What is the way to reconcile the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "The sea is Hellfire," with his saying: "On the Day of Resurrection, Hellfire will be brought"?

The questioner : The honorable Shaykh (may Allah preserve him): What is the way to reconcile the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): How do we reconcile this hadith?

The Shaykh : As for the first one, which is your statement that he said: I do not know this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). However, many scholars said regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted: that it is Hellfire, and the meaning of "sujjirat" (kindled) is that it was ignited, and that it is the fire. There is no contradiction between this and that, because the conditions of the Day of Resurrection are not measured by the conditions of this world. The conditions of the Day of Resurrection are not known by anyone, meaning: no one knows their reality and essence except Allah (Mighty and Majestic), or those who witness them on the Day of Resurrection. As for now, the conditions of the Hereafter cannot be measured by the conditions of this world. It is possible that these seas will be brought on the Day of Resurrection as a dragging fire, and there is nothing strange in that.
And I tell you: it is not possible to measure the conditions of the Hereafter by the conditions of this world, lest something else greater than this be confused for you, which is that on the Day of Resurrection, the sun will approach the heads until it is at the distance of a mile. A mile is either the mile of the kohl pot, which is very short, or a mile which is the distance of approximately one and a half kilometers. And whichever it is, if we measured the conditions of the Hereafter by the conditions of this world, the sun, if it approached people to this extent, would cause them to vanish from existence due to the intensity of its heat.
Also, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that people will sweat on the Day of Resurrection according to their deeds. Some of them will have sweat reaching their ankles, some will have sweat reaching their knees, some will have sweat reaching their waists, and some will be choked by the sweat, and they are in one place.
And if we measured this by the conditions of this world, it would be impossible. But the conditions of the Hereafter are not measured by the conditions of this world. This is a matter that a person must be alert to and not measure the conditions of the Hereafter by the conditions of this world. Just as it is not permissible to measure the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) by the attributes of the created beings. For example: if the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) comes: and it is a real descent befitting His Majesty and Greatness, and the noble verse comes: he says: How can this be? How can the descent of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to the lowest heaven be, when the lowest heaven is nothing in relation to Him? It is said: You must listen and believe in the reports, and listen and obey in the rulings, whether your intellect grasps it or not, because what pertains to the Lord (Exalted and Majestic is He) does not resemble what pertains to the created beings. We believe that Allah descends in a real descent to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains. But how is that? Allah knows best. Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about the saying of Allah the Exalted: and it was said to him: O Abu 'Abdullah How did He establish Himself? So he lowered his head until sweat covered him, out of shame and modesty, and out of bearing this great question. Then he raised his head and said: The establishing is not unknown, the how is not conceivable, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is an innovation. Yes.