ḤĀRIS̤ (حارث). A surname which frequently occurs amongst “the Companions.” In the Taqrību ʾt-Tahẕīb, there are not fewer than sixty-five persons of this name, of whom short biographical notes are given.
Ḥāris̤ ibn Naufal ibn al-Ḥāris̤ ibn ʿAbdi ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib, was a Companion of some consequence; he lived close to the house of the Prophet, and had frequently to make room as the Prophet’s Ḥarīm extended itself. [HOUSES.]
Ḥāris̤ ibn Hishām ibn al-Mug͟hīrah, is another Companion, who lived at Makkah.
Ḥāris̤ son of Suwaid ibn S̤āmit, the poet, was executed at Uḥud.
ḤĀRIS̤ĪYAH (حارثية). A sect of Muslims founded by Abū ʾl-Ḥāris̤, who in opposition to the sect Abāz̤īyah, said it was not correct to say the acts of men were not the acts of God. (Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrīfāt, in loco.)
HĀRŪN (هارون). [AARON.]
HĀRŪT WA MĀRŪT (هاروت و ماروت). Two angels mentioned in the Qurʾān. They are said to be two angels who, in consequence of their compassion for the frailties of mankind, were sent down to earth to be tempted. They both sinned, and being permitted to choose whether they would be punished now or hereafter, chose the former, and are still suspended by the feet at Babel in a rocky pit, where they are great teachers of magic.
The account of these two angels in the Qurʾān, is given in Sūrah ii. 96:—
“They (the Jews) followed what the devils taught in the reign of Solomon: not that Solomon was unbelieving, but the devils were unbelieving. Sorcery did they teach to men, and what had been revealed to the two angels, Hārūt and Mārūt, at Babel. Yet no man did these two teach until they had said, ‘We are only a temptation. Be not then an unbeliever.’ From these two did men learn how to cause division between man and wife: but unless by leave of God, no man did they harm thereby. They learned, indeed, what would harm and not profit them; and yet they knew that he who bought that art should have no part in the life to come! And vile the price for which they have sold themselves,—if they had but known it!”
ḤASAD (حسد). “Envy, malevolence, malice.” It occurs twice in the Qurʾān.
Sūrah ii. 103: “Many of the people of the Book (i.e. Jews and Christians) desire to bring you back to unbelief after ye have believed, out of selfish envy, even after the truth hath been clearly shewn them.”
Sūrah cxiii. 5: “I seek refuge … from the envy of the envious when he envies.”
AL-ḤASAN (الحـسـن). The fifth K͟halīfah. The eldest son of Fāt̤imah, the daughter of Muḥammad, by her husband the K͟halīfah ʿAlī. Born A.H. 3. Died A.H. 49. He succeeded his father ʿAlī as K͟halīfah A.H. 41, and reigned about six months. He resigned the Caliphate in favour of Muʿāwiyah, and was eventually poisoned by his wife Jaʿdah, who was suborned to commit the deed by Yazīd, the son of Muʿāwiyah, by a promise of marrying her, which promise he did not keep. Al-Ḥasan had twenty children, fifteen sons and five daughters, from whom are descended one section of the great family of Saiyids, or Lords, the descendants of the Prophet. The history of al-Ḥasan, together with the tragical death of his brother al-Ḥusain, form the plot of the miracle play of the Muḥarram. [HUSAIN, MUHARRAM, SAIYID.]
HĀSHIM (هاشم). The great grandfather of Muḥammad. Born, according to M. C. de Perceval, A.D. 464. Sprenger places his birth in A.D. 442. He married Salmah, by whom he had a son, ʿAbdu ʾl-Mut̤t̤alib, the father of ʿAbdu ʾllāh, who was the father of Muḥammad. The author of the Qāmūs says Hāshim’s original name was ʿAmr, but he was surnamed Hāshim on account of his hospitality in distributing bread (hashm, to break bread) to the pilgrims at Makkah.
