How Can You Be So Sure That the Punishment Is For Eternity
Question:
It may appear from the following discussion that the punishment may not be eternal:
Is the punishment of hell eternal
So where do you get so much conviction of eternal punishment?
Answer:
Before answering your question, please do consider that since in my view description of heaven and hell are among the allegorical verses of the Qur'an, we should always be cautious about discussing them in too much detail, as we may end up discussing something that may not literally happen the way that we think it is going to happen. It is enough to understand and appreciate from the Qur'an that our bad personality and performance in this world can significantly damage our destiny in the hereafter. This 'significant damage' is referred to in the Qur'an with the allegorical expression of 'permanent punishment'. The exact nature of this punishment is not comprehensible for us and is therefore not been explicitly and entirely revealed to us.
Therefore, unline what you wrote, in terms of what really happens in the hereafter I am not sure of anything. However I can share what I am sure the verses of the Qur'an are literally saying. The following answer is within the scope of simply analyzing what the Qur'an has literally told us, rather than discussing how literal we should take the meaning of these verses.
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I would like to clarify a few points about my understanding of this subject:
1. I am not saying that God will not take any one out of hell. God does whatever He chooses to do. All that I am saying is that the Qur’an has not informed us about people coming out of hell, quite contrary the concepts of punishment and eternity are closely linked in the Qur’an.
2. Not only the Qur’an refers to eternal punishment, but it also remains totally silent about people coming out of hell. There are very detailed descriptions of the hereafter in the Qur’an along with very detailed description of hell and what will happen in hell. It is not a trivial fact that there is no narration in the Qur’an about people coming out of hell after being punished. This, to my understanding, would be such an extra ordinary incident that truly deserves mentioning. Any arguments for temporary punishment in hell first needs to tackle this problem.
3. I am not saying that those who do not deserve to be under eternal punishment will be eternally punished. Quite contrary I am saying that, based on my understanding of the Qur’an, those who do not deserve eternal punishment will not be punished at all. Looking from this perspective, believing in eternal punishment is in fact associated with much more merciful image of the Almighty.
As for the article that you referred to, I praise and respect the author for his research oriented approach. However I did not find myself in agreement with the way that the author reasons about the meaning of the verses under discussion. To start with, I cannot understand how when it comes to the verses of heaven we should interpret Abad and Khuld as ‘eternal’ but when it comes to the verses of hell we should interpret them as ‘long time’.
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There are a number of arguments in the article but to keep it simple at this stage allow me to only address the one that I perceive as the main argument of the author:
“Khuld and Abad have meanings other than eternal.”
Many words in many languages have slightly or sometimes drastically different meanings. However normally every word has a default usage that the reader will not dismiss unless there is an evidence that the meaning here is different.
When I read in English: “He was very cold”, what I understand is that the person felt the temperature was too low and was therefore shivering from the low temperature. It is only when I read: “He was very cold, never talked to us”, that I understand that ‘cold’ here means not bothering to communicate.
The question that needs to be addressed is, whether the words Khuld and Abad by default are used for ‘permanent’ and then as an extended usage they can also be interpreted as ‘long time’ or if it is the other way round.
When we look at the books of Lughat (Words) in Arabic it is very easy to appreciate that in deed the default use (not necessarily the literal meaning) of these words denotes a permanent condition. To be more accurate Khuld is more referring to the continuity of the situation while Abad refers to the endless nature of the situation. This, in particular for the word Abad is even more obvious from the Lane Lexicon, from which the author has quoted. The first meaning of Abad according to the Lane Lexicon is in fact endless. It is only after explaining its default meaning that Lane then quotes other different meanings. The author quotes from the Lane Lexicon that Abad can mean “a long time”, however in the Lexicon, a few rows further, it says “a long time that is unlimited”.
In any case, the Lane Lexicon is an English translation of a number of books of Lughat in Arabic. Although it is a very comprehensive source, because of its format, it is not often easy to clearly understand the different applications of a word there. Easier and more reliable way is to look at references of Arabic words themselves:
As for Khuld, Taj al-Arus (vol.8, p.61) and Lisan al-Arab (vol.3, p.164) give the following example as definition:
البَقَاءُ الدَّوَامُ فِي دارٍ لَا يَخْرُج مِنْهَا
Continuity of staying in the house and not coming out of it.
