Fifth Matter

 

 

Hell is under the earth. The Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jama‘a, namely the Sunni majority among the Muslims, are not certain about its exact location. However, they generally accept that Hell is under the earth. Based on this, I would say that like other spheres, the earth is one of the fruits of the huge tree of creation, which resembles the Tuba tree in Paradise. Under the fruit are all the branches of the tree. God’s dominion is infinite, and the tree of creation has extended its branches throughout. So, Hell is located on one of those branches. It is not important whether it lies under the earth contiguously with or at a distance from the earth. According to modern science, fire, in different forms, is diffuse throughout a great part of the universe. This indicates that Hell, the source of fire which will accompany humankind along its way to eternity, will one day tear away its veil, call humankind to be ready to meet it, and be brought forth with all its dread. I would like to draw your attention to the following point:

What is meant by “under the earth” is the inner part of the earth, its core. This means that the earth holds within it the seed of the Zaqqum tree of Hell. A day will come when this seed germinates and blossoms. The earth, which moves through space, will give birth from this seed to such a thing that even if all of Hell may not be contained within it, some part of Hell is there and that part will grow into Hell after Doomsday, and this will be the abode of the rebellious.

Even if Hell cannot now be reached to be observed, mathematics and geology will take one there. For every 33 meters that one descends towards the earth’s core the heat increases by 1°C. Thus, as the radius of the earth is 6,000 kilometers, the core is thought to have a temperature  of nearly 200,000 °C. This heat, two hundred times more intense that the heat on the surface of the earth, which can reach 1,000 °C at the most, is in agreement with the Prophetic Tradition that states, “The heat of Hell is two hundred times more intense than our heat.”42 In addition, some part of Hell burns with coldness. There is a degree of fire called nar-i bayda (white fire). It does not emit heat around it; rather, it absorbs heat, and makes the air around cold.

 

A REMINDER

It should be borne in mind that the world of eternity cannot be measured on the scales of this world. If you are patient, you will be familiar with the Hereafter at the end of the Third Part of this book.

 

AN INDICATION

From the testimony of the perfect order of the universe, which is borne out by sciences; the guidance of inductive reasoning (that is, the instances of death and revival observed in individuals and species signaling the final universal death and revival); the indication of human essence; the hint of the limitlessness of human ambitions; the reminder of numerous instances of the Resurrection observed every day and every year; the fact that there is nothing useless in creation; the enlightenment of the reality that everything is created for a certain purpose; the demonstration of infinite Divine Mercy; and most importantly of all, the decisive declarations of the Prophet, who always spoke the truth; and the guidance of the miraculous Qur’an— from all these (scientific, rational, and religious) proofs there are eight doors and two windows that open on the view of reason from the eternal happiness that is to be experienced in Paradise.

 

Said Nursi

42 For similar Traditions, see, al-Bukhari, Ibid, “Bad’ul-Khalq” 10; Muslim, Ibid, “Janna” 29; al-Tirmidhi, Sunan, “Jahannam” 7.