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What is the authenticity of the narration: "Indeed, Hell has seven bridges, and the Sirat [path] is upon them, and Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, is on the fourth of them," and that Allah passes by creation while He is on the fourth bridge, with supporting verses: "Indeed, Hell has been an ambush," (78:21) "Indeed, your Lord is in observation," (89:14) "There is no creature but that He holds its forelock"? (11:56)

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The gist of the answer: The narration that mentions the existence of seven bridges (qanāṭir) for Hell (Jahannam) with the Sirāṭ (bridge over Hell) upon them, and that Allah Almighty will be at the fourth of these bridges, is a weak narration. This is because it was narrated by Ayfa‘ ibn ‘Abd al-Kalā‘ī, and it is mursal (a tradition narrated by a successor from the Prophet without mentioning a Companion) or mu‘ḍal (a tradition in which two or more successive narrators are missing). It was also narrated by others, such as Al-Ṭabarānī and Al-Bayhaqī, with weak chains of transmission. What is established is the existence of one bridge after the Sirāṭ, where believers will be held accountable for injustices among them before entering Paradise.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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