The Inferno

A common problem among Muslims and Christians nowadays is the prevalent notion of hellfire and its denizens. Who are the infidels? Who are the ones condemned to fill the infernal belly of the Hearth? It seems everyone is quick to paint the other as those destined for the netherworld. But is the reality actually so black and white?

God has given us enough intellect to understand Their Will, haven't They? Therefore, those deserving of Hell are fairly obvious such as the likes of Hitler and Ted Bundy – blatantly evil people. We believe our God is a Merciful God. If you can look at someone and say, "They seem like a nice person. I can't imagine God putting them in Hell,"
then what makes you think a God more merciful than you will do it?

'Umar ibn al-Khattab reported that some prisoners were brought to the Prophet Muhammad among whom there was also a woman who was searching for a child among the prisoners and, upon finding it, took hold of it, pressed it against her bosom and provided it suckle. Thereupon the Prophet asked:

Do you think this woman could ever throw her child into the Fire?

We answered:

By God, so far as it lies in her power, she would never throw the child into the Fire. 

Then, the Prophet said:

God is more kind to Their servants than this woman is to her child.

[Sahih Muslim, Book 37, Hadith 6635]

God realizes we are imperfect. They don't punish us just because we masturbated or something silly like that.
In Islam, there is a story about a murderer who, after committing ninety-nine murders, realizes he was going to Hell for his crimes and wanted to be forgiven, so he went to a priest of a mosque who told him that there was no hope of salvation for the man, thus he murdered the priest too as his hundredth victim.

Afterwards, overcome with remorse, he set for the Holy Land to seek forgiveness but died a little along the way. When the angels came to reap his soul, they debated whether they should deliver his soul unto Heaven or Hell. God, then, intervened and ordered them to measure the distance between his corpse and his house and then between his corpse and the Holy Land. If he was found closer to the Holy Land, the angels were ordered to
deliver him to Heaven and if he was found closer to his home, then the angels were ordered to deliver him to Hell. Although the latter happened to be the case in truth, God shifted the fabric of reality as such following Their Decree that his body appeared closer to the Holy Land and he was saved. This was because the man was repentant and prepared to journey for the sake of forgiveness, so God forgave him for his sincere desire to attain Their Mercy.

In other words, God is not a machine with preset protocols where if you do not fit a certain criteria, you are not accepted by Them. God created us and knows we are tempted to sin. They don't punish us just because we may falter on our path – such a God would not be a Merciful God. Hell is reserved for those who are arrogant in sin, thinking themselves beyond the need of God's Mercy and Grace.

To explain it in simple terms, God does not turn anyone away from Salvation. Those in Hell have chosen the place on their own for themselves by saying they don't need Mercy and Salvation – they are above the requirement to plead for forgiveness. They think they are perfect, superior to all, even God, and they would rather be in Hell
than be remorseful. By realizing that you have sinned, you have already exempted yourself from that list.
So don't worry about it. Pray!

— Fahim Ferdous Kibria