The earthly summer heat is only a single breath of Hell, and whoever flees from it without fearing the fire of Hell loses himself and his family on the Day of Resurrection.
The sermon calls upon the believers to protect themselves and their families from the fire of Hell. It begins with praise, a declaration of faith, and Quranic quotations on the fear of God. It then recounts the story of the campaign against the Romans in the ninth year of the Hijra, in order to show the contrast between the obedient believers and the cowardly hypocrites. The central idea is that the earthly summer heat is only a single breath of Hell and that the true heat of the Hereafter is seventy times stronger. The text describes in detail the three foods of the inhabitants of Hell: the thorn Darīʿ, the tree Zaqūm, and the pus Ghislīn. These descriptions serve as a warning to move the listeners to the fear of Allah and to the salvation of their families. The sermon concludes with the command to protect one's families through knowledge of Allah, enjoining prayer, and forbidding what is prohibited.
Koran 3:102 · Koran 4:1 · Koran 9:117 · Koran 9:81 · Koran 66:6 · Koran 39:15 · Koran 74:6-7 · Koran 44:43-46
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Full text in English
Protect yourselves and your families from a fire
All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own souls and the wickedness of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is none who can misguide him, and whomsoever He misguides, there is none who can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger. May Allah send prayers and peace upon him, upon his family, and upon his companions. He, the Most High, said: "O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims" [Al Imran: 102]. And He, the Most High, said: "O mankind! Fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate, and scattered from them many men and women. And fear Allah, in whose name you ask one another, and the wombs [of kinship]. Indeed, Allah has ever been over you a Watcher" [An Nisa: 1].
O you who believe! Know that the truest of speech is the Book of Allah, the best of guidance is the guidance of our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, the worst of matters are those that are newly introduced, and every newly introduced matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire. May Allah protect us and you from innovations and misguidances and from the Fire. As for what follows:
O you who believe! Ibn Hisham mentioned in his "Sirah" and Ibn Kathir in "Al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya" that in the ninth year of the Prophetic Hijrah, it reached the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, that the Romans were preparing for an invasion of Medina, and that they had gathered large numbers of soldiers in Sham, and that some Arab tribes had allied with them. So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, called upon his companions to set out to confront the Romans. And this preparation was in the time of summer, when the weather was intensely hot, with the Muslims having little means, most of them experiencing hardship and difficulty. In the face of this Prophetic preparation, the people divided into two groups:
The sincere believers responded to the call immediately and set out, saying: "We have heard and obeyed." Their condition on the road, due to the intensity of the heat and thirst, was such that they would slaughter camels, wring their udders, and drink their milk, and place cloths on their heads from the intensity of the heat.
They endured the heat of this world in obedience to Allah and in desire for what is with Allah, so they thereby became deserving that Allah turn to them in mercy, that He have mercy on them, and that Allah secure their hearts from deviation and misguidance, for their following of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in a time of hardship and difficulty. He, the Most High, said: "Indeed, Allah has turned in repentance to the Prophet and the Emigrants and the Helpers who followed him in the hour of hardship, after a party of them had almost deviated, then He turned to them in mercy. Indeed, He is to them Kind and Merciful" [At Tawbah: 117].
O you who believe! As for the second group, they are the hypocrites. They lagged behind and did not set out with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. The reason for that was their fear of the heat of this world and its sun, and they did not fear the heat of the Hereafter and its punishment. So Allah revealed concerning them a Quran that will be recited until the Day of Resurrection: "Those who were left behind rejoiced in their sitting [at home] after [the departure of] the Messenger of Allah and were averse to strive with their wealth and their lives in the cause of Allah and said, 'Do not set out in the heat.' Say, 'The Fire of Hell is more intense in heat, if they but understood'" [At Tawbah: 81]. The fear of the hypocrites of the heat of this world was what prevented them from setting out for jihad in the cause of Allah, the Most High. So they excused themselves with that, saying: "Do not set out in the heat." So Allah responded to them with His saying: "The Fire of Hell is more intense in heat, if they but understood."
