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There is, of course, no place totally forsaken by GOD, not even Hell. If it is GOD Who gives us meaning, then ‘godless’ is actually meaningless. Yet we use such words because a world of uniformity, of no difference between its parts, is simply unintelligible to the human mind. The purest monism must, finally, concede some ground to our verbal distinctions if it is to have any currency at all. And so if Heaven as our home with GOD is to have any real meaning or direction for us, we need to say what its opposite is like. Here are a few more reasons why the Qur’an focuses so intensely on the negative conundrum that we call Hell.
1. More than we know our own selves, we recognize GOD – the Ultimate Convergence of our highest values. Or I should say we know of GOD, for He cannot be known in His Absolute Infinity by anyone but Himself. Nonetheless we respond positively to Him, for truly AL-LAH created Adam in His image. This likeness implies a liking, a natural affinity – the nature of AL-LAH by which He made humanity (Q30:30) – and thus a propensity to understand the immanent and imminent Divinity. Know that GOD comes in between the human being and his heart [immanently], and that to Him you will be gathered [imminently]. (Q8:24)
– Hell, on the other hand, is the ultimate unknown and unknowable, repulsive in the extreme, and utterly alien and hostile to humanity. It is thus by far the most easily deniable of all unpleasant truths (which is why so many nowadays dismiss the idea of it), and even more so because it is the repository and destination of all that is untrue. But do we live in a world that is entirely true, just, pleasant, and beautiful? Clearly, we do not. Then Hell, in some form or other, must ‘exist’. (The ironic ‘quote marks’ are intentional.)
2. To seek the face of AL-LAH is to work towards the pinnacle of our knowledge and then, in the supreme act of faith, step up above that last point of solidity into the transcendence beyond. To deal with GOD is to accept the fundamental reality of the supersensory, a domain we all feel and speak of but can never measure.
– Hell, by contrast, lies within the realm of the subsensory. If GOD is the Highest we know, and is even Greater (as we affirm by AL-LAHU Akbar), the Pit of Hell is the lowest of the low, and goes even lower than we know. GOD cannot be comprehended, while Hell cannot be fathomed. It does not call; it whispers subliminally. It does not command; it seduces and insinuates. There is nothing straight or direct about it, and hence dragons and snakes, such as the serpent in the Bible’s story of Adam and Eve, are among its symbols. It produces nothing, but, like a star that has collapsed in on itself to form a black hole, is ready to consume and destroy everything.
On the day We say to Hell, “Have you been filled?”, and it says, “Is there more?” (Q50:30)
يَوْمَ نَقُولُ لِجَهَنَّمَ هَلْ امْتَلَأْتِ وَتَقُولُ هَلْ مِنْ مَزِيدٍ
3. The Light of GOD, as described earlier in Chapter 2, is one of His most revealing symbols; it can be alternately effusive and penetrating, uplifting and humbling, a blessing for those who love openness and honesty, and a blight for those who need to conceal what they do. Clarity of thinking, union of hearts, and fairness for all require Light. Divine Light pervades every endeavour for honesty, solidarity, and justice, and so the virtuous are instinctively attracted to the Light of GOD.
– Hell welcomes all that Light is not. If I plan to secretly foment discord, seize advantages for myself alone, and hide my reasons for doing so, I must have darkness on my side. If I am seeking to avoid just censure, protect my position at all costs, mix some falsehood with the truth, or deceive the public for personal gain, I mine my baser instincts for ideas. If I have to justify my misdemeanours by pointing to the crimes of others, then the denizens of Hell are there, ready to offer their despicable examples.
Truly the unjust are friends allied to one another. (Q45:19)
وَإِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ
If I consider myself better than the common herd, then I can take Iblis, who first said “I am superior to him,” as my mentor. And if I feel that lying is acceptable, then I should know that Hell, too, accepts liars.
The GOD You Already Know 