Jahim--It's meanings

[Arnold Yasin Mol]

Jahim is normally translated with Fire, which is indeed one of its meanings. It also means heat of anger, hot coals.

But it also means:

he receded, or drew back.
The main part [or the thick] of the war or battle: or the straitness thereof: and the vehemence of thefighlt or slaughter, in the scene therof.

the greedy;who stops giving anything to others

to become narrow; narrow mindedness; who remaind narrow minded
a conjested house

Jaham-al-baeer: a mouth guard of camels to stop them hurt anyone

dogs getting a mouth guard so that they dont bark.

TajaHam= side effects of being 'mean' and greedy

AjHam Anhu = he stopped doing that

AljaHamu = The one who stops giving anything to others



Saqara, also used in the Quran for Fire, and it also means heat of the battle.

In QXP, Dr.Shabbir translates Jahim with:

The Insurmountable Barrier to the development of the human ‘Self’ = Figuratively, Hell. The human ‘Self’ can make progress only by believing in and working according to the Prescribed Way of Life and helping Allah’s creation. Insurmountable Barrier = Bar to progress = Obstruction that halts = Halting of evolution = Mere survival = Hellfire = Flames of anguish = Fire of regret).

To understand this meaning, we shall make a small research on the word.

Jahannam(arabic&hebrew)/Gehenna(greek) is an old valley south of Jerusalem.

Ja=valley Hannam=valley name

People used to be sacrificed there to idols, also the valley was used later on as an execution ground for criminals and a place were bodies and clothing were burned, who had died of a contagious diseas. Also in Jesus's time it was still used for burning the rubbish and garbage of Jerusalem.

It was used a metaphor for behaviour that would only accumelate rubbish and death of the Self.

Jannah means literally, A ground covered by the trees. The ground stands for the people's Selfs, the trees for their deeds, and the fruits for their results.

Jahannam has the same reference as Jannah, being the ground of conciousness, is shown by the tree of bitterness, Zaqum ( see 37:62, 64, 146; 44:43), where it represents an evil and harmful deed, and it fruits represents the bad results.

to read more on Jannah and Jahannam, I suggest to read my book on the subject:

Jannah and Jahannam Book

So Jahannam refers to a State of mind that produces wrong results in this Life and the Next.

Jahim is connected with stop moving forward because of a decision, or is held back in case of prevention, is stuck in a state of struggling.

That Jahim refers to stop progressing/advancing because of a decision and staying in a struggle can be seen by these verses:

2:119 Lo! We have sent you, O Prophet, with the Decisive Truth, a herald of glad tiding and a Warner. And you will not be held accountable for those who choose to stay behind Jahim, and hence, dwell there.

31:21 And when such people are told to follow what Allah has revealed, they say, "Nay, we follow that which we have found our fathers doing." What! Even though Satan had invited them to the doom of Flames?"

In 2:119 it refers that people choose to stay in a state of Jahim, and 31:21 explains one of such decisions. They hold on to the ways of their fathers, and are thus stuck in the same struggle as their forefathers, not advancing.

And thus 2:119 can be translated as such:

2:119 Lo! We have sent you, O Prophet, with the Decisive Truth, a herald of glad tiding and a Warner. And you will not be held accountable for those who choose to stay behind in the thickest part of their struggle= Insurmountable Barrier = Bar to progress = Obstruction that halts = Halting of evolution = Mere survival , and hence, dwell there.[/b]

And this verse says the same thing:

22:51 Whereas those who strive against Our Messages seeking to defeat their purpose, they are destined to face Jahim=Insurmountable Barrier = Bar to progress = Obstruction that halts = Halting of evolution = Mere survival=The thickest part of their struggle .

People will stay in their struggle, as only through the Quran can we attain the perfect society, Paradise on Earth. Today, the West have attained many things that are given in the Quran. Democracy, Freedom, Women's equality, Racial equality and so on. But these were all gained through immense hardship and pain. Millions of people have died to attain these freedoms, and still many in the world still haven't got them.

This is what is meant with Jahim for society and individual. Their denial of the Quran has made them stuck in their struggle for learning the best Values. They can only attain them through fierce struggle on their own, and then still they can only attain some. Today in the West, these freedoms have not gained them Paradise on Earth, and they are still stuck in their struggle.

People who bury the Truth for themselves, by believing in Idols, gods, saints, who reject the Quran or who believe in Divine guidance outside of the Quran, are all stuck in their struggle. Their life is like being in the constant heat of battle, survinving. They are not progressing, and are like a gurdled camel. This can be seen throughout the world, Muslim and non-Muslim.

May Allah increase us in knowledge.

Arnold and Mateen

[Arnold Yasin Mol]

Ahmed Ali on Jahannam in his translation:

Hell, the word Jahannam is from the valley of Jerusalem, where people were sacrificied, thus signifying the altar of humanity's sacrifice. In the Quran, Heaven and Hell are not eternal kingdoms as in the Bible, but contigent to and coterminous with the heavens and the earth, as is evident from verses 106 to 108 of sura 11. As Paradise is a state of ultimate bliss, enjoyable wordly, so is Hell is described as "the fire kindled by God which penetrates the hearts" It is thus, a sacred archetypical symbol, carrying both a moral and psycho-social meaning within its tautology and eschatological ultimacy. So is Yaum-al-Hashr, the Day of Resurrection, the completion and consumation of life on earth. In the metonymy of the Quran resurrection signifies the rising of the dead so that each can could feel in person the effect of his good and evil deeds done on earth