In Lisan al-Arab (vol.3, p.164) it continues:
وَدَارُ الخُلْد: الْآخِرَةُ لبقاءِ أَهلها فِيهَا
Dar al-Khuld means the hereafter due to the remaining of its people in it
In Mujam al-Awsat (vol.1, p.249) we read:
خلدا وخلودا دَامَ وَبَقِي
Khulda and Khuluda (mean) continued and lasting.
As for Abad, in the book Taj al-Arus (vol.7, p.371) we read:
هُوَ الدَّهرُ الطَّويلُ الّذي لَيْسَ بمحدود
It is a long time that is not limited
In Al-Mujam al-Awsat (vol.1, p.2) we read:
أبدا ظرف زمَان للمستقبل يسْتَعْمل مَعَ الْإِثْبَات وَالنَّفْي وَيدل على الِاسْتِمْرَار نَحْو {خَالِدين فِيهَا أبدا} وَقد يُقيد هَذَا الِاسْتِمْرَار بِقَرِينَة
Abada is for the forthcoming time, it is used in affirmation and negation and denotes continuity like “خَالِدين فِيهَا أبدا” and sometimes this continuity is made limited with the use of an evidence.
al-Tahqiq fi Kalamt al-Qur’an al-Karim (vol.1, p.20) offers a very helpful insight:
أنّ الأصل الواحد في هذه المادّة: هو مطلق امتداد الزمان و طوله، و ليس في مفهومه قيد و لا حدّ، و إنّما يفهم الحدّ من جانب متعلّقاته، فهذه الكلمة تدلّ على امتداد مفهوم الجملة المتعلّقه بها على حسب اقتضائها
The single principle meaning in this word (i.e. Abad) means the absolute continuum of time and its length. There is no conditions or limits for this concept. Limit can only be understood from its associates, so this word indicates continuity of the sentence that relate to it as it is appropriate for that sentence.
The author of al-Tahqiq makes a similar comment for Khuld (vol.3, p.98)
All the above and many more explanations in the reference books make it very clear that the default usage of both Khuld and Abad is for ‘permanence’ and only when there is an evidence in a sentence that it may be interpreted differently (e.g. long time).
Apart from this, the everlasting punishment has been referred to in other verses of the Qur’an where the words Abad and Khuld are not mentioned. For instance:
وَ قالَ الَّذينَ اتَّبَعُوا لَوْ أَنَّ لَنا كَرَّةً فَنَتَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُمْ كَما تَبَرَّؤُا مِنَّا كَذلِكَ يُريهِمُ اللَّهُ أَعْمالَهُمْ حَسَراتٍ عَلَيْهِمْ وَ ما هُمْ بِخارِجينَ مِنَ النَّارِ
And those who followed shall say: Had there been for us another chance, then we would renounce them as they have renounced us In this way God shows them their deeds to be intense regret to them And they shall not come out from the Fire (2:167)
يُرِيدُونَ أَن يخَرُجُواْ مِنَ النَّارِ وَ مَا هُم بخِرِجِينَ مِنهْا وَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّقِيم
They would desire to go forth from the Fire, and they shall not go out from it And they shall have a lasting punishment (5:37)
وَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَهُمْ نَارُ جَهَنَّمَ لَا يُقْضىَ عَلَيْهِمْ فَيَمُوتُواْ وَ لَا يخُفَّفُ عَنْهُم مِّنْ عَذَابِهَا كَذَالِكَ نجَزِى كلَُّ كَفُور
And for those who rejected (the truth) is the fire of Hell; it shall not be finished for them so that they would die, nor shall the punishment be lightened to them In this way we retribute every ungrateful one (35:36)
Another way of studying the use of Abad and Khuld in the Qur’an is to check the meaning of these words in verses that are not about rewards and punishments in the hereafter:
The word Abada has been used 28 times in the Qur’an. Out of this, 12 refer to the hereafter and 16 refer to other topics. Let us review some from the latter group:
… وَ مَا كاَنَ لَكُمْ أَن تُؤْذُواْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَ لَا أَن تَنكِحُواْ أَزْوَاجَهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ أَبَدًا إِنَّ ذَالِكُمْ كَانَ عِندَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمًا
And you should not annoy the messenger of God and you are not to marry his wives ever, this would be serious (matter) with God. (33:53)
وَ لا تُصَلِّ عَلى أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ ماتَ أَبَداً وَ لا تَقُمْ عَلى قَبْرِهِ إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَ رَسُولِهِ وَ ماتُوا وَ هُمْ فاسِقُون
And do not pray for any of them ever and do not stand on their graves (for prayer and remembrance) They
have rejected God and His messenger and dies while being rebellious. (9:84)
لا تَقُمْ فيهِ أَبَداً لَمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوى مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَقُومَ فيهِ فيهِ رِجالٌ يُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يَتَطَهَّرُوا وَ اللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرينَ
Do not stay (for prayers) in that mosque ever. The mosque which was established for a pious purpose at the first day is more virtuous for your prayer. In this mosque, there are people who love to be cleansed and God loves those who clean themselves (spiritually). (9:108)
In the above verses replace the underlined sections with “for a long time” and see if the meaning makes any sense.
