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Places in this world that are constricted, dirty, dark and
hot are very trying for the human spirit. In the Fire, this claus-
trophobic atmosphere is much worse. Those in this world who
had developed methods of protection from the heat will be
helpless in the Fire. It is hotter than the hottest desert, more de-
pressing and dirty than the darkest dankest cell. As our Lord
indicates in the Qur'an, the heat penetrates into a person's
smallest cells. For the wrongdoers there is no protection or re-
lief from the searing heat. Along with this, in the Fire, the
senses are much stronger than they are in this world. In this
world, most pains grow weaker after a while, wounds heal
and even scars from a very serious and painful burn heal with
time. A person feels the pangs of the Fire continually and very
painfully and this pain never ends, unless Allah wills it to end.
In the following examples we can show another possible
reflection on filthy uncared for places: a place may be dirty be-
cause of a person's forgetfulness or neglect. However, as soon
as the believer sees this filth, he realises just how merciful
Allah is towards him and how wrongly he has behaved in re-
turn; he recognises that Allah has given him an ideal place in
which to live and that he is a guest in that place. Because of
this, he realises that he must protect every blessing given to
him meticulously and show his thanks to Allah in the work he
does. Otherwise, he will be acting in a way that does not earn
Allah's approval. A believer who is aware of this will immedi-
ately understand where he went wrong and so turn to Allah;
he will do the cleaning that has to be done, make up for his
mistakes and not fall into the same error again.
24 Hours in the Life of a Muslim
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