It is narrated from Ya'la (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This sea is itself Hell." The people said to Ya'la: Allah Almighty has said: "A Fire whose enclosing walls will surround them." [Surah al-Kahf: 29] He said: "By the One in whose Hand is my soul! I will never enter it until I meet Allah, and not a single drop of it will reach me." The chain of this hadith is sahih (authentic). Its meaning is that the sea is so perilous that it is as if it were Hell. That is why the recording of this hadith of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) branches off from it: "Beneath the sea there is fire, and beneath the fire there is sea; as for the Fire, it is beneath the seventh (earth)." And the Companions and those after them have testified to seeing its smoke!

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: "I saw smoke rising from Masjid al-Dirar when it was demolished." This chain is sahih (authentic). A number of our companions who came from abroad have told me that they identified this mosque and witnessed this smoke, and I have already presented the sahih narration that Hell is beneath the seventh earth.