I hope you will heal my heart from what torments me, for the punishment of the Fire—I mean the punishment of the Fire of Hell—is eternal and incomprehensible, and I fear it.

The questioner : He says: May the Shaykh please heal my heart from what torments me, for the punishment of the Fire—I mean the punishment of the Fire of Hell—is eternal and incomprehensible, and I fear it. However, Satan casts doubts in me regarding it, doubts that torment me. I ask you to guide me?

The Shaykh : I say: Among the blessings of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is that He does not hold His servants accountable for what their souls whisper to them. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: This is derived from the saying of Allah the Exalted: Did you not know that when Allah revealed: When Allah revealed this verse, the Companions came to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), knelt on their knees before him, and said: يا رسول الله! لا نطيق هذا، كيف يحاسبنا الله على ما في قلوبنا سواء أبديناه أو أخفيناه ؟ فقال لهم الرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام : لا تكونوا كالذين قالوا : سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا قولوا : سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ فقالوا كلهم : سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ ماذا كان ثوابهم ؟ ثوابهم أن قال الله : لا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْساً إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا قال الله : نعم، لا أكلف نفساً إلا وسعها : لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ قال الله : نعم. رَبَّنَا لا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا قال الله : نعم. رَبَّنَا وَلا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْراً كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا قال الله : نعم. رَبَّنَا وَلا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا قال الله : نعم O Messenger of Allah! We cannot bear this. How will Allah hold us accountable for what is in our hearts, whether we reveal it or conceal it? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them: Do not be like those who said: "We heard and we disobeyed." Say: "We heard and we obeyed. Your forgiveness, O our Lord, and to You is the destination." They all said: "We heard and we obeyed. Your forgiveness, O our Lord, and to You is the destination." What was their reward? Their reward was that Allah said: "Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear." Allah said: Yes, I do not burden a soul except with what it can bear: "For it will have what it has earned, and against it will be what it has acquired." Allah said: Yes. "Our Lord, do not hold us accountable if we forget or make a mistake." Allah said: Yes. "Our Lord, and do not impose on us a burden like that which You imposed on those before us." Allah said: Yes. "Our Lord, and do not impose on us what we have no ability to bear, and pardon us, and forgive us, and have mercy on us." Allah said: Yes. Look at the reward and the recompense; when they submitted and surrendered, Allah revealed the relief: These doubts that Satan casts into the heart of a person are doubts with no action behind them and no effect, praise be to Allah. But you must take the medicinal prescription from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which is: to seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, and to stop doing so. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned this prescription to his Companions when they complained to him that they found in their souls things they would wish to fall from the sky, yet they did not speak of them. Say: "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan," and stop. What does this mean? Turn away from this, occupy yourself with other matters, turn away from it. I ask any person who has this doubt arise in his heart: Do you not pray? He will say: Yes. Do you not perform ablution in the days of winter? Yes. Do you not fast, experiencing hunger and thirst? Yes. For whom? For Allah. Where is the doubt? So this doubt is nothing but a delusion that Satan casts into your heart, hoping to find acceptance from you, then belief, then apostasy, may Allah protect us from that. Take the medicine prescribed by the one who knows best the medicine for the hearts and their disease. What does he say? "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan." This is seeking refuge in Allah the Exalted from something you cannot control. What is the thing you can control? Let it end. Turn away from this; it does not concern you. Get up, purify yourself, pray, give charity, be of good character, and it does not concern you. By Allah, if we were to ask this man who is now complaining about the matter—and there are many who complain of that—if we said to them: Come, you perform ablution, pray, give charity, fast, and perform Hajj, for whom? He would say: For Allah. There is no problem. So leave the delusion that Satan has introduced into your heart, turn away from this, and when you seek refuge in Allah and turn to Him (Mighty and Majestic), and He protects those who seek His protection, and then you stop, it will not pass but a short time until Allah purifies you of that. Yes.