaʾ: 23)
• “Except what your Lord wills” (al-Anʿam: 128)
• “As long as the heavens and the earth endure, except what your Lord wills” (Hud: 107) (pp. 72–74, 83–85)

The difference in nature between Paradise and the Fire

Paradise is a reward from Allah’s mercy. It was created as a reward for His believing servants, and reward is meant to last. The Fire, on the other hand, was created as a punishment for those who deserve it. Punishment may come to an end if the reason for it ends or if Allah forgives. The eternity of reward is more firmly grounded than the eternity of punishment. Ibn Taymiyyah argues that it is more appropriate in both the language of the Quran and the mercy of Allah that Paradise remains without end, while Hell may come to an end if Allah wills (pp. 86–87).

What is intended here is that this view, namely the view that Paradise and Hellfire will perish, is a view that was never known from any of the Salaf, not from the Companions, nor from the Tabiʿin who followed them with excellence, nor from any of the imams of the Muslims.

Those who said it did not do so based on what they received from the speech of the Messenger ﷺ  or his communication and clarification, nor from any rational analogy indicated by the Messenger.

Rather, they said it based on an analogy they constructed from their own minds, and it is an error in reality, even if it became unclear to many among the people of kalam who thought it was correct, and then built upon it the claim that anything not free from events must be originated, and even that anything in which events occur must be originated.

These views and the discussion about them are elaborated in places other than this. What is intended here is the issue of the perishing of Paradise and Hellfire. It has become clear that the view of the perishing of Paradise was never known from any of the Salaf nor the imams. Rather, it is the view of Jahm and those like him, and its falsehood is known both through reason and through transmission.

As for the view of the perishing of the Fire, there are two well-known positions regarding it among the Salaf and the later generations, and the disagreement in this is known from among the Tabiʿin and those after them.

But it may be said that what they intended by this was not that people will leave the Fire while the punishment remains upon others, but that the punishment itself will come to an end, and this is the meaning of its perishing.

This view has been attributed to ʿUmar, Ibn Masʿud, Abu Hurayrah, Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, and others.

ʿAbd ibn Humayd, who is among the most esteemed scholars of hadith, narrated in his well-known tafsir: He said: Sulaiman ibn Harb narrated to us, Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Thabit, from al-Hasan al-Basri, who said: ʿUmar said, “If the people of the Fire were to remain in the Fire for a period equal to the sand of ʿAlij, there would still be a day when they are brought out.”

This shows that such a senior scholar from among the scholars of hadith and Sunnah narrated from such great imams in hadith and Sunnah, like Sulaiman ibn Harb, who is one of the most distinguished scholars of Sunnah and hadith, and like Hajjaj ibn Minhāl, in their words from Hammad ibn Salamah despite his high rank in knowledge and Sunnah.

It is narrated through two routes, from Thabit and from Humayd, from al-Hasan al-Basri, who was said to be the most knowledgeable among those who remained from the Tabiʿin in his time. He narrated it from ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, and al-Hasan only heard it from some of the Tabiʿin.

So whether this was preserved accurately from ʿUmar or not, this kind of hadith was passed around among these scholars and imams, and they did not reject it. These were the ones who used to condemn those who deviated from the Sunnah, such as the Khawarij, the Muʿtazilah, the Murjiʿah, and the Jahmiyyah.

Al-Radd ʿalā man qāla bifanāʾ al-jannah wa al-nār Ibn Taymiyyah Pg 49-55

These are among the greatest leading figures of Ahl al-Sunnah who used to reject innovations far less serious than this one. So if this view were truly, in their eyes, from the innovations that contradict the Book, the Sunnah, and consensus, as some people assume, they would have spoken against it.

ʿAbd ibn Humayd (d. 249 AH) mentioned this in his tafsir under the verse of Allah Most High: “They will remain therein for ages” (al-Nabaʾ: 23). This was to clarify the view of those who said that the ahaqab (ages) have an end and will pass, unlike sustenance which has no end. And there is no doubt that whoever said this, such as ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) and those who narrated it from him, only intended by it the people of the Fire who are truly its people.

As for those who enter it due to their sins, then those scholars and others already knew that they would be taken out of it, and that they would not remain in it for a period like the sand of ʿAlij, nor anything close to that.

So this category, in their eyes, is not spoken of in such terms. And the phrase “people of the Fire” does not refer to the people of tawheed, but rather it refers specifically to others, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “As for the people of the Fire who are truly its people, they will not die therein, nor will they live.”

And his saying “they will be taken out from it” means: they will be taken out of Jahannam after its punishment has ended and perished and ceased. So they will not be taken out from it while it still continues, rather they will remain in Jahannam forever, as Allah the Most High has informed.

