Assalaamu alaykum. There is a brother named Burhan who issues the fatwas at www.islamhelpline.com, he said, “Nowhere in the Quran is it mentioned that one who is condemned to Hell ire, will be taken out after some time! Beloved brother in Islam, the truth is there are indeed a few hadiths recorded which state that some believers who had faith, but because of their evil deeds were condemned to the Hell Fire and after serving their time in Hell Fire they will be taken out by Allah Subhanah! Although these narrations are recorded in the sahih category of hadiths, almost all of such hadiths are related by one narrator and most of the good scholars and jurists are of the opinion that regardless of the source of the hadith, if any hadith goes against the clear guidance of the Holy Quran, that hadith cannot be accepted as sahih.”
This can be found one the following site: http://www.islamhelpline.net/node/8032
My question is: is this scholar right? Were the hadiths regarding the Muslims who will be brought out of the fire only narrated by one narrator? Are these hadiths to be disregarded, as he says? I sincerely request that you do not refer me to another fatwa, as I could not find the answer. May Allaah reward you without limits. May Allaah reward you, Brothers.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

It is established among the scholars, with support of religious texts, that the Sunnah is evidence in the same manner that the Quran is evidence; the Quran itself proves that the Sunnah is evidence, as in the saying of Allah (which means): {Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed.} [Quran 53:3-4]

Allah also says (what means): {And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he has forbidden you – refrain from. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.} [Quran 59:7]

Moreover, the Quran proved that those who sinned but who believed in the Oneness of Allah (Tawheed) will not be in Hellfire eternally; Allah says (what means): {And fear the Fire, which has been prepared for the disbelievers.} [Quran 3:131]

Shaykh As-Sa’di said, “The verse also proves that even if the monotheists (the people of Tawheed [pure monotheism]) have committed some major sins, they will not be in Hellfire eternally because Allah says (what means): {which has been prepared for the disbelievers}; so if the ‘sinning monotheists’ were to be in Hellfire eternally, then the fire would not have been prepared for the disbelievers only; contrary to the belief of the Mu’tazilah and Khawaarij.” 

Further evidence is in the saying of Allah (which means): {And as for those who were [destined to be] prosperous, they will be in Paradise, abiding therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except what your Lord should will – a bestowal uninterrupted.} [Quran 11:108]

Ibn Katheer said, “Adh-Dhahhaak and Al-Hasan Al-Basri both said, ‘It is about the disobedient. The stayed in the Hellfire (for some time), then they were asked to leave it.”

Also, there is a consensus among the scholars that the disobedient Muslims from this Ummah (nation) will not be in Hellfire eternally; Al-Qaadhi ’Iyaadh was among the scholars who reported the consensus in this regard.

These ahaadeeth which prove that the disobedient Muslims will come out of the Fire are confirmed in Saheeh Al-Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim. The authenticity of the ahaadeeth reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim is well known to the Muslim nation, as was stated by An-Nawawi and others. It is not true that these ahaadeeth were narrated by one narrator only; rather, many narrators narrated them from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him; many narrators also narrated them from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him. There is also another hadeeth which reads, “The last person who will come out of Hellfire (to enter Paradise)…”; it is reported in Saheeh Muslim from Abdullah ibn Mas’ood with a totally different chain of narrators.

If he means that they are Aahaad ahaadeeth (the Aahaad hadeeth is a hadeeth which is narrated by a number of narrators less than the Mutawaatir, i.e. any stage of its chain of narrators has less than ten narrators), then Imaam an-Nawawi quoted from Al-Qaadhi Iyaadh, when interpreting Saheeh Muslim, that he [Al-Qaadhi Iyaadh] said:

“There are ahaadeeth whose totality amounted to Tawaatur about the truthfulness of intercession in the Hereafter for the sinners among the believers, and the righteous predecessors and Ahlus-Sunnah after them agreed in consensus about their authenticity, while the Khawaarij and some Mu'tazilah did not agree with it and stuck to their belief that the sinners among the believers will be eternally in Hellfire. The Khawaarij and Mu'tazilah provided the saying of Allah (which means): {So there will not benefit them the intercession of [any] intercessors.} [Quran 74:48]; and the saying of Allah (which means): {For the wrongdoers there will be no devoted friend and no intercessor [who is] obeyed.} [Quran 40:18] as evidence. However, these verses are about the disbelievers.” 

Hence, this proves that these ahaadeeth do not contradict the Quran according to the prominent scholars of Hadeeth, so we must act according to them, and it is not permissible to just reject them like this. There are many other pieces of evidence in the Book of Allah (the Quran) and the Sunnah of the Prophet as well as the consensus of the Companions and that of the Salaf (righteous predecessors) of this nation that constitute absolute proof that it is an obligation to act according to the Aahaad hadeeth in all the fields of the Sharia. The Companions and the Taabi’een (the generation that followed the Companions) and Ahlus-Sunnah and Ahlul-Hadeeth provide evidence of these ahaadeeth in the issues of creed and rulings without making any difference between them, and it was not reported from any of them that he permitted providing them as evidence regarding rulings but not regarding informing about Allah and His Names and Attributes; rather, no difference of opinion was reported about this issue from any prominent scholar.

Imaam Ash-Shaafi’i said in his book Ar-Risaalah, “If it were permissible for any person to say, ‘The Muslims, past and present, agreed in a consensus about taking the Aahaad ahaadeeth as evidence, and there was not a known Muslim jurist except that he considered them as evidence,’ then it would be permissible for me to say it; but what I can say is: I have not heard of any Muslim jurist who differed about considering the Aahaad hadeeth as evidence, without any exception amongst them.”

Moreover, Ibn Abd Al-Barr said in At-Tamheed while speaking about the Aahaad hadeeth and the stance of the scholars about it, “All of them believe in the Aahaad hadeeth narrated by a trustworthy narrator, and they act according to it in matters of creed, and they support it and consider it as a Sharia and religion in their beliefs; this is the view of all the Sunnis.”

Ibn Al-Qayyim said in As-Sawaa’iq Al-Mursalah:

“The eighth category: It is the known and certain consensus about the acceptance of these ahaadeeth and using them as evidence in affirming the Names and Attributes of the Lord Almighty. This is something that a person who is experienced about Manqool (textual evidence) would not doubt, as the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were the ones who narrated these ahaadeeth, and they received them from each other with acceptance, and none of them denied them from those who narrated them, and the Taabi’een received these ahaadeeth from them – from the first one of them to the last one of them.” 

For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 83766.

Finally, we warn against visiting such websites which raise misconceptions, except for someone who has profound Islamic knowledge so that he would not be affected by them. Indeed, seeking to be safe in one’s religion is required Islamically.

Allah knows best.