A: This great Ayah warns against Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship), Qatl (murder) and Zina (sexual intercourse outside marriage) and it addresses a threat to those who commit all or any of these crimes in its closing words: ...and whoever does this shall receive the punishment. The punishment is a pit in Hellfire according to some of the Mufassirs (exegetes of the Qur'an) or, as other scholars say, a grievous torment which is explained by the Saying of Allah (Exalted be He): The torment will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in disgrace;
Indeed, the Ayah indicates that the punishment of those who commit these three crimes will be multiplied and that they will abide therein in disgrace and shame. However, these three crimes are in different levels. The crime of Shirk is the worst crime and the gravest sin and the person who commits it will stay in Hell eternally forever and will never be brought out of it according to the Ijma' (consensus) of scholars. Allah (Exalted be He) says in His Glorious Book: It is not for the Mushrikûn (polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allâh), to maintain the Mosques of Allâh (i.e. to pray and worship Allâh therein, to look after their cleanliness and their building,), while they witness against their ownselves of disbelief. The works of such are in vain and in Fire shall they abide. But if they had joined in worship others with Allâh, all that they used to do would have been of no benefit to them. And indeed it has been revealed to you (O Muhammad peace be upon him), as it was to those (Allâh's Messengers) before you: "If you join others in worship with Allâh, (then) surely (all) your deeds will be in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers." Allah also says concerning them: They will long to get out of the Fire, but never will they get out therefrom; and theirs will be a lasting torment. There are many Ayahs that stress this same meaning. If a Mushrik (one who associates others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) dies while persisting in Shirk and does not make Tawbah (repentance to Allah), they will stay in Hell forever and will be deprived of Paradise and Allah's Forgiveness by the Ijma' (consensus) of Muslim scholars. Allah (Exalted be He) says: Verily, whosoever sets up partners (in worship) with Allâh, then Allâh has forbidden Paradise to him, and the Fire will be his abode. Allah (Exalted be He) also says: Verily, Allâh forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship), but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He wills Allah (Exalted be He) declares in these Ayahs that those who ascribe partners to Him will be deprived of His Forgiveness
if they died while still committing Shirk. Any crimes lesser than Shirk are under Allah's Will. In short, if a person dies while still ascribing partners to Allah (Exalted be He), they will abide in Hell eternally forever by the Ijma' of the people of knowledge, such as those who worship idols, trees, stars, the sun, the moon, the prophets, the dead people or the socalled Awliya' (pious servants) or those who call upon them for help and ask them for support while near or away from their graves, saying for example, "O Master soandso, Maddad (give us strength)!" or "O our Master AlBadawy! Help us!" or "O our Master 'AbdulQadir or our Master, the Messenger of Allah, Maddad (give us strength), support us!" or "O our Master AlHusayn, or O Fatimah or O Zaynab!" and other people who are called upon instead of Allah by those who commit Shirk. Indeed, all these acts are classified as major Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship that takes the Muslim out of Islam) and if a person dies persisting in them, they will be among the dwellers of Hell. May Allah protect us from this! Also, such a person will abide there forever. As for the second and third crimes, namely killing and Zina, they are less serious than Shirk, but they are the gravest sins following Shirk as long as the person who commits them does not consider them to be Halal (lawful), but is aware that they are Haram (forbidden), yet is driven by anger, desire or other impulses to commit murder; or driven by desire and incitement of Satan to commit Zina, while they know that killing without a just cause is prohibited and that Zina is also prohibited. Accordingly, those who fall in these two major crimes are threatened with the punishment stated in the aforementioned Ayah, unless Allah (Exalted be He) forgives them or accepts their sincere Tawbah before their death. Indeed, due to the grossness of these two crimes and the corruption that results from them, Allah (Exalted be He) mentions them side by side with the crime of Shirk in this Ayah. Allah (Exalted be He) threatens those who commit these three crimes that He (Glorified be He) will double the
punishment for them and make Hell their eternal abode to shun people away from them and warn them against their evil consequences. However, other texts from the Qur'an and Sunnah indicate that killing and Zina are less grievous than Shirk, if the perpetrator does not consider them lawful, and so they are included in the Saying of Allah (Exalted be He): ...but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He wills But if a person considers these two sins as lawful, they become a Kafir (disbeliever) and take the same ruling as Kafirs in their remaining in eternal punishment on the Day of Resurrection. We ask Allah to grant us safety and protection.
