Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...

130 Islam
restored into it, and taste the chastisement of the
burning” (Arberry1969, 29).
Islamic theologians, particularly those of the
Asharite school, believed that if a believer entered
hell, God could forgive his sins or nonconformities
and remove him, either immediately or after a
certain period during which imperfections had
been “burned away.” The basis for this doctrine is
the Hadith, “He shall make men come out of hell
after they have been burned and reduced to
cinders.” In addition to this purgatory of suffering,
there is another Muslim limbo—al-A’raf, the
“heights” or “ramparts,” described in a chapter of
the Koran by that name—in which those souls
reside who do not merit damnation, yet who are
unable to enter paradise.
See also Harut and Marut; Iblis; Jinn
For Further Reading:
Arberry, A. J. The Koran Interpreted. 1955. Reprint,
New York: Macmillan, 1969.
The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1978.
Glassé, Cyril. The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam. San
Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1989.
Obayashi, Hiroshi, ed. Death and Afterlife:
Perspectives of World Religions. Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1992.