of punishment—may Allah protect us from it—whereas Paradise is the abode of mercy. It is, in fact, Allah’s own mercy, and it will be inhabited by the merciful among His servants, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah shows mercy only to those of His servants who are themselves merciful.”

He further said, “Each of you has been promised its full measure by Me.” Thus Allah pledged to Hell its full quota and pledged to Paradise its full quota, and Allah never breaks His promise.

But do you know what the final outcome will be? The outcome—as confirmed by authentic hadiths—is that Hell will keep receiving its denizens. All the while it will say, just as the Exalted has related: “On the Day We will say to Hell, ‘Are you full?’ and it will reply, ‘Are there any more?’” (Qaf 50:30). That is, it will still be seeking more because it has not yet been filled. Then the Lord—glorified and exalted be He—will place His Foot upon it, whereupon its parts will contract, one within the other, and it will say, “Qat, qat,” meaning, “Enough, enough; I need no more.” In this manner Hell will finally be filled.

As for Paradise, its breadth is “as wide as the heavens and the earth” (Āl ʿImrān 3:133). It will be inhabited by the allies of Allah—may He make me and you among them—and by its rightful people, yet there will still remain unoccupied space. Allah will then create another people for it and, out of His mercy, admit them to Paradise.

Such, then, is the conclusion: Hell is filled by Allah’s justice, and Paradise is filled