I have had many people tell me that they do not believe there will be Hell in the afterlife, because they believe God (Allah) SWT to be infinately Merciful and because He is so Merciful, they refuse to believe He can punish.
There is no such a thing as hell in the afterlife but the grave only. (Eccl. 12:7) Hell is what we cause to ourselves or to others here on earth.
I thought about that, and then came to personal conclusion that existance of Hell does make sense. I understand that God SWT is Merciful. He showed signs of His forgiveness in the Old Testament. Jesus pbuh spoke of the Mercy as well. The Holy Qur'an tells us that God SWT always forgives, is All Forgiving, that His Mercy is faster than His punishment. But, Hell makes sense.
God has nothing to do with punishing any one. We are punished by our own selves through the law of cause and effect.
Imagine a newborn baby who died for some reason. Pure. Innocent. Never uttered an evil word, let alone committed a sin. Obviously, this little being is in Heaven. Now, imagine someone like Hitler standing in Heaven next to that beuatiful little baby?
One does not die because he or she committed a sin, but because we have been born. That's the law of genesis and destruction; i.e. birth and death. And Heaven is not a place for one to go to, but a condition to be invited into ourselves. It is within you, said Jesus. (Luke 16:21) The only place Hitler would stand next to an innocent baby is in the grave.
I would get very angry!! What kind of Divine Justice would that be if God SWT would to forgive completely such an evil person, and put him right next to the little innocent being? For this reason, in my personal opinion, Hell makes sense. Certain people do so much evil (like Hitler), that they have stained their souls so much that they do not deserve nothing else but eternal suffering.
Blame not God but those of us who allowed Hitler to do so much evil. We have been granted with the attribute of freewill; and God does not interfere with it. And about eternal suffering, there is nothing eternal about man. Eternity belongs with God only. That's why man was banned from the Garden of Eden: To, metaphorically, prevent him from eating of the tree of life and live forever. (Gen. 3:22)
Ben