The Issue of the Prophet's (PBUH) Life in the Grave

Written by: Zubair Ali Zai (may Allah have mercy on him)

Question: There is no doubt that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is alive in his blessed grave. The question is: Is his life an afterlife (Akhirah) and intermediary (Barzakh) life, or is it a worldly life? Please answer with evidence from the four sources. Jazakum Allah Khairan. [A questioner on 26 Rabi' al-Thani 1426H]

Answer: By Sheikh Zubair Ali Zai (may Allah have mercy on him):

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His trustworthy Messenger. As for what follows:

First:
There is no doubt that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) lived a worldly life and then passed away.

Allah Almighty says: "Indeed, you are to die, and indeed, they are to die." [Al-Zumar: 30]

Sahih Al-Bukhari 3668: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Know that whoever worshipped Muhammad, Muhammad has indeed passed away..."

↰ At this occasion, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr recited the verse: "Muhammad is but a messenger; messengers have passed on before him..." [Aal Imran: 144] Hearing this, all the companions began to recite this verse. [Sahih Al-Bukhari 1241, 1242] Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) also accepted it. [See Sahih Al-Bukhari 4454]

↰ This indicates the consensus of the companions (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Prophet (PBUH) has passed away.

Sahih Al-Bukhari 4446: Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The Prophet (PBUH) passed away."

Sahih Al-Bukhari 4586, Sahih Muslim 2444: Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "No prophet becomes ill but that he is given the choice between this world and the Hereafter."

↰ The Prophet (PBUH) chose the Hereafter over the world. This means that after his passing, his life is an afterlife, which some scholars also refer to as the intermediary (Barzakh) life.

Sahih Al-Bukhari 4435, Sahih Muslim 2444: In another narration, Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "I used to hear that no prophet dies until he is given the choice between this world and the Hereafter."

Sahih Al-Bukhari 4451: Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) also said: "Allah gathered my saliva and the saliva of the Prophet (PBUH) on the last day of this world and the first day of the Hereafter."

Sahih Muslim 29/2974, Darussalam: 7453: In another narration from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), she said: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) has indeed passed away."

↰ These authentic and continuous evidences indicate that Sayyiduna Muhammad (PBUH), my father and mother's sacrifice, has indeed passed away.

Sahih Al-Bukhari 803: Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say about his prayer: "This was his prayer until he departed from this world."

Sahih Muslim 33/2976, Darussalam: 7458: In another narration, Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said about the Prophet (PBUH): "Until he departed from this world."

Sahih Al-Bukhari 5414: Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) also said: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) departed from this world."

↰ Against these definitive evidences:

◈ The founder of the Deobandi sect, Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi (d. 1297H), wrote: "The souls of the noble prophets (peace be upon them) are not taken out; rather, they are gathered from their surroundings, like the light of a lamp, and their souls are not expelled..."

[Jamal Qasimi p. 15]

Note: In the published booklet "Jamal Qasimi" by Mir Muhammad Kitab Khana Bagh Karachi, there is a printing mistake where "souls" is incorrectly printed as "wives." For correction, see Sarfaraz Khan Safdar Deobandi's book "Taskeen al-Sudur" [p. 216] and Muhammad Hussain Nailwi Mamati Deobandi's book "Nida-e-Haq" [vol. 1, p. 572 and p. 635].

Nanotvi further wrote: "The worldly life of the Prophet (PBUH) continues without interruption; it has not turned into an intermediary (Barzakh) life."

[Aab-e-Hayat p. 27]

"Prophets are continuously alive..."

[Aab-e-Hayat p. 36]

↰ Regarding this self-made theory of Nanotvi:

◈ Nailwi Deobandi wrote: "But the belief of Sayyiduna Nanotvi is explicitly against the Hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal in his Musnad..."

[Nida-e-Haq vol. 1, p. 636]

◈ Nailwi further wrote: "But regarding the noble prophets (peace be upon them), Maulana Nanotvi says against the texts and indications of the Quran and Hadith in Jamal Qasimi p. 15 that the souls of the noble prophets (peace be upon them) are not expelled."

[Nida-e-Haq vol. 1, p. 721]

Anecdote: Commenting on the aforementioned statements of Nanotvi, Muhammad Abbas Barelvi wrote: "And in contrast, the Imam of Ahl-e-Sunnat, the reviver of the faith and nation, Maulana Shah Ahmad Raza Khan, despite believing in the death (to come), is considered worthy of being beheaded."

[Wallah! You Are Alive p. 124]

↰ This means, according to Raza Khan Barelvi, Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi does not have the same belief about the death of the Prophet (PBUH) as Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi.

Second: There is no doubt that after his death, the Prophet (PBUH) is alive in Paradise.

Sahih Al-Bukhari 1/185, Hadith 1386: In a Hadith narrated by Sayyiduna Samura bin Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him), the angels (Jibril and Mika'il, peace be upon them) said to the Prophet (PBUH): "Indeed, you have some remaining life, which you have not yet completed. When you complete it, you will come to your abode."

↰ It is clear that the Prophet (PBUH) spent his worldly life and then reached his abode in Paradise.

Sahih Muslim 121/1887, Darussalam: 4885: The Prophet (PBUH) said about the martyrs: "Their souls are in the bodies of green birds, which have lanterns hanging from the Throne. They roam about in Paradise wherever they wish, then return to those lanterns."

