Will you explain verse 27 of the chapter of Yunus and verse 81 of the chapter of al-Baqara? Are the penalties in Hell the same?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Hell has levels. Not all parts of it are the same. The penalty in Hell changes according to sins.

Verse 27 of the chapter of Yunus:

"But those who have earned evil will have a reward of like evil: ignominy will cover their (faces): No defender will they have from (the wrath of) Allah: Their faces will be covered, as it were, with pieces from the depth of the darkness of night: they are companions of the Fire: they will abide therein (for aye)."

Those who committed evil and bad deeds, obtained sins, who acted contrarily to the purpose of creation by Allah by doing bad deeds like committing polytheism, unbelief and rebellion, who assumed bad habits will be punished for every sin that they committed only once. That is, their penalty will not be increased as it is the case with good deeds. One good deed is rewarded many times but a bad deed is punished only once. (The following is stated in verse 160 of the chapter of al-An'am: "He that doeth evil shall only be recompensed according to his evil.") Ignominy, abasement and derogation will cover them. Their faces will flush; in addition, all of their bodies will be in contempt. There is no one to save and guard them except Allah. There is no one to save them from Allah. There is no power to protect them from Allah's wrath; they cannot have any intercessors to help them as it is the case for believers who will attain intecesion with the permission of Allah. They are in such an abased, servile and despicable state that nobody can ask Allah to save them. Their faces will look as if they are parts of the dark night; their faces will be black due to shame and disgrace. They are the people of Hell and they will remain there forever. Since they did not believe and were not forgiven, the bad deeds they committed became eternal with them and went to Hell together with them. They will remain in Hell forever and their penalty will last forever.  

Verse 81 of the chapter of al-Baqara:

"Nay, those who seek gain in evil, and are girt round by their sins,- they are companions of the Fire: Therein shall they abide (For ever)."

"81- O Muhammad! Address them as follows: Did you receive a promise from Allah regarding the issue? If yes, Allah does not break His promise. Or, do you slander Allah by uttering something that you cannot know? No, it is not as they say. He who obtains a sin, commits a bad deed and the bad deed he commits surrounds him all around, his inner and outer organs, including his heart and tongue, and if he makes bad deeds his habit and regards them as legitimate, he will be a person of Hell and will remain in fire forever. Such peopele cannot come out of fire in seven days or forty days as they hope and claim; they will not be able to get out of fire and be saved; they will remain there forever; it is land of eternity. They went to that realm indulged in sins, smeared by bad deeds, without having any clean parts; evil became their eternal trait and general characteristic. If only one bad deed causes something like that, you can compare it with the state of those who were smeared with many bad deeds. It means those who were not covered by sins all over will not remain in hellfire eternally. Those who have an atom’s weight of belief in their hearts, those who regard sins as sins and do not call sins legitimate will not abide in Hell eternally. Staying in Hell for certain days can be considered for those people."

(see Elmalılı M. Hamdi YAZIR, Kur'an-ı Kerim Tefsiri)

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