Hi,
My name is Hassan Radwan
I am 61 years old and was a practising Muslim for almost 50 years. I’m now Agnostic. I’m a school teacher (now retired) and taught in an Islamic school for 15 years. I recently read Bart Ehrman’s book; “Heaven & Hell – a History of the Afterlife.” Obviously the religion I am familiar with is Islam, not Judaism or Christianity so I found the book fascinating.
What struck me was the fact that the graphic descriptions of eternal torture really only emerge in apocryphal literature. So I looked up the descriptions of Hell in Apocalypse of Peter and Paul and other apocryphal writings of Church fathers and was stunned by their similarity to the descriptions in the Qur’an.
It seems obvious to me that Muhammad was influenced by these images and wonder if there has been any research into this area?
I made a short video about Bart Ehrman’s book the idea I outlined above on my YouTube channel.
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Looking forward to interesting discussions here.
Best wishes,
Hassan Radwan.
Hi Robert,
You are correct. The orthodox (mainstream Sunni) Islamic belief is that Jesus was not crucified. The Qur’an says:
وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ
“They did not kill him (Jesus), nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear to them (that he was).” (2:157)
Tafseers usually explain that someone else was crucified in his place who looked like Jesus.
Wa maa qataluhu wa maa Salabuhu wa lakin Shubbiha lahum
Wa = and
Maa = a negaation ie “not”
Qatalu (pl) Killed (verb mass sing past tense; qatala)
hu = him
Salabu (pl) crucified (sing past tense Salaba – the “S” is a different from the sound of the English “S” which also exists in Arabic)
hu = him
Lakin = but
Shubbiha = made like (passive form of Shabbaha = to make something like sth)
La = to/for
Hum = them
When I looked up some of the descriptions of Hell in Christian apocrypha & writings of some Church fathers – material that would have been available at Muhammad’s time – there were so many similarities it seems that the Qur’an is much closer to these works than the Old Testament or New Testament (which it of course claims to be the same message.)
Here are some quotes and then some of the Qur’an verses on Hell – I’d be interested to hear what others think?
=====================================
Hippolytus of Rome: “Standing before judgment, all of them, men, angels, and demons, crying out in one voice, shall say: ‘Just is your judgment!’ And the righteousness of that cry will be apparent in the recompense made to each. To those who have done well, everlasting enjoyment shall be given; while to the lovers of evil shall be given eternal punishment. The unquenchable and unending fire awaits… No sleep will give them rest; no night will soothe them; no death will deliver them from punishment; no appeal of interceding friends will profit them”
Felix Minucius “They would prefer to be annihilated rather than be restored for punishment… Nor is there either measure nor end to these torments. That clever fire burns the limbs and restores them, wears them away and yet sustains them”
Cyprian of Carthage: “An ever-burning Gehenna and the punishment of being devoured by living flames will consume the condemned; nor will there be any way in which the tormented can ever have respite or be at an end. Souls along with their bodies will be preserved for suffering in unlimited agonies.”
Lactantius: “divine fire… will both burn the wicked and will form them again, and will replace as much as it shall consume of their bodies, and will supply itself with eternal nourishment”
Cyril of Jerusalem: “if a man is a sinner, he shall receive an eternal body, fitted to endure the penalties of sins, that he may burn eternally in fire, nor ever be consumed…”
The Apocalypse of Peter describes bodies being roasted and intestines & entrails burnt. Eyes put out with hot irons. Sinners enveloped by a pillar of fire. Idol worshippers thrown down from a high place, driven back up by demons, then thrown down again. Unbelievers tormented in chains of fire and cast onto coals of fire.
