Discussion of the issue of the extinction of the Fire, the schools of thought of the scholars regarding it, and the position of Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim on this matter.

The Shaykh : ... that the scholars have two opinions on this issue: one is that the Fire does not cease, and the other is that it does cease. Here remains ... Ibn al-Qayyim narrates this from his Shaykh and does not mention that he preferred one opinion over the other. As for Ibn al-Qayyim himself, he elaborated on these two opinions after this narration with a sufficient explanation, mentioning the evidence for each and discussing them. Then he concluded by directing the reader's attention to look deeply into the evidence of both groups and to choose from that what appears to him to be correct. So, first, regarding Ibn Taymiyyah, it is not narrated from him that he adopted one of the two opinions. Second, some later scholars mention that he adopted the opinion that the Fire ceases. Personally, I have not seen him explicitly state this in any of his books. Rather, I found in a manuscript in the al-Zahiriyyah Library, in the handwriting of Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Hadi al-Hanbali, that this man appears to have been a scribe, or rather a scholar who was a scribe, because he has many letters in his handwriting. The letters present in the al-Zahiriyyah Library are in his handwriting, and I do not mean a scribe in the sense of a mere copyist, but rather a scholar who was a scribe, because he has many letters in his handwriting. In these letters ... before the existence of the al-Zahiriyyah Library, we had in Damascus many endowment libraries in different locations, including one called the 'Umar Library. When these manuscripts in these specific libraries were gathered, they were placed in the al-Zahiriyyah Library. The manuscripts now in the al-Zahiriyyah Library are actually a collection from libraries that had been scattered since ancient times ... Islamic, from these endowment libraries, the 'Umar Library. Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Hadi has a specific letter listing the endowment manuscripts in the 'Umar Library, and this letter is very useful.

The questioner : A catalog

The Shaykh : Yes, a catalog. Among what ... is a letter from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah on the non-extinction of the Fire, or rather on the permanence of the Fire, meaning Ibn Taymiyyah. This is regarding Ibn Taymiyyah.

The questioner : Was this not found?

The Shaykh : I have not seen it, unfortunately. As for Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, he addressed the issue as we mentioned, in the manner we indicated in the previously mentioned book, "Shifa' al-'Alil". He also addressed this issue in the manner mentioned in his other book, "Hadi al-Arwah ila Bilad al-Afrah". There too, you do not get an explicit opinion from him leaning toward one or the other of ... but he orders the reader to take what the evidence indicates. However, I found for Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah an explicit statement that can be considered and relied upon. I found another statement by Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah on this issue that can be considered the decisive opinion in it. That is, he mentioned in his book "al-Wabil al-Sayb fi Sharh al-Kalim al-Tayyib" that the Fire is two fires: one that ceases and one that remains and does not cease. The Fire that ceases is the Fire of the monotheists, and the Fire that remains and does not cease is the Fire of the disbelievers. And Allah is sufficient for the believers in fighting. And peace be upon you.

The questioner : In the hadith of my Ummah, this ... punishment in the Hereafter.

The Shaykh : How?