That is, the saying of ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) in the previously mentioned hadith on page 53.

But when its time ends and it perishes just as the dunya perishes, there will remain no punishment in it. This is because the universe is not annihilated completely, and Jahannam is in the earth, and the earth is not annihilated completely.

Rather, its perishing is through the change of its state and its transformation from one state to another, as Allah the Most High said: “Everyone on it will perish” (al-Rahman: 26). That is, they are not completely annihilated but rather they die and are destroyed. And as He said: “Whatever you have will end, and what is with Allah will remain” (al-Nahl: 96).

And I have not found any well-known report from any of the Companions that contradicts this. In fact, Abu Saʿid (d. 74 AH) and Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه,  themselves narrated the hadith of the slaughtering of death, and the hadiths of intercession and the exit of the people of tawheed from the Fire. Alongside that, they also made statements about the perishing of the Fire.

Al-Baghawi (d. 516 AH) narrated: al-Suddi (d. 128 AH), from Murrah (d. 63 AH), from ʿAbd Allah  Ibn Masʿud, رضي الله عنه (d. 32 AH), said: “If the people of the Fire knew that they would remain in the Fire for the number of pebbles on the earth, they would rejoice.”

And it has been widely transmitted from more than one of the Salaf that the haqab (age) has a specific limit.

And ahaqab is the plural of haqab. Ibn Abi Hatim (d. 327 AH) narrated from ʿAtiyyah (d. 111 AH), from Ibn ʿAbbas (d. 68 AH) regarding the verse: “They will remain therein for ages” (al-Nabaʾ: 23), he said: “Years.”

And from Abu Salih al-Samman (d. 101 AH), from Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه he said about the verse: “They will remain therein for ages”: “The haqab is eighty years, and the year is three hundred and sixty days, and the day is like a thousand years. One of those days is like the whole of this world.”

Ibn Abi Hatim also reported similar views from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs رضي الله عنه, and Hilaal al-Hujayri, and al-Dahhak رحمه الله (d. 105 AH), and Dhakwan رحمه الله, and al-Hasan رحمه الله (d. 110 AH), and Saʿid ibn Jubayr رضي الله عنه, and Qatadah رحمه الله (d. 117 AH), and ʿAmr ibn Maymun رضي الله عنه, all of whom said: “The haqab is eighty years.”

And from Hisham, and from al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110 AH), when he was asked about the saying of Allah Most High: “They will remain therein for ages,” he replied: “Allah knows best what the ahaqab are. There is no fixed number in them except eternity.”

And from al-Hasan al-Basri رحمه الله, that when he was asked about the verse: “They will remain therein for ages,” he said: “Allah knows best what the ahaqab are. There is no fixed number in them except eternity.”

Al-Radd ʿalā man qāla bifanāʾ al-jannah wa al-nār Ibn Taymiyyah Pg 55-62

And from Hisham, from al-Hasan (d. 110 AH), who said: “No one knows what the ahaqab are. But one haqab is seventy thousand years, and one day of it is like a thousand years of what you count.” His saying, “Allah knows best what the ahaqab are and no one knows what they are,” indicates that they have a fixed number known only to Allah.

If they had no number at all, then everyone would know that they have no number. This supports what al-Hasan reported from ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), as mentioned earlier. Al-Hasan’s statement that “there is no number in it except eternity” is also true, for they will remain in it forever and will not be taken out of it as long as it remains. So the statements of al-Hasan affirm and support each other.

As for their eternal residence in the Fire, that is true, just as Allah has informed.

Harb al-Kirmani (d. 280 AH) and Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi (d. 458 AH) narrated from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri (d. 74 AH), and from Qatadah (d. 117 AH), regarding the verse: “As for those who are wretched, they will be in the Fire. For them therein is sighing and wailing, remaining in it as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord wills” (Hud: 106). Allah knows best how to qualify what was stated.

Scholars of the Sunnah and hadith have narrated reports from the Companions and Tabiʿin on this matter, such as what was narrated by Harb al-Kirmani, Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi, Abu Jaʿfar al-Tabari (d. 310 AH), and others from the Companions on this issue.

And in the Musnad of al-Tabarani (d. 360 AH), it was mentioned that watercress will grow therein. Based on that, some have used this to argue for its perishing through the Book and the Sunnah and the statements of the Companions, while those who say that it will remain forever do not have any proof from the Book, nor from the Sunnah, nor from the Companions.

It was said that Ibn Masʿud (d. 32 AH) said: “A time will surely come upon Hell when its doors will rattle and there will be no one in it. That will be after they remain in it for many ahaqab.” (This was mentioned in the same source as above).