ḤASHR (حشر). Lit. “Going forth from one place, and assembling in another.” Hence the word is used in the Qurʾān in two senses, viz. an emigration and an assembly, e.g. Sūrah lix. 2: “It was He who drove forth from their homes those people of the book (i.e. Jews) who misbelieved, at the first emigration.” (Hence al-Ḥashr is the title of the LIXth Sūrah of the Qurʾān.) Sūrah xxvii. 17: “And his hosts of the jinn and men and birds were assembled for Solomon.”
The term Yaumu ʾl-Ḥashr is therefore used for the Day of Resurrection, or the day when the dead shall migrate from their graves and assemble for judgment. It occurs in this sense in the Qurʾān, Sūrah l. 42:—
“Verily we cause to live, and we cause to die. To us shall all return.
“On the day when the earth shall swiftly cleave asunder over the dead, will this gathering be easy to Us.
AL-ḤASĪB (الـحـسـيـب). “The Reckoner,” in the Day of Judgment. One of the ninety-nine attributes of God. The title occurs in the Qurʾān three times.
Sūrah iv. 7: “God sufficeth for taking account.”
Idem, 88: “God of all things takes an account.”
Sūrah xxxiii. 39: “God is good enough at reckoning up.”
ḤASSĀN (حـسـان). The son of S̤ābit. A celebrated poet in the time of Muḥammad, who embraced Islām. He is said to have lived 120 years, 60 of which were passed in idolatry and 60 in Islām.
It is related in the Traditions that the Prophet on the day of battle with the Banū Quraiz̤ah, cried out, “O Ḥassān ibn S̤ābit, abuse the infidels in your verse, for verily Gabriel helps you!” (Mishkāt, book xxii. ch. ix. pt. 1.) [POETRY.]
ḤĀT̤IB IBN ʿAMR (حاطب بن عمرو). An early convert to Islām, and one of the most trusted of Muḥammad’s followers. He distinguished himself at the taking of Makkah.
ḤAULĀNU ʾL-ḤAUL (حولان الحول). “A complete year.” A term used in Muḥammadan law for the period property must be in possession before zakāt is required of it. (Hidāyah, vol. i. p. 2.)
ḤAUẒU ʾL-KAUS̤AR (حوض الكوثر). A pond or river in Paradise. According to Muḥammad’s sayings in the Traditions (Mishkāt, book xxiii. ch. xii.), it is more than a month’s journey in circumference, its waters are whiter than snow and sweeter than honey mixed with milk, and those who drink of it shall never thirst. The word kaus̤ar occurs once in the Qurʾān, namely in Sūrah cviii., which derives therefrom its title, and where its translation and meaning is doubtful. “Verily, we have given thee al-Kaus̤ar.” Al-Baiẓāwī, the commentator, says it either means that which is good or abundant; or the pond al-Kaus̤ar which is mentioned in the Traditions.
HAWĀ (هـوا). “Desire, love; hankering after.” A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for lust, or unholy desire. Hawā-i-Nafṣānī, “the lust of the flesh”; Ahl-i-Hawā, “a sceptic, an unbeliever.”
HAWĀJIM (هـواجـم). Lit. “Assaults, shocks.” A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for those thoughts of the heart which enter it without desire or intention. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)
HAWĀJIS (هواجس). “Thoughts.” A term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for the worldly thoughts of the heart. (ʿAbdu ʾr-Razzāq’s Dict. of Ṣūfī Terms.)
ḤAWĀLAH (حوالة). A legal term signifying the removal or transfer of a debt by way of security or corroboration from that of the original debtor to that person to whom it is transferred. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 606.)
ḤAWĀMĪM (حواميم). A title given to the seven chapters of the Qurʾān which begin with the letters ح Ḥā م Mīm, namely, XL, Sūratu ʾl-Muʾmin; XLI, Sūratu Fuṣṣilat; XLII, Sūratu ʾsh-Shūrā; XLIII, Sūratu ʾl-Zuk͟hruf; XLIV, Sūratu ʾd-Duk͟hān; XLV, Sūratu ʾl-Jās̤īyah; XLVI, Sūratu ʾl-Aḥqāf.
For an explanation of the letters Ḥ M at the commencement of these Sūrahs, see ḤĀ MĪM.
