Question: There is no doubt that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ is alive in his blessed grave. The question is: is the life of the Prophet ﷺ an afterlife and barzakhi life, or is it a worldly life? Answer with the four proofs (adillah arba’a). May Allah reward you with goodness.
Answer: By Shaykh Zubair Ali Zai (may Allah have mercy on him):
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلوة والسلام على رسوله الأمين، أما بعد :
There is no doubt or uncertainty that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ lived his worldly life and then passed away.
Allah the Exalted said: انك ميت و انهم ميتون “Indeed, you will die, and they will die.”
❀ Sayyidina Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
ألامن كان يعبد محمدا فإن محمدا صلى الله عليه وسلم قدمات
”Listen well! Whoever used to worship Muhammad (ﷺ), then indeed Muhammad ﷺ has died.
↰ On that occasion Sayyidina Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) recited the verse وما محمد إلا رسول قد خلت من قبله الرسل etc.
Upon hearing this verse from him, all the Companions began reciting this verse.
Sayyidina Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) also accepted it.
↰ It is known from this that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) had a consensus that the Prophet ﷺ had died.
❀ Sayyidah Aisha al-Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
مات النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم etc.
“The Prophet ﷺ has died.”
❀ Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ما من نبي يمرض إلا خير بين الدنيا والآخرة
”Every Prophet who falls ill is given the choice between the world and the Hereafter.”
↰ The Prophet ﷺ chose the Hereafter over the world. That is, after the death of the Prophet ﷺ, his life is an afterlife, which some scholars also call barzakhi life.
❀ In one narration, Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says:
كنت أسمع أنه لايموت نبي حتي يخير بين الدنيا والآخرة
”I used to hear (from the Prophet ﷺ) that no Prophet dies until he is given the choice between the world and the Hereafter.”
❀ Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) also says:
فجمع الله بين ريقي و ريقه فى آخر يوم من الدنيا و أول يوم من الآخرة
”Then Allah joined my saliva and his saliva at the last day of the world and the first day of the Hereafter (through the siwak).
❀ In another narration from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her):
لقد مات رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم etc.
”Verily, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has died.”
↰ There are many other proofs besides these. From these authentic and mutawatir proofs it is known that Sayyidina Muhammad, Messenger of Allah ﷺ, may my father, mother and soul be ransom for him, has died.
❀ Sayyidina Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say about his own prayer:
إن كانت هذه لصلاته حتي فارق الدنيا
”This was the prayer of the Prophet ﷺ until he departed from the world.
❀ In another narration, Sayyidina Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said about the Prophet ﷺ:
حتي فارق الدنيا ”Until he departed from the world.”
❀ Sayyidina Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) also says:
خرج رسول الله من الدنيا etc.
”The Messenger of Allah ﷺ departed from the world.”
The position of the opposing side
↰ Against these conclusive proofs:
◈ Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi (d. 1297 AH), founder of the Deobandi sect, writes:
“The souls of the noble Prophets (peace be upon them) are not taken out; they only gather in from the surroundings like the light of a lamp, and they take out the souls of others apart from them…”
Warning: In the booklet “Jamal Qasmi” published by Mir Muhammad Kutub Khana Bagh Karachi, by mistake “azwaj” (wives) was printed instead of “arwah” (souls). For correction of this error see Sarfaraz Khan Safdar Deobandi’s book “Taskin al-Sudur”
and Muhammad Husain Nilwi Mamati Deobandi’s book “Nida-e-Haq”
Nanautawi further writes:
“The worldly life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ continues uninterruptedly to this day; no break or change has occurred in it, such as the worldly life turning into a barzakhi life.”
“The Prophets are still alive as before…”
↰ Regarding this self-invented view of Nanautawi Sahib:
◈ Nilwi Deobandi Sahib writes:
“But Sayyidina Nanautawi’s view is clearly contrary to the hadith that Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal narrated in his Musnad…”
◈ Nilwi Sahib further writes:
“But regarding the noble Prophets (peace be upon them), Maulana Nanautawi, against the texts and indications of the Quran and Hadith, says in Jamal Qasmi p. 15: The souls of the noble Prophets (peace be upon them) are not taken out.”
Commenting on the aforementioned statements of Nanautawi:
Muhammad Abbas Barelvi writes: “And on the contrary, the Imam of Ahl al-Sunnah, renewer of the religion and nation, Maulana al-Shah Ahmad Raza Khan Sahib, despite holding that (momentary) death, is deserving of being beheaded.”
↰ That is, according to Razvi Barelvi, Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi’s belief about the death of the Prophet ﷺ is not the same as that of Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi.
The correct position
There is no doubt that after death, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is alive in Paradise.
❀ In the hadith narrated by Sayyiduna Samurah bin Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) (concerning the incident of the Mi’raj), it is mentioned that the angels (Jibril and Mikail, peace be upon them both) said to the Prophet ﷺ:
إنه بقي لك عمر لم تستكمله، فلو استكملت أتيت منزلك
“Indeed, there remains for you a lifespan which you have not completed. When you complete it, you will come to your house (in Paradise).”
↰ It is understood that the Prophet ﷺ, after completing the life of the world, has reached his palace in Paradise.
❀ Regarding the martyrs, the beloved Messenger ﷺ said:
أرواحهم فى جوف طير خضر، لها قناديل معلقه بالعرش، تسرح من الجنة حيث شاءت، ثم تأوي إلى تلك القناديل
“Their souls are in the crops of green birds; they have lamps hanging beneath the Throne. They roam in Paradise wherever they wish, then return to those lamps.”
↰ When the souls of the martyrs are in Paradise, then the prophets are, far more so, in the highest and most excellent places and mansions of Paradise. This life of the martyrs is a paradisiacal, otherworldly and barzakhi life; similarly, this life of the prophets is a paradisiacal, otherworldly and barzakhi life.
