Does Surat al-Furqan [25:69] Teach Eternal Punishment for Muslims or Disbelievers?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Does Surat al-Furqan [25:69] indicate that Muslims can remain in Hell forever, or does it only apply to disbelievers? How do we reconcile this with the belief that sinful Muslims will eventually enter Paradise?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
Allah (Most High) said,
“The chastisement on Resurrection Day shall be redoubled on him whole times over, and he shall abide in it forever abased. Save he who repents and believes, and works righteous deeds: For those shall Allah change their bad deeds for good; And Allah was ever al-forgiving, all-compassionate.” [Quran, 25:69]
Doubling of Chastisement
In the context of these verses, this chastisement will undoubtedly be exclusive to those who were unbelievers and also indulged in adultery or homicide.
In the first place, the phrase “يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ” (The punishment will be doubled for him) cannot be applied to Muslim sinners because they are told both in the Quran and the Sunna that they will get only one punishment against a sin. Any increase in the intensity of chastisement will not be the case for believers.
The double chastisement will be exclusive to unbelievers. The first chastisement will be for disbelief, and in case they have also committed sins, the chastisement will be doubled.
Secondly, it is also mentioned about this chastisement that it will be perpetual (وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا), i.e., the punished will be placed there forever after being disgraced and condemned.
On the other hand, no believer will be condemned forever in the hellfire, no matter how big a sin he has committed. Muslims will be taken out of the hellfire when they have completed their term there. In brief, those unbelievers who reject monotheism and also commit adultery and homicide will be awarded doubled chastisement, which will increase in intensity and will last forever.
Sins Turn Into Virtues
The next verse offers solace for the above type of sinners: If they seek Allah’s forgiveness and act righteously, Allah is expected to change their sins into righteous deeds.
In other words, once they have repented of their past sins and accepted Islam, their past sins will be removed from their record, and all that will be left in the record will be nothing but righteous deeds. Allah has promised that when an unbeliever accepts Islam, all sins he might have committed during disbelief are pardoned.
Hence, their previous record, which was full of sins and evil deeds, will be forgiven and scrapped and replaced with a fresh record of good and righteous deeds that they would perform after submitting to Islam.
This explanation of the conversion of sins into virtues is given by Ibn ‘Abbas, Hasan al-Basri, Sa‘id Ibn Jubayr, and Mujahid (Allah have mercy on them). [Mazhari]
Important Point
Ibn Kathir has given another explanation for the conversion of sins into virtues. He says that when they will remember all those sins which they had committed during the period of their disbelief, they will repent and seek Allah’s forgiveness. This act of repentance will replace their sins with virtues. [Shafi, Ma‘arif al-Quran]
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Related
- Will Those Who Commit a Major Sin Be in Hell Forever?
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- Supplication for Forgiveness and Protection from Hellfire
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received a traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Presently, he lives in the UK with his wife and is interested in books and gardening.