It is related in the Traditions that a man said to the Prophet, “I am old, and my memory is imperfect, and my tongue is stiff;” and the Prophet replied, “Then repeat three of the Sūrahs beginning with Ḥā Mīm.” (Mishkāt, book viii. ch. i. pt. 3.)
ḤAWĀRĪ (حوارى). The word used in the Qurʾān (Sūrahs iii. 45; lxi. 14) for the Apostles of Jesus. Al-Baiẓāwī, the Muḥammadan commentator, says it is derived from ḥawar, “to be white,” and was given to the disciples of Jesus, either on account of their purity of life and sincerity; or because they were respectable men and wore white garments. In the Traditions (Mishkāt, book i. ch. vi. pt. 1) it is used for the followers of all the Prophets. The word may be derived from the Æthiopic hawryra, “to go, to be sent.”
AL-ḤAWĀSSU ʾL-K͟HAMSAH (الحواس الخمسة). [FIVE SENSES.]
HAWĀZIN (هوازن). A great and warlike tribe of Arabia in the days of Muḥammad, who dwelt between Makkah and at̤-T̤āʾif. Muḥammad defeated them at the battle of Ḥunain, A.H. 8, a victory which in the Qurʾān, Sūrah ix. 26, is ascribed to angelic aid. (See Muir’s Life of Mahomet, new ed. p. 432.)
HĀWIYAH (هاوية). A division of hell. The bottomless pit for the hypocrites. Qurʾān, Sūrah ci. 6, “But as for him whose balance is light, his dwelling shall be Hāwiyah.”
HAWK, The. Arabic baʾz (باز), ṣaqr (صقر). It is lawful to hunt with hawks provided they are trained. A hawk is held to be trained when she obeys the voice of her master. [HUNTING.]
ḤAYĀʾ (حياء). “Shame, pudency, modesty.” The word does not occur in the Qurʾān, but in the Traditions it is said, “Allāhu ḥayīyun,” i.e. “God acts with modesty.” By which is understood that God hates that which is immodest or shameless. Muḥammad is related to have said, “Modesty (ḥayāʾ) brings nothing but good.” (Mishkāt, book xxii. ch. xix.)
ḤAYĀT (حيوة). “Life.” The word frequently occurs in the Qurʾān, e.g. Sūrah xviii. 44, “Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world.” Sūrah ii. 25, “For you in retaliation is there life, O ye possessors of mind!”
Al-Ḥayātu ʾd-dunyā, “the worldly life,” is a term used in the Qurʾān for those things in this world which prevent from attaining to the eternal life of the next world.
Sūrah ii. 80: “Those who have bought this worldly life with the future, the torment shall not be lightened from them nor shall they be helped.”
HAYŪLĀ (هـيـولى). “Matter.” The first principle of everything material. It does not occur in either the Qurʾān or the Ḥadīs̤.
ḤAYẒ (حـيـض). Menses. [MENSTRUATION.]
ḤAẔAR (حذر). According to Arabic lexicons, the word means vigilance or a cautious fear, but it only occurs twice in the Qurʾān, and in both instances it implies terror.
Sūrah ii. 18: “They put their fingers in their ears at the thunder-clap for fear of death.” (Ḥaẕaru ʾl-Maut.) Idem, 244: “Dost thou not look at those who left their homes by thousands for fear of death.”
AL-ḤAẒARĀTU ʾL-K͟HAMS (الحضرات الخمس). According to the Kitābu ʾt-Taʿrifāt, al-ḥaẓarātu ʾl-K͟hamsu ʾl-Ilāhīyah, or “the five divine existences,” is a term used by the Ṣūfī mystics for the following:—
1. Ḥaẓratu ʾl-g͟haibi ʾl-mut̤laq, That existence which is absolutely unknown, i.e. God.
2. Ḥaẓratu ʾsh-shahādati ʾl-mut̤laqah, Those celestial (ajrām) and terrestrial (ajsām) existences which are evident to the senses.
3. Ḥaẓratu ʿālami ʾl-arwāḥ, That existence which consists of the spiritual world of angels and spirits.
