عذاب
ʿAdhāb
Punishment, pain and suffering in this world or the next, which God inflicts on humans who violate His Shariah.
What it means
ʿAdhāb is the pain or suffering that follows from breaking the law of God, whether it falls in this world or in the next. The Quran warns of it often, and it also sets it beside mercy: “My punishment is what I inflict on whom I will, and My mercy encompasses all things” (7:156). It asks, “Why would God punish you if you are grateful and believe?” (4:147), which shows that gratitude and faith lie within the reach of every person. Scholars of the law treat ʿadhāb as the just consequence of disobedience after warning has been given, and the door of repentance remains open until death.
Often misunderstood as
Rendered “torment” or “wrath”, it can suggest cruelty for its own sake, while the Quran presents it as the just consequence of breaking God’s law after warning.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 39, listed as ʿADHĀB. The definition is restated here.