O you who believe! The point of this verse is His saying, the Most High: "The Fire of Hell is more intense in heat, if they but understood." Allah has linked in this verse the heat of this world and the heat of the Hereafter. The hypocrites did not set out for jihad in the cause of Allah and said: "The heat is intense, we cannot bear it." So Allah said to them: "The Fire of Hell is more intense in heat, if they but understood." As if Allah is saying to them and to us: O you who fear the heat of summer in this world, do you not fear the Fire of Hell? Even though the heat of summer that we feel in this world is nothing but a single breath from the breaths of Hell. And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, confirmed this meaning. The two Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their Sahihs from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The Fire complained to its Lord, and it said: 'My Lord, some of me has consumed some of me.' So He permitted it two breaths: a breath in winter and a breath in summer. So the most intense of what you find of heat is from the scorching wind of Hell, and the most intense of what you find of cold is from the bitter cold of Hell." If we cannot bear the heat of the weather in this world, how can we bear the heat of Hell, and its fire is seventy times the fire of this world? And in al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "This fire of yours which the son of Adam kindles is one part out of seventy parts of the heat of Hell."
Let the heat of this summer be a reminder for us of the Fire of Hell and the severity of its punishment, and of the conditions of its inhabitants therein, and of some of the causes that lead to it, so that perhaps we may work to be saved from the Fire of Hell before it is too late.
O you who believe: Allah has commanded us to protect ourselves and our families from the Fire. Allah said: "O you who believe! Protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is men and stones" [At-Tahrim: 6]. Just as we protect our families from hunger by feeding them, from thirst by giving them drink, and from illness by treating them, so it is obligatory upon us to save them from the Fire by making them know Allah, the Most High, who created them, by commanding them to pray, and by forbidding them from what is unlawful, for the true loss in the Hereafter is not the loss of wealth or trade, but rather the greatest loss on the Day of Resurrection is that a person loses himself and his family in the Fire of Hell. Allah, the Most High, said: "Say: The losers are those who have lost themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection" [Az-Zumar: 15].
O you who believe: Allah, the Most High, has spoken extensively in His Noble Book about the Fire and about the conditions of its inhabitants. He described their food and their drink and their clothing, and everything pertaining to their conditions in the Fire of Hell, all of this so that people may fear the punishment of Allah in the Fire of Hell and work by the means that save them from it.
Among what Allah mentioned in the Quran is the food of the people of the Fire. Allah, the Most High, mentioned that the people of the Fire have three foods, all of which are punishment. As for the first food, it is the dhari' (thorny shrub): it is the dry thorn that neither fattens nor satisfies hunger. It is a vile food that lodges in the gullet, by which the hungry person becomes hungrier and the tormented person becomes more tormented.
The dhari' of this world is a known thorn called "al-shibrig." Camels graze on it as long as it is green, but when it dries out, the camels reject it because of its vileness and the severity of its poison. The resemblance between the dhari' of this world and the Hereafter is only in the names, for the dhari' of Hell is one whose true nature is known only to Allah, the Most High. It is a dhari' created from fire, in which there is no benefit and no life, and from it the bodies of the people of the Fire are never fattened, nor does it avert from them the severity of hunger. Allah, the Most High, said about the food of the people of the Fire: "There is no food for them except from dhari' - which neither fattens nor satisfies hunger" [Al-Ghashiyah: 6-7].
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The dhari' is a thorn of fire; when it is placed in the fire, its stench intensifies." This is the first food among the foods of the people of the Fire.
O you who believe, and among their food is: the zaqqum. The zaqqum is a vile tree that grew in the bottom of the blazing Fire. Its fruit is like the heads of devils, and its taste is like molten brass that boils in the bellies, and its consequence is perishment. Allah, the Most High, said about it: "Indeed, the tree of zaqqum - is the food of the sinful - like molten brass, it boils in the bellies - like the boiling of scalding water" [Ad-Dukhan: 43-46].
When the saying of Allah, the Most High, in describing the tree of zaqqum with "Indeed, it is a tree that grows at the bottom of the blazing Fire" was revealed, the polytheists of Quraysh were astonished and said: How can there be a tree in the fire when the fire burns trees? So Allah revealed: "Indeed, We have made it a trial for the wrongdoers" [As-Saffat: 63].
