The Categories of People on the Day of Resurrection and the State of the People of Sins

At the beginning of our meeting, Your Eminence, a message was received for the program from our brother Saleh al-Muhammad al-Humaydi. He has a set of questions. In his first question, he says: On the Day of Resurrection, there is a category of people who are punished in the Fire but do not remain in it forever. What is the fate of these people in their graves?
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
As for what follows: People, with regard to the Resurrection, are of three categories. The first category are believers who are God-fearing, and they go to Paradise. Their graves are a garden from the gardens of Paradise, and a door to Paradise is opened for them, from which they receive its pleasure, its spirit, and its goodness, as the reports from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) state.
The second category are disbelievers who have earned the punishment and anger of Allah and imprisonment in the abode of humiliation, which is the Fire. For these people, their graves are a punishment for them, and they are pits from the pits of the Fire. We ask Allah for safety from it... it is an expedited punishment.
The third category are the people of sins; they are not disbelievers, nor are they perfect, God-fearing Muslims. Rather, they have sins and transgressions. So their affair is between the two states: they may be punished in their graves, and they may be saved. And so it is on the Day of Resurrection: Allah may forgive them and admit them into Paradise because of their Islam, their tawhid (the oneness of Allah), and the faith they possess, by His grace (Glorified and Exalted is He), or through the intercession of the intercessors, such as angels, prophets, the foremost in faith, and the like. Or they may be punished in the Fire according to the measure of their crimes, and then, after they are purified from their filth in the Fire, they are transferred to Paradise. This is the state of the people of sins according to the people of the Sunnah and the community.
As for the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah, they have another opinion. The Khawarij consider the sinners to be disbelievers and consider them to remain in the Fire forever, we seek refuge in Allah. Likewise, the Mu'tazilah and those who follow their path consider the one who dies upon major sins to remain in the Fire forever and not come out of it. They argue with what has come in the verses and hadiths of warning, such as His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He) : [al-Nisa: 93], and such as His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith: .
And the hadiths cursing intoxicants and their drinker, as well as the hadith: , the hadith. They argue with these and the like of them for the disbelief of the sinner according to the opinion of the Khawarij, and for their remaining in the Fire forever according to the opinion of the Khawarij and others of their followers, such as the Mu'tazilah. As for the people of the Sunnah and the community, they consider the sinner not to be a disbeliever, contrary to the Khawarij, and not to remain in the Fire forever, contrary to them and the Mu'tazilah. However, he is exposed to danger and is in danger from the warning of Allah; he may be punished in the Fire and punished in his grave, or he may be saved because of his righteous deeds.
As for if he repents before he dies, he joins the first category, the God-fearing, and becomes one of the people of Paradise from the very first moment, if he repents with a sincere repentance before he dies. But if he dies and does not repent, this is the place of danger. He is under the will of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). If our Lord (Exalted and Majestic is He) wills, He forgives him for his Islam, his tawhid (the oneness of Allah), and his faith. And if our Lord wills, He punishes him in the Fire according to the measure of the crimes he died upon. Then, when he is purified and tested in the Fire, he comes out of it to the River of Life, as in the authentic hadiths .
This is the state of the second category, the people of sins. And they are likewise in this world, and likewise in their graves: they may be punished and they may not be punished. It is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he saw two people being punished in their graves and said: , and in the other wording: meaning: he does not purify himself from it and does not take precaution, .
This indicates that some of the sinners may be punished for their sins, such as talebearing and not cleaning oneself after urination, and such as undutifulness to parents, such as consuming usury or interest (riba) and the like. And Allah may forgive them for righteous deeds they performed and for their tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and Islam. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is Generous and Bountiful, Exalted and Majestic is He. In this meaning, He says in His great Book: [An-Nisa: 48]. So He, the Exalted, informed that shirk (associating partners with Allah) is not forgiven for one who dies upon it. As for one who dies upon sins less than shirk, he is under the will of Allah. If He, the Exalted, wills, He will forgive him for the tawhid, Islam, and righteous deeds he has. And if He, the Exalted, wills, He will punish him for the sins he has; whether zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), theft, undutifulness to his parents or one of them, severing family ties, consuming usury or interest (riba), false testimony, stoning a chaste woman or man without right, or the like of these sins. He is in them under the will of Allah. If our Lord, the Exalted, wills, He will forgive him for righteous deeds he presented, or by the intercession of the intercessors, or by the supplication of the believers for him, or by something other than this.
And if our Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) wills, He punishes him in the Fire according to the measure of the sins he died upon. And after he is purified in the Fire and tested, he comes out of the Fire and does not remain in it forever like the disbelievers. No, the sinner does not remain forever. His stay in the Fire may be prolonged due to the multitude of his evil deeds, and it is called remaining forever, as Allah said regarding the murderer: [al-Nisa: 93]. His saying: means: a remaining that is not the remaining of the disbelievers, a remaining that has an end. And so is His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): [al-Furqan: 68-70]. His saying: (and he will remain) this is a remaining that befits the state of the person. If he is a polytheist, it is a permanent remaining, we seek refuge in Allah; they do not come out of it ever, as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [al-Baqarah: 167].
And He said regarding the disbelievers: [al-Ma'idah: 37]. This is their state, we seek refuge in Allah.
As for if he is a sinner like the fornicator and the killer, then his abode is the duration of his stay, and it has an end that he reaches, if he did not consider the sin permissible but committed it while knowing that he is a sinner, knowing that he is wrong, but he did it for something of desire and immediate purpose. He knows that he is wrong and that he is a sinner, but he proceeded with the sin. So this one does not abide eternally like the disbelievers, but he abides in a manner befitting his crime, and it has an end. Then Allah takes him out of the Fire by His mercy (may Allah be pleased with him) . Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.