جهنم
Jahannam
Topic
The Quran describes Hell in vivid terms as a punishment for those who reject truth and do wrong; scholars hold that God is just and merciful in it.
What it means
The Quran speaks of Hell’s fire, boiling water and the tree of Zaqqum (44:43–46, 56:52–54), and warns of it often, so that it may be avoided. It also says: “We never punish until We have sent a messenger” (17:15), and that God “does not wrong anyone, even by an atom’s weight” (4:40).
Often misunderstood as
That Islam is preoccupied with torment, and that no one can escape it.
What the sources say
The Quran describes the same God as “the Most Merciful of those who show mercy”. The Prophet said that God’s mercy outstrips His wrath (Sahih al-Bukhari). Hadith of intercession say that those with even an atom of faith will in the end be brought out (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim). Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim are reported to have held that Hell will end, a view other scholars reject, which shows that Muslims have differed on this.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 28, listed as JAHANNAM. The definition is restated here.