On The Claim that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, rahimahullah, believed that Jahannam will come to an end (and notes on what Ibn al-Qayyim's position was)

There are some here who are hell bent on rewriting history and theology to fit their world view. These very same people will sit by and tell you MBS and Saudi Arabia is just the most perfect muslim kingdom, all the while the scholars there are hanged and imprisoned. They will tell you that no muslim ever rose up against their muslim rulers when our history is replete with examples (see Sh. Yasir Qadhi's post)

One aspect of our history that these people try to whitewash is the almost certain conclusion that Ibn Taymiyyah believed that hell was not eternal. There was some debate on this matter but by now its settled almost universally except for a certain salafi/wahhabi crowd. The crux of the evidence is laid out below.

Ibn Qayyim was the foremost student of Ibn Taymiyyah. He was troubled by reports from the salaf that hell was not eternal so he wrote to Ibn Taymiyyah who was imprisoned and was to pass away shortly. Ibn Taymiyyah replied non conclusively and then published his last known work, Al‐Radd ‘alā man qāla bi‐fanā’ al‐janna wa al‐nār (Response to Whoever Says that the Garden and the Fire Will Pass Away)

Ibn Qaymiyyah also then wrote his own treatise on the subject, borrowing heavily from Ibn Taymiyyah's work above. There was some discussion on this last work by Ibn Taymiyyah but there is much corroborating evidence such as Ibn Qaymiyyah mentioning this last work, refutation of this work by scholars who followed soon afterwards, mentioning of this work by his student Ibn Rushayyiq and allusion to this work by various scholars so its almost certainly one of the last, if not the last works of Ibn Taymiyyah. So the claim that somehow this last work is the wrong view of Ibn Taymiyyah and he was just saying it for the sake of saying it is not only disingenuous but just completely irrational but this is exactly what you will find some of the salafi/wahhabi crowd claiming.

In his work, Ibn Taymiyyah mentions a few reasons. One reason is a few reports from the companions which state that hell is not eternal. Typical amongst this is

A report from the Prophet's Companion Abū Hurayra conveys a message similar to that of ‘Umar: “There will come to Hell a day when no one will remain in it.” The second example counsels withholding judgment about where humans will end up. The Companion Ibn ‘Abbās is reported to have said, “It is not necessary for anyone to judge God with respect to His creatures or to assign them to a garden or a fire” (p. 554)

Another reason is that the Quran lays limits or otherwise qualifies the eternity of Hellfire in different ways.

... when interpreting the Qur’ānic testimony that the residents of Hell will be “staying in it for long stretches of time (lābith?na f?hā aḥqāban)” (Q. 78:23) to show that “long stretches of time” does indeed have an end. Ibn Taymiyya also quotes several early exegetical traditions that take “long stretches of time (aḥqāb)” to mean a period of finite length.

Another point that Ibn Taymiyyah makes is to contextualize the Quran verses which deal with hellfire lasting an infinite amount of time as such

In reply, Ibn Taymiyya recognizes that the Qur’ān says that unbelievers are “abiding in [the Fire] forever (khālidūn f?hā abadan)” (Q. 4:169, 33:65, etc.). Yet, he avers, the Qur’ān never states that the Fire will not pass away. There would seem to be a contradiction here. If unbelievers abide in the Fire forever, how could the Fire pass away? Ibn Taymiyya responds that the residents of Hell will abide in the abode of chastisement only as long as that chastisement lasts. The terms “abiding” (khālid) and “forever” (abad) should not be understood in absolute and unqualified senses. This is the same solution to textual difficulties that Ibn Taymiyya employed in the preceding section of Fanā’ al‐nār.

There is much more to the subject than just what I summarized above. I highly, highly encourage the reader to grab some tea/coffee, print out this paper and read it end to end as well as follow some of the footnotes and then make your own conclusions.

Also grab The Great Theft by Dr. Abou El Fadl to really understand the damaging nature of Wahabism/Salafism.

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