4. Ḥaẓratu ʿālami ʾl-mis̤āl, That existence, which is the unseen world, where there is the true likeness of everything which exists on the earth.
5. Ḥaẓratu ʾl-jāmīʿah, The collective existence of the four already mentioned.
ḤĀẒIR ẒĀMINĪ (حاضر ضامنى). Bail for the person, which, according to the Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, is lawful. Bail for property is called māl ẓāminī.
ḤAẒRAH (حضرة). Lit. “Presence.” This title of respect has no equivalent in English, as it is employed in a variety of acceptations. Applied to an officer of rank, it would mean “your honour”; to a clergyman, “your reverence”; to a king, “your majesty.” When applied to the names of prophets, apostles, or saints, it expresses the sacredness of his office and character, i.e. our Saviour is called Ḥaẓratu ʿĪsā, and the Virgin Mary, Ḥaẓratu Maryam. The word is much used in Persian theological works. It is seldom used in this sense in Arabic books. Ḥaẓratu ʾllāh, “the presence of God,” is an Arabic term in prayer.
HEAD. Arabic raʾs, rās (راس). Heb. רֹאשׁ. The author of the Raddu ʾl-Muḥtār, vol. i. p. 670, says: “It is abominable (makrūh) to say the prayers with the head uncovered, if it be done from laziness, but it is of no consequence if a Muslim say his prayers with his head uncovered from a sense of humility and unworthiness. But still it is better not to uncover the head, for humility is a matter connected with the heart.”
Amongst Muḥammadans it is considered a sign of disrespect to receive a visitor with the head uncovered; consequently on the approach of a visitor the turban or cap is immediately placed on the head.
There is no general custom as to shaving the head or otherwise. In Afghanistan, Muḥammadans generally shave the head, but the Baluchīs and many other Muslim tribes wear long hair.
The Egyptians shave all the rest of the hair, or leave only a small tuft (called shūshah) upon the crown of the head. Mr. Lane says: This last custom (which is almost universal among them) is said to have originated in the fear that if the Muslim should fall into the hands of an infidel, and be slain, the latter might cut off the head of his victim, and finding no hair by which to hold it, put his impure hand into the mouth, in order to carry it, for the beard might not be sufficiently long; but was probably adopted from the Turks, for it is generally neglected by the Badawīs, and the custom of shaving the head is of late origin among the Arabs in general, and practised for the sake of cleanliness.
HEAVEN. Arabic Samāʾ (سماء); Persian Asmān (اسمان); Heb. שָׁמַיִם, which expresses the firmament as distinguished from Firdaus, or Paradise, the abodes of bliss. [PARADISE.] In the Qurʾān it is stated that there are seven paths, or stages, in heaven. Sūrah xxiii. 17: “And we have created above you seven paths, nor are we heedless of the creation.” By which the commentators understand that they are paths of the angels and of the celestial bodies. The creation of the heaven is declared to be for God’s glory and not for His pastime. Sūrah xxi. 16: “We created not the heaven and the earth, and that which is between them, by way of sport.”
It is the general belief that at the last day the heavens will fall, but that they are now upheld by God’s power. Sūrah xxii. 64: “He holds up the heaven from falling on the earth save at His bidding.”
According to the traditions (Mishkāt, book xxiv. ch. vii.), Muḥammad during the miʿrāj, or night journey, passed through these seven heavens, and they are stated to be as follows: (1) That which is of pure virgin silver and which is Adam’s residence; (2) of pure gold, which is John the Baptist’s and Jesus’; (3) of pearls, which is Joseph’s; (4) of white gold, which is Enoch’s; (5) of silver which is Aaron’s; (6) of ruby and garnet, which is Moses’; (7) which is Abraham’s. These accounts are, however, most confused; for in some books and according to popular tradition, the fourth and not the second heaven is assigned to Jesus.
This view is in harmony with the seven spheres of Ptolemy, the first of which is that of the moon, the second Mercury, the third Venus, the fourth the Sun, the fifth Mars, the sixth Jupiter, the seventh Saturn; each of which orbs was supposed by the ancients to revolve round the earth in its proper sphere. Muḥammad said the distance between each heavenly region is five hundred years’ journey. (Mishkāt, book xxiv. ch. i. pt. 3).