↰ If the souls of the martyrs are in Paradise, then the souls of the noble prophets are, by far, in the highest and most excellent places and abodes in Paradise. The life of the martyrs in Paradise is an afterlife (Akhirah) and intermediary (Barzakh) life. Similarly, the life of the noble prophets in Paradise is an afterlife (Akhirah) and intermediary (Barzakh) life.

Al-Siyar 9/161: Hafiz al-Dhahabi (d. 748H) wrote: "And he (PBUH) is alive in his grave, a life like that in the intermediary (Barzakh)."

◈ He further wrote that this life is neither entirely worldly nor entirely of Paradise, but rather similar to the life of the People of the Cave. [Also p. 161]

↰ Although the People of the Cave were alive in the worldly sense, the Prophet (PBUH) has passed away, as admitted by Hafiz al-Dhahabi. Therefore, the correct belief is that his life is entirely of Paradise. It should be noted that Hafiz al-Dhahabi explicitly opposes the belief of worldly life for the Prophet (PBUH).

Fath al-Bari vol. 7, p. 349 under Hadith 4042: Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani wrote: "After his death, even though he is alive, it is an afterlife, not resembling the worldly life."

↰ It is clear that the Prophet (PBUH) is alive, but his life is an afterlife (Akhirah) and intermediary (Barzakh), not a worldly one.

In contrast:

The scholars of Deoband hold the belief that: "Our belief and the belief of our teachers is that Sayyiduna (PBUH) is alive in his blessed grave, and his life is like the worldly life without obligations. This life is specific to him (PBUH), all the prophets (peace be upon them), and the martyrs. It is not intermediary (Barzakh)..."

[Al-Muhannad 'ala al-Mufannad in Deobandi Beliefs p. 221, Fifth Question: Answer]

Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi wrote: "The worldly life of the Prophet (PBUH) continues without interruption until now; it has not turned into an intermediary (Barzakh) life."

[Aab-e-Hayat p. 67, and the same content in another place]

The Deobandis' belief is rejected because it contradicts the previous texts.

◈ Sheikh Saleh al-Fawzan from Saudi Arabia wrote: "Whoever says that his life in the intermediary (Barzakh) is like his life in the world is a liar. This is the statement of the fabricators."

[Al-Taliq al-Mukhtasar on Al-Qasida al-Nooniyya, vol. 2, p. 684]

◈ Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim also refuted those who believe in the worldly life instead of the intermediary (Barzakh) life.

[Al-Nooniyya, Chapter on the Life of the Prophets in their Graves vol. 2, p. 154, 155]

◈ Imam al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote after mentioning the life of the intermediary (Barzakh): "They are alive with their Lord like the martyrs."

[Al-Bayhaqi's Treatise: The Life of the Prophets p. 20]

↰ Any ordinary person of sound belief knows that the life of the martyrs is an afterlife (Akhirah) and intermediary (Barzakh), not worldly. Many books have been written by the Deobandis on the belief of the life of the Prophet (PBUH), such as Maqam-e-Hayat, Aab-e-Hayat, Hayat Anbiya, Nida-e-Haq, and Iqamat al-Burhan 'ala Ibtal Wasawas Hidayat al-Hayran, etc. The best book on this issue is by the famous Ahl-e-Hadith scholar Maulana Muhammad Ismail Salafi (may Allah have mercy on him) titled "The Issue of the Life of the Prophet (PBUH)," which is available in Unicode here.

Third: Some people say that the Prophet (PBUH) listens to the salutations (Durood) recited at his blessed grave in person, and they present the narration: "Whoever sends blessings upon me at my grave, I hear it."

This narration is weak and rejected. It is narrated through two chains:

  1. Muhammad bin Marwan al-Suddi from Al-A'mash from Abu Salih from Abu Hurairah... etc.:
[Al-Du'afa al-'Uqayli 4/136, 137 and he said: "There is no basis for it from Al-A'mash's narration and it is not preserved," etc., and in History 3/292 no. 377 and Ibn al-Jawzi's Al-Mawdu'at 1/303 and he said: "This is a fabricated hadith," etc.]

↰ The narrator Muhammad bin Marwan al-Suddi is Matruk al-Hadith (severely criticized).

[Al-Du'afa by Al-Nasa'i no. 538]

For severe criticism, see Imam Bukhari's Al-Du'afa no. 350 with my verification: Tuhfat al-Aqwiyah [p. 102] and books of names of narrators.

  1. Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim found another chain for this narration:
Abdulrahman bin Ahmad al-Araj: narrated to us by Al-Hasan bin Al-Sabah: narrated to us by Abu Mu'awiya: narrated to us by Al-A'mash from Abu Salih from Abu Hurairah... etc. [Jala al-Afham p. 54 referenced from Kitab al-Salah 'ala al-Nabi (PBUH) by Abu Al-Sheikh Al-Asbahani]

↰ The narrator Abdulrahman bin Ahmad al-Araj is non-authenticated (i.e., Majhul al-Hal).

Sulaiman bin Mehran al-A'mash is a Mudallis (one who practices Tadlis).

[Tabaqat al-Mudallisin 2/55 and Al-Talkhis al-Habir 3/48 no. 1181 and Sahih Ibn Hibban, Al-Ihsan new print 1/161 and common books of names of narrators