These are three examples, I here list for you the rest of the verses where the word Abada has been used in the Qur’an for other than rewards and punishment. I suggest you do the same test with these verses: 2:95, 5:24, 9:83, 9:108, 18:20, 18:35, 18:57, 24:4, 24:17, 24:21, 48:12, 59:11, 60:4, 62:7.
Same observation can be done for the word Khuld and its derivatives:
فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا الشَّيْطانُ لِيُبْدِيَ لَهُما ما وُورِيَ عَنْهُما مِنْ سَوْآتِهِما وَ قالَ ما نَهاكُما رَبُّكُما عَنْ هذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلاَّ أَنْ تَكُونا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونا مِنَ الْخالِدين
Satan tempted them to reveal that which was kept private from them and said," Your Lord has not prohibited you from this tree lest that you two become angels or become from among those who live for ever) (7:20)
وَ ما جَعَلْنا لِبَشَرٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ أَ فَإِنْ مِتَّ فَهُمُ الْخالِدُونَ
We have not given any human being before you ‘living for ever’, so when you die are they going to live forever? (21:34)
وَ ما جَعَلْناهُمْ جَسَداً لا يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعامَ وَ ما كانُوا خالِدينَ
We had not made them (i.e. prophets) such bodies that would not eat food nor were they living for ever. (21:8)
Other verses to look at (where the derivative of Khuld is used to refer to other than rewards and punishments): 104:3, 20:120, 26:129, 21:8, 56:17, 76:19
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The author refers to the word Ahgaban (احقابا) and using the Lane Lexicon argues that it means a series of limited times and is therefore referring to a limited time overall. He concludes that based on this Abad and Khul for the verses about hell need to be interpreted as 'long time'.
I do not agree with this:
1. The debate about what Ahqaba in this single verse actually means is much wider than the debate about the meaning of Abad and Khuld in numerous verses of the Qur'an. I don't see why we have to rely on this word to interpret much clearer and repeated words of Abad and Khuld. Contrary to that, it is the word Ahqaba that needs to be interpreted in the light of the common usage of the words Abad and Khuld.
2. The word Huqb of course refers to a limited time. However when it is used in plural it is simply a stress on being limitless. Zamakhshari (one of the best experts of Arabic of the Qu'an) writes in explanation of the word:
كلما مضى حقب تبعه آخر إلى غير نهاية
(it means) whenever one period (of punishment) passes another one follows it with no end,
(Kashshaf, vol 4, p. 688)
Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi who is very particular in discussing difficult words of the Qur'an, explains this perfectly:
الأحقاب هو التأبيد كلما مضى حقب دخل حقب آخر وإنما ذكر أحقابا لأن ذلك كان أبعد شيء عندهم فذكر وتكلم بما تذهب إليه أوهامهم ويعرفونه وهو كناية عن التأبيد أي يمكثون فيها أبدا
al-Ahqab is for stress. (It means) every time one period of time passes another one comes and the only reason Ahqab is mentioned is because this (expression) denoted the farthest thing for them (i.e. Arabs). So (the verse) mentions and expresses what their (i.e. Arabs) minds would understand and recognise and this is a metaphor for stress, meaning, they will stay there forever. (Tafsir al-Bahr al-Ulum, 3:516)
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The above are my observation and views on the main argument in the article that you referred to. There are of course other arguments there that I have reservations about as well, but I think the above should suffice to clarify my point of view.(1)
There are also arguments in the article that I certainly agree with. For instance I definitely agree the author when he writes that the harsh descriptions of hell fire and punishment are really addressed to the worst of people, that are, those who rejected a messenger of God despite the clarity of their message; or when he writes that God did not make His creation to punish them.