======================
The Qur’an makes it clear that the Day of Resurrection will be a physical resurrection. The dead will be literally raised from the grave and their bodies reassembled. It was a notion that the pagan Arabs found strange as the Qur’an notes:
أَئِذَا مِتْنَا وَكُنَّا تُرَابًا وَعِظَامًا أَئِنَّا لَمَبْعُوثُونَ أَوَآبَاؤُنَا الأَوَّلُونَ قُلْ نَعَمْ وَأَنتُمْ دَاخِرُونَ
“Is it really that when we have died and become dust and bones, we will be resurrected? And even our forefathers?” Say, “Yes, and you will be humiliated.” (37:16-18)
قَالَ مَنْ يُحْيِي الْعِظَامَ وَهِيَ رَمِيمٌ قُلْ يُحْيِيهَا الَّذِي أَنشَأَهَا أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ
“He says, “Who will give life to bones when they are disintegrated?” Say, “He will give them life who created them the first time.” (36:78-79)
أَيَحْسَبُ الإِنسَانُ أَلَّن نَجْمَعَ عِظَامَهُ بَلَى قَادِرِينَ عَلَى أَن نُّسَوِّيَ بَنَانَهُ
“Does man think that We Cannot reassemble his bones? Nay, We are able to put together the very tips of his fingers.” (75:3-4)
سَوْفَ نُصْلِيهِمْ نَارًا كُلَّمَا نَضِجَتْ جُلُودُهُمْ بَدَّلْنَاهُمْ جُلُودًا غَيْرَهَا
“We shall roast them in the fire. Every time their skins are roasted through We will replace them with new skins” (4:56)
سَرَابِيلُهُم مِّن قَطِرَانٍ وَتَغْشَى وُجُوهَهُمْ النَّارُ
“Their garments will be of liquid pitch and their faces covered by the Fire” (14:50)
قُطِّعَتْ لَهُمْ ثِيَابٌ مِّن نَّارٍ
“Clothes of fire tailored to fit them” (22:19)
يُصَبُّ مِن فَوْقِ رُؤُوسِهِمُ الْحَمِيمُ يُصْهَرُ بِهِ مَا فِي بُطُونِهِمْ وَالْجُلُودُ وَلَهُم مَّقَامِعُ مِنْ حَدِيدٍ كُلَّمَا أَرَادُوا أَن يَخْرُجُوا مِنْهَا مِنْ غَمٍّ أُعِيدُوا فِيهَا وَذُوقُوا عَذَابَ الْحَرِيقِ
“Boiling fluid will be poured down on to their heads which melt the insides of their stomachs and skins. For them will be hooked rods of iron. Whenever, in their anguish, they try to escape from Hell, they shall be dragged back and (it will be said) Taste the torment of the blazing fire!” (22:19-22)
إِن يَسْتَغِيثُوا يُغَاثُوا بِمَاء كَالْمُهْلِ يَشْوِي الْوُجُوهَ
“If they cry out for help they will be given scorching water like molten brass, that will melt their faces” (18:29)
وَلا طَعَامٌ إِلاَّ مِنْ غِسْلِينٍ
“No food except pus” (69:36)
إِنَّ شَجَرَةَ الزَّقُّومِ طَعَامُ الأَثِيمِ كَالْمُهْلِ يَغْلِي فِي الْبُطُونِ
“Indeed the tree of Zaqqum Is food for the sinful. Like molten brass it will boil in their intestines” (44:43-48)
وَمَا هُمْ بِخَارِجِينَ مِنَ النَّارِ
“Never will they get out of it.” (5:37)
لَمْ يَكُنِ اللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ طَرِيقاً إِلا طَرِيقَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَداً
“Never will Allah forgive them, nor will He guide them to a path except the path to Hell, wherein they will abide forever” (4:168-169)
خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا
“They will remain in it forever.” (33-64-65)
كُلَّمَا خَبَتْ زِدْنَاهُمْ سَعِيرًا
“Every time it abates, We shall increase its fierceness for them.” (17:97)
لاَ يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابُ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ
“Never will it be eased off them nor will they be given respite” (3:88)
لَا يُقْضَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ فَيَمُوتُوا وَلَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُم مِّنْ عَذَابِهَا
“They will not be allowed to die, nor will its torment be lightened for them.” (35:36)
لا يُفَتَّرُ عَنْهُمْ وَهُمْ فِيهِ مُبْلِسُونَ
“It will not be allowed to subside for them. They will be in utter despair.” (43:75)
وَلَقَدْ صَدَّقَ عَلَيْهِمْ إِبْلِيسُ ظَنَّهُ فَاتَّبَعُوهُ إِلاَّ فَرِيقًا مِّنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
“And Satan’s estimate of them proved true for they followed him all but a group of believers.” (34:20)
لَقَدْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ عَلَى أَكْثَرِهِمْ فَهُمْ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ
“Indeed the Word has proven true against most of them, for they will not believe.” (36:7)
وَمَا أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ
“And though you try much, most people will not believe.” (12:103)
لَأَمْلَأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ
“I will surely fill Hell with jinn and people all together.” (32:13)
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَعَنَ الْكَافِرِينَ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ سَعِيراً خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَداً
“Allah has cursed the unbelievers and has prepared for them a blazing fire wherein they will abide forever” (33:64-65)
لَمْ يَكُنِ اللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ طَرِيقاً إِلا طَرِيقَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَداً
“Never will Allah forgive them, nor will He guide them to a path except the path to Hell, wherein they will remain forever” (4:168-169)
وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَإِنَّ لَهُ نَارَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَداً
“Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger – then indeed, for him is the fire of Hell; they will reside therein forever” (72:23)
خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا لاَ يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ الْعَذَابُ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ
“Abiding eternally therein. The punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be reprieved.” (3:88)
لا يُخْرَجُونَ مِنْهَا وَلا هُمْ يُسْتَعْتَبُونَ
“They will never be taken out of it, nor can they make amends” (45:35)
لا يُفَتَّرُ عَنْهُمْ وَهُمْ فِيهِ مُبْلِسُونَ
“It will not be allowed to subside for them. They will be in utter despair.” (43:75)
وَنَادَوْا يَا مَالِكُ لِيَقْضِ عَلَيْنَا رَبُّكَ قَالَ إِنَّكُمْ مَاكِثُونَ
“They will cry: “O Malik (Keeper of Hell) ask your Lord to kill us” He will say: “Nay, you will abide” (43:77)
وَمَا هُمْ بِخَارِجِينَ مِنَ النَّارِ
“They will not be getting out of it” (5:37)
لَا يُقْضَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ فَيَمُوتُوا وَلَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُم مِّنْ عَذَابِهَا
“They will not be allowed to die, nor will its torment be lightened for them”
(35:36)
الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا قُطِّعَتْ لَهُمْ ثِيَابٌ مِّن نَّارٍ يُصَبُّ مِن فَوْقِ رُؤُوسِهِمُ الْحَمِيمُ يُصْهَرُ بِهِ مَا فِي بُطُونِهِمْ وَالْجُلُودُ وَلَهُم مَّقَامِعُ مِنْ حَدِيدٍ كُلَّمَا أَرَادُوا أَن يَخْرُجُوا مِنْهَا مِنْ غَمٍّ أُعِيدُوا فِيهَا وَذُوقُوا عَذَابَ الْحَرِيقِ
“Those who disbelieve will have clothes of fire tailored for them, boiling fluid will be poured down on to their heads; it will melt their stomachs and skins. For them will be hooked rods of iron Whenever, in their anguish, they try to escape from Hell, they shall be dragged back and (it will be said) Taste the torment of the blazing fire!” (22:19-23)
The people of paradise will be able to see the people in Hell being tortured and will be able to talk to them – including people they knew:
فَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ قَالَ قَائِلٌ مِّنْهُمْ إِنِّي كَانَ لِي قَرِينٌ يَقُولُ أَإِنَّكَ لَمِنْ الْمُصَدِّقِينَ أَئِذَا مِتْنَا وَكُنَّا تُرَابًا وَعِظَامًا أَئِنَّا لَمَدِينُونَ قَالَ هَلْ أَنتُم مُّطَّلِعُونَ فَاطَّلَعَ فَرَآهُ فِي سَوَاء الْجَحِيمِ قَالَ تَاللَّهِ إِنْ كِدتَّ لَتُرْدِينِ وَلَوْلا نِعْمَةُ رَبِّي لَكُنتُ مِنَ الْمُحْضَرِينَ
“They (the people of paradise) will gather around together inquiring about each other. A speaker among them will say, “Indeed, I had a companion who would say, ‘Are you indeed of those who believe? That when we have died and become dust and bones, we will indeed be raised to account?’ (A voice will say) ‘Do you want to see him?’ And he will look and see him in the midst of the Hellfire. He will say, “By Allah , you almost ruined me. If not for the favour of my Lord, I would have been of those brought in (to Hell). (37:50-57).