That is, a test for them. So whoever believed in Allah believed in His words, and whoever disbelieved mocked.
When Abu Jahl heard about the zaqqum, he said mockingly: "O people of Quraysh, Muhammad frightens you with the tree of zaqqum. Bring us dates and foam so that we may eat zaqqum!" He meant that zaqqum among the Arabs is "dates with foam."
So Allah responded to him by saying: "Is that a better gift, or the tree of zaqqum? Indeed, We have made it a trial for the wrongdoers" [As-Saffat: 62-63].
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, explained the horror of the zaqqum and explained that if a single drop from the drops of zaqqum were to fall into this world, it would corrupt the livelihoods of the people of the earth. At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah narrated, and Al-Albani authenticated it, from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "If a drop of zaqqum were to drip in the abode of this world, it would corrupt the livelihoods of the people of this world, so how about one whose food it is."
O you who believe, and among their food is: the ghassalin. It is what flows from the skins of the people of the Fire from their pus and their blood, a stinking vile food, gathering all filth and impurity. Allah, the Most High, said about it: "So there is for him today here no close friend - nor any food except from ghassalin - no one eats from it except the sinful" [Al-Haqqah: 35-37]. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked about it and said: "It is the pus of the people of the Fire, and what flows from the private parts of the fornicators and from their flesh."
O you who believe: When the people of the Fire eat these vile foods, the fires blaze in their bellies, so they cry out seeking water, and drinks of fire come to them, increasing their punishment. Allah, the Most High, mentioned that the people of the Fire have three drinks. Among their drink is: the hamim. The hamim is water that has reached the utmost degree of heat. Allah, the Most High, said about it: "And they will be given to drink scalding water, which will cut their intestines" [Muhammad: 15]. Ibn Abbas said: "It is water whose heat has reached its limit; when it approaches the face of the disbeliever, the skin of his face falls off."
O believers, and among the drinks of the people of the Fire is al-Muhl. Al-Muhl is the thick, molten oil. Allah, the Most High, said about it: "Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose flames surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like molten brass that scalds their faces" [Al-Kahf: 29]. Ibn Abbas said: "It boils in the bellies like the boiling of a cauldron." The moment it touches the lips, the intestines are torn apart.
O believers: And among the drinks of the people of the Fire is al-Ghassaq. It is a drink that flows from the bodies of the people of the Fire, and it is extremely foul-smelling, and it is a drink extremely cold. Allah, the Most High, said: "Indeed, Hell was a place of ambush for the transgressors, a place of return, in which they will abide for ages. They will not taste therein any coolness or any drink, except scalding water and al-Ghassaq" [Al-Naba: 21-25].
So Allah combined for them al-Hamim, which is extremely hot and tears the intestines apart, and al-Ghassaq, which is extremely cold and burns the insides with its coldness. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said: "Al-Ghassaq is the pus of the people of the Fire and their suppuration that flows from their skins." And He, the Most High, said about al-Ghassaq: "This, then let them taste it: scalding water and al-Ghassaq, and another of the same kind, in pairs" [Sad: 57-58], meaning this punishment, so let them taste it: al-Hamim, which is extremely hot, and al-Ghassaq, a drink extremely cold. Al-Hasan al-Basri said: "Al-Ghassaq is the bitter cold, a cold that burns from its extreme coldness just as fire burns from its extreme heat."
O believers: Just as the food of the people of the Fire is from fire, and their drink is from fire, so Allah has made their garments from fire. Yes, garments tailored to their bodies precisely, but they are not for covering the private parts nor for protection from cold; for they are garments tailored from burning fire, which increases the heat of Hell upon their bodies and multiplies their punishment. They are put on and they ignite, and they touch the body and melt it. They do not protect from the heat nor ward off any pain, but they themselves are a burning coal and a punishment. And among what indicates this is His, the Most High's, saying: "These are two hostile groups disputing about their Lord. So those who disbelieved will be cut for them garments of fire. Scalding water will be poured down from above their heads. It will melt whatever is within their bellies and their skins" [Al-Hajj: 19-20]. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said: "They are coats of mail of fire cut to their bodies according to their size." So they surround them from every side: fire above them, fire beneath them, and fire that clothes their bodies.