I would like to add another point before ending this:
In my understanding, there are only two arguments against eternal punishment that may have some points:
A. That the language of the Qur’an when referring to punishments is the language of warning and in this language it is acceptable to reattribute the warned with a less punishment. This is called ‘Wa’id’ in the style of language, as opposed to ‘Wa’dah’ that is a promise that needs to be met (like the promise of heaven for believers).
B. Both Abad and Khuld can be temporary if the platform in which they are applied to is also temporary. This means, if we can argue that hell itself will cease to exist at some point, then we can also argue that Abad and Khuld mean eternal as long as hell exists.
For example, taking both the above on board, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi writes:
“it can be expected that one day, Hell too shall cease to exist. The reason for this is that its torment is a threat from the Almighty and not a promise and the Almighty certainly has the right to reduce the punishment of these sinners or turn them into dust and ashes and eternally bury them in Hell” (Mizan, 187).
I would like to end this answer with the same wise statements that the author of the article that you referred to ended his (may God bless Him):
“Whatever one’s position, there is one absolute truth without contest. Not an atom’s weight of injustice will occur and our Lord God is perfect in justice.”
Notes:
(1) In case you may be interested, in one of my online classes I have elaborated on the concept of punishment in the hereafter, why it is necessary and what kind of people may face it. At the end of the session (43:50 minutes onwards) I have also elaborated on why eternal punishment, as mentioned in the Qur'an, is not unfair. You can access at the end of this page.
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December 2013
Revised July 2016
It may appear from the following discussion that the punishment may not be eternal:
Is the punishment of hell eternal
So where do you get so much conviction of eternal punishment?
Answer:
Before answering your question, please do consider that since in my view description of heaven and hell are among the allegorical verses of the Qur'an, we should always be cautious about discussing them in too much detail, as we may end up discussing something that may not literally happen the way that we think it is going to happen. It is enough to understand and appreciate from the Qur'an that our bad personality and performance in this world can significantly damage our destiny in the hereafter. This 'significant damage' is referred to in the Qur'an with the allegorical expression of 'permanent punishment'. The exact nature of this punishment is not comprehensible for us and is therefore not been explicitly and entirely revealed to us.
Therefore, unline what you wrote, in terms of what really happens in the hereafter I am not sure of anything. However I can share what I am sure the verses of the Qur'an are literally saying. The following answer is within the scope of simply analyzing what the Qur'an has literally told us, rather than discussing how literal we should take the meaning of these verses.
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I would like to clarify a few points about my understanding of this subject:
1. I am not saying that God will not take any one out of hell. God does whatever He chooses to do. All that I am saying is that the Qur’an has not informed us about people coming out of hell, quite contrary the concepts of punishment and eternity are closely linked in the Qur’an.
2. Not only the Qur’an refers to eternal punishment, but it also remains totally silent about people coming out of hell. There are very detailed descriptions of the hereafter in the Qur’an along with very detailed description of hell and what will happen in hell. It is not a trivial fact that there is no narration in the Qur’an about people coming out of hell after being punished. This, to my understanding, would be such an extra ordinary incident that truly deserves mentioning. Any arguments for temporary punishment in hell first needs to tackle this problem.
3. I am not saying that those who do not deserve to be under eternal punishment will be eternally punished. Quite contrary I am saying that, based on my understanding of the Qur’an, those who do not deserve eternal punishment will not be punished at all. Looking from this perspective, believing in eternal punishment is in fact associated with much more merciful image of the Almighty.