The Rabbis spoke of two heavens (cf. Deut. x. 14), “The heaven and the heaven of heavens,” or seven (ἑπτὰ οὐρανοὺς οὕς τινες ἀριθμοῦσι κατ’ ἐπανάβασιν, Clem. Alex. Strom., iv. 7, 636). “Resch Lakisch dixit septem esse cœlos, quorum nomina sunt, 1. velum; 2. expansum; 3. nubes; 4. habitaculum; 5. habitatio; 6. sedes fixa; 7. Araboth. (See Wetstein, ad. 2 Cor. xii. 2). St. Paul’s expression, “ἕως τριτοῦ οὐρανοῦ,” 2 Cor. xii. 2, has led to some discussion, for Grotius says the Jews divided the heaven into three parts, (1) Nubiferum, the atmosphere; (2) Astriferum, the firmament; and (3) Empyreum, the abode of God. But the statement, however, does not seem to be supported by any known Rabbinic authority.
HEBER. [HUD.]
HEGIRA. [HIJRAH.]
HEIRS. Arabic wāris̤ (وارث), pl. waras̤ah. [INHERITANCE.]
HELL. The place of torment is most frequently spoken of in the Qurʾān and Traditions as an-Nār, “the fire,” but the word Jahannam occurs about thirty times. It is said to have seven portals or divisions. Sūrah xv. 44: “Verily, hell (jahannam) is promised to all together (who follow Satan). It has seven portals, and at every door there is a separate party of them.”
The Persian word used for hell in books of theology is dozak͟h.
The seven divisions of hell are given by Muslim commentators as follows:—
1. Jahannam (جهنم), γεέννα, the purgatorial hell for all Muḥammadans. For according to the Qurʾān, all Muslims will pass through the regions of hell. Sūrah xix. 72: “There is not one of you who will not go down to it (hell), that is settled and decided by thy Lord.”
2. Laz̤ā (لظى). Sūrah xcvii. 5: “For Laz̤ā, dragging by the scalp, shall claim him who turned his back and went away, and amassed and hoarded.”
3. Al-Ḥut̤amah (الحطمة). Sūrah civ. 4:—
“Nay! for verily he shall be flung into al-Ḥut̤amah;
“And who shall teach thee what al-Ḥut̤amah is?
“It is God’s kindled fire,
“Which shall mount above the hearts of the damned;
“It shall verily rise over them like a vault,
“On outstretched columns.”
4. Saʿīr (سعير). Sūrah iv. 11: “Those who devour the property of orphans unjustly, only devour into their bellies fire, and they broil in saʿīr.”
(The word occurs in fourteen other places.)
5. Saqar (سقر). Sūrah liv. 47: “The sinners are in error and excitement. On the day when they shall be dragged into the fire on their faces! Taste ye the touch of saqar!”
Sūrah lxxiv. 44: “What drove you into saqar?”
6. Al-Jaḥīm (الجحيم). Sūrah ii. 113: “Thou shalt not be questioned as to the fellows of al-Jaḥīm” (Aṣḥābu ʾl-Jaḥīm).
(The word occurs in twenty other places).
7. Hāwiyah (هاوية). Sūrah ci. 8: “As for him whose balance is light, his dwelling shall be Hāwiyah.”
The Muḥammadan commentators, with that utter recklessness which so characterizes their writings, distribute these seven stations as follows (see al-Bag͟hawī, al-Baiẓāwī, and others): (1) Jahannam, the purgatorial hell for Muslims. (2) Laz̤ā, a blazing fire for Christians. (3) Al-Ḥut̤amah, an intense fire for the Jews. (4) Saʿīr, a flaming fire for the Sabians. (5) Saqar, a scorching fire for the Magi. (6) Al-Jaḥīm, a huge hot fire for idolaters. (7) Hāwiyah, bottomless pit for the hypocrites. A reference to the Qurʾān will prove that there is not the least reason for assigning these regions to their respective tenants beyond the sentence already quoted: “At each portal a separate party.”