The people of Hell will beg the people of Paradise for some food or water.
وَنَادَى أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ أَصْحَابَ الْجَنَّةِ أَنْ أَفِيضُواْ عَلَيْنَا مِنَ الْمَاء أَوْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ قَالُواْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَهُمَا عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ
“And the companions of the Fire will call to the companions of Paradise, “Pour upon us some water or from whatever Allah has provided you.” They will say, “Indeed, Allah has forbidden them to the disbelievers.” (7:50)
The people of Paradise will watch & laugh at the people of Hell as they are being tortured.
فَالْيَوْمَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ مِنَ الْكُفَّارِ يَضْحَكُونَ عَلَى الأَرَائِكِ يَنظُرُونَ
“Today the believers will be laughing at the unbelievers, watching while reclining on raised couches.” (83:34-35)
يَوْمٌ لاَّ بَيْعٌ فِيهِ وَلاَ خُلَّةٌ وَلاَ شَفَاعَةٌ
“A day where there is no bargaining, nor friendship, nor intercession.” (2:254.)
أَمِ اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ شُفَعَاء قُلْ أَوَلَوْ كَانُوا لا يَمْلِكُونَ شَيْئًا وَلا يَعْقِلُونَ
“Do they take intercessors other than Allah ? Say: What! Even though they have no power and no intelligence?
قُل لِّلَّهِ الشَّفَاعَةُ جَمِيعًا
Say: Intercession belongs entirely to Allah .” (39:43-44)
لاَّ تَجْزِي نَفْسٌ عَن نَّفْسٍ شَيْئًا وَلاَ يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَاعَةٌ وَلاَ يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ
“No soul will avail another soul, nor will intercession be accepted from it, no ransom accepted, nor will they be helped.” (2:48)
وَأَنذِرْ بِهِ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ أَن يُحْشَرُواْ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ لَيْسَ لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِ وَلِيٌّ وَلاَ شَفِيعٌ لَّعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ.
“And warn with it those who fear that they shall be gathered to their Lord — They will have no guardian & no intercessor besides Him (6:51)
Robert said
Correct. The NT has no detailed description of hell.
Robert said
Correct. The NT has no detailed description of hell.
Thanks! This is all quite problematic for Islam because it claims to be the same message from Adam, to Moses, to Jesus and then to Muhammad. Namely: ‘Believe & obey the One God and gain eternal joy in paradise. Refuse and suffer eternal punishment in Hell.’ Yet Heaven & Hell is absent from the Old Testaments – and Eternal Hell is even absent from the teachings of Jesus.
As I mentioned in the video I made it raises two questions for Muslims:
1. Why would such central doctrines be absent from the Old & New Testaments, particularly as they form such an integral & much repeated element in the Qur’an?
2. Why would the Qur’an’s concept of Hell resemble this very human apocryphal literature, while being completely at odds with the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus?
Peace and salutations,
The Qurʼān may occasionally compliment the canonical gospels and may occasionally contradict or critique them. The same goes for works deemed “apocryphal” by church fathers, synods etc. The Qurʼān sees itself as the final revelation and as acting as ‘Criterion’ for discerning truth or falsehood with respect to claims of all previously revealed divine disclosures. It’s the means by which we learn to distinguish the genuine from the counterfeit.
Peace,
Secularists, atheists etc. automatically conclude that Muhammad (peace be upon him) plagiarized from Jewish and Christian holy texts simply because the subject matter is the same (i.e. God, Satan, good, evil, dietary restrictions etc.) instead of seeing it in light of an evolving chain of inspiration emanating from an original Divine Source.
