Father of Al-Majlisi on the narration: “No one punishes with fire except for God.”

Question:

What does the father of Al-Majlisi say about the report handed down by the messenger (s.) that nobody except God punishes with fire?

Answer:

Muhammad Taqi Al-Majlisi writes:

فإن الغلاة يقولون إنه ورد من النبي صلى الله عليه وآله أنه قال لا يعذب بالنار إلا رب النار وهذا الخبر لم يثبت عنه صلى الله عليه وآله ولو ثبت وصح فجوابهم أن ما فعله عليه السلام من إحراقهم بالنار لما كان يأمر الله تعالى فكان الله تعالى عذبهم وسيجيء في حد اللواط أخبار مستفيضة تدل على جواز إحراق اللوطي بالنار ولا خلاف فيه

“The exaggerators say that the Prophet (s.) said: “No one punishes with fire except the Lord of fire.” But this report could not be proved from him, and if it turned out to be confirmed (Thabit) and authentic (Sahih), then they would be countered that the act of Ali (a.) to burn them with fire was at the command of God, so God was the one who punished them and the boundary punishment for same-sex fornication was reported in numerous traditions, which are evidence (Dalil) that the burning of the same-sex fornicator with fire is legitimate and there is no disagreement about that.” [Sharh-ul-Faqih, volume 6, page 388]