◈ Hafiz adh-Dhahabi (died 748 AH) writes:
وهو حي فى لحده حياة مثله فى البرزخ
“And he (peace be upon him) is alive in his grave in a barzakhi manner.”
◈ Then he further writes the philosophy that this life is neither worldly in every respect nor paradisiacal in every respect, but is similar to the life of the People of the Cave.
↰ Yet the People of the Cave were alive in the worldly sense, whereas, by the admission of Hafiz adh-Dhahabi, death has already come to the Prophet ﷺ. Therefore the correct position is that the life of the Prophet ﷺ is a paradisiacal life in every respect. It should be remembered that Hafiz adh-Dhahabi explicitly opposes the belief in a worldly life for the Prophet ﷺ.
◈ Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani writes:
لأنه بعد موته و إن كان حيا فهي حياة اخروية لا تشبه الحياة الدنيا، والله اعلم
“Indeed, the Prophet ﷺ, although alive after his death, this is an otherworldly life, not similar to the worldly life, and Allah knows best.”
↰ It is understood that the Prophet ﷺ is alive, but his life is otherworldly and barzakhi, not worldly.
On the contrary:
The belief of the Deobandi scholars is that:
وحيوته صلى الله عليه وسلم دنيوية من غير تكليف وهى مختصة به صلى الله عليه وسلم وبجميع الأنبياء صلو ات الله عليهم والشهداء لابرزخية۔۔۔
“According to us and according to our Shaykhs, Sayyiduna ﷺ is alive in his blessed grave, and his life is like the life of the world, without being obligated to legal responsibilities; and this life is specific to the Messenger and all the prophets, peace be upon them, and the martyrs; it is not barzakhi, which applies to all Muslims and indeed all people…”
Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi writes:
The worldly life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ continues uninterruptedly to this day; there has been no cessation in it, nor any change or alteration such as the worldly life turning into a barzakhi life.
The Deobandis’ belief is rejected because it opposes the textual evidences mentioned earlier.
◈ The eminent Saudi scholar Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan writes:
الذى يقول : إن حياته فى البرزخ مثل حياته فى الدنيا كاذب وهذه مقالة الخرافيين
“Whoever says that the barzakhi life of the Prophet ﷺ is like the worldly life is a liar. This is the speech of those who fabricate things.”
◈ Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim has also refuted those who hold the belief of a worldly life rather than a barzakhi life.
◈ Imam al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him), after mentioning the (barzakhi) return of souls, writes:
فهم أحياء عند ربهم كالشهداء
“Thus they (the prophets, peace be upon them) are alive with their Lord, like the martyrs.
↰ Even a common person of sound belief knows that the life of the martyrs is otherworldly and barzakhi, not worldly. Many books have been written by the Hayati and Mamati Deobandis on the belief in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, such as Maqam-e-Hayat, Ab-e-Hayat, Hayat-e-Anbiya-e-Kiram, Nida-e-Haq, and Iqamat al-Burhan ‘ala Ibtal Wasawis Hidayat li-Hairan, etc. The best book in this regard is “Masala Hayat al-Nabi ﷺ” by the renowned Ahl-e-Hadith scholar Maulana Muhammad Isma’il Salafi (may Allah have mercy on him), which is available here in Unicode.
The issue of the Prophet ﷺ hearing the durood in the grave
It is claimed that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ personally hears the durood recited by people at his blessed grave, and as evidence they present the narration with من صلى على عند قبري سمعته.
It is submitted that this narration is weak and rejected. Two chains are cited for it.
① محمد بن مروان السدي عن الأعمش عن أبى صالح عن أبى هريرة۔۔۔ etc.
↰ Its narrator Muhammad bin Marwan al-Suddi is matruk al-hadith (i.e., severely criticised).
For severe criticisms of him, see Imam Bukhari’s Kitab al-Du’afa’
with its research: Tuhfat al-Aqwiya’
and the books of the men’s biographies.
② Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim discovered another chain for this narration.
عبدالرحمن بن احمد الاعرج : حدثنا الحسن بن الصباح : حد ثنا ابومعاوية : حد ثنا الاعمش عن ابي صالح عن ابي هريره “etc.
↰ Its narrator Abdur Rahman bin Ahmad al-A’raj is ghayr muwaththaq (i.e., majhul al-hal, of unknown status).
Sulayman bin Mihran al-A’mash is a mudallis.
If someone says:
Hafiz adh-Dhahabi has written that the mu’an’an narration of al-A’mash from Abu Salih is to be taken as hearing.
↰ Then it is submitted that this statement is not correct.
Imam Ahmad criticised the narration of al-A’mash from Abu Salih with the mu’an’an form. See Sunan al-Tirmidhi
↰ Our shaykh Abu al-Qasim Muhibbullah Shah al-Rashidi, may Allah have mercy on him, also erred in this matter. The correct position is that al-A’mash is a mudallis of the third tabaqah, and his mu’an’an narrations outside the Sahihayn, in the absence of explicit statement of hearing and without corroboration, are da’if. Therefore this chain through Abu al-Shaykh is also da’if and rejected.
↰ This narration من صلى على عند قبري سمعته is contrary to the authentic hadith in which it is stated that:
إن لله فى الارض ملائكة سياحين يبلغوني من أمتي السلام
“Indeed, Allah has angels roaming the earth who convey to me the salutations of my ummah.”
↰ Ibn Hibban
and Ibn al-Qayyim
and others have declared this hadith sahih.
Summary of the research: The summary of all this research is that the Prophet ﷺ has passed away, and after his death he is alive in Paradise. This life of his is the life of the Hereafter, which is also called the barzakhi life. This life is not the worldly life. وما علينا إلا البلاغ
