On the Divine Promise and the Divine Threat

Chapter Three of al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah fī Ḥaqīqat al-Zaydiyyah (The Dewy Garden on the Reality of Zaydism) by Ibrāhīm al-Darsī, vol. 1, p. 61

This is the third of the fundamental principles (uṣūl) of the Zaydiyya. It concerns the truthfulness of Allah, Exalted is He, regarding what He has promised and what He has threatened. Allah neither breaks His promise nor His threat, nor does He speak falsely in what He says.

Know that the Muslims are unanimously agreed that Allah, Exalted is He, has promised Paradise to the believers, and that whoever dies maintaining faith among the believers shall enter Paradise and abide therein forever and ever, for all eternity. They shall never leave it, nor shall their bliss be diminished, nor shall they die.

They are likewise unanimously agreed that Allah, Exalted is He, has threatened the unbelievers (kuffār) and the polytheists (mushrikūn) with Hell. Whoever dies in unbelief and polytheism shall inevitably enter the Fire and remain therein forever, abiding eternally without end.

The disagreement in this chapter between the Zaydiyya and other schools revolves around a number of issues, namely:

1. Intercession (al-Shafāʿa)
2. The Intermediate Position (al-Manzila bayna al-Manzilatayn)
3. Departure from Hell (al-Khurūj min al-Nār)

We shall discuss these issues as far as possible, for disagreement concerning them has long existed and continues among the Muslims.

The First Issue: Intercession (al-Shafāʿa)

Know that there is no disagreement among the various Muslim groups concerning the reality of the Prophet’s ﷺ intercession on the Day of Resurrection, nor that it is accepted by Allah, Exalted is He. Authentic, explicit, and mass-transmitted (mutawātir) proofs establish its reality. The point of disagreement is for whom the intercession is intended.

According to the Zaydiyya generally, intercession serves both to bring benefit and to ward off harm. Thus, the Prophet’s ﷺ intercession on behalf of the believers is so that Allah may increase their bliss beyond the bliss they already possess, and augment their joy with still greater joy. It also applies to those who repented, who did not die until they had repented and turned back to Allah, Exalted is He. It likewise applies, according to those who affirm the doctrine of the weighing of deeds (al-muwāzana), to those whose good deeds and bad deeds are exactly equal.

Intercession is therefore only for those who deserve Paradise; in our view it is not for those who deserve the Fire.

The Murjiʾa, however, maintain that intercession exists only to remove harm. According to them, it is for sinful members of this community who persisted in their sins and thereby deserved the Fire. Some of them will enter Paradise through intercession before entering Hell, while others will be brought out of Hell through intercession, as will be discussed in the third issue, Allah willing.

Our response to them—through Allah’s assistance—rests upon reason, the Qur’an, and the Sunnah.

The Rational Argument

Reason judges it to be reprehensible to treat equally the believer who spent his entire life in the path of God and in obedience to Him, and the sinner who transgressed God’s limits and spent his lifetime in disobedience to Him. Reason deems it improper to place them on the same level with respect to honor, praise, and commendation. How much more objectionable, then, would it be to place them together in the Paradise that has been prepared for the God-fearing?

The Argument from the Qur’an

There are numerous verses and explicit texts, among them:

• The wrongdoers shall have no helpers. — 2:270
• The wrongdoers shall have neither a devoted friend nor an intercessor who is obeyed. — 40:18
• It is not according to your wishes nor the wishes of the People of the Book. Whoever does evil shall be recompensed for it, and shall find besides God neither protector nor helper. — 4:123
• Can you rescue one against whom the sentence of punishment has become binding—one who is in the Fire? — 39:19
• No intercession avails with Him except for one to whom He grants permission. — 34:23
• How many angels there are in the heavens whose intercession is of no avail except after God grants permission to whom He wills and is pleased with. — 53:26
• They do not intercede except for one with whom He is pleased. — 21:28
• You have no protectors besides God; then you shall not be helped. — 11:113

These and many other verses explicitly indicate that intercession is not for sinners and wrongdoers—for those who are unjust or upon whom the decree of punishment has become binding.