And it was narrated: Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Razi (d. 248 AH) said, Jareer narrated to us, from Bayan, from Al-Shaʿbi (d. 103 AH), who said: “Hell is the fastest of the two abodes to be populated, and the fastest of the two to be destroyed.” (In the margin of the original source, it says: “He has been criticised. Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Razi has been criticised, and Ibn Jarir al-Tabari frequently narrates from him directly. Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalani summarised his condition by saying: ‘A weak hadith memoriser.’ See: Taqrib al-Tahdhib 2/156”).

Harb al-Kirmani narrated from Ishaq ibn Rahuyah (d. 238 AH), who said: ʿUbayd Allah ibn Muʿadh narrated to us, my father narrated to me, Shuʿbah narrated to us, from Abu Balj, who heard ʿAmr ibn Maymun narrate from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr (d. 65 AH), who said: “A time will surely come upon Hell when its doors will be slammed shut and no one will be in it. That will be after they remain in it for many ahaqab.” (This report was cited by al-Dhahabi in Mizan al-Iʿtidal, in the biography of Abu Balj al-ʿAzazi, and al-Dhahabi considered this report to be one of his problematic narrations and ruled it to be strange. See Mizan al-Iʿtidal 4/384. Also see: Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Daʿifah wa al-Mawduʿah by Shaykh al-Albani 2/72).

I say: Those who decisively affirm that Hellfire will remain forever have four methods of argument.

The first: Assuming consensus. Many people think this matter has consensus and no disagreement among the Salaf, and that any opposing view is a later innovation. But consensus here is not known for certain, since such matters are not firmly established through consensus. Rather, consensus is assumed before one becomes aware of the disagreement, and this disagreement is known from early times.

The second: That the Quran clearly and decisively indicates this. For it informs in multiple places that they will remain in the Fire forever.

The third: That the widely reported Sunnah informs us that whoever has even a mustard seed’s weight of faith in his heart will be taken out of the Fire, excluding the disbelievers, who will never be taken out.

The fourth: The saying of some that the Messenger ﷺ made this known to us, and that we have come to know it through him by necessity. They do not rely on a specific text. Most people say: “We only know this from the report.”

Some of them even went so far as to claim that reason proves the eternal punishment of the disbelievers.

As for consensus, it is not actually known with certainty. These matters are not firmly proven by consensus. What happens is that consensus is assumed before people become aware of any disagreement, but disagreement on this matter is well known from early times. (Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned these methods which his teacher Shaykh al-Islam discussed, with some further elaboration and order. See: Hadi al-Arwah, pages 353 to 357).

Al-Radd ʿalā man qāla bifanāʾ al-jannah wa al-nār Ibn Taymiyyah Pg 63-71

And to this day, I have not known of any Companion who said that the Fire will never perish. Rather, what is transmitted from them is the opposite of that. But from the Tabiʿin, both views have been reported.

As for the Quran, what it indicates is true. And there is nothing in the Quran that shows the Fire will never perish. Rather, the apparent meaning of the Quran is that they will remain in it forever, as Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, informed in more than one place.

He informed us that they will ask for death, and ask to be removed from it, and ask for the punishment to be lightened, but they will not be answered—neither in that nor in this. And He informed us that they will remain in it, and that they will not be judged so that they may die, nor will the punishment be lightened for them.

And He said: “And they will scream therein, ‘Our Lord, remove us from it. If we return [to wrongdoing], then indeed we are wrongdoers!’ He will say, ‘Remain in it humiliated and do not speak to Me.’”

These texts and those like them in the Quran show that they will remain in Jahannam, not living and not dying, and that they will ask for this and that but will not be answered.

This implies that they will remain in Jahannam, the abode of punishment, as long as that punishment remains. They will not be removed from it while it remains and while its punishment endures, unlike the people of tawheed, who will be taken out by intercession and by other means while it still exists, just as people may be taken out of a prison in which punishment still continues upon those who remain.

And there is a difference between the everlasting nature of Paradise and Hellfire, both in the revealed texts and in the rational understanding.

As for the revealed texts, one of the points is that Allah informed us about the everlasting nature and continuity of the bliss of Paradise, and that it will never end or be cut off, in many places in His Book. And He informed us that the people of Paradise will not be taken out of it. As for the Fire and its punishment, He did not inform us of its permanence. Rather, He informed us that its people will not be taken out of it.

The second point is that He informed us in several verses of the Quran with wording that suggests it is not eternal.

The third point is that nothing is mentioned about the Fire in a form that clearly indicates permanence.

