The benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And He has prepared for the disbelievers a painful punishment”

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Among its benefits is that the Fire currently exists, based on His saying: using the past tense, and “prepared” means “made ready.” The texts regarding the current existence of the Fire and the existence of Paradise are numerous in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. They currently exist, and according to the belief of the people of the Sunnah, they are not annihilated. Although there is a reported disagreement among the Salaf regarding the eternity of the Fire—whether it is eternal or not—the correct view is that it is eternal, without doubt.
The student: ...?

The Shaykh : The sinners will come out of it, but it remains.
The student: It is one Fire.
The Shaykh : It is one Fire, yes. So the evidence for that is His saying, addressing those who believe: [Al-Imran 130:131]. So He warned the believers of the Fire that was prepared for the disbelievers. Yes, and the correct view, without doubt, is that the Fire is eternal. There are three verses in the Book of Allah regarding this: a verse in An-Nisa, a verse in Al-Ahzab, and a verse in Al-Jinn. As for the verse in An-Nisa, it is His saying: [An-Nisa 168:169]. And as for Al-Ahzab, it is in His saying: [Al-Ahzab:65]. And as for the Surah Al-Jinn, it is His saying: [Al-Jinn:23]. And if these people are eternally abiding, then the eternity of the abiding person necessitates the eternity of the place in which he is, even in Paradise. That means its meaning is that this is happening by the will of Allah.
The student: ... ?

The Shaykh : Who says: means a long duration that no one can count except Allah. Yes. Then some of them said: [An-Naba:23], meaning in relation to what follows: [An-Naba:24]. So in these periods, they will not taste any coolness or drink, and in other periods, the situation changes, but there is no return in it by explicit text.
And in the verse is evidence for.
The student: ...?

The Shaykh : No, leave alone.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : It does not indicate eternity. I say we have three verses that are sufficient.
I say that in the verse is evidence that the people of the Fire will taste the punishment and suffer from it, based on His saying: . So this benefit refutes the statement of those who say that the people of the Fire will become “Jahannami” (inhabitants of Hell) and will not feel the punishment, may Allah protect us from that. And the meaning of that is that if they do not feel the punishment, the punishment is negated; there is no punishment. Yes. And Allah mentioned that their skins are roasted: [An-Nisa:56], and He informed that it burns: [Al-Anfal:50]. So Allah the Mighty and Majestic made clear that their skins are roasted so that they may taste the punishment. And if it were not that they suffer from it, if they were replaced with other skins, they would not taste the punishment. If it is asked: How do they endure the great durations while they are in the burning and their skins are replaced, may Allah protect us from that? We say that Allah is capable of all things, and the conditions of the Hereafter cannot be compared to the conditions of this world. In this world, the body burns, but the soul exits it and leaves it, and it does not burn. Yes, but in the Hereafter, the body remains, even if it burns and even if it is roasted. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has no limit to His power, and it is not possible to encompass it.
And in the noble verse is a warning against disbelief, based on His saying:
And in it is also a warning against the characteristics of disbelief, because actions and statements were mentioned in the texts that the Lawgiver described as disbelief, so one must be cautious.
Among them, and it is regrettable that many students of knowledge research the issue of “this is disbelief” and “this is not disbelief” as if it is a theoretical issue. You find them hypothesizing the disagreement with the Mu'tazilah and the Khawarij, but they do not realize, nor do they make others realize, that the issue of something being from disbelief means that one is punished for this characteristic with the punishment of the disbelievers. Even if he does not remain in it eternally, he is punished according to his sin with the punishment of the disbelievers, because he did the action of the disbelievers. So we always research these issues from the theoretical side only: does he become a disbeliever or not? But you do not find us asking Allah to accept their repentance. You do not find us feeling that this action is an action of disbelief and its doer deserves the reward of disbelief in this issue. And this is a very great issue that should be on our minds.
And in it, based on this principle, is that those who are punished in the Fire according to their sins feel its heat, its pain, and its punishment, contrary to those who said that they do not feel pain. The correct view is that they feel pain. Yes, those who do not feel pain are those who return to it, based on the fact that “entering” in His saying: [Maryam:71] is entering without passing over the Sirat. And there are two opinions of the exegetes from the Salaf and the Khalaf regarding this issue, and Allah knows best.
The student: ...?

The Shaykh : It is not what?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : No, how? It is not agreed, it is agreed.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : It is not greater, because these disbelievers were warned and the message was conveyed to them, so they spent their worldly life in disobedience to Allah the Exalted. So their other life (the Hereafter) will all be wasted for them, just as their worldly life was wasted. Their other life will be wasted, and they were also warned. It is not an ambiguous issue. It was not said, for example, “We will punish you according to your sin. If you are sixty years old, we will punish you for sixty years, and if you are twenty years old, we will punish you for twenty years.” It was not said like that. Rather, it was said that you will enter a Fire in which you will remain eternally. So he proceeded with this action knowing that it is a definite cause and a certain path to this punishment. So there was no injustice in that: [Al-An'am:28]. Yes, and Allah knows best.