Islams Seven Heavens and Dantes Inferno

Qu’ran Sura 67. Al-Mulk (The Sovereignty, Control)

3. He Who created the seven heavens one above another:

Islam has seven heavens? To which do these correspond to 9 Levels of Hell: Dante’s Inferno?

Dante Alighieri’s ‘Inferno’ is the most recognized and popular non-religious description of hell and its various levels, and frankly he has done a great job! Written during the medieval period from 1307-1321, Dante Alighieri has brilliantly described the 9 levels of hell in simple and believable words making the entire piece of work very approachable and believable. Below are the different levels of hell described in ‘Inferno’ by Dante.

Ante Hell
Dante describes that he found himself in the woods through which he found a passing beneath an arch, through which he entered ante hell and once he entered the arch, it couldn’t be seen. The upper hell is also referred to as ‘Nowhere’ and is known to exist outside the Acheron river of pitch black, heavily flowing water. Dante said that people who have failed to make any choices in life are found running in this place forever, trying to reach to an end which can’t be reached, constantly bitten by invisible worms and insects and stung by wasps. Dante also saw some bronze jars scattered in the mud with spirits of people trapped inside and faint voices seeking help. Dante also said that anyone who contacted river Acheron would be trapped for ever in the freezing cold river, trying hard but unable to move making the experience quite uncomfortable and scary. Dante saw a ferry run by Charon, a tall old man with eyes like burning coal and long white beard, who carries everyone who wants to cross the river Acheron and go to the first circle of hell.

Level 1: The Limbo
The Limbo is the first circle of hell, consisting of pleasing white Mediterranean style villas and plain green fields, the air is clean and fresh, there is peace and beauty, but still there is a certain sadness in the atmosphere. This is so because the limbo is the place for people who are not exactly sinners. These spirits reside here because there was lack of hope and eternal believe in God. People who were born before the time of Christ, the un-baptized, the infants who still bear the burden of the original sin etc are the people who reside here. Dante was accompanied by Virgil, a famous Roman poet who also belonged to this circle. Dante saw many famous personalities like Caesar, Brutus, Socrates, Aristotle and many classy poets and thinkers in this level.

Level 2: The Lustful
Dante explains the next level of hell as a place for those who sinned through their sexual lust excessively. All the souls that resided in this level were of those who gave their sexual passion and lust more importance than the love of God. Dante explains that these souls are punished by whirling eternally in a cloudy and murky air by a strong air current. The harsh winds lashes at these souls and they keep on spinning through the air in darkness endlessly. Dante saw the souls of great lovers like Helen, Cleopatra, Tristan etc in this level. He also saw the souls of unsuccessful lovers standing on the ground, trying to get caught in the gale.

Level 3: The Gluttonous
If you know what are the seven deadly sins, you would know that gluttony is one of them. The souls of the Gluttons who failed to utilize the gifts given to them by God in a meaningful and higher way, and wasted their lives in consuming excess and giving nothing but garbage in their lives, are the ones who reside in the third level of hell. Dante describes this level as a gigantic garbage dump, the atmosphere being freezing with rain and stinking snow with the damned spirits lying in the freezing icy paste, swollen and lewd.

Level 4: The Spendthrifts and The Hoarders
This level is for the people who were hoarding and wasting wealth and other necessary things all their lives without realizing the importance of sharing and saving. In this level, the souls are divided into two furious mobs, punished by carrying heavy boulder like weights on their back which represents the wealth that they accumulated in their life. The 2 mobs tend to clash with each other, with each side screaming , ‘why hoard’ and ‘why waste’? These souls keep on rolling and pushing weights for eternity as punishments in never ending rage. Dante also saw the souls of some priests, popes and cardinals who had extreme greed for material wealth rather than spiritual wealth.

Level 5: The River Styx
Dante describes this level to be covered by a thick fog with a stinking swamp which is ankle deep. The wrathful and the gloomy and depressed souls reside in this level of hell. These souls are filled with anger and wrath due to which they constantly keep on attacking other souls and at times bite themselves too. Dante also saw some bubbles forming in the slime which are supposedly the souls of the sullen and gloomy who failed to accept the spiritual awakening when they were alive and chose to stay in the gloomy and depressing darkness. Therefore, as punishment, these souls are buried under the stinking water of river Styx.

