Editing Islamic eschatology (section)

=== The concept of eternity ===
In Classical Islam, there was a consensus among the theological community regarding the finality of [[Jannah]] (also called Heaven, paradise, the Gardens); after Judgement Day, faithful servants of God would find themselves here for eternity.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|title=The Islamic understanding of death and resurrection|last=Smith, Jane I.|date=1981|publisher=State University of New York Press|others=Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck, 1935–|isbn=0873955064|location=Albany|pages=93|oclc=6666779}}</ref><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:93>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.93</ref> However, some practitioners in the early Muslim community held that the other abode of the hereafter (hell/Jahannam), or at least part of that abode, might not be eternal.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:93/> This belief was based upon an interpretations of scripture that since the upper, less tortuous levels of hell were reserved for Muslims who were only in hell  for as long as God deemed necessary. Once Muslims had their sins purged and were allowed into heaven, these levels would be empty and the need for their existence gone.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:93/> These interpretations are centered on verses 11:106–107 in the Quran, stating, 
:"As for those who are wretched, they shall be in the Fire, wherein there shall be for them groaning and wailing, abiding therein for so long as the heavens and the earth endure, save as thy Lord wills. Surely thy Lord does whatsoever He wills".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The study Quran: a new translation and commentary|editor1=Nasr, Seyyed Hossein |editor2=Dagli, Caner K. |editor3=Dakake, Maria Massi |editor4=Lumbard, Joseph E. B. |editor5=Rustom, Mohammed |isbn=9780061125867|edition= First|location=New York, NY|pages=585|oclc=879553018|date = 17 November 2015}}</ref> 
This possibility  that God may yet commute a sentence to hell, interprets (parts of) hell as being similar in function to  purgatory in Christianity, with the exception to this comparison being that hell in this context is for the punishment of the sinner's complete body, as opposed to only the soul being punished in purgatory.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:93/> Arguments questioning the permanence of hell take the view that hell is not necessarily solely there to punish the evil, but to purify their souls, whereas the purpose of the Garden is simply to reward the righteous.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Islamic understanding of death and resurrection|last=Smith, Jane I.|date=1981|publisher=State University of New York Press|others=Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck, 1935–|isbn=0873955064|location=Albany|pages=94|oclc=6666779}}</ref><ref name=JISYYHIU1981:94>[[#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.94</ref>
Evidence against the concept of hell being in part temporary, is the Quran verse stating that hell will endure as long as Heaven will, which has been established as eternal.<ref name="Shamoun-forever">{{cite web |last1=Shamoun |first1=Sam |last2=Katz |first2=Jochen |title=Quran Contradiction. Will people stay in Hell forever, or not? |url=http://64.71.77.248/answering_islam/quran/contra/hell_forever.html |website=China's Christian Library |access-date=14 June 2022}}</ref>