Sijjin

''Sijjin'' ( ar, سِجِّين lit. Netherworld, Underworld, Chthonian World) is in Islamic belief either a prison, vehement torment or straitened circumstances at the bottom of '' Jahannam'' or hell, below the earth (compare Greek Tartarus), or, according to a different interpretation, a register for the damned or record of the wicked, which is mentioned in Quran 83:7. ''Sijjin'' is also considered to be a place for the souls of unbelievers until resurrection.

The idea that there is a hell underneath earth's surface roots in the Quran, which speaks about "seven earths" (65:12), while describing hell as a subterranean pit, divided into seven compartments. Thus, many Muslim authors coincided hell with layers of the earth with ''sijjin'' at the bottom. For the lowest layer of hell, the term ''al-asfal'' is used too. The antithesis of ''Sijjin'' is '' Illiyin''.

Etymology

The word as an adjective means "vehement" or "intense" and is derived from the root S-J-N () related to gaoling or imprisonment. The Arabic word for prison ( ar, سِجْن), along with verbs from the root, appears several times in Surah Yūsuf in relation to the account of Joseph in prison.

A similar-sounding word (but of unrelated etymology from Byzantine Greek via Classical Syriac), ( ar, سِّجِلّ) appears in a verse () and is translated as "scroll". Some exegetes who interpret the word as a register for the damned or a book listing the names of the sinful draw a connection between the two words.

Interpretations

Sunni Islam

Tabari reports essentially two different opinions regarding the meaning of ''Sijjin'' in his '' Tafsir'':

* It is a book containing the evil deeds of the sinners: "their works are in a book in the lowest earth."

* A prison for the damned: "it is the seventh lowest earth, in which Satan (''Iblis'') is chained, and in it are the souls (''arwah'') of the infidels (''kufar'').

Shia tradition

According to some Shia traditions, the enemies of Ahl al-Bayt are created from the earth of ''Sijjin''.

Sufi cosmology

According to Annemarie Schimmel, traditional Sufi leaders linked the seven gates of hell each to a specific sin. This image of an ethical hell often associates each sin with a specific body part. '' Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya'', written between 1203 and 1240 by Ibn Arabi, visualises this idea, correlating each layer of hell to one specific body part, ''sijjin'' being the gravest: ''jahannam'' – feet, ''al-jahim'' – genitals, ''al-sa'ir'' – belly, ''saqar'' – hands, ''laza'' – tongue, ''al-hutama'' – ears, ''sijjin'' – eyes.

According to al-Ghazali otherworld ('' akhira'') is a dream like realm unfolding its existence postmortem. In his work '' The Incoherence of the Philosophers'', he explains that this doesn't lower the deceased experience of the afterlife, but they perceive pleasure and pain like when they were alive. According to '' The Alchemy of Happiness'', ''sijjin'' will be a manifestation of the earthly life, presented to those who pursued worldy matters instead of religious bliss. The earthly world turns out to be a prison, and their bodily desires manifest as chains binding them to the earthly world, which turns out to be a prison (''sijjin''), surrounded by tempations they gave in, embodied by devils (''shayāṭīn'').Al Ghazali ''The Exlixir of Bliss'' Eugen Diederichs Verlag p. 50

In popular culture

The Turkish horror film series ''Siccîn'' is named after this Islamic term.

See also

* Underworld
* Spirits in prison
* Tartarus
* Hell

References

Quranic words and phrases
Jahannam

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