As for the article that you referred to, I praise and respect the author for his research oriented approach. However I did not find myself in agreement with the way that the author reasons about the meaning of the verses under discussion. To start with, I cannot understand how when it comes to the verses of heaven we should interpret Abad and Khuld as ‘eternal’ but when it comes to the verses of hell we should interpret them as ‘long time’.
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There are a number of arguments in the article but to keep it simple at this stage allow me to only address the one that I perceive as the main argument of the author:
“Khuld and Abad have meanings other than eternal.”
Many words in many languages have slightly or sometimes drastically different meanings. However normally every word has a default usage that the reader will not dismiss unless there is an evidence that the meaning here is different.
When I read in English: “He was very cold”, what I understand is that the person felt the temperature was too low and was therefore shivering from the low temperature. It is only when I read: “He was very cold, never talked to us”, that I understand that ‘cold’ here means not bothering to communicate.
The question that needs to be addressed is, whether the words Khuld and Abad by default are used for ‘permanent’ and then as an extended usage they can also be interpreted as ‘long time’ or if it is the other way round.
When we look at the books of Lughat (Words) in Arabic it is very easy to appreciate that in deed the default use (not necessarily the literal meaning) of these words denotes a permanent condition. To be more accurate Khuld is more referring to the continuity of the situation while Abad refers to the endless nature of the situation. This, in particular for the word Abad is even more obvious from the Lane Lexicon, from which the author has quoted. The first meaning of Abad according to the Lane Lexicon is in fact endless. It is only after explaining its default meaning that Lane then quotes other different meanings. The author quotes from the Lane Lexicon that Abad can mean “a long time”, however in the Lexicon, a few rows further, it says “a long time that is unlimited”.
In any case, the Lane Lexicon is an English translation of a number of books of Lughat in Arabic. Although it is a very comprehensive source, because of its format, it is not often easy to clearly understand the different applications of a word there. Easier and more reliable way is to look at references of Arabic words themselves:
As for Khuld, Taj al-Arus (vol.8, p.61) and Lisan al-Arab (vol.3, p.164) give the following example as definition:
البَقَاءُ الدَّوَامُ فِي دارٍ لَا يَخْرُج مِنْهَا
Continuity of staying in the house and not coming out of it.
In Lisan al-Arab (vol.3, p.164) it continues:
وَدَارُ الخُلْد: الْآخِرَةُ لبقاءِ أَهلها فِيهَا
Dar al-Khuld means the hereafter due to the remaining of its people in it
In Mujam al-Awsat (vol.1, p.249) we read:
خلدا وخلودا دَامَ وَبَقِي
Khulda and Khuluda (mean) continued and lasting.
As for Abad, in the book Taj al-Arus (vol.7, p.371) we read:
هُوَ الدَّهرُ الطَّويلُ الّذي لَيْسَ بمحدود
It is a long time that is not limited
In Al-Mujam al-Awsat (vol.1, p.2) we read:
أبدا ظرف زمَان للمستقبل يسْتَعْمل مَعَ الْإِثْبَات وَالنَّفْي وَيدل على الِاسْتِمْرَار نَحْو {خَالِدين فِيهَا أبدا} وَقد يُقيد هَذَا الِاسْتِمْرَار بِقَرِينَة
Abada is for the forthcoming time, it is used in affirmation and negation and denotes continuity like “خَالِدين فِيهَا أبدا” and sometimes this continuity is made limited with the use of an evidence.
al-Tahqiq fi Kalamt al-Qur’an al-Karim (vol.1, p.20) offers a very helpful insight:
أنّ الأصل الواحد في هذه المادّة: هو مطلق امتداد الزمان و طوله، و ليس في مفهومه قيد و لا حدّ، و إنّما يفهم الحدّ من جانب متعلّقاته، فهذه الكلمة تدلّ على امتداد مفهوم الجملة المتعلّقه بها على حسب اقتضائها
The single principle meaning in this word (i.e. Abad) means the absolute continuum of time and its length. There is no conditions or limits for this concept. Limit can only be understood from its associates, so this word indicates continuity of the sentence that relate to it as it is appropriate for that sentence.
The author of al-Tahqiq makes a similar comment for Khuld (vol.3, p.98)
All the above and many more explanations in the reference books make it very clear that the default usage of both Khuld and Abad is for ‘permanence’ and only when there is an evidence in a sentence that it may be interpreted differently (e.g. long time).
