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Fatwa CenterBliss of Paradise and torment of Hellfire will continue to increase
Question
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuhu. Will the pleasures of the people of paradise and the punishments of the people of hell increase over time?
Answer
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, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The apparent meanings of the relevant religious texts indicate that; as Allah, The Exalted, says (what means):
- {Their refuge is Hellfire; every time it subsides We increase them in blazing fire.} [Quran 17:97]
- {So taste (the penalty), and never will We increase you except in torment.} [Quran 78:30]
- {Indeed, those who disbelieve in Our verses - We will drive them into a Fire. Every time their skins are roasted through We will replace them with other skins so they may taste the punishment..} [Quran 4:56]
Al-Qurtubi 
said in his Tafseer, "Abu Barzah said, 'I asked the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, about the severest verse in the Quran, and he said, 'The words of Allah Almighty: {So taste (the penalty), and never will We increase you except in torment}; i.e. {every time their skins are roasted through We will replace them with other skins}, and {every time it subsides We increase them in blazing fire.}''" [Tafseer Al-Qurtubi, 19/182]
Ibn ‘Aashoor said:
"It means that their punishment will be increased in the future times... This style opens with a hint to good tiding (taste (the penalty), and never will We increase you', but ends with a mention of punishment (except in torment), which adds to their sadness and grief; as when they have assumed that they were already subjected to the ultimate and severest punishment and they have become sad upon hearing it, they will be informed that there is a severer punishment awaiting for them, which adds to their sadness and grief. This is the connotation of the style used in the verse, and it indicates the intensity of the wrath (of Allah over them)..." [At-Tahreer wa At-Tanweer, 30/42]
As for the pleasures of the People of Paradise, Anas ibn Maalik, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
"In Paradise, there is a marketplace to which the people will come every Friday. The northern wind will blow and shower a fragrance on their faces and clothes and, consequently, it will enhance their beauty and loveliness. They will then return to their wives, who will also have increased in their beauty and loveliness, and their families will say to them, 'We swear by Allah that you have been increased in beauty and loveliness since leaving us.' Thereupon, they will reply, 'We swear by Allah that you have also been increased in beauty and loveliness since we left you.'" [Muslim]
Ibn Hubayrah commented on the hadeeth, saying:
"This hadeeth indicates that the bounties and pleasures granted to the people of Paradise will constantly increase. This marketplace falls into this category because it is an extra bounty beyond the bounties and pleasures granted to them, and such a marketplace is not held for the purpose of sale; rather, it is described as a 'marketplace' merely to indicate the earned rewards. They shall earn greater rewards and bounties therein, and when they go back to their homes, they shall find that their wives have become more beautiful than they were. This proves that the beauties, pleasures, and bounties bestowed upon the people of Paradise will constantly increase as they go to such marketplace and stay therein, and the beauty of their women and family increases as well in this period." [Al-Ifsaah]
The Hanbali scholar Ibn Rajab wrote:
"Ahmad ibn Abi Al-Hawaari said, 'I heard Is-haaq ibn Ibraaheem deliver a speech from above the pulpit of Mosque of Damascus, saying, 'The people of Paradise shall be granted double the pleasures and bounties, that they have, as well as things which they have not known before, each hour. Similarly, the people of Hellfire will continue to receive severer punishments that they have not known before. Allah, The Exalted, says (what means): {So taste (the penalty), and never will We increase you except in torment.} [Quran 78:30]''"
Allah knows best.
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