“There
are two types of the people of Hell whom I have not seen: men in whose
hands are whips like the tails of cattle, with which they beat the
people, and women who are clothed yet naked, maa’ilaat mumeelaat, with
their heads like the hum
ps of camels, tilted to one side. They will not enter Paradise nor even smell its fragrance.”
This is a stern warning to beware of the things referred to.
With regard to the phrase, “their heads are like the heads of camels,
tilted to one side,” some of the scholars said that this means they make
their heads look big because of the hairstyles they adopt and so on, so
that it looks like the hump of a bakht camel. The bakht is a type of
camel that has two humps between which there is a dip, so that one hump
leans one way and the other leans the other way. When these woman make
their heads look big in this way, they look like these humps.
With regard to the phrase, “They will not enter Paradise nor even smell
its fragrance,” this is a stern warning; it does not necessarily mean
that they are kaafirs or that they will abide in Hell forever, like
other sinners who die as Muslims; rather what is meant is that they and
other sinners are threatened with Hell for their sins, but they are
subject to the will of Allaah. If He wills He will forgive them and if
He will He will punish them. This is like the verse in which Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, Allaah forgives not
that partners should be set up with Him (in worship), but He forgives
except that (anything else) to whom He wills”
[al-Nisa’ 4:48]
