Will All Muslims Go to Hell? (19:71), (22:58)

According to 19:71, every person will pass by Hell. This is claimed to mean all believers will enter Hell, contradicting verses that promise Paradise to the righteous.

The false claim: 19:71 condemns all people - including believers - to Hell, contradicting the promise of Paradise.

This rests on a poor understanding of 19:71 and specifically on the Arabic word used in it.

The Key Word: Waredha vs. Dokhool

[19:71] Every single one of you must pass by Hell; this is an irrevocable decree of your Lord.

The Arabic word used here is waredha - meaning to pass by and witness, not to enter. This is a precise and deliberate word choice. Now compare the verses that describe the disbelievers' fate, where a completely different word is used:

[40:60] Your Lord says, "Implore Me, and I will respond to you. Surely, those who are too arrogant to worship Me will enter Gehenna, forcibly."

The word used for the disbelievers is dokhool - meaning to enter. The Quran is not careless with its vocabulary. Passing by and entering are not the same thing, and the Quran uses the appropriate word in each case. Every human will pass by Hell and witness it. Only the disbelievers will enter it.

The Believers Are Shielded

The believers who pass by Hell will be protected from its suffering entirely. The Quran confirms this explicitly:

[39:60-61] On the Day of Resurrection, you will see the faces of those who lied about GOD covered with misery. Is Hell not the right retribution for the arrogant ones? GOD will save those who maintained righteousness; He will reward them. No harm will touch them, nor will they grieve.

This can be understood through a simple analogy. Consider someone travelling through the blistering heat of an open desert in an air-conditioned car. Although he is surrounded by desert heat, he is completely shielded from it and unaffected by it. The believer passing by Hell is in an analogous position - present in its vicinity, but protected from all harm.

Further confirmation comes from the story of Abraham:

[21:68-69] They said, "Burn him and support your gods, if you are going to do anything." We said, "O fire, be cool and safe for Abraham."

Abraham was physically thrown into the fire by his enemies. He passed through it. Yet no harm touched him because God shielded him within it. The same principle applies to the believers on the Day of Resurrection - their passage by Hell will not harm them.

What the Believers Gain From Witnessing Hell

The believers' passing by Hell serves two important purposes.

First, upon witnessing all the suffering within, they will recognize the full magnitude of what they were saved from:

[3:185] Every person tastes death, then you receive your recompense on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever misses Hell, barely, and makes it to Paradise, has attained a great triumph. The life of this world is no more than an illusion.

Second, upon seeing Hell the believers receive confirmation that God's promise - of both Paradise and Hell - was completely truthful:

[39:73-74] Those who reverenced their Lord will be led to Paradise in throngs. When they arrive at it, and its gates are opened, its guards will say, "Peace be upon you; you have won. Therefore, you abide herein forever." They will say, "Praise GOD, who fulfilled His promise to us, and made us inherit the earth, enjoying Paradise as we please." What a beautiful recompense for the workers!

There is no contradiction. Waredha - passing by - is not dokhool - entering. Every person witnesses Hell. Only those who rejected God will be made to enter it.