The Quarrelling of the People of Hell and the Reconciliation of the People of Paradise

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on August 20, 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Glory be to Allah! The Fajr recitation has a special effect, as if it stirs new hope in the soul. And reflection on the recitation during the prayer should be a basic foundation for each one of us in his day. We have mentioned before that we come to the mosque to learn from the imam of the prayer before the speakers; the imam chooses for us a group of verses and recites them to us as a behavioral and intellectual guidance for each of us, so we come to be supplied, then to be filled, then to set out to pour out this energy and this charge into the horizons of society, as if we were a spark of light going out from the houses of Allah to overflow with its good upon people.

Two Phrases That Made Him Pause in the Prayer

He said that two phrases made him pause strikingly in this prayer, the first of them Allah's description, Exalted, of «the quarreling of the people of the Fire»^[1]. So what is the significance of this expression? Allah, Exalted, says that it is true, and I cannot imagine how that happens: we agreed that all of these are in the Fire, and they quarrel over whatever they quarrel over, and this future which the Lord of the worlds warned them of has come to pass before them; He warned them: if you do such and such, you will have such and such, and if you commit a crime in such and such, the outcome will be such and such. So it is as if I see a fight taking place at a time of feeling regret with no hope and no expectation.

An Example From Our Lives

Then he said: I review with you very simple situations. A husband and wife quarrel all the time, and after many years they discover that one of their sons has become addicted to drugs. So where did it come from? And who is to blame for this state he has reached? She casts the blame on him: you are the one who neglected your children and did this and that; and he casts the blame on her: you are the negligent one, and you did not do such and such. This fight resembles the quarreling of the people of the Fire, meaning that the warning has come true for them, and we seek refuge with Allah, and there is no hope of return except after a very great effort.

And if each of them had used reason about the situation from the beginning and charted well his course in life until the day of meeting Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and there had been a little patience here, a little deliberation here, and calm there, matters would have been set straight between them. The examples are very many, but he gave only one example so that we realize that if we use reason about the places in which we find ourselves, we may not regret after a while, and we will not have what resembles the quarreling of the people of the Fire.

What Stands Opposite the Quarreling of the People of the Fire?

Opposite it stands the reconciliation of the people of Paradise. And how does that happen? The Lord of the worlds says in contrast: ﴿وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَانًا عَلَىٰ سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ﴾ (And We will remove whatever is in their breasts of resentment, as brothers, on couches facing one another)^[2]. So the Lord of Might, Glorified, tells us of people in whose souls something remained. And we quarrel night and day, and situations arise between us, with tension and pulling back and forth, and sometimes raised voices, but the origin is very sound, and the basic structure of this psyche is upright. And based on that, everything that comes after is like some dust that lands on the desk, so you bring a rag and wipe it and it shines again; or a large, great, precious jewel that is overcome by some dirt, and all you do is wipe it and you find the original itself clean.

And we think that Allah, Blessed and Exalted, chose for us pure souls, God-fearing hearts and clean spirits, so we want to preserve them with more remembrance of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and more faith and righteous action.

And the conclusion we leave with today is a question: will there be among us the quarreling of the people of the Fire or the reconciliation of the people of Paradise? And he concluded by supplicating Allah, Glorified, to sweeten our feelings in our homes, our work, our friendships, our relationships and all our families.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The verse is in Sūrat Ṣād, 64: ﴿إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَحَقٌّ تَخَاصُمُ أَهْلِ النَّارِ﴾ (Indeed, that is truth: the quarreling of the people of the Fire). The speaker did not recite it in the transcript; he only referred to «the quarreling of the people of the Fire» and pointed out that it is «true». ^[2]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Ḥijr, verse 47.