7:48 The dwellers of the Purgatory will call on people they recognize by their looks, saying, “Your great numbers did not avail you in any way, nor did your arrogance.
7:49 “Are those the people you swore that GOD will never touch them with mercy?” (The people in the Purgatory will then be told,) “Enter Paradise; you have nothing to fear, nor will you grieve.”
7:50 The dwellers of Hell will call on the dwellers of Paradise: “Let some of your water, or some of GOD’s provisions to you flow towards us.” They will say, “GOD has forbidden them for the disbelievers.”
7:51 Those who do not take their religion seriously, and are totally preoccupied with this worldly life, we forget them on that day, because they forgot that day, and because they spurned our revelations.
What kind of people are in purgatory?
9:102 There are others who have confessed their sins; they have mixed good deeds with bad deeds. GOD will redeem them, for GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
The descriptions of Heaven and Hell throughout the Quran are allegorical. And the Quran tells us so whenever such descriptions occur as independent statements, not within a general subject. See 2:24-26, 13:35, and 47:15. The word “Mathal” (allegory) is used in these verses. Linguistically, the word “Mathal” in these verses can be removed, and we still have perfect sentences. But it is there because the descriptions of Heaven and Hell are allegorical.
What Heaven and Hell are really like is far beyond our comprehension. Hence the need for allegory.
How can one describe, for example, the taste of chocolate to a person who never tasted chocolate? Allegory will have to be used. The person has to wait to actually taste chocolate in order to know what chocolate tastes like. Whatever allegory we use to describe the taste of chocolate can never approximate the real thing.
Heaven already exists, since Adam and Eve were placed in it during their days of innocence (2:35). We learn from Sura 55 that there are two “High Heavens” – one for the humans and one for the jinns – and two “Lower Heavens” – one for the humans and one for the jinns (see Appendix 11 for more details).
Hell is not created yet. It will be created on the Day of Judgment (69:17 & 89:23). More details are given in Appendix 11.
The High Heaven vs. The Lower Heaven
There are profound differences between the High Heaven and the Lower Heaven. Allegorically, water in the High Heaven flows freely (55:50), while the water of the Lower Heaven needs to be pumped out (55:66).
Allegorically, the High Heaven has all kinds of fruit (55:52), while the Lower Heaven has a limited variety of fruits (55:68).
Allegorically, the pure spouses readily join their spouses in the High Heaven (55:56), while the dwellers of the Lower Heaven must go fetch their spouses (55:72).
Yet, even the Lower Heaven is an incredibly fantastic prize for those who are fortunate enough to escape Hell and end up in the Lower Heaven (3:185) – going to the Lower Heaven is a great triumph. People who depart this life before reaching their 40th birthday, and did not sufficiently develop their souls, will go to the Lower Heaven (46:15, Appendices 11 & 32). The High Heaven is reserved for those who believed, led a righteous life, and developed their souls sufficiently.
Whoever succeeds in barely missing Hell, and is admitted into Heaven, has attained a great triumph. 3:185
The horn is blown, whereupon everyone in the heavens and the earth is struck unconscious, except those spared by God. Then it is blown a second time, whereupon they rise up. 39:68
All generations of humans and jinns will be resurrected on this earth; about 150 billion of them. But we will not be earthbound. God teaches us through the example of the caterpillar; it turns into a pupa in the cocoon (grave), then exits the cocoon as an airborne butterfly. Similarly, we live here on earth, and when we exit the grave on the Day of Resurrection we will not be earthbound; like the butterfly (101:4). The earth will shine with the light of God (39:69) as He comes to our universe, together with the angels (89:22). Since our universe is a temporary dominion for Satan, it cannot stand the physical presence of God (7:143). As the Almighty approaches, the stars will crash into one another (77:8, 81:2), and the earth will shatter under our feet (69:14, 89:21). These horrors will not worry the believers (21:103).
The High Heaven
Upon arrival of Almighty God, all the humans and jinns will be automatically stratified according to their degree of growth and development. Those who nourished their souls through worshiping God alone, believing in the Hereafter, and leading a righteous life will be strong enough to stay close to God; they will occupy the highest ranks (see Appendix 5).
The Lower Heaven
Those who developed their souls to a lesser degree, as well as those who die before the age of forty, will move downward to the Lower Heaven. They will go to the location where they can be as close to God as their degree of growth and development permits them to be.
The Purgatory
There will be people who nourished their souls just enough to spare them Hell, but not enough to enter the Lower Heaven. They are neither in Hell, nor in Heaven. They will implore God to admit them into the Lower Heaven (7:46-50). God will have mercy on them, and will merge the Purgatory into the Lower Heaven.
Hell
A new, eighth universe will be created to house those who run away from God due to their weakness; they failed to nourish and develop their souls (69:17). God does not put a single being in Hell; they go to it on their own volition (Appendix 5).