Hellfire 70 Times Hotter Than Our Fire: The Authentic Hadith

Think of the hottest fire you have ever stood near: a kitchen flame, a bonfire, a burning field. The Prophet ﷺ told us that all of it together is only one part of seventy. In this article we look closely at the hadith behind the phrase hellfire 70 times hotter: what the Companions said when they heard it, how the Quran turns our everyday fire into a reminder, and which popular additions to this hadith are weak.

The hadith: our fire is one part of seventy

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

Imam Muslim records it too (Sahih Muslim 2843a), and at-Tirmidhi narrates it with a wording that names the fire we light ourselves:

We first met this hadith as one of six in Hellfire in Islam: 6 Authentic Hadith About Jahannam. Here we stay with it longer.

What the Companions said, and what he answered

The Companions were people who cooked over open flames and knew what a burn feels like. Their reply was honest: the fire of this world would already be more than enough as a punishment. The Prophet ﷺ did not soften the picture. He told them the Fire of Hell exceeds ours by sixty-nine parts, and that each of those parts is as hot as the whole of the fire we know.

HadeethEnc explains that the hadith shows how great the heat of Hell is, and that its purpose is a warning, so that people keep away from the deeds that lead to it. The number is not there to satisfy curiosity. It is there to change what we do.

Take heed: we pull our hand back from a hot pan without thinking. The deeds that lead to a Fire seventy times hotter deserve at least the same reflex.

Our fire is a reminder

In Surah al-Waqi‘ah, Allah asks us to look at the fire we kindle and the tree it comes from (56:71–72), and then says:

In Tafsir Ibn Kathir, a reminder of the Hellfire is how Mujahid and Qatadah explain this, and Ibn Kathir then brings the hadith of the seventy parts under this very verse. So the Quran and the Sunnah meet here: the flame on our stove is a mercy and a provision, and at the same time a small sign of something far greater.

Take heed: the reminder is already in our kitchens and on our streets every day. The question is whether we let it remind us.

The fire of Hell is more intense in heat

The Quran uses the same comparison against those who stayed behind from the expedition of Tabuk and gave the summer heat as their excuse:

Take heed: heat, tiredness and comfort still keep people from salah, from fasting and from other duties. Every time we make that excuse, this verse answers it.

Two popular narrations that are weak

Two more statements about the fire of Hell are often shared alongside this hadith. Their chains are weak, so we mention them only so you know their status, without Arabic cards:

• “It was cooled with water twice.” Ibn Majah narrates from Anas that our fire was put out with water twice, otherwise we could not benefit from it, and that it asks Allah not to be returned to Hell (Sunan Ibn Majah 4318, graded Da‘if by Darussalam). Ibn Kathir also cites a similar report from Qatadah and notes that it is mursal (missing the Companion in its chain).
• “It was kindled for a thousand years until it turned red, then white, then black.” This is Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 2591, graded Da‘if by Darussalam. At-Tirmidhi himself says the more correct version stops at Abu Hurairah, as his own words, rather than reaching the Prophet ﷺ.

The authentic hadith above needs no additions. Seventy parts, with each part as hot as all of our fire, is warning enough.

Hope: the door of repentance is open

The same Prophet ﷺ who warned us of the Fire also told us how near Allah’s forgiveness is. Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he said:

HadeethEnc explains that the door of repentance stays open until the sun rises from the west, so no sinner should despair. Sincere repentance means leaving the sin, regretting it and resolving not to return to it, and putting right any wrong done to another person.

How to practise it

• When you light the stove or see a fire, recall this hadith and say a short prayer for protection from the Fire. The hadith does not set a wording or a time; this is a suggestion.
• Ask Allah for refuge from the punishment of Hell in every salah, with the dua after the tashahhud.
• Pick one sin you keep returning to and make sincere repentance for it tonight, while the door is open.
• When heat, tiredness or comfort tempts you to delay a duty, remember “the fire of Hell is more intense in heat” and get up.
• Before sharing a narration about Hell, check its grade. The authentic hadith are enough.

Reflection: the Companions’ reply, “it would have been enough”, is what most of us feel too. The answer they received was not meant to frighten them into despair, but to make them take the Fire seriously while they still had time. The same Messenger ﷺ told us that Allah’s Hand is stretched out every night and every day.

Key lessons

• The fire of this world is one part of seventy of the Fire of Hell (Bukhari 3265, Muslim 2843a).
• Each of the other sixty-nine parts is as hot as all of the fire we know.
• Allah made our fire a reminder of the Hellfire (Quran 56:73).
• The “cooled with water twice” and “a thousand years red, white, black” narrations are weak.
• The door of repentance stays open until the sun rises from the west (Muslim 2759a).

Questions people ask

One action for today: the next time you see a flame, let it do what Allah made it for. Remember, seek refuge in Him from the Fire, and turn back to Him while His Hand is stretched out.

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