Re: Concept of Hell
It is true that the Holy Quran mentions hell as the abode of evil-doers and even depicts its horrors, but it must be borne in mind that according to the Holy Quran both heaven and hell are places for the perpetual advancement of man to higher and higher stages. The Holy Quran says on one occasion: "Verily you shall all be surely transformed from state to state" (ch. 84: v. 19). The whole mankind is addressed in these words and accordingly, as those in paradise shall make perpetual advancement, those in hell will not be suffering fruitless torments. On the other hand, the torments of hell will be the means of purging them of the evil effects of their deeds done in this life. This is the only philosophical explanation of hell, and this explanation has been given by no other book but the Holy Quran. It is the Quran only which teaches that heaven and hell grow out of a man; that a heavenly or hellish life begins in this world and that the spiritual fruits of good or evil deeds done in this life assume a manifest form in the next. The fire of hell is no other than the fire of sins as the Holy Quran says: "The fire of the wrath of God burned on account of sins which rise above the hearts." The origin of the fire of hell is, therefore, in the sins which a man commits in this life, that he prepares a hell in which he will find himself in the next.
The Holy Quran, as I have already said, does not teach that those in hell shall suffer everlasting torments; and this is an important consideration which conclusively settles the question that hell is meant for the advancement of man and for his purification. There is no doubt that the abiding of evil-doers in hell is mentioned in some verses of the Holy Quran to be for "abad " which sometimes means prospective eternity, but " abad" also signifies a long time. And there are numerous passages in the Holy Quran showing that those in hell shall ultimately be taken out. Thus, in ch. 6: v. 129, the Quran says: "God said, Verily the fire is your resort to dwell therein unless thy Lord will it otherwise, verily, thy Lord is wise and knowing." On another occasion, those in hell are spoken of as "staying therein for years" (ch. 78: v. 23). The original word is "Ahqab" which is the plural of "huqub", meaning a year or years, or seventy or eighty years, or a long time (see Lanes Arabic Lexicon).
The statement that the evil-doers will abide in hell only for a limited number of years shows clearly that, according to the Holy Quran, the torments of hell are not everlasting, for infinite time cannot be measured by a finite number of years. Again in ch. 101: v. 6, hell is called a "mother" of those who shall go into it. The use of this word is, I think, the clearest evidence as to the true nature of hell as described in the Holy Quran. What is meant is that, as a child is brought up by the mother, so those in hell will be brought up in that place for a new life, the life of perpetual advancement in paradise.
It is true that the Holy Quran also speaks of hell as a place of torment or tortures, but these torments according to the Holy Book are remedial. Just as a patient has to devour bitter medicines and undergo operations and amputations which are most painful, but which are undoubtedly the only steps which can restore him to health; so also it is with torments of hell. They are not only the natural consequences of the poison of sins, but, at the same time, the torments are the most necessary steps to undo the effect of the poison and breath into a person a new life in which he must go on making unending progress. Thus hell is also a manifestation of the mercy of God, though of different kind, from heaven.
The one, hell, is a place for restoring health to those who have destroyed it by their own actions in this life, while the other, heaven, is a place for the advancement of those who enter into the other life with their spiritual faculties unvitiated. In fact, so clear, is the teaching of the Holy Quran on this point that none but a most superficial reader could overlook it. Again and again, the Holy Quran speaks of the workers of iniquity as blind, deaf, dumb, dead, meaning of course that they themselves have wasted their spiritual faculties, and accordingly, before they can make any spiritual advancement in the attainment of that highest goal of the human soul, the union of God, they must be subjected to the operations which should restore the action of those faculties.
In clearer words still, the Holy Quran tells us that "those who are blind in this life shall find themselves blind in the next," which means that as they did not make use of the opportunities, given to them in this life, to use their spiritual faculties, they will find themselves devoid of these faculties in the next, and will palpably feel the pain and anguish which are the necessary result of their loss and which they were unable to feel in this life because of their engrossment in worldly things. But the mercy of God will soon take them by hand and they will, after passing through all the stages through which it is necessary to pass to regain the use of the lost faculties, attain the real object of their lives. They will be purged of all uncleanliness, for this is necessary to attain to a perfect union with the Divine Being who is the source of all purity.
but it’s the nonmuslims that are sent to hell even if they are selfless, all sacrificing or people that try to be good human beings right?