Level 6: The City of Dis
Level 6 is where you actually arrive to the city of Dis where reside the ‘Arch-heretics’. These were the people who denied in the afterlife and the immortality of the soul. The city of Dis consists of huge iron walls and burning tombs all around the landscape. There is also a huge white marble mausoleum with slabs imprisoning an unbeliever with their birth and death date listed along with their name. There are groans, curses, whimpers and rage noises coming from the tombs.

Level 7: The Violent
This level is meant for the spirits who sinned in violence. This level is divided into 3 circles according to the type of violence that one is condemned for. These circles are explained as under.

1. The River Phlegethon: [This sure seems to be where most Islamic Jihadists would be – editors note]
This ring is for the tyrants and the murderers, especially those, who in the form of homicide, malice and destruction, incorporated violence not only in their own lives, but also made others suffer. This ring consists of river Phlegethon which consists of boiling blood and smells of strong fresh and clotted blood. As these people played with blood when they were alive, this level punishes them to be immersed in the boiling blood forever. The depth of immersion depends upon the degree of sin from ankle length to over the head. This level also consists of people for whom violence was a part of their duty and they happily enjoyed it. Dante also saw an island at this level consisting of officials who let the criminals loose on purpose, and also people who murdered due to a reason which can be considered ‘justified’. These people are suppose to keep the souls under their feet too injured to fight or try to get up. So, although, they are not boiling in blood, they still are not in a happy or peaceful place.
2. Violence Against Self: The next ring in level 7 of hell consists of those souls who committed violence against themselves which includes, suicide, gambling etc. The souls of the suicides are fastened in thorny trees with black leaves. These trees are constantly torn by Harpies, the overseers of these damned souls. When these creatures feed upon the damned souls by tearing and biting their leaves and limbs, the wounds in the tree bleed. Only when the souls encased in the trees bleed, can they speak and express their pain. The punishment is that these souls who destroyed their own bodies and the chance to express themselves when they were alive should be condemned to stay in human form and given the chance to express themselves only when they bleed and get destroyed by the Harpies. You will also find the souls of people who destroyed their wealth in gambling, running through the deep dark forest, chased by a group of wild dogs who tear them apart, when caught. A stream of River Phlegethon flows to this ring as well.
3. Violence Against God: The last ring of the 7th level of hell is for those who sinned in violence against God and nature. These are the souls of the blasphemers, sodomites and usurers. The violent blasphemers against God are stretched naked with their face upward on the ground with the burning rain pouring over them. They also shout and curse God. The sodomites wander in the hot sand for eternity, naked and squatting with their arms. The usurers who were violent against art and nature lie crouching on the hot sand with concealed identity and money bags hanging from their necks. They wear fine dresses, the colors of which express their family shields but this signifies that they were so concerned with material goods that they ended up loosing their actual identity.

Level 8: Malebolge
This level is for those who were fraudulent in their lives, who betrayed the people who put their trust on them. This level is divided into 10 bolge depending upon the kind of fraud and betrayal one has done.

