384 Jon Hoover
Ibn al-Qayyim goes on in the following section of his Ḥādī al-arwāḥ
to list and refute arguments for the eternity of the Fire. Al-Ḥarbī
quotes from this extensively and observes that Ibn al-Qayyim dismiss-
es any claim to consensus among the Companions and the Successors
on the eternity of the Fire. In fact, Ibn al-Qayyim argues, not one of
the Companions said that the Fire will last forever. Moreover, the texts
of the Koran stipulate that the People of the Fire abide in it only as
long as it lasts, not forever.^27
The last section of Ḥādī al-arwāḥ on the duration of the Fire is
long and provides 25 arguments for the Fire’s passing away. Al-Ḥarbī
shows little interest in this section, and he records only the concluding
argument, namely, that God could have no wise purpose in chastise-
ment that never ends. Al-Ḥarbī is much more anxious to underline the
fact that Ibn al-Qayyim backs away from these arguments in the end,
withholds judgment, and leaves the duration of the Fire to God’s will.^28
Al-Ḥarbī claims that Ibn al-Qayyim also withholds judgment in
another long discussion of the Fire’s duration found in Mukhtaṣar
al-Ṣawāʿiq.^29 Al-Ḥarbī quotes the following from Mukhtaṣar al-Ṣawāʿiq
to substantiate this point:
If the dawn of what is correct shines on you, [that is good]. If not, then
ascribe the judgment to what God ascribes it in His statement, ‘surely
your Lord does whatever He wills’ (11:107), and hold firm to the state-
ment of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib – May God be pleased with him. He mentioned
that the People of the Garden enter the Garden and the People of the Fire
enter the Fire. He described their state. Then he said, ‘After that, God
does what He wills’.^30At first glance, this citation might appear to support leaving the ulti-
mate destiny of those in the Fire to God’s will. However, al-Ḥarbī fails
to note that Ibn al-Qayyim in the immediately preceding lines urges
his readers to consider the arguments for an end to chastisement in the
Fire very seriously. The beginning of the above quoted text, “If the
dawn of what is correct shines on you, [that is good]”, refers back to
those arguments. With this Ibn al-Qayyim is claiming that the correct
27 Ibid., pp. 37–39; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Ḥādī al-arwāḥ, pp. 318–322.
28 Al-Ḥarbī, Kashf al-astār, pp. 39–40; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Ḥādī al-arwāḥ,
pp. 322–341.
29 Al-Ḥarbī, Kashf al-astār, pp. 9, 34–35, 40.
30 Ibid., p. 40; Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Mukhtaṣar al-Ṣawāʿiq, pp. 663, as transl.
in Hoover, Islamic Universalism, p. 196.
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