بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Shaybani (رحمه الله) in his letter states:

“We believe in divine decree and destiny, in its good and evil, its sweetness and bitterness. Allah created Paradise before creation, and He created inhabitants for it. Its pleasures are eternal, and whoever claims that anything in Paradise will perish is a disbeliever. He created Hell before the creation of creation, and He created inhabitants for it. Its torment is eternal.”

Abu al-Qasim al-Lalaka’i(رحمه الله) narrates:

“Ibn Abi Hatim said:

I asked my father (Abu Hatim al-Razi) and Abu Zur’ah (al-Razi) about the madhahib of Ahl al-Sunnah in the Usul al-Din, and what they learned from the scholars in all the regions, and what they believe about that. They said:

We encountered the scholars in all regions—Hijaz, Iraq, Sham, and Yemen—and their madhab was:

Paradise is true, and Hell is true; both are created and will never perish. Paradise is the reward for His friends, and Hell is the punishment for those who disobey Him, except for those whom Allah, the Almighty, has mercy upon.”

Abu Jafar al-Tahawi al-Hanafi (رحمه الله) writes in al-Aqidah:

“Heaven and Hell are created things and they will never perish or be extinguished”

Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani al-Maliki (رحمه الله) narrates a consensus:

“Paradise and Hell have been created. Paradise is prepared for the pious, and Hell is for the disbelievers. They will not perish or be destroyed.”

Ibn Abi Zamanin al-Maliki (رحمه الله) writes:

“On the Belief that Paradise and Hell are Eternal

I said: “Ahl al-Sunnah believe that Paradise and Hell are eternal and that their inhabitants will never perish.”

Allah, the Exalted, has said: {Indeed, the home of the Hereafter—that is the [true] life, if only they knew} ¹.

And He said: {And indeed, the Hereafter is the home of permanence} ².

And He said: {Whatever you have will end, but what is with Allah is lasting} ³.

And He said: {They will not taste death therein except the first death} ⁴.

And in refutation of the Jews and their false claim:

{The Fire will not touch us except for a few numbered days. Yes, whoever earns evil, and his sin has encompassed him, they will be the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally} ⁵.

Ibn Abbas said that “evil” here refers to shirk (associating partners with Allah). So, those are the inhabitants of the Fire, and they will dwell therein forever.

And Allah said concerning the believers: {But those who believe and do righteous deeds, We will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. [It is] the promise of Allah, [which is] truth, and who is more truthful than Allah in statement} ⁶.

They will say: ‘Praise be to Allāh, who has removed from us [all] sorrow. Indeed, our Lord is Forgiving and Appreciative, who has settled us in the home of duration out of His bounty. No fatigue will touch us therein, nor will weariness touch us therein.’

And as for those who disbelieved, they will have Hellfire; death will not be decreed for them so they may die, nor will its torment be lightened for them. Thus do We recompense every disbeliever.”⁷

And He said: {Abiding therein eternally}⁸.

And He said: {And they will not be removed from it}⁹.

I said: “Even if Allah, blessed and exalted, had mentioned eternity [only] in a single verse, it would have been sufficient for one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam. But He repeated it so that it would be decisive.”

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¹ Surat al-‘Ankabut, 29:64
² Surat Ghafir, 40:39
³ Surat al-Nahl, 16:96
⁴ Surat al-Dukhan, 44:56
⁵ Surat al-Baqarah, 2:80-81
⁶ Surat al-Nisa’, 4:122
⁷ Surat Fatir, 35:34-35
⁸ Surat Fatir, 35:34-35
⁹ Surat al-Hijr, 15:48

Ibn Abd al-Barr al-Maliki (رحمه الله) writes:

“Ahl al-Sunnah say that Paradise and Hell are created and that they will never cease to exist.”
[…]
“The Hereafter will not be devoid of Hell, just as it will not be devoid of Paradise, because Paradise is the mercy of Allah, the Exalted, and Hell is His punishment with which He afflicts whomever He wills among His servants.”

al-Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Asbahani al-Shafi’i (رحمه الله) writes:

“They (Ahl al-Sunnah) believe Heaven and Hell were created to last eternally and will never perish.”