The Argument from the Sunnah

Numerous traditions support this position, among them:

Abū Umāma reports that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Two groups from my community shall not receive my intercession: an oppressive, tyrannical ruler, and every extremist renegade.” Reported by al-Ṭabarānī

Anas reports that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Two groups from my community shall not receive my intercession on the Day of Resurrection: the Murjiʾa and the Qadariyya.” Reported by Abū Nuʿaym in al-Ḥilya, and by al-Ṭabarānī

ʿAlī reported hearing the Messenger of God ﷺ say:

“Three people shall not receive my intercession on the Day of Resurrection: one who has intercourse with an animal, one who withholds the alms due, and one who has intercourse with males as one has intercourse with women.” Reported in ʿUlūm, the Amālī of Aḥmad b. ʿĪsā

Ibn ʿAbbās reported that the Messenger of God ﷺ said:

“Whoever wishes to live my life, die my death, and enter the Garden of Eden which my Lord planted with His own hand, let him take ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and his designated successors (awṣiyāʾ) as his patrons. They are the guardians and leaders after me. God has granted them my knowledge and understanding. They are my family, of my flesh and blood. To God I complain concerning those among my community who wrong them. By God, my community will surely kill them. May God not grant them my intercession.” Reported by al-Murshid bi-llāh

ʿAlī also reported that the Messenger of God ﷺ said:

“My intercession shall not reach one who does not uphold my succession regarding my family, the People of my House.” Reported by al-Murshid bi-llāh

Again from ʿAlī:

“Woe to the enemies of my Household who seek to dominate them! They shall receive neither my intercession nor behold the Paradise of my Lord.” Reported by al-Murshid bi-llāh

ʿUthmān reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Whoever deceives the Arabs shall neither be included in my intercession nor receive my affection.” Reported by Aḥmad and al-Tirmidhī

In the lengthy narration of Asmāʾ, she asked the Prophet ﷺ why he was weeping. He replied, “Because of this son of mine.” She said, “He has only just been born.” The Prophet ﷺ replied:

“He will be killed after me by the rebellious faction. May God not grant them my intercession.” Reported in al-Ṣaḥīfa

These traditions, and others like them, deny intercession for sinners and demonstrate that they have no share in the Prophet’s ﷺ intercession. Where, then, is the discernment of those endowed with true insight?

The Second Issue: The Intermediate Position (al-Manzila bayna al-Manzilatayn)

The subject of this issue is the legal and theological status of one who commits a major sin (ṣāḥib al-kabīra) from among the community of Muḥammad ﷺ. Is such a person to be called a believer (muʾmin), a sinner (fāsiq), an unbeliever (kāfir), or something else? This is a long-standing point of disagreement.

According to the Zaydiyya generally, the one who commits a major sin is called a fāsiq (grave sinner or openly disobedient person). He is not called a believer, nor is he called an unbeliever.

The Murjiʾa, however, say that such people are still believers. The Khārijites say that they are unbelievers. Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī held that they are hypocrites (munāfiqūn).

Likewise, their legal and religious status is neither that of believers in every respect nor that of unbelievers and hypocrites in every respect. Rather, they occupy a position between the two categories and are subject to rulings intermediate between the two. This is the meaning of our statement: “the intermediate position between the two positions” (al-manzila bayna al-manzilatayn).

Our Response

Our reply to them is as follows. The believer has rulings that are unique to him. These include:

• the obligation to love him,
• to show him loyalty,
• to honor and respect him,
• to desire good for him,
• to dislike that any evil should befall him,
• and the prohibition of showing him enmity, hatred, or contempt.

The unbeliever likewise has rulings that are specific to him, including:

• the prohibition of marrying him,
• the prohibition of inheriting from him or allowing him to inherit,
• the prohibition of burying him in the cemeteries of the Muslims,
• and the obligation to disavow and oppose him.

It is evident that the fāsiq deserves neither the rulings applicable to the believer nor those applicable to the unbeliever. Therefore, it is necessary that he be assigned rulings peculiar to his own condition. Furthermore, the evidence from both the Qur’an and the Sunnah explicitly describes him as a fāsiq.

Evidence from the Qur’an

Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Those who accuse chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses—flog them with eighty lashes, never again accept their testimony, and they are the defiantly disobedient (al-fāsiqūn), except those who repent thereafter and reform; indeed, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Qur’an 24:4–5

Observe how Allah describes the slanderer (qādhif) as a fāsiq, even though he belongs to the Muslim community and has merely committed a major sin, since false accusation is itself a major sin.

Allah also says:

• Is one who is a believer like one who is a fāsiq? They are not equal. — 32:18
• How evil is the name of disobedience (fusūq) after faith. — 49:11

If the fāsiq were truly a believer, Allah would not have distinguished between the two, nor would He have censured fusūq after faith. There are many other verses to the same effect, but mentioning them all would make this discussion excessively long. Our aim here is brevity.