Great post Hassan, and it seems to be accurate that Hell as an idea came to its zenith under Islam after a natural evolution from the ancient Israelites who first seem to believe death was the end. From that you later get Sheol, the Jewish hades. The historical Jesus may have believed in Sheol as a holding pen for the dead, but he was still probably an annihilationist and only thought of Hell as a place or God’s supernatural enemies. Later there seem to be references towards better and worse parts of Sheol in the book of Luke which serve as a kind of version of Hell.** you do not have permission to see this link ** The early Church fathers in the 2nd through 4th century give us a version of the underworld recognizable to a modern audience.
The historicity of Mohamed is fairly weak, I was surprised that we have no first hand accounts of him or any biographies before about 100 years after his death when I looked into the issue. What we can say about him with great certainty is that he was a man who existed in Arabia around the year 600 AD. It’s also very likely that he was indeed a traveling merchant. As such, he would have been in close contact with Jews and Christians on a frequent basis. Indeed, the Himyarite Kingdom in modern Yemen was ruled by a dynasty of Jews until the year 525.** you do not have permission to see this link ** Mohamed’s views were likely informed by the pre-Islamic Syriac holy text(s) used by a group of Jewish Christians who were generally considered heterodox at the time. His views on Heaven and Hell were thus probably inspired by these people and other Arabian Christians. Mohamed was not literate according to Islamic tradition so he would have had to relay what he was learning via memory. The Bible doesn’t actually say much about Hell at all. The most graphic things are the depictions fo the world ending in the Book of Revelation. It’s early Christians outside the Bible giving horrifying explanations in the early centuries of the Church. That seems to be where Islamic conceptions of the afterlife are derived.
From my secular historical perspective Islam is just the final stage a 3000+ year theological evolution from the earliest ancient Canaanite beliefs. While this view may not be something some Christians, Muslims, or Jews would want to her, Islam is probably just a very Jewish version of Christianity. Muslims and Jews are both fairly solidly monotheistic, with no Trinity in either. Circumcision, no pork, and animal sacrifice are all practiced in both and there remains a strong emphasis in Islam on OT moral law(adultery, homosexuality). Polygamy is practiced in the OT, including by some fairly heroic figures and is also acceptable in Islam. While Muslims have a version of the afterlife more Christian than Christians, they are actually very Torah observant here on Earth.
Peace,
My understanding is the Pharisees and the Sadducees differed in their religious outlook on many key points. The Pharisees were inclined to a mystical interpretation of existence and believed in supernatural entities and otherworldly realms (i.e. angels, demons, heaven, hell etc.) while the Sadducees maintained a more materialist worldview. Mr. Ehrman admits that the question of an afterlife was a hotly contentious matter in ancient Jewish circles.
Eddie_Mecca786 said
Peace,Secularists, atheists etc. automatically conclude that Muhammad (peace be upon him) plagiarized from Jewish and Christian holy texts simply because the subject matter is the same (i.e. God, Satan, good, evil, dietary restrictions etc.) instead of seeing it in light of an evolving chain of inspiration emanating from an original Divine Source.
Salams,
The problem here is that Heaven & Hell don’t exist in the Old Testament. And as for the New Testament – as Bart Ehrman has pointed out in his recent book – Jesus did not preach Eternal punishment.
These things were invented later in the works of human authors.
The Qur’an is at odds with the Bible yet in agreement with later human writers.
I appreciate that Islam believes the message has varied in some details according to the needs of the time and place. However it insists that the core message has always been the same, namely:
‘Believe& obey the One God and gain eternal joy in paradise. Refuse and suffer eternal punishment in Hell.’
So its absence is not something that can be dismissed as a minor detail.
I also appreciate that Muslims argue that the Bible has been corrupted and the references to eternal Hell must have been removed. But why would anyone do that? And why then after going to all that trouble, bring it back making it a doctrine of the church?
Of course I don’t doubt for a minute that the many books that make up the old and new testaments have undergone changes and interpolations, but to suppose that such a central doctrine has been maliciously & meticulously removed requires one to believe there was a concerted conspiracy of massive proportions spanning centuries with people working together in different places and time periods – only to then bring it back in Apocryphal literature!
There is however a far simpler explanation. That the Qur’an is a human text – and not a divine text. It reflect the evolving views over many centuries. A purely human process that led to the notion of Hell finding its most literal & graphic incarnation in the Qur’an.
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert