The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are constructing a theme park from hell – literally!
A theme park built around the concept of what it is like in hell has been built in Iran with simulations of the Islamic concepts of hell and the afterlife using real fire.
From one of the early stations after entering the theme park, visitors are shown the grave after death and what it is like to encounter the angel of death. Then they are forced to walk across the bridge between life and death into hell called the ‘bridge of death.’
The bridge of death has real fire spewing out from underneath it so that visitors can feel the heat under their feet. As they cross the bridge visitors can see people in the flames being tortured, screaming out in pain, and rolling around on the ground suffering in agony.
One of the visitors noticed something missing in hell’s fire though. The chief preoccupation of the Islamic state in Iran is the evils of women and yet there were any women present in the flames of hell. One patron was disappointed saying, “There wasn’t a single unveiled woman in the hell that you built at so much cost. All these years you said unveiled women would go to hell, but none is to be seen there now that you have built a display of hell.”
The theme park is meant to cause fear and control, leaving the mark of a life-long fear of hell – especially for children.
Brother Abdull, the grandson of an Ayatollah in Iran explains the concept of striking the fear of hell into the hearts of little children in his book JIHAD: THE DAY I DIED.
He shares the following story from when he was only four years old,
“Abdull, you have been brought here today to continue the tradition of your fathers and forefathers,” my grandfather said with his usual formality. Every eye was on me. All the children were motionless. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew it wasn’t a joke. I never saw my grandfather smile or tell a joke. He was always serious.
Deadly serious.
“From today onward, you are no longer a child but a follower of Muhammad and you will enter your training.”
Standing in front of my grandfather, my uncle’s facial expression bounced between intimidation and impotence. My grandfather’s voice continued, but my mind faded to gray as my uncle squeezed my hand and pulled it toward the flame. With his left hand, he reached into the fire and took out a long wooden stick with glowing red embers and angry spitting flames on the end.
I tried to yank back in panic, but like a noose that grows tighter with applied pressure, my uncle’s grip cinched deeper around my small wrist. I leaned back, fearing the flame, but it was already too late. He jerked me forward in a way that made me lose my balance, quickly bringing the burning flame into my hand.
I screamed and reflexively jumped back with all my might, but my small frame didn’t budge my uncle’s tight grip. My palm instinctively squeezed the end of the stick and then just as quickly flexed open, allowing my uncle to push the flame deeper into my hand.
I screamed with my mouth wide open and face up, inhaling the smokey air. My elbows gripped at my side, I stood on my tiptoes, begging for release. After a moment of agony, my head flung down toward the ground, calling out for my mother. She didn’t respond.
My uncle’s eyes beamed with gleeful evil. He didn’t have any sons of his own. The priesthood of our family could not be passed down to his daughters. This left me as the eldest grandson to be next in line to be an ayatollah. The pain felt personal.
“See how hot this is? I swear to you, hell is one million times hotter and one hundred million times more painful. If you do anything to upset Allah or defy the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad, you will feel worse pain than this!”
He let go of my hand and I immediately clutched it into my chest, crying uncontrollably. I tried to turn and run to my mother, but my uncle grabbed me by the nape of my neck and pulled me back. He forcefully turned my head to face his and continued, “Not only you. If you sin against Allah, you will send all of your family to hell and everyone in your family will suffer. Sura 22:19 says, ‘As to those who disbelieve, for them are cut out garments of fire, boiling water shall be poured over their heads,’” he said, quoting the Quran. “All of them will suffer in hell’s fire if you turn against Allah.”
Instantly I thought about my mother, what would happen to her and how she would suffer. I didn’t know who Allah was, but I was afraid. My hand eventually healed from the fire, but my mind was forever seared with the memory.
