Sijjin (Arabic: 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),[1] [2] or, according to a different interpretation, a register for the damned or record of the wicked,[3] which is mentioned in Quran . Sijjin is also considered to be a place for the souls of unbelievers until resurrection.[2]
The idea that there is a hell underneath Earth's surface roots in the Quran, which speaks about "seven earths", while describing hell as a subterranean pit, divided into seven compartments.[2] Thus, many Muslim authors coincided hell with layers of the Earth with sijjin at the bottom.[2] For the lowest layer of hell, the term al-asfal is used too.[2] The antithesis of Sijjin is Illiyin.
The word as an adjective means "vehement" or "intense" and is derived from the root S-J-N (Arabic: س ج ن) related to gaoling or imprisonment. The Arabic word for prison (Arabic: سِجْن), along with verbs from the root, appears several times in Surah Yūsuf in relation to the account of Joseph in prison.[4]
A similar-sounding word (but of unrelated etymology from Byzantine Greek Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: σιγίλλιον via Classical Syriac), (Arabic: [[wikt:سجل|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.
Tabari reports essentially two different opinions regarding the meaning of Sijjin in his Tafsir:
The idea that Sijjin is the place after Iblis was cast out from heaven, is also held by other Sunni scholars, such as Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi and Nasafi.[5]
According to some Shia traditions, the enemies of Ahl al-Bayt are created from the earth of Sijjin.[6]
According to Annemarie Schimmel, traditional Sufi leaders linked the seven gates of hell each to a specific sin.[2] 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.[2]
According to al-Ghazali otherworld (akhira) is a dream like realm unfolding its existence postmortem.[2] 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.[2] 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).[7]
The Turkish horror film series Siccîn is named after this Islamic term.