Punishment and Blessings in The Grave

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Punishment and Blessings in The Grave (1/2)

Ahmad Farid


The Salaf and the 'ulama' believe that after death a person is either punished or blessed in the grave. On the Day of Rising, souls are returned to their bodies and they rise from their graves to stand before their Lord to be judged. The proofs of this from the Qur'an and ahadith are numerous.
From the Qur'an
Allah says:
“O self at rest and at peace, return to your Lord, well-pleasing and well-pleased! Enter among My slaves! Enter My Garden.” (Surah Al-Fajr, 89: 27-30)
Allah also says:
“So Allah safeguarded him from the evil things they plotted and a most evil torment engulfed Pharaoh's people —the Fire, morning and night, to which they are exposed; and on the Day the Hour takes place: 'Admit Pharaoh's people to the harshest punishment!' ” (Surah Ghafir, 40: 45-46)
And again, He says:
“Leave them until they meet their Day when they will be struck down by the Blast: the Day their ploys will not profit them at all and they will not be helped. And those who do wrong will have a punishment besides that but most of them do not know it.” (Surah At-Tur, 52: 45-47)
And He says:
“We will give them a taste of lesser punishment before the greater punishment, so that hopefully they will turn back.” (Surah Fussilat, 32: 21)
Ibn Abbas referred to this verse as confirmation and proof indicating that punishment in the grave does take place.
From the Ahadith
Ibn Abbas related "Once the Prophet was passing by the graves of Madinah when he heard the cries of two people who were being punished in their graves. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, 'They are being punished, but they are not being punished because of a major wrong action — and yet their wrong actions are serious. One of them used not to avoid (being soiled with) urine, and the other used to go about spreading false rumours.' Then the Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked for a green palm tree branch and split it into two and placed one piece on each grave, saying, 'May their punishment cease for as long as these pieces of branch do not dry out.'"[1]
Zaid Ibn Thabit said, "The Messenger of Allah was riding with us towards the dwellings of Banu an-Najjar when his mule shied so that he nearly fell off. He saw that there were four or five or six graves there. He said, 'Which of you knows about who is buried in these graves?' Someone said, 'I do.' So the Prophet asked, 'What state were they in when they died?' He replied, 'They died as mushrikun.' He said, 'These people are being punished in their graves. If it were not for the fact that you would stop burying your dead in graves if you could hear the torment in the graves which I can hear, then I would certainly have made you listen to it.' Then, turning his face towards us, he said, 'Seek refuge in Allah from the torment of the Fire.' We said, 'We seek refuge in Allah from the torment of the Fire.' He said, 'Seek refuge in Allah from the torment of the grave.' We said, 'We seek refuge in Allah from the torment of the grave.' He said, 'Seek refuge in Allah from turmoil, both apparent and hidden.' We said, 'We seek refuge in Allah from turmoil, both apparent and hidden.' He said, 'Seek refuge in Allah from the trial of the Dajjal.' We said, 'We seek refuge in Allah from the trial of the Dajjal.'"[2]
Abu Hurairah related that the Prophet said, "When you finish the last tashahud, you should seek refuge in Allah from four things: from the punishment in the grave, from the punishment in the Fire of Hell, from the trials of life and death, and from the trial of Al-Masih Ad- Dajjal."[3]
The Questioning in the Grave
Qatadah related from Anas that the Prophet said, "When a dead person has been laid to rest in his grave, his companions leave him — and even while he can still hear their footsteps, two angels come to him and make him sit up and ask him, 'What did you use to say about this man (Muhammad)?' The mumin replies, 'I bear witness that he is Allah's slave and His Messenger.' Then they will say to him, 'Look at the place you might have had in the Fire of Hell — Allah has given you a place in the Garden instead of it,' and he will see both places." Qatada also said, "We were told that his grave would be made spacious." Then Qatada, continued with the transmission of Anas who said, "When a munafiq or a kafir is asked, 'What did you use to say about this man (Muhammad)?' he replies, 'I do not remember — but I used to say what other people used to say.' So they will say to him, 'You did not know and you did not follow guidance.' Then he will be hit so hard with an iron hammer and he will give such a cry that everything near him will hear it, except for the jinn and people."[4]
Al-Bara' Ibn Azib related that the Prophet said: "When a Muslim is questioned in his grave, he will testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah — and this is what is meant by the words of Allah :
“Allah makes those who have iman firm with the Firm Word in the life of the dunya and the akhira."[5] (Surah Ibrahim, 14: 27)
It should also be pointed out that the punishment of the grave is the punishment in the barzakh to which Allah refers in the Qur'an:
“When death comes to one of them, he says, 'My Lord, send me back again, so that perhaps I may act rightly regarding the things I failed to do!' No indeed! It is just words he utters. Before them there is an interspace until the Day they are raised up.” (Surah Al-Mu'minun, 23: 99-100)
Anyone who dies and deserves punishment, will receive part of it in the grave.

(Continued)

[1] Al-Bukhari, 3/242; An-Nasa'i, 4/106.

[2] Muslim, 17/202; Ahmed, 3/103, 144-145.

[3] Al-Bukhari, 3/241.

[4] Al-Bukhari, 3/232-233; Muslim, 17/203; Ahmed, 3/126, 233.

[5] Al-Bukhari, 3/231-232; Muslim, 17/204.