The teaching of the Qurʾān (which is chiefly confined to those Sūrahs which, chronologically arranged, are the earliest), is as follows:—
Sūrah lxxiv. 26–34 (generally held to be the second Sūrah composed by Muḥammad, and relating to al-Walīd ibn al-Mug͟hīrah, a person of note amongst the unbelieving Makkans):—
“We will surely cast him into Saqar.
“And who shall teach thee what Saqar is?
“It leaveth nought, it spareth nought,
“Blackening the skin.
“Over it are nineteen angels.
“None but angels have we made guardians of the fire (aṣḥābu ʾn-nār): nor have we made this to be their number but to perplex the unbelievers, and that they who possess the Scriptures may be certain of the Truth, and that they who believe may increase their faith;
“And that they to whom the Scriptures have been given, and the believers, may not doubt;
“And that the infirm of heart and the unbelievers may say, What meaneth God by this parable?
“Thus God misleadeth whom He will, and whom He will He doth guide aright: and none knoweth the armies of thy Lord but Himself: and this is no other than a warning to mankind.”
“Hath the tidings of the day that shall overshadow reached thee?
“Downcast on that day shall be the countenances of some,
“Travailing and worn,
“Burnt at the scorching fire,
“Made to drink from a fountain fiercely boiling.
“No food shall they have but the fruit of ẓarīʿ (a bitter thorn),
“Which shall not fatten nor appease their hunger.”
“Hell (Jahannam) truly shall be a place of snares,
“The home of transgressors,
“To abide therein ages;
“No coolness shall they taste therein nor any drink,
“Save boiling water and running sores;
“Meet recompence!
“For they looked not forward to their account;
“And they gave the lie to our signs, charging them with falsehood;
“But we noted and wrote down all:
“ ‘Taste this then: and we will give you increase of nought but torment.’ ”
The above are all Madīnah Sūrahs composed in the earlier stage of Muḥammad’s mission. The allusions to hell in the Makkan Sūrahs are brief and are in every case directed against unbelievers in the Prophet’s mission, and not against sin; e.g. Sūrah ix. 69, “God hath promised to the hypocrites (i.e. dissemblers as far as Islām was concerned), men and women, and unto the unbelievers, hell-fire to dwell therein for ever.”
The teaching of Muḥammad in the Traditions is much more specific, but it is impossible to assign a date for these traditions, even assuming them to be authentic. They are given on the authority of al-Buk͟hārī and Muslim (Mishkāt, book xxiii. ch. xv.):—
“ ‘The fire of the world is one part of seventy parts of hell fire.’ It was said, ‘O Prophet of God! verily the fire of the world would be sufficient for punishing.’ The Prophet replied, ‘Hell-fire has been made more than the fire of the world by sixty-nine parts, every part of which is like the fire of the world.’ ”
“Verily, the easiest of the infernals in punishment, is he who shall have both his shoes and thongs of them of fire, by which the brains of his head boil, like the boiling of a copper furnace; and he will not suppose that anyone is more severely punished than himself; whilst verily, he is the least so.”
“On the Day of Resurrection, the most luxurious of the world will be brought, and dipped once into the fire; after that it will be said, ‘O child of Adam, did you ever see any good, or did comfort ever pass by you in the world?’ He will say, ‘I swear by God I never saw any good, nor did comfort ever come near me.’ And a man of the severest distresses and troubles in the world will be brought into paradise; and it will be said to him, ‘O son of Adam, did you ever see any trouble, and did distress ever come to you in the world?’ And he will say, ‘I swear by God, O my Lord, I never suffered troubles in the world, nor did I ever see hardship.’ ”
“There are some of the infernals that will be taken by the fire up to their ankles, and some up to their knees, and some up to their waist, and some up to their necks.”
“Hell-fire burnt a thousand years so that it became red, and burnt another thousand years till it became white; after that it burnt a thousand years till it became black; then hell fire is black and dark, and never has any light.”
“Verily, hot water will be poured upon the heads of the infernals, and will penetrate into their bellies, and will cut to pieces everything within them; so that they will come out at their feet; and this is the meaning of the word of God, ‘Boiling water shall be poured on their heads, and everything in their bellies shall be dissolved thereby,’ after that, they will be made as they were.”
