Hell and heaven as eternal

5-4-2000 | IslamWeb

Question:

Associating anything or anyone with an attribute of God and that God has the attribute of "eternal", how then, can we reconcile that, with the belief that hell and heaven are eternal?
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 sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

Allah is the First Who was not preceded by nonexistence and He is The Last Who will never be caught by any evanescence. Allah's Lastingness / Eternity is one of His Own Attributes. As for Paradise and Hell, they are two created creatures; their existence was preceded by nonentity and their lastingness is not from themselves, it is, in fact, an order and a predestination from Allah. Allah is indeed The One Who can annihilate them if He Wishes to do so. Allah has described Himself with knowledge. He also has described some people with knowledge. Allah Says (Interpretation of meaning): (It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah). [35:28]. Allah has described Himself with Hearing and Seeing. He called Himself The All Hearer, The All Seer. He also called the human being hearer and seer. Allah Says (Interpretation of meaning): (Verily We have created man from Nutfah (drops of mixed semen discharged of man and woman) in order to try him, so We made him hearer, seer). [76:2]. But The Seeing and Hearing of Allah not like that of humans. hearing. Allah, the Almighty, is The Omni existent. The Omnipotent, “a necessary-existence”, passing away/ nonexistence is impossible to Him. The creature also exists, but liable to passing away. So, Allah's Lastingness/ Eternity is obligatory to His Own Holy Self. As for the Paradise and the Hell, it is not impossible for them perished except for Allah's decree of their predestined existence.

Allah knows best.

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