Pictures of Their Punishments
(1) The Punishment of the People of Hell Will Vary in Degree

As Hell has various levels, in some of which the torment and horror are greater than in others, the people of Hell will be given different levels of punishment. According to a hadith narrated by Muslim and Ahmad from Samurah, the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) said, concerning the people of Hell: “There are some whom the Fire will take up to their ankles, others up to their knees, others up to their waists, and others up to their collarbones”. According to another report, “up to their necks” (Muslim in Kitaab al-Jannah wa Sifaat Na’imihaa, Baab Shiddat Harr an-Naar, 4/2185)

The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) has told us about those who will receive the lightest punishment in Hell. al-Bukhaari reports from al-Nu’maan ibn Basheer who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) say, “The person who will have the least punishment among the people of Hell on the Day of Resurrection will be a man under the arch of whose feet will be placed a smoldering ember, and his brains will boil because of it.”

Many aayaat confirm the different levels of punishment that will be given to the people of Hell:
“The hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire..” (4:145)

“..and on the Day that Judgement will be established: “Cast the people of Pharaoh into the severest Penalty!” (40:46)
“Those who reject Allah and hinder from the Path of Allah, for them will We add penalty to penalty, for that they used to spread mischief “. (16:88)

(2) Roasting of the Skin
The Fire of the Almighty will burn the skin of the kuffaar. The skin is the site of sensation, where the pain of burning is felt, and for this reason, Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) will replace the burnt skin with a new one, to be burnt anew, and this will be repeated endlessly: “Those who reject Our Signs, We shall soon cast them into the Fire. As often as their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for fresh skins, that they may taste the penalty. For Allah is Exalted in Power, All-Wise” (4:56)

(3) Melting
One of the kinds of torment will be the pouring of al-Hameem over their heads. al-Hameem is ultra-heated water; because of its extreme heat, it will melt their innards and everything inside:

“… then as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them, boiling water will be poured down over their heads. With it will melt or vanish away what is within their bellies, as well as skins”. (22:19-20)

at-Tirmidhi reported from Abu Hurayrah (Radiy Allahu Anhu) that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) said: “al-Hameem will be poured on their heads and will dissolve through until it reaches their sides and all their innards will drop out, until it comes out of his feet, and everything is melted, then he will be restored as he was.” He (at-Tirmidhi) said, “It is a sahih ghareeb hasan hadith”. (at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p.145, Jaami’ al-Usool, 10/540)

(4) Scorching (the face).
The noblest and most dignified part of a person is the face, hence the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) forbade us to strike the face. One of the ways in which Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) will humiliate the people of Hell is by gathering them on their faces, blind, deaf and dumb, on the Day of Resurrection:  “..We shall gather them together prone on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf; their abode will be Hell; every time it shows abatement, We shall increase for them the Fierceness of the Fire”. (17:97)

• Then they will be thrown on their faces in the Fire: “And if any do evil, their faces will be thrown headlong into the Fire; “Do you receive a reward other than that which you have earned by your deeds?” (27:90)

• The Fire will burn and cover their faces forever, with no barrier between them and it: “If only the unbelievers knew when they will not be able to ward off the Fire from their faces, nor yet from their backs, and no help can reach them!” (21:39)

• “The Fire will burn their faces and they will therein grin, with their lips displaced” (23:104)
• “Their garments of liquid pitch, and their faces covered with fire”. (14:50)
• “Is then one who has to fear the brunt of the penalty on the Day of Judgement his face, ?” (39:24)
  Look at this horrific scene that makes one shudder!
• “The Day that their faces will be turned upside down in the Fire, they will say, “Woe to us! Would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger.” (33:66)

(5) Dragging
Another of the painful torments that the Kuffaar will suffer is being dragged on their faces into Hell: “Truly those in sin are the ones straying in mind, and mad. The Day they will be dragged through the Fire on their faces: “Taste the touch of Hell.” (54:47-48)

Their pain at being dragged will be increased by the fact that they will be tied up in chains and fetters: “…But soon shall they know – when the yokes round their necks, and the chains, they shall be dragged along, in the boiling fetid fluid, then shall they be burned”. (40:70-72)

Qataadah said, “They will be dragged once in the Fire, and once in al-Hameem.” (Ibn Rajab, at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p.147)

(6) Blackening of the faces.
Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) will blacken the faces of the people of Hell in the Hereafter: “On the Day when some faces will be white and some faces will be black; to those whose faces will be black: “Did you reject Faith after accepting it? Taste then the Penalty for rejecting Faith”. (3:106)

This is intense blackness as if the darkness of night had covered their faces “But those who have earned evil will have a reward of like evil, and ignominy will cover their faces. No defender will they have from Allah. Their faces will be covered, as it were, with pieces from the darkness of night. They are Companions of the Fire, they will abide therein [for aye!] (10:27)

