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Hell has both kinds of punishment; the severest heat and the severest cold

Question

Some people claim that there are two kinds of Hell; one is hot and the other is cold. Is it true?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

Maybe our questioner means to ask if there is a punishment of cold in Hell as that of heat. There is no doubt that torture in Hell is of different kinds and grades as the scholars of Tafseer pointed out regarding the verse in which Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Indeed, Hell has been lying in wait. For the transgressors, a place of return.} [Quran 78:21-22]

Consequently, it is legally and reasonably possible that there will be different kinds of punishments such as that of intense cold.

It was narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Hell complained to its Lord saying, ‘O Lord! My parts are eating (destroying) one another.’ So Allaah Allowed it to take two breaths, one in winter and the other in summer. The breath in summer is at the time when you feel the severest heat and the breath in winter is at the time when you feel the severest cold.

Accordingly, Hell has the severest cold as it has the severest heat. May Allaah The Almighty Guard us against it. Al-Haafith Ibn Hajar  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him in Al-Fat-h said, “The Zamhareer is the severest cold.” Some people disagree that it is in Hell. In fact, there is no reason for this disagreement for the term ‘Hell’ is a general term for a specific location that has different kinds of punishment including that of the severest cold.

In conclusion, Hell has the punishment of the severest cold as it has the punishment of the severest heat. May Allaah The Almighty Guard us against it.

Allaah Knows best.

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