The fourth point is that He limited it with His saying: “They will remain therein for ages” (al-Nabaʾ: 23), and His saying: “They will remain therein except what your Lord wills” (al-Anʿam: 128), and His saying: “As long as the heavens and the earth endure, except what your Lord wills” (Hud: 107). These three verses suggest a finite or conditional matter, whereas the description of Paradise is unrestricted and unconditional and not finite. (Ibn al-Qayyim elaborated on the difference between the permanence of Paradise and the Fire, and he mentioned twenty-five points regarding this. See: Hadi al-Arwah, pages 357–379).

So this cannot be compared to that.

The sixth point: Paradise is a result of His mercy and forgiveness, and the Fire is from His punishment. And He said: “Inform My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful. And that My punishment is the painful punishment.”

And He said: “Know that Allah is severe in punishment and that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”

And He said: “Indeed, your Lord is swift in punishment, and indeed He is Forgiving, Merciful.”

So bliss comes from His Names which are intrinsic to His Essence, and therefore, its continuity is necessary by the continuity of the meanings of His Names and Attributes.

As for punishment, it is from His creation. And the created may come to an end, like the dunya and other things. Especially something created with a wisdom connected to something else.

The seventh point: He has informed us that His mercy encompasses all things, and that He wrote mercy upon Himself, and He said: “My mercy preceded My anger” and “My mercy overcame My anger.”

This is general and absolute. So if one assumes a punishment with no end, then there would be no mercy at all.

The eighth point: Alongside His vast mercy, He is also the Wise. And the Wise only creates in accordance with His general wisdom, as He mentioned His wisdom in various places. So if it is assumed that He punishes someone with a punishment that has a wisdom, then that is possible. In the dunya, we find punishments from the Sharia which contain wisdom.

And likewise, the calamities He decrees contain great wisdom, such as purification from sins, purification of the soul, and deterrence in the future both for the one punished and others. In them are lessons. And Paradise is pure, and no one enters it except one who is pure.

That is why, in the authentic hadith, it is said: “They will be held back after crossing the bridge, at a place between Paradise and the Fire. Then, when they are purified and cleansed, they will be given permission to enter Paradise.”

And the evil, unjust souls—those who, if returned to the dunya before punishment, would go back to what they were forbidden from—such beings are not suitable for the abode of peace, which does not allow for lies, injustice, or evil. So if they are punished in the Fire with a punishment that purifies their souls from that evil, this would be in line with wisdom.

Al-Radd ʿalā man qāla bifanāʾ al-jannah wa al-nār Ibn Taymiyyah Pg 72-82

As for the verses that affirm the everlasting nature of Paradise: The first is the verse: “Its fruit is everlasting, and so is its shade” (ar-Raʿd: 35). He informed us that it is everlasting, and what comes to an end is not everlasting.

The second is the verse: “Indeed, this is Our provision, which will never be exhausted” (Saad: 54). What ends is exhausted.

The third is the saying of Allah the Most High: “Whatever you have will perish, and what is with Allah will remain” (al-Nahl: 96). He informed us that what is in the dunya of goodness perishes, while what is with Allah remains and does not perish. So if what is with Allah of bliss had an end, it would perish just as the bliss of the dunya perishes, and it would not be remaining without perishing.

The fourth is like the verse in two places: “Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds, for them is a reward uninterrupted” (Fussilat: 8), and: “Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds, for them is a reward uninterrupted” (al-Inshiqaq: 25). As He also said: “And indeed for you is a reward uninterrupted” (al-Qalam: 3).

The majority of the commentators said: uninterrupted means not cut off and not less in value.

They said: from this also comes the word al-manun, which refers to death, because it cuts off a person’s life.

The fifth is like His saying about the bliss of Paradise: “A gift never ending” (Hud: 108), and regarding the punishment of the people of the Fire: “Indeed, your Lord does whatever He wills” (Hud: 107). A number of scholars said: never ending—also meaning not cut off.

The sixth is that He informed us that the people of Paradise and the people of the Fire will not die, as mentioned in the authentic hadith: Death will be brought in the form of a ram and slaughtered between Paradise and the Fire. It will then be said, “O people of Paradise, everlasting life with no death in it.

O people of the Fire, everlasting life with no death in it.” So everyone will remain eternally in what he is in. If they will not die, then they must reside somewhere. And it is impossible that they be punished after entering Paradise, so nothing remains except the abode of bliss. And the living being cannot be free from either pleasure or pain. If pain is absent, then only permanent pleasure remains.

Al-Radd ʿalā man qāla bifanāʾ al-jannah wa al-nār Ibn Taymiyyah Pg 83-87