“It (Hell) has seven gates, for each of those gates is a (special) class (of sinners assigned).”(Surah-al-Hijr: 44)
It is related in “Anwaare No’maniyah” and ‘Biharul Anwaar’ that when Hazrat Jibra’eel descended with the above verse of the Qur’an, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) requested him to explain to him about the qualities of hell. Jibra’eel replied, “O Prophet of Allah (s.a.w.s.)! Verily there are seven gates in hell. The distance between each of these gates is equal to the length of seventy years, and each one of them is hotter than the other. The names of the gates are:
(1) Hawiyah (Lit. meaning a pit) – And this gate is for the hypocrites (munafeqeen) and disbelievers (kuffar),
(2) Jaheem – It is for the polytheists (those who associate someone or something with Allah),
(3) It is for the sabians (star worshippers),
(4) Lazza – It is for Shaitaan and his followers and the magians (fire worshippers),
(5) Hutamah (Lit. meaning that which crushes to pieces) – It is for the Jews,
(6) Sa’eer (Lit. meaning a blazing fire) – “It is for the Christians.” When Jibra’eel came to describe the seventh gate he became silent. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) told him to describe the seventh gate, to which Jibra’eel replied, “It isthe proud people of your ummat, who die without repenting for their sins.”
The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) lifted his head and was so much grieved that he became unconscious. When He regained consciousness, He said,
“O Jibra’eel verily you have made my trouble two-fold. Will my people also go to hell”?
Then he started weeping. After this incident he did not communicate with anyone for some days, and whenever he recited Namaz, he wept bitterly. Because of his intense weeping, all his companions too wept. They asked him the reason for his grief, but he did not reply. Imam Ali (a.s.) was out on some mission, and so the companions went to the presence of the Lady of Light Hazrat Fatema (s.a.). They went to Her house at the time when she was grindingthe millstone. She was reciting the following verse of the Qur’an:
“While the hereafter is better and more lasting.” (Surah-al-A’ala: 17).
The companions related to Her the state of Her Father. When She heard it, she got up and wore her cloak (chader) which had twelve patches sewen with the leaves of the date-tree. Salman-al-Farsi who was present amongst those people was moved after looking at the worn out cloak of Hazrat Sayyedah and said,
“Alas! The daughters of Qaiser (Caesars, the rulers of ancient Rome) and Kisras (rulers of ancient Persia) sit on golden thrones, but the daughter of the Prophet of Allah has no proper clothes to wear.”
When Hazrat Fatema (s.a.) reached the presence of Her Father, She saw His bad state and the state of His companions and started weeping. She then said,“O Father! Salman is astonished after looking at my worn-out cloak. I swear by the Lord Who has chosen you as the Prophet, since the past five years we have got only one sheet of cloth in out house, during the day on which we feed the camels, and during the night we rest on it. And our children have got a mattress of a skin with dry leaves of the tree of dates.”
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) turned towards Salman and said, “Do you pay heed and take lesson”?
Hazrat Zahra (s.a.) saw that due to excessive weeping the face of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) had turned pale, and his cheeks had sunk in, and as related by Kashfi that the earth where he was sitting had turned wet with tears. She (a.s.) told her Father,“May my life be your ransom, why do you weep”?
The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied,
“O Fatema! Why should I not weep? For verily Jibra’eel has revealed to me a verse (Ayah) describing the qualities of hell, that it contains seven gates, whichin turn have seventy thousand fissures of fire. And in each fissure there are seventy thousand coffins of fire, and each coffin contains seventy thousand types of punishment.”
When Hazrat Fatema (s.a.) heard this she cried out, “Verily the one who is fed to this fire is doomed.”
Saying this she fainted. When she regained consciousness, she said, “O the best of creatures! Who is worthy for such a punishment”?
The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) replied, “Those from my ummat who follow the passions of their self and neglect Namaz, and this punishment is quite less when compared to the other punishments.”
After hearing these words each companion of the Prophet came out weeping and lamenting thus:
“O sorrow! The journey (to the hereafter) is quite far, while the equipment quite less.”While some were crying, “O I wish my mother had never given birth to me, so I would not have heard about this punishment.” Ammare Yasir said, “I wish Iwere a bird, so I would not be stopped (in Qiyamat) for accounting.” Bilal who was not there came and asked Salman the reason for the grief, to which he replied, “Woe be upon you and me! For verily we will have a dress of fire instead of this dress of cotton, and we will be fed with the ‘Zaqqoom’ (a poisonous tree in hell).” (Khazeenatul Jawahir)