Then Allah makes the garments of the people of the Fire, meaning their shirts and coats of mail, from pitch. And not just any pitch; it is pitch that has been put into the fire until its heat has reached its limit and its stench has reached its extreme. So it is black and ugly, sticky and clings to the skin, quick to ignite, extremely hot, and foul-smelling. Their skins are dyed with it so that no skin remains for them, and it becomes fuel for the punishment. So whenever the skin burns, it is replaced with another. Allah, the Most High, said: "And you will see the criminals on that Day bound together in chains. Their garments will be of pitch, and fire will cover their faces" [Ibrahim: 49-50]. Mujahid said: "The pitch is that with which the scabbed camels are anointed. When it is thrown into the fire, its heat and stench increase, and the people of the Fire are dyed with it." And the meaning of His saying: "And fire will cover their faces" is that it rises over them and burns them, so they find no escape from it.
O believers: And Allah has informed that the entire life of the people of the Fire is fire. Their bedding is from fire, their coverings are from fire, their shades are from fire, and above them is fire and beneath them is fire. And Allah, the Majestic and Exalted, said: "For them will be a bed of fire from Hell, and above them will be coverings. And thus do We reward the wrongdoers" [Al-A'raf: 41]. And He, the Exalted, said: "For them will be shades of fire above them and shades beneath them. Thus does Allah frighten therewith His servants. O My servants, so fear Me" [Az-Zumar: 16]. They are darknesses, some above others, and punishment from every direction. O Allah, we seek Your refuge from the Fire and from any word or deed that brings one near to it.
I have said what you have heard, so seek forgiveness from Allah, for He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
The Second Sermon
All praise is due to Allah, who has threatened those who disobey Him with the Fire, and has warned His servants of it in the abode of permanence, and has prepared it as a dwelling of humiliation and ruin for whoever turns away from guidance and is arrogant.
And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, the best of those who gave sincere advice and reminded, and who warned his Ummah and cautioned them against the punishment of Hell. As for what follows:
O servants of Allah, I advise you and myself to fear Allah.
O believers: As for why the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, warned his Ummah of the Fire with such severe warning? Because he saw it with his own eyes on the Night of the Ascension and the Elevated Journey. Allah said: "Indeed, he saw of the signs of his Lord the greatest" [An-Najm: 18]. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said: "He saw Paradise and the Fire."
And Mujahid said: "Among the greatest signs that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, saw were Paradise and the Fire." So he, peace and blessings be upon him, saw them and knew what is in them of bliss and punishment.
And because of the severity of what he saw of the terrors of the Hellfire, he feared for his Ummah that they might be among its people. Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated from Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Indeed, I see what you do not see, and I hear what you do not hear. The sky has groaned, and it is right for it to groan. There is no space of four fingers in it except that there is an angel placing his forehead in prostration to Allah. By Allah, if you knew what I know, you would have laughed little and wept much, and you would not have taken pleasure in women on your beds, and you would have gone out to the open places, crying out to Allah."
Yes, he saw Paradise and what is in it of bliss, and he saw the Hellfire and what is in it of torment; for this reason, among his warnings to his Ummah against the Hellfire was that he would frequently remind them of it in his sermons and his admonitions, and he would react with great intensity when he would deliver a sermon containing a reminder of the Hellfire, and his speech about the Hellfire was as if he were seeing it before him, and he wanted to pull us out of it with his own hands, out of the severity of his fear for us from the Hellfire. Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Jabir ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when he would deliver a sermon, his eyes would redden, his voice would rise, and his anger would intensify, until he was as if he were a warner of an army, saying: 'You have been attacked in the morning and in the evening.' And he would say: 'As for what follows, then indeed the best of speech is the Book of Allah... and the worst of matters are their innovations.' And he would say: 'I warn you of the Fire, I warn you of the Fire,' until his cloak would fall from his shoulders."
O you who believe: It is obligatory upon every Muslim to be cautious of the causes that obligate their owner to enter the Hellfire