Apart from this, the everlasting punishment has been referred to in other verses of the Qur’an where the words Abad and Khuld are not mentioned. For instance:
وَ قالَ الَّذينَ اتَّبَعُوا لَوْ أَنَّ لَنا كَرَّةً فَنَتَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُمْ كَما تَبَرَّؤُا مِنَّا كَذلِكَ يُريهِمُ اللَّهُ أَعْمالَهُمْ حَسَراتٍ عَلَيْهِمْ وَ ما هُمْ بِخارِجينَ مِنَ النَّارِ
And those who followed shall say: Had there been for us another chance, then we would renounce them as they have renounced us In this way God shows them their deeds to be intense regret to them And they shall not come out from the Fire (2:167)
يُرِيدُونَ أَن يخَرُجُواْ مِنَ النَّارِ وَ مَا هُم بخِرِجِينَ مِنهْا وَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّقِيم
They would desire to go forth from the Fire, and they shall not go out from it And they shall have a lasting punishment (5:37)
وَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَهُمْ نَارُ جَهَنَّمَ لَا يُقْضىَ عَلَيْهِمْ فَيَمُوتُواْ وَ لَا يخُفَّفُ عَنْهُم مِّنْ عَذَابِهَا كَذَالِكَ نجَزِى كلَُّ كَفُور
And for those who rejected (the truth) is the fire of Hell; it shall not be finished for them so that they would die, nor shall the punishment be lightened to them In this way we retribute every ungrateful one (35:36)
Another way of studying the use of Abad and Khuld in the Qur’an is to check the meaning of these words in verses that are not about rewards and punishments in the hereafter:
The word Abada has been used 28 times in the Qur’an. Out of this, 12 refer to the hereafter and 16 refer to other topics. Let us review some from the latter group:
… وَ مَا كاَنَ لَكُمْ أَن تُؤْذُواْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَ لَا أَن تَنكِحُواْ أَزْوَاجَهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ أَبَدًا إِنَّ ذَالِكُمْ كَانَ عِندَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمًا
And you should not annoy the messenger of God and you are not to marry his wives ever, this would be serious (matter) with God. (33:53)
وَ لا تُصَلِّ عَلى أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ ماتَ أَبَداً وَ لا تَقُمْ عَلى قَبْرِهِ إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَ رَسُولِهِ وَ ماتُوا وَ هُمْ فاسِقُون
And do not pray for any of them ever and do not stand on their graves (for prayer and remembrance) They
have rejected God and His messenger and dies while being rebellious. (9:84)
لا تَقُمْ فيهِ أَبَداً لَمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوى مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَقُومَ فيهِ فيهِ رِجالٌ يُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يَتَطَهَّرُوا وَ اللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرينَ
Do not stay (for prayers) in that mosque ever. The mosque which was established for a pious purpose at the first day is more virtuous for your prayer. In this mosque, there are people who love to be cleansed and God loves those who clean themselves (spiritually). (9:108)
In the above verses replace the underlined sections with “for a long time” and see if the meaning makes any sense.
These are three examples, I here list for you the rest of the verses where the word Abada has been used in the Qur’an for other than rewards and punishment. I suggest you do the same test with these verses: 2:95, 5:24, 9:83, 9:108, 18:20, 18:35, 18:57, 24:4, 24:17, 24:21, 48:12, 59:11, 60:4, 62:7.
