Based on this hadith, muslims will never go to jahannam

Question

The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says, ‘O son of Adam, as long as you call on Me, I shall forgive you of what you have done, and think nothing of it. O son of Adam, even if your sins were to reach up to the clouds in the sky, and then you were to ask for My forgiveness, I would forgive you and think nothing of it. O son of Adam, even if you were to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth, and then you were to meet Me after death, not worshipping anything besides Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as the earth.’”

[Tirmidhi]

Observe the bold part of the text. It sounds like no matter how much sins you commit, if you die as a muslim, Allah will forgive all your sins. So technically, that would mean that no muslim can enter jahannam.

Am I interpreting this wrong?

Answer 1

The scholars of islam - with the exception of small dead sects like the Mu'tazila, some of whom thought that someone heavily involved in fisq may remain in hell forever, even a muslim - agree that someone who dies a muslim, no matter how vile a person he was, will eventually go to paradise and remain there forever. This particular hadith is not understood by them in absolutist terms however, as it is interpreted in the context of other texts that clearly state that a muslim who sinned may enter hell for a finite time as punishment. This hadith is meant to be understood as "don't give up hope, no matter what you did, god is forgiving", it is not understood as "no muslim will ever enter hell".