On the other hand, anyone who commits any of these three crimes or others, then shows sincere Tawbah to Allah (Exalted be He), Allah will forgive them and replace their evil deeds with good ones if they follow their Tawbah with faith and good deeds. In accordance with the foregoing, Allah (Exalted be He) says after speaking about these three sins and the punishment of those who commit them: Except those who repent and believe (in Islâmic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds; for those, Allâh will change their sins into good deeds, and Allâh is OftForgiving, Most Merciful. Indeed, Allah (Exalted be He) forgives people who commit sins less grievous than Shirk if He so wills, or He may punish them according to their sins then takes them out of Hell by the intercession of intercessors, such as the intercession of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the intercession of the angels, the children who died before reaching puberty and the believing people. There will remain in Hell some of the believers in Tawhid (Oneness of Allah) who will not deserve intercession. Allah will take them out (Exalted be He) by His Mercy, because they died on Tawhid and faith in Allah. They will enter Hell because of sins and evil deeds which they have committed. After being purified from them and finishing the period which Allah (Exalted be He) ordained upon them in the Fire, they will be taken out of Hell by Allah's Mercy and thrown into a river called the River of Life, which is one of the rivers of Paradise. In this river, they will grow up like a seed in the soil and when they become fully recreated Allah (Exalted be He) will allow them to enter Paradise.
Thus, the wrongdoer such as a killer or an adulterer will not stay in Hell permanently like the case of a Kafir. Rather, the period they will pass in Hell is pursuant to the punishment prescribed for their crimes, whereas the Kafirs shall stay in Hell forever. Eternity in Hell for committing Shirk is inescapable and a neverending punishment. Allah (Exalted be He) says in Surah (Qur'anic chapter of) AlBaqarah concerning the Mushriks: Thus Allâh will show them their deeds as regrets for them. And they will never get out of the Fire. Moreover, Allah (Exalted be He) says in Surah of Al Ma'idah: Verily, those who disbelieve, if they had all that is in the earth, and as much again therewith to ransom themselves thereby from the torment on the Day of Resurrection, it would never be accepted of them, and theirs would be a painful torment. They will long to get out of the Fire, but never will they get out therefrom; and theirs will be a lasting torment. Therefore, the believing sinners, who will enter Hell, will be brought out of it when the period which Allah has decreed for them ends
either by the virtue of the intercession of the intercessors or by Allah's Mercy without the intercession of anyone as related in the Hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him) regarding intercession under the category of Mutawatir (Hadith reported by a significant number of narrators throughout the chain of narration, whose agreement upon a lie is impossible). The Hadiths state that there will remain in Hell people who will not come out by help of intercession; Allah shall bring them out of it just by His Mercy, for having died while believing in Tawhid. By this, it is known that the period the believing sinners will spend in Hellfire is temporary and has an end. The Arabs may use eternity for long stays as some poets said describing some people: They remained there eternally Meaning they stayed a long period of time. Accordingly, those who will remain in Hell eternally are its inmates, namely the Kafirs whom the Fire will be closed on and they will not get out of it. Allah (Exalted be He) says: But those who disbelieved in Our Ayât (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), they are those on the Left Hand (the dwellers of Hell). The Fire will be shut over them (i.e. they will be enveloped by the Fire without any opening or window or outlet. Verily, it shall be closed upon them In pillars stretched forth (i.e. they will be punished in the Fire with pillars). May Allah protect us.