1. Panderers and Seducers: This is where the souls of the seducers and the panderers reside, even pimps, movie producers, emotional rapists are found here. These souls are condemned to walk endlessly driven by the lashes of tall horned ugly looking demons.
2. Flatterers: This bolge consists of the souls of advertisers and people who falsely flattered when they were alive. The structure of these souls are altered physically in such a way that whenever they speak, excrement comes out as their punishment.
3. Simoniacs: These are the people who corrupt the holy things. These souls are punished by laying upside down in a hole filled with oil. Only their feet is visible and the rest of the body is immersed in oil. The flames of fire pour on their feet. Simoniacs include the new age gurus claiming and ‘selling’ enlightenment, Pope Nicholas II etc.
4. Fortune Tellers: This section consists of the fortune tellers, the soothsayers and the sorcerers. They are punished by twisting their necks backwards so that they always move forward by moving backward. Even teachers who referred a slow reader as ‘dyslexic’ and predicting a child’s educational future are found here.
5. Grafters and Barrators: Here lie the soul of the people who stole once trusted, and those who took money adopting unethical ways. These souls are immersed in boiling pitch. They fear to take their heads out as the demons will tear them into pieces with their powerful claws and pitchforks.
6. Hypocrites: The sixth bolge of the eighth level is to punish the hypocrites. These souls wear heavy leaden robes and have hoods covering their eyes. They look defeated, weary and are in great pain. The punishment is to walk round and round in a narrow track for eternity. If the sinner stops to walk, the cloak becomes more hot.
7. Thieves: This is the widest bolge than all other in this level. These souls wander naked and are constantly attacked by snakes which when bite the souls, turn the souls into flames and ashes, after a few seconds, these ashes are again turned into shades and again attacked by the snakes. Many a times, the shade bitten by the snake turns into a human soul and the soul bitten turns into a snake. This keeps on happening resulting in unending chasing and attacks all the time.
8. False Counselors: All you can find in this bolge are the bright flames burning all over the place. These flames are supposed to be the souls of the false counselors and therefore will keep burning like this for eternity.
9. Sowers of Discord, Scandal and Schism: In the words of Dante, “And just as their sin was to rend asunder what God had meant to be united, so are they hacked and torn through all eternity by a great demon with a bloody sword. After each mutilation the souls are compelled to drag their broken bodies around the pit and to return to the demon, for in the course of the circuit their wounds knit in time to be inflicted anew.”
10. Falsifiers: All the souls that have sinned falsifying in life, are plagued with all types of illnesses including STD’s, rabies, leprosy and are forced to drag themselves on the ground in order to move forwards because their illness has made them so weak.

Level 9: Cocytus
The last level of hell is meant for the traitors which also happens to be the place where Satan resides himself. Dante defines that the frozen pool of coytus seems to be like a sheet of glass and the freezing breeze takes away all the warmth present in the atmosphere. These winds are from the wings of Satan flapping eternally to freeze the souls to chilling ice with their heads facing up and their eyes frozen with tears. Lucifer, the other name for Satan has 3 faces colored, red, yellow and black. Each of the face is chewing a famous traitor. The red face is said to chew the soul of Judas Iscariot, the black face is chewing Marcus Brutus and the yellow is chewing Caius Cassius Longinus who took part in the conspiracy against Caesar.

So these were the different levels of hell explained in the non religious description in Dante’s Inferno. Before that we also had a look in what the Bible had to say about the levels of hell. As mentioned earlier, these are all interpretations and attempts to know what happens when you die? What is the truth about hell or heaven? The reality is that no one can know this for sure, unless one experiences it on its own. Though reading and researching helps us make a picture, the levels of hell, is yet again another mystery that will be solved in its own time. To conclude I would like to quote a saying by Saint Augustine,”It is my opinion that the nature of hell-fire and the location of hell are known to no man unless the Holy Ghost made it known to him by a special revelation”, (City of God XX.16). Hope you enjoyed reading it.

Mother-in-law Facebook Rant

My wife just woke me to tell me about the facebook posting her mother put on her facebook.

How warped is posting on your daughter’s facebook that she is being abused because I added a Airport Taxi Service to the services our business provides to increase income?!

I just do not understand how she can commit such despicable acts that only anger and upset her daughter, my wife!

It sat on Rachel’s profile for family and friends to see for two hours before it was discovered and removed. In the mean time, who knows how many people saw the pure hate filled rant. We know at least one of her friends from high school did because she asked her mother what was wrong.

Ugh, poor Rachel had to tell her friend that it was just her mom acting up again and that nothing is really wrong. It is so frustrating to have Rachel so upset with her mother because her mother just can not seem to behave.

This is an escalation of her mother’s inappropriate behaviors. Of course, while awaiting Rachel’s new phone to arrive (her old one simply died while she was talking on it during lunch two days ago), her mother hasn’t been able to text or call to harass her so she felt compelled to escalate to facebook.

I told Rachel she should just block her mother on facebook, but Rachel is afraid that will just set her mom off more. Of course, Rachel is right, but we both are real tired of trying not to get her mom started on her tangents. The most innocent and good things set her off into incoherent and non-reality based texting, emailing, and calling Rachel. If I remember correctly, this is the second time she has written delusional ranting comments on Rachel’s facebook.

As a follower of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I keep forgiving her mother her trespasses as Jesus forgives mine and praying that He will restore her mother to mental stability and remove the darkness that has enveloped her with delusional hatred and vitriol toward her daughter and me.