“The infernals shall be drenched with yellow water, draught after draught, and it will be brought to their mouths and they will be disgusted at it; and when very near, it will scorch their faces, and when they drink it it will tear their entrails to pieces. God says, ‘They who must dwell for ever in hell-fire, will have the boiling water given them to drink which shall burst their bowels’; and God will say, ‘If the infidels complain of thirst, they shall be assisted with water like molten copper, which will fry their faces; it will be a shocking beverage.’ ”
For most of these circumstances relating to hell and the state of the damned, Muḥammad was in all probability indebted to the Jews and, in part, to the Magians, both of whom agree in making seven distinct apartments in hell. (Nishmat hayim, f. 32; Gemar. Arubin, f. 19; Zohar. ad. Exod. xxvi. 2, &c. and Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers., p. 245), though they vary in other particulars.
The former place an angel as a guard over each of these infernal apartments, and suppose he will intercede for the miserable wretches there imprisoned, who will openly acknowledge the justice of God in their condemnation. (Midrash, Yalkut Shemuni, pt. 11, f. 116.) They also teach that the wicked will suffer a diversity of punishments, and that by intolerable cold (Zohar. ad. Exod. xix.) as well as heat, and that their faces shall become black (Yalkut Shemuni, ubi sup. f. 86); and believe those of their own religion shall also be punished in hell hereafter according to their crimes (for they hold that few or none will be found exactly righteous as to deserve no punishment at all), but will soon be delivered thence, when they shall be sufficiently purged from their sins by their father Abraham, or at the intercession of him or some other of the prophets. (Nishmat hayim, f. 82; Gemar. Arubin, f. 19.)
The Magians allow but one angel to preside over all the seven hells, who is named by them Vanānd Yezād, and, as they teach, assigns punishments proportionate to each person’s crimes, restraining also the tyranny and excessive cruelty of the devil, who would, if left to himself, torment the damned beyond their sentence. (Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. p. 182.) Those of this religion do also mention and describe various kinds of torments wherewith the wicked will be punished in the next life; among which, though they reckon extreme cold to be one, yet they do not admit fire, out of respect, as it seems, to that element, which they take to be the representation of the divine nature, and therefore they rather choose to describe the damned souls as suffering by other kinds of punishment, such as an intolerable stink, the stinging and biting of serpents and wild beasts, the cutting and tearing of the flesh by the devils, excessive hunger and thirst, and the like. (See Eundem, ibid., p. 399; Sale’s Pre. Dis.)
The author of the Sharḥu ʾl-Muwāqif, p. 586, also says: “It is agreed amongst all orthodox Muslims that all unbelievers, without exception, will be consigned to the fire for ever, and that they will never be free from torment.” “But,” he adds, “there are certain heretics, who call themselves Muslims, who deny the eternity of the torments of the fire. For, they say, it is an essential property of all things fleshly that they come to an end. And, moreover, it is not possible for a thing to exist which goes on burning for ever. But to this we reply that God is all powerful and can do as He likes.”
The sect called as-Samāmīyah, founded by Samāmah ibn Ashras an-Numairī, say: “The Jews, and Christians, and Majūsī, and Zanādiqah, will, after the Day of Judgment, return to dust, just as the animals and the little children of unbelievers do.” (Sharḥu ʾl-Muwāqif, p. 633.)
The same writer says (p. 687): “Besides those who are unbelievers, all those (Muslims) who are sinners and have committed great sins (kabāʾir), will go to hell; but they will not remain there always, for it has been said in the Qurʾān (Sūrah xcix. 7), “He who does an atom of good shall see its reward.”
With reference to the verse in the Qurʾān, which distinctly states that all Muslims shall enter hell (Sūrah xix. 73, “There is not one of you that shall not go down to it”), al-Kamālān, the commentators, say, that according to extant traditions, all Muslims will enter hell, but it will be cool and pleasant to those who have not committed great sins; or, according to some writers, they will simply pass along the bridge Ṣirāt̤, which is over the infernal regions.