Evidence from the Sunnah

The Prophet ﷺ said:

“The fornicator is not a believer while committing fornication; the thief is not a believer while committing theft; and the one who drinks wine is not a believer while drinking it. When he does so, faith is removed from his heart. If he repents, Allah accepts his repentance.”

It was asked: “O Messenger of Allah, is he then an unbeliever?” He replied: “No.” They asked: “Then what is he?” He answered: “A fāsiq.”

It is also narrated by al-Bukhārī in his Ṣaḥīḥ from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“The fornicator is not a believer while committing fornication; the one who drinks wine is not a believer while drinking it; the thief is not a believer while committing theft; nor is the one who seizes property by force, while people’s eyes are fixed upon him, a believer while committing that act.” Reported by al-Bukhārī

These are compelling proofs that the title of believer should not be applied unconditionally to one who commits a major sin. It is, however, permissible to describe the perpetrator of a major sin as a “disbeliever in Allah’s favor” (kāfir niʿma), according to the early Imams of the Prophet’s Household (al-ʿitra).

The Third Issue: Departure from the Fire (al-Khurūj min al-Nār)

The doctrine of the Zaydiyya is that whoever enters the Fire shall never leave it. Rather, he will remain therein, abiding forever, eternally and without end—whether he is an unbeliever or one who committed a major sin, provided that he died persisting in it without repentance.

The Murjiʾa and others disagree with us on this matter. They maintain that the one who committed a major sin will eventually leave the Fire, although they differ greatly among themselves regarding the details. The evidence for the soundness of our doctrine is found in both the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

Evidence from the Qur’an

Allah, Exalted is He, says:

• Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger—for him is the Fire of Hell, wherein they shall abide forever. — 72:23
• For the wrongdoers He has prepared a painful punishment. — 76:31
• Indeed, the criminals shall abide in the punishment of Hell forever. — 43:74
• For those who respond to their Lord is the best reward. But those who do not respond to Him—even if they possessed all that is on the earth and the like of it besides, they would gladly offer it as ransom. Those shall have a terrible reckoning, and their abode shall be Hell—what an evil resting place! — 13:18
• If the wrongdoers possessed everything on earth, and the like of it besides, they would surely offer it as ransom to escape the dreadful punishment on the Day of Resurrection. Then there shall appear to them from Allah that which they had never anticipated. — 39:47
• Indeed, whoever comes to his Lord as a criminal—for him is Hell, wherein he shall neither die nor live. — 20:74
• Those whose scales are light—they are the ones who have lost themselves, abiding forever in Hell. — 23:103
• Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He shall admit him into a Fire wherein he shall abide forever, and for him is a humiliating punishment. — 4:14
• Whoever deliberately kills a believer—his recompense is Hell, abiding therein forever; Allah has become angry with him, has cursed him, and has prepared for him a tremendous punishment. — 4:93

There are very many verses of this kind—too many to enumerate here. They plainly indicate, according to our understanding, the eternal abiding of the fussāq (grave sinners) in the Fire of Hell. We seek refuge with Allah from becoming among them and from their evil condition.

Evidence from the Sunnah

There are numerous hadiths on this subject, reaching the level of mutawātir (mass-transmitted), or even beyond. We shall mention some of those narrated by both those who agree with us and those who disagree.

Ibn Masʿūd narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“If it were said to the people of Hell, ‘You shall remain therein for as many years as there are pebbles in this world,’ they would rejoice. And if it were said to the people of Paradise, ‘You shall remain therein for as many years as there are pebbles in this world,’ they would grieve. But eternity has been decreed for them.” Reported by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Kabīr

Maʿqil ibn Yasār narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“There is no servant whom Allah appoints over a people, and who dies while deceiving those under his care, except that Allah forbids Paradise to him.” Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim

Saʿd and Abū Bakrah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Whoever knowingly claims another man as his father, Paradise is forbidden to him.” Reported by Aḥmad, al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, and Ibn Mājah

Anas narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Whoever deprives an heir of his inheritance, Allah will deprive him of his inheritance in Paradise on the Day of Resurrection.” Reported by Ibn Mājah

Abū Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“There are two groups among the people of Hell whom I have not yet seen: people carrying whips like the tails of cattle with which they strike others, and women who are clothed yet naked, inclined toward evil and causing others to incline, with heads like the swaying humps of camels. They shall neither enter Paradise nor even smell its fragrance.” Reported by Muslim

ʿAlī narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The habitual slanderer and the habitual drinker of wine shall not enter Paradise.”