He also narrates a consensus on the issue:

“Paradise and Hell are created and will never cease to exist because they were created to last forever, not to perish.”

He also writes:

“Everything is destined to perish, except for Paradise and Hell, the Throne, the Footstool, the Tablet, the Pen, and the Trumpet—none of these will perish.”

Imam al-Nawawi al-Shafi’i (رحمه الله) writes:

❝ Regarding the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him): “…nothing remains in Hellfire except for those whom the Qur’an has condemned to eternal punishment,” this means they are destined for eternal damnation. Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) explained the phrase “destined for eternal punishment” is the interpretation of Qatadah al-Rawi, this interpretation is correct and means that those whom the Qur’an indicates are eternally punished are the disbelievers, as Allah says: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him” [al-Nisa’: 48, 116]. This is evidence for the doctrine of Ahl al-Haqq (the People of Truth) and the consensus of the Salaf that no one who dies upon monotheism will remain in the Fire forever, and Allah knows best.”

Ibn Hazm al-Zahiri narrates ‘ijma about the following:

“Hellfire is real, and it is the abode of eternal punishment that will never cease, and its inhabitants will never perish without end. It has been prepared for every disbeliever who opposes the religion of Islam.”

Ismail al-San’ani (رحمه الله) writes:

“He (Ibn Taymiyyah) then addressed the arguments of those who claim that Hell will not perish, saying: “They have six arguments. The first is ‘ijma on its none. As for the claim of ‘ijma, it is first of all not known for sure, as these issues cannot be decided with certainty by ijma. Yes, it might have been presumed to be an ‘ijma before the existence of khilaf, but the khilaf has been known for a long time. If the claimant of ‘ijma were tasked with bringing forth evidence from ten or fewer Companions that they said Hell will not perish, they would not find it possible.” We have reported that they explicitly stated otherwise, and we have not found any of them to contradict this.

I say: It is already known that six of the Companions have been reported with statements that do not clearly support his claim of the perishability of Hell, as we have explained. It is incorrect to attribute that claim to any of those six. We have not found a single Companion saying that Hell will perish, just as there is no Companion who says it will not perish. This issue—whether Hell will perish—was not known during the time of the Companions, nor was it discussed among them. There was neither negation nor affirmation of it; what they knew is what is in the Qur’an and the Sunnah about the eternal nature of Hell’s inhabitants, that they will never be expelled from it, and that it has been established that sinful monotheists will eventually be freed.”

Mulla Ali al-Qari (رحمه الله) writes:

“As for the claim of the muʾawwil that:

Ibn Taymiyyah al-Hanbali, believed that in the end, the disbelievers would be removed out of the Fire, this is a slander against him. Even if what is attributed to him were true, his dissent would not break the ‘ijma; rather, he would be judged as a disbeliever as well, without dispute.”

Mar’i al-Karmi al-Hanbali (رحمه الله) writes about the consensus:

“They (Ahl al-Sunnah) unanimously agreed that the punishment of disbelievers will not cease, just as the bliss of the people of Paradise will not end. This is supported by the Qur’an, Sunnah, and the consensus of the Ummah, in contrast to the Jahmiyyah, who claimed that Paradise and Hell will perish along with their inhabitants. Similarly, Abu al-Hudhail al-Mu’tazili and his followers said that the punishment of the disbelievers will cease and has a limit and an end, and they argued this using both transmitted and rational evidence.”

Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi al-Hanbali (رحمه الله) writes:

“Paradise and Hellfire are created and will not perish. Paradise is the abode for His friends, and Hellfire is the punishment for His enemies. The inhabitants of Paradise will abide therein forever: {Verily, the criminals will be in the punishment of Hell to abide therein forever. It will not be lightened for them, and they will be therein in despair.} [43:74-75]. Death will be brought forth in the form of a ram with mixed black and white spots, and it will be slaughtered between Paradise and Hellfire. Then it will be said, “O people of Paradise, everlasting life without death! And O people of Hellfire, everlasting life without death!”

جَزَاكَ اللهُ خَيْرًا

Much thanks to brother Ahad for the references.