(7) The Fire Will Surround the Kuffaar
The people of Hell are the Kuffaar whose sins and disobedience surround them, leaving no hasanah for them. Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) said, in response to the Jews who claimed that the Fire would only touch them for a certain length of time: “Nay, those who seek gain in evil and are girt round by their sins – they are companions of the Fire; therein shall they abide ” (2:81)

No one will be in such a state unless he is a kaafir and a mushrik. Siddeeq Hasan Khan says, “What is referred to here by evil deeds is a certain type of deed, the reasons for which should be overwhelming, with no way out or means of achieving hasanah. Eternity in Hell is for the kuffaar and mushrikeen, so evil and sin in this aayah has to be interpreted as meaning kufr and shirk. Thus the arguments of the Mu’tazilah and Khawaarij are shown to be false by the proven mutawaatir reports that state that the sinners among the monotheists will eventually be brought forth from Hell.”

Sins and evil deeds surround the Kuffaar like a bracelet around the wrist, so their punishment should fit their crimes. Hence the Fire will surround the Kuffaar on all sides, as Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) says: “There will be a bed of Hell and over them coverings ” (7:41)

The “bed” is what comes under them, and the “coverings” are what comes over them. What is meant is that fires will surround them from above and below, as Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) says: “On the Day when the torment shall cover them from above them and from underneath their feet” (29:55)

“They shall have coverings of Fire above them, and coverings of Fire beneath them”. (39:16)

Some of the Salaf interpreted the “Bed” (al-Mihaad) as meaning a mattress and the “cover” (al-Ghawaash) as being a blanket (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 3/168)

The “surrounding” may be interpreted in another way, which is that Hell will have a wall to surround the kuffaar so that they will never be able to get out or escape from it, as Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) says: “..Verily We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in; If they implore relief, they will be granted water like melted brass, that will scald their faces. How dreadful the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!” (18:29)

(8) The Fire Will Leap Up Over Their Hearts

Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) says: “By no means! He will be sure to be thrown into that which Breaks to Pieces. And what will explain to you what that which Breaks to Pieces is? the Fire of Allah, kindled, that which mourns to the hearts”. (104:4-6)

Muhammad ibn Ka’b al-Qurtubee said, “The Fire eats into him until it reaches his heart, then his body will be created anew. It was reported that when Thaabit al-Bananee read this aayah, he said, “The Fire will burn them until it reaches their hearts, while they are still alive; this is how great their suffering is!” Then he wept.” (at-Takhweef min an-Naar, p.146)

(9) Their entrails will be spilled out in the Fire
al-Bukhaari and Muslim report from Usaamah ibn Zayd that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) said: “A man will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection and thrown into the Fire. Then his entrails will be spilled out into the Fire, and he will be forced to walk around and around like a donkey on a treadmill. The people of Hell will gather around him and say, “O So-and-so, what is wrong with you? Did you not enjoin us to do good and forbid us to do evil?” He will say, “I used to order you to do good, but I did not do it, and I used to forbid you to do evil, but I used to do it.” Then he will walk around and around like a donkey in a treadmill” (al-Bukhaari and Muslim, Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 2/642, hadith no. 5139)

One of the people whose entrails will be spilled out in Hell is ‘Amr ibn Lahay who was the first to change the religion of the Arabs.  Muslim reports from Jaabir ibn Abdullaah that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) said, “I saw ‘Amr ibn ‘Aamir al-Khuza’ee dragging his own entrails in Hell, and he was the first one to introduce as-Saa’ibah (a she-camel turned loose for free pasture for the sake of idols, upon which nothing was allowed to be carried”. (Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 2/642)

(10) The Chains, Fetters and Hammers of the People of Hell
Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) has promised that the people of Hell will have chains fetters and hammers in the Fire:
“For the Rejecters We have prepared iron chains, yokes, and a blazing Fire”. (76:4)
“With Us are fetters and a Fire and a food that chokes, and a penalty grievous”. (73:12-13)
The yokes will be placed around their necks: “…We shall put yokes on the necks of the unbelievers. It would only be a requital for their ill deeds”. (34:33)
“When yokes round their necks, and the chains, they shall be dragged along.” (40:71)
The chains or fetters are something with which Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) will punish them: “With Us are fetters…” (73:12)
The chains are another kind of punishment, with which the wrongdoers will be tied up, just as criminals are chained up in this world. See how the Qur’aan describes them: “The stern command will say, “Seize him and bind him, and burn him in the blazing Fire, further, make him march in a chain, whereof the length is seventy cubits”. (69:30-32)

Allah (Subhaanahu Wa Ta’ala) has promised the people of Hell hooked rods of iron which are like hammers with which the evildoers will be beaten when they try to escape from the Fire, and they will be thrown ever deeper into Hell: “And for them are hooked rods of iron. Every time they seek to get away therefrom, from anguish, they will be driven back therein and said to them: “taste the torment of burning!” (22:21-22)