Ibn ʿAbbās narrated:

“Whoever dies addicted to wine shall meet Allah as though he were a worshipper of idols.”

Thawbān narrated that the Prophet ﷺ instructed Bilāl to proclaim:

“Paradise is not lawful for one who is disobedient.”

Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“The one who severs the ties of kinship shall not enter Paradise.”

Salmān narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Whoever lives in luxury, wears garments of ostentation, and indulges his passions shall not even smell the fragrance of Paradise.”

Abū Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Four people Allah has made incumbent upon Himself not to admit into Paradise nor allow to taste its bliss: the habitual drinker of wine, the consumer of usury, the one who unlawfully consumes the property of an orphan, and the one who is undutiful toward his parents.”

ʿAlī narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Allah has made it incumbent upon Himself not to admit into Paradise any flesh nourished through unlawful earnings.”

He also narrated:

“Paradise is forbidden to three: the one who constantly reminds others of his charity, the backbiter, the talebearer, and the habitual drinker of wine.”

ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Three shall never enter Paradise: the cuckold, the mannish woman, and the habitual drinker of wine.”

Ibn ʿUmar narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Three shall not enter Paradise: the one who is undutiful toward his parents, the habitual drinker of wine, and the one who constantly reminds others of his generosity.”

Thawbān narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Three sins render all other deeds of no benefit: associating partners with Allah, disobedience to parents, and fleeing from the battlefield.”

Anas narrated:

“Whoever deprives an heir of his inheritance, Allah will deprive him of his inheritance in Paradise on the Day of Resurrection.”

Reports Indicating Eternal Abiding

Among the reports indicating eternal residence are the following:

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim narrate from ʿUmar that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“The people of Paradise shall enter Paradise, and the people of the Fire shall enter the Fire. Then a caller will proclaim between them: ‘O people of the Fire! There is no more death. O people of Paradise! There is no more death. Each group shall remain forever in the state in which it is.'” Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim

Al-Bukhārī narrates from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“It will be said to the people of Paradise: ‘Everlasting life with no death’; and to the people of the Fire: ‘Everlasting punishment with no death.'” Reported by al-Bukhārī

Abū Hurayrah also narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Death will be brought in the form of a white ram and placed upon the Bridge (al-Ṣirāṭ). The people of Paradise will be called and will look on fearfully, lest they be removed from what they enjoy. They will be asked, ‘Do you recognize this?’ They will reply, ‘Yes, this is death.’ Then the people of the Fire will be called, rejoicing in the hope of release. They too will be asked, ‘Do you recognize this?’ They will reply, ‘Yes, this is death.’ It will then be slaughtered upon the Bridge, and it will be proclaimed to both groups: ‘Everlasting life in what you now experience—there shall never again be death.'”

Muʿādh ibn Jabal narrated that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent him to Yemen, he addressed the people, saying:

“O people! I am the messenger of the Messenger of Allah to you. The final return is to Allah—to either Paradise or the Fire: eternal life without death, permanent residence without departure, in bodies that never die.”

Ibn Masʿūd narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“If the people of Hell were told that they would remain in the Fire only for as many years as there are pebbles upon the earth, they would rejoice. If the people of Paradise were told that they would remain only for as many years as there are pebbles upon the earth, they would grieve. But eternity has been decreed for them.”

These reports—transmitted by those who agree with us as well as those who disagree—clearly establish, in our view, that the fussāq remain forever in the Fire and never depart from it. Praise be to Allah, who has made us among the followers of the truth and the callers to what is true.

Consequences of the Opposing View

If we were to accept the doctrine that sinners eventually leave the Fire, several dangerous consequences would follow.

Among them is that it would encourage acts of disobedience and wickedness, since sinners would be emboldened to commit sins without genuine fear of Allah, Exalted is He.

It would also equate the believer who spent his lifetime worshipping his Lord with the sinner who spent his lifetime disobeying Him, gathering both together in the Gardens of Bliss—the abode of honor and exaltation.

It would nullify the purpose of Allah’s warnings and threats concerning the Fire for those who disobey Him. It would likewise nullify the purpose of admonition and exhortation.

It would also diminish the significance of repentance. If punishment lasted only for a limited period before one entered everlasting bliss, it would resemble the temporary trials of illness and hardship experienced in this world. Once Paradise was attained, those sufferings would quickly be forgotten. These consequences, or at least some of them, are inescapable for those who hold that view.

This, then, is the doctrine of the Zaydiyya concerning this fundamental principle (aṣl).