The Reality of the Punishment of the Two in the Graves and Their Attribution to the Companions رضي الله عنهم
Source: Fatāwā Amanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri
❖ Question:
The Prophet ﷺ saw two persons being punished in their graves and planted date-palm branches on them. Were those graves of the Companions?
❖ Answer:
The graves of those two individuals whom the Prophet ﷺ saw being punished, upon which he placed date-palm branches, were not the graves of the Companions. Rather, they were individuals from previous nations – and Allah knows best.
Narrations that give the impression that they were the graves of Companions رضي الله عنهم do not reach the level of authenticity. Hence, it is not correct to conclude from them that some of the Companions رضي الله عنهم were subjected to the punishment of the grave.
✿ Evidence from Hadith
Abdullah ibn ‘Abbās رضي الله عنهما narrated:
مر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بقبرين جديدين، فقال: إنهما ليعذبان، وما يعذبان فى كبير، أما أحدهما فكان لا يستنزه من بوله، وأما الآخر فكان يمشي بالنميمة
(The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by two new graves and said: “Indeed, they are being punished, and they are not being punished for something great. One of them did not save himself from urine, and the other used to carry tales (slander).”)
(Sunan Ibn Mājah: 347)
- The chain is weak: al-A‘mash is a mudallis and narrated from Mujāhid with tadlīs.
✿ Criticism on the Chain
- Imām Yaḥyā ibn Sa‘īd al-Qaṭṭān رحمه الله:
“I wrote down the narrations of al-A‘mash from Mujāhid, and all of them were attached to him, while al-A‘mash did not hear them from him.”
(Muqaddimah al-Jarḥ wa al-Ta‘dīl, p. 241 – chain authentic) - Imām Yaḥyā ibn Ma‘īn رحمه الله:
“Al-A‘mash did not hear from Mujāhid. Everything he narrates from him is not directly heard, rather it is mursal and mudallas.”
(Narrated by Ibn Ṭuhmān: 59) - Imām Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī رحمه الله:
“Al-A‘mash had very little hearing from Mujāhid. Most of what he narrates from Mujāhid is mudallas.”
(al-‘Ilal by Ibn Abī Ḥātim 2/210)
✿ Another Weak Report
From Abu Umāmah al-Bāhilī رضي الله عنه:
لما مر ببقيع الغرقد إذا بقبرين قد دفنوا فيهما رجلين، قال: فوقف النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: من دفنتم هاهنا اليوم، قالوا: يا نبي الله، فلان وفلان، قال: إنهما ليعذبان الآن ويفتنان فى قبريهما
(When the Prophet ﷺ passed by Baqī‘ al-Gharqad, he saw two graves in which two men had been buried. The Prophet ﷺ stopped and said: “Whom did you bury here today?” They replied: “So-and-so and so-and-so, O Prophet of Allah.” He said: “They are being punished right now and are being tested in their graves.”)
(Musnad Aḥmad 5/266, Sunan Ibn Mājah: 245)
- ① The chain is weak.
- ② ‘Alī ibn Yazīd al-Hānī is weak.
- ③ Mu‘ān ibn Rifā‘ah is criticized.
Conclusion:- The two graves mentioned by the Prophet ﷺ were not of Companions.
- The individuals were most likely from earlier nations.
- The reports suggesting they were Companions are weak and unreliable.
- Thus, it is incorrect to assert that some of the noble Companions رضي الله عنهم were punished in their graves.