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Punishment and Blessings in The Grave (2/2)

Ahmad Farid


The Punishment in the Grave
Samurah Ibn Jundub said, "Whenever the Prophet finished the (dawn) prayer, he would look at us and ask, 'Who of you had a dream last night?' So if anyone had had a dream, he would describe it and the Prophet would say, 'Ma sha'Allah.' One morning, he asked whether anyone of us had had a dream and we replied that we had not. The Prophet said, 'I dreamt last night that two men came to me and held me by the hands and took me to al-Quds (Jerusalem). While we were there, I saw a person sitting down with another standing next to him with an iron hook in his hand. He was pushing it inside the mouth of the first one until it reached his jawbone and then tearing out one side of his cheek. Then while he was doing the same with the other side, the first side of his cheek would become normal again — and then he would do the same all over again. I said, "What is this?"
'They told me to move on and so we went on until we came to a man lying flat on his back with another man standing over his head. He was holding a stone or a piece of rock and dropping it on to the head of the man lying down. When it hit him, the stone would roll away. The man would go to pick it up and before he had returned, the crushed head had become normal again — and then the man would come back and smash it again. I said, "What is this?"
'They told me to move on and so we carried on and passed by a hole like an oven, with a narrow top and a wide bottom and a fire blazing at the bottom of it. Whenever the flames of the fire leapt up, the people in it were lifted up so high that they almost escaped out of the top, and then whenever the flames died down, the people would fall back down into it. The men and women in it were naked. I said, "What is this?"
'They told me to move on and so we went on until we reached a river of blood in which there was a man, with another man standing on the bank. He had some stones in front of him and was watching the man standing in the river. Whenever the man in the river tried to climb out, the other would throw a stone at his mouth and make him retreat to where he had been before. As often as he tried to come out, the other would throw a stone at his mouth and make him return to where he had been before. I asked, "What is this?"
‘They told me to move on and so we did until we reached a well-watered garden of green with a huge tree, at whose foot was an old man sitting with some children. There was another person near the tree with a fire in front of him which he was tending.
'The two men made me climb up the tree and told me to enter a dwelling which was better than any I had have ever seen before. Inside there were some old men and some young men, women and children.

'Then they took me out of this dwelling and made me climb further up the tree and told me to enter another dwelling which was even better and more excellent (than the first). Inside there were some old and young people.
'I said to them, "You have kept me on the move all night — now explain everything that I have seen to me." They replied, "Certainly."
"As for the one whose cheeks you saw being torn away, he was a liar who used to tell lies which people would believe and pass on until they spread right across the world — so he will continue to be punished like this until the Day of Rising.
"As for the one whose head you saw being crushed, he was a man whom Allah had given knowledge of the Qur'an, but he used to sleep all night and did not act on it during the day — so he will continue to be punished like this until the Day of Rising.
"As for those whom you saw in the hole, they were adulterers.
"As for those whom you saw in the river of blood, they used to deal in riba (usury).
"'The old man who was sitting at the base of the tree was Ibrahim and the little children with him were the offspring of his people — and the person tending the fire was Malik, the keeper of the Fire of Hell. The first dwelling in which you entered was the dwelling of the common believers, and the second dwelling was that of the martyrs. I am jibril and this is Mikail. Now raise your head. ' "
'I raised my head and saw what looked like a cloud above me. They said, "That is your dwelling." I said, "Then let me enter my dwelling." They replied, "You still have a life which you have not yet completed — when you have completed it then you will enter your dwelling.' [1]"
This is an authentic sahih hadith which vividly describes some of the punishments of the grave, as the scholars have interpreted it.
Avoiding Punishment in the Grave
This matter has two approaches, one general and one specific.
As regards the general approach, we can avoid punishment in the grave by obeying the commands of Allah and by refraining from wrong actions. We should be pleasing to Allah in this world in order to avoid the punishment of the grave, as well as that of the next world. As we have seen in the above hadith, the Prophet described some of the (disobedient) people who are punished in the grave including liars, slanderers, hypocrites, adulterers and usurers.
As regards the specific approach, there are a number of sayings of the Prophet which indicate how we can avoid punishment in the grave:
Salman al-Farsi related that the Prophet said, "Keeping watch for a day and a night (during jihad) is better than fasting for a whole month and standing in prayer every night. If a person dies (while doing this), it will be as if his action continues and he will go on receiving his reward for it perpetually and he will be saved from the punishment of the grave."[2]
Fudalah Ibn Ubaid related that the Prophet said, "Everyone who dies has completed their actions, except for someone who was at the frontier (fighting in the Way of Allah) — whose actions will continue to go on increasing until the Day of Rising and who will be safe from the trials in the grave." [3]
Al-Miqdam Ibn Ma'd Yakrib related that the Prophet said, "The martyr receives six blessings from Allah: he is forgiven as soon as the first drop of his blood is shed; he is shown his dwelling in the Garden; he is protected from the punishment in the grave; he is kept safe from the Greatest Terror; he has placed on his head a crown of honour, a ruby of which is better than the world and what it contains; he is married to seventy-two wives of the maidens with large dark eyes; and he is made intercessor for seventy of his relatives."[4]

[1] Al-Bukhari, 3/251-252.

[2] Muslim, 13/61; At-Tirmidhi, 7/162; An-Nasa'i', 6/39.

[3] Abu Dawud, 2483; At-Tirmidhi, 7/123; Ahmed, 6/20; Al-Hakim, 2/144.

[4] At-Tirmidhi, 7/161; Ibn Majah, 2799; Ahmed, 4/131.