al-Takhwif min al-Nar wa al-Tarif bi-Hal Dar al-Bawar 1

al-Takhwif min al-Nar wa al-Tarif bi-Hal Dar al-Bawar (Inspiring Fear of the Fire and Acquainting with the Abode of Ruin) is an eschatological and homiletic treatise by the Hanbali scholar Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (736–795 AH / 1335–1393 CE) devoted to the description of Hellfire and its torments Jami al-Ulum wal-Hikam+1.

Purpose and Scope

In the introduction of the work, Ibn Rajab states that he compiled the book after seeking divine guidance (istikhara) to detail the description of Hellfire and the disgrace, punishment, and ruin prepared for Allah's enemies Majmu Rasail Ibn Rajab. His stated aim was to restrain souls from error and corruption and motivate them toward righteousness, observing that people in his time had succumbed to lethargy, pursued base desires, and indulged in false hopes Majmu Rasail Ibn Rajab. He noted that worldly desires are only dispelled from the heart either through a burning, unsettling fear (khawf muz'ij muhriq) or a joyful, stirring longing (shawq mubhij muqliq) Majmu Rasail Ibn Rajab.

Structure and Contents

The book is structured into thirty chapters covering the scriptural warnings, topography, torments, and denizens of Hell Majmu Rasail Ibn Rajab:

• Warnings and Fear (Chapters 1–4): Warnings and admonitions concerning the Fire, the fear of Hell displayed by creation, the intense dread experienced by the early generations (al-salaf), weeping out of fear of the Fire as a means of salvation, and the virtue of seeking refuge from it al-Takhwif min al-Nar wa …+1.
• Topography and Features of Hell (Chapters 5–17): The physical location of Hell, its levels and strata (adrak), its depth, gates, enclosures, darkness, extreme heat and bitter cold (zamharir), stoking and raging, smoke, sparks, valleys, mountains, wells, rivers, chains, shackles, stones, serpents, and scorpions al-Takhwif min al-Nar wa ….
• Torments and Punishments (Chapters 18–22): The food and drink of its inhabitants, their clothing, their gigantic and repulsive physical forms, the varying types and degrees of torment according to deeds, and their unheeded weeping, gasping, and wailing al-Takhwif min al-Nar wa …+1.
• Eschatological Events and Inhabitants (Chapters 23–30): The dialogues between the inhabitants of Hell and Paradise, the keepers of Hell (zabaniyya), the arrival of Hell on the Day of Resurrection, the traversing of the Bridge (al-Sirat), passing over or entering the Fire (wurud al-nar), the condition of monotheists (al-muwahhidun) who enter the Fire and their eventual extraction through divine mercy and intercession (shafa'a), the demographic majority of Hell's inhabitants, and the specific categories and attributes of its dwellers al-Takhwif min al-Nar wa …+1.

Method and Sources

Ibn Rajab builds the text around Quranic verses and extensive citations of hadith reports from prophetic tradition, alongside narrations, statements, and poetry transmitted from the Companions and early ascetic scholars al-Takhwif min al-Nar wa …+1.

Publication History

The treatise has been published as an independent volume, including an edition edited by Bashir Muhammad 'Uyun, and is also included within the fourth volume of Ibn Rajab's collected treatises (Majmu' Rasa'il Ibn Rajab) Majmu Rasail Ibn Rajab+1.