Same observation can be done for the word Khuld and its derivatives:
فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا الشَّيْطانُ لِيُبْدِيَ لَهُما ما وُورِيَ عَنْهُما مِنْ سَوْآتِهِما وَ قالَ ما نَهاكُما رَبُّكُما عَنْ هذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلاَّ أَنْ تَكُونا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونا مِنَ الْخالِدين
Satan tempted them to reveal that which was kept private from them and said," Your Lord has not prohibited you from this tree lest that you two become angels or become from among those who live for ever) (7:20)
وَ ما جَعَلْنا لِبَشَرٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ أَ فَإِنْ مِتَّ فَهُمُ الْخالِدُونَ
We have not given any human being before you ‘living for ever’, so when you die are they going to live forever? (21:34)
وَ ما جَعَلْناهُمْ جَسَداً لا يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعامَ وَ ما كانُوا خالِدينَ
We had not made them (i.e. prophets) such bodies that would not eat food nor were they living for ever. (21:8)
Other verses to look at (where the derivative of Khuld is used to refer to other than rewards and punishments): 104:3, 20:120, 26:129, 21:8, 56:17, 76:19
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The author refers to the word Ahgaban (احقابا) and using the Lane Lexicon argues that it means a series of limited times and is therefore referring to a limited time overall. He concludes that based on this Abad and Khul for the verses about hell need to be interpreted as 'long time'.
I do not agree with this:
1. The debate about what Ahqaba in this single verse actually means is much wider than the debate about the meaning of Abad and Khuld in numerous verses of the Qur'an. I don't see why we have to rely on this word to interpret much clearer and repeated words of Abad and Khuld. Contrary to that, it is the word Ahqaba that needs to be interpreted in the light of the common usage of the words Abad and Khuld.
2. The word Huqb of course refers to a limited time. However when it is used in plural it is simply a stress on being limitless. Zamakhshari (one of the best experts of Arabic of the Qu'an) writes in explanation of the word:
كلما مضى حقب تبعه آخر إلى غير نهاية
(it means) whenever one period (of punishment) passes another one follows it with no end,
(Kashshaf, vol 4, p. 688)
Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi who is very particular in discussing difficult words of the Qur'an, explains this perfectly:
الأحقاب هو التأبيد كلما مضى حقب دخل حقب آخر وإنما ذكر أحقابا لأن ذلك كان أبعد شيء عندهم فذكر وتكلم بما تذهب إليه أوهامهم ويعرفونه وهو كناية عن التأبيد أي يمكثون فيها أبدا
al-Ahqab is for stress. (It means) every time one period of time passes another one comes and the only reason Ahqab is mentioned is because this (expression) denoted the farthest thing for them (i.e. Arabs). So (the verse) mentions and expresses what their (i.e. Arabs) minds would understand and recognise and this is a metaphor for stress, meaning, they will stay there forever. (Tafsir al-Bahr al-Ulum, 3:516)
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The above are my observation and views on the main argument in the article that you referred to. There are of course other arguments there that I have reservations about as well, but I think the above should suffice to clarify my point of view.(1)
There are also arguments in the article that I certainly agree with. For instance I definitely agree the author when he writes that the harsh descriptions of hell fire and punishment are really addressed to the worst of people, that are, those who rejected a messenger of God despite the clarity of their message; or when he writes that God did not make His creation to punish them.
I would like to add another point before ending this:
In my understanding, there are only two arguments against eternal punishment that may have some points:
A. That the language of the Qur’an when referring to punishments is the language of warning and in this language it is acceptable to reattribute the warned with a less punishment. This is called ‘Wa’id’ in the style of language, as opposed to ‘Wa’dah’ that is a promise that needs to be met (like the promise of heaven for believers).
B. Both Abad and Khuld can be temporary if the platform in which they are applied to is also temporary. This means, if we can argue that hell itself will cease to exist at some point, then we can also argue that Abad and Khuld mean eternal as long as hell exists.
For example, taking both the above on board, Javed Ahmad Ghamidi writes:
“it can be expected that one day, Hell too shall cease to exist. The reason for this is that its torment is a threat from the Almighty and not a promise and the Almighty certainly has the right to reduce the punishment of these sinners or turn them into dust and ashes and eternally bury them in Hell” (Mizan, 187).
I would like to end this answer with the same wise statements that the author of the article that you referred to ended his (may God bless Him):
“Whatever one’s position, there is one absolute truth without contest. Not an atom’s weight of injustice will occur and our Lord God is perfect in justice.”
Notes:
(1) In case you may be interested, in one of my online classes I have elaborated on the concept of punishment in the hereafter, why it is necessary and what kind of people may face it. At the end of the session (43:50 minutes onwards) I have also elaborated on why eternal punishment, as mentioned in the Qur'an, is not unfair. You can access at the end of this page.
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December 2013
Revised July 2016
