The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 194
CH. 11 110. So be not in concerning that which these HŪD PT. 12 فَلَاتَكُ فِي مِرْيَةٍ مِّمَّا يَعْبُدُ هَؤُلَاءِ doubt مَا يَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَعْبُدُ بَاؤُهُمْ people worship. They only مِنْ قَبْلُ وَإِنَّا لَمُوَقُوهُمْ نَصِيبَهُمْ worshipped before, and We غَيْرَ مَنْقُوصٍ worship as their fathers shall surely pay them in full their portion undiminished. 1490 they may serve Me (51:57), and Enter then among My servants and enter then My garden (89:30, 31). Now if all men in the end are to become God's servants, for man cannot permanently be kept away from the object for which he has been created, and if all God's servants will eventually enter Heaven the falsity of the view that Hell is eternal becomes quite clear. (6) The sixth evidence of the limited character of Hell is to be found in the verse, Whoso does an atom's weight of good will see it (99:8). Now a mere alleviation of punishment cannot be truly called the "seeing" of one's good works. Hence, in order that men should see their works in completion i. e. should meet with the reward of their good actions, it is necessary that they should first be punished for their evil deeds by way of reformation and should afterwards receive the reward of their good actions. (7) The verse, As for him whose scales are light, Hell will be his mother (101:9,10), constitutes further strong evidence in support of the view that Hell is not eternal. In this verse Hell is compared to a mother and it is well known that the child & 1402 does not remain in the mother's womb forever. It only remains there until the formation of its body and organs become complete. Similarly, those unfortunate persons who are cast into Hell will remain there until the time when the faculties which fit them for seeing the beautiful face of the Lord have become fully developed. This verse thus makes it clear that Hell is not eternal and that the word (abiding) in the verse under comment does not denote an unending time but only a long time as is also clear from the verse, who will tarry therein for ages (78:24). " SO The words, So long as the heavens and the earth endure, only mean long as the heaven and the earth of Paradise and Hell last"; so when Hell came to an end, heaven and earth will also naturally cease to exist. 1490. Commentary: The words, So be not in doubt concerning that which these people worship, have two meanings: (1) Do not wonder at their worshipping gods other than Allah, i. e. do not think that it is impossible for these people to worship any other being beside God, for a man is apt to commit such folly in respect of beliefs which he inherits