XV.—HELL.
Hell, or the place of torment, is called in Arabic Jahannam, and in Persian Dozakh; and is said to have seven portals or divisions,[1] which the Commentator Baghawi distributes as follows:—
1. Jahannam, for Muhammadans; for, according to the Qurán, all Muslims will pass through hell.[2]
2. Lazwá, a blazing fire for Christians (Sura lxx. 15 only).
3. Hutama, an intense fire for Jews (Sura civ. 4 only).
4. Sʾaír, a flaming fire for Sabians (Sura iv. 11, and fourteen other places).
5. Saqar, a scorching heat for Magi (Suras liv. 58, and lxxiv. 43).
6. Jahím, a huge hot fire for idolaters (Sura ii. 113, and twenty other places).
7. Háwía, the bottomless pit for hypocrites (Sura, cl. 8).
The situation of hell is a matter of dispute.
Baghawi's distribution of the different sections of hell is a proof of the utter recklessness of Muslim Commentators, for in neither case are Lazwá and Hutama apportioned to Christians or Jews in the Qurán.
- ↑ Sura xv. 44. "It hath seven portals, and at each portal a separate band;" a tradition founded on the Talmud. Thus in Sota 10, David is said to have rescued Absalom from the seven dwellings of hell. (Rodwell.)
- ↑ Sura xix. 44, "Verily there is not one of you that shall not go down into hell. Jahannam is the Arabic form of the Greek γεέννα, and it is remarkable that the word should be used for a purgatorial hell and not ἄδης which, according to the Papists, denotes that state.