[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Belief in the Last Day and Resurrection (4/4)

Sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih Al-Uthaymeen
Proving the possibility of punishment or bliss in the grave by ash-Sharee’ah (revelation and scripture): Some of the proofs have been mentioned above. One other proof that is reported by al-Bukhari is the narration of Abdullah ibn Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) when he said,

“The Prophet passed by some walls in Madeenah and heard the screams of two persons who were being punished in their graves. He mentioned the reasons behind this punishment saying, “One of them did not protect himself (spoiling his clothes) from urine. The other one used to spread gossip.”

Proving the possibility of punishment or bliss in the grave by al-Hiss (physical senses):
Sometimes we sense ourselves in our dreams that we are in a huge expanse, or extremely constricted and confined, feeling the pain of being squeezed and the fear of claustrophobia. Sometimes we are even jerked awake from these nightmares, only to find ourselves sitting in our beds. Sleep is the twin of death, and this is why Allah calls it a type of “Wafaat” (fulfillment, appointed time of death and its like), as Allah the Most Exalted said:
“It is Allah Who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those (souls) for which He had ordained death and sends the others (back) for a term appointed. Veri-ly, in this are signs for a people who think deeply.” [Surah az-Zumar (39):42]

Proving the possibility of punishment or bliss in the grave by “al-‘Aql” (reason and analysis):
Sometimes a person sees a dream that becomes true and conforms to exact events and traits of the real world. For example, one might see the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in their dreams. Who-ever sees the Prophet in the shape that he is described in the books of hadeeth, we know, has truly seen him, even though the sleeper is simply in his room on his bed far away from what he is seeing. If this is the case in matters of the physical world, wouldn’t it be possible in matters of the Hereafter?

As for the doubts of the disbelievers concerning that they do not see the punishment of the corpses or that the graves expand in size or grow narrow as some hadeeth mention, this is answered by the following points:
The first point is that one is not allowed to refute religious matters and Sharee’ah (law) with mere doubts and suspicions of this nature without any solid argument against, since it may be that the deficiency is only in understanding, as the Arab poet said:

Many are those who claim a sound saying is defective,

Whereas nothing is defective but their own understanding.

The second point is that these issues of the grave are of the realm of the unseen, a realm not sensed by physical senses. If matters of the unseen could be tested and affirmed by physical senses, there would not be any benefit of believing in and having belief in the revelations about the unseen realm because this would equalize the believer and disbeliever.

The third point is that only the dead person himself experiences punishment or bliss of the grave, and its expansive-ness or constriction. The case is similar with the sleeping person, since only the dreamer feels the sensations of his dreams, whether nightmares of contractions or expanses of lightheartedness, while for others he is asleep in his bed in his room. Similarly, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would receive revelation and the companions next to him would not hear the revelation while he did. Sometimes the angel would come to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in the shape of a man but the companions were not able to see or hear the angel.

The fourth point is that we creatures have a limited sensual capacity. Much physical reality is outside our range of perception. Everything in the universe, the seven heavens, the earth and all that is therein, praise and glorify Allah, but we cannot hear their forms of praise and glorification and only sometimes does Allah give the power to some of His creatures to hear them, as He the Most Exalted said:
“The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein, glorify Him, and there is not a thing but that glorifies His praise, but you do not understand their glorification. Truly, He is Ever Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving.” [Surah al-Israa’ (17):44].

Similarly, the Jinn[1] go back and forth and travel about on the earth, but we cannot see them. The Jinn came to the Messenger (Peace be upon him) and listened to his recitation of the Qur’an. After he finished the recitation they went back to their nation of Jinn to convey the Message to them [as verses of the Qur’an relate]. All of this is outside the range of our sense perception. Allah the Most Exalted said:
“O Children of Adam! Let not Satan deceive you as he got your parents (Adam and Eve) out of Paradise, stripping them of their raiment, to show them their private parts. Verily, he and his soldiers see you from where you will not see them. Verily, We made the devils protectors and helpers of those who believe not.” [Surah al-A’raaf (7):27].

If we, the creatures, do not know what exists beyond our range of perception and comprehension, we cannot deny its existence. Therefore, it is not allowed for us to dispute what has been proven to exist of the unseen realm by revealed scriptures[2].

[1] Creatures made of fire; the ungrateful disbelieving ones are also known as devils.

[2] Some misguided people claim that the life of the hereafter is only spiritual and not physical. They claim that the physical punishments and rewards in actuality symbolize mental states of agony or ecstasy, respectively. Holding this belief is incorrect and leads a person out of the fold of the religion, as that is denying what is mentioned clearly in the Qur’an. A Muslim is not to misconstrue the meanings of anything in the Qur’an, and if anything is not within his realm of understanding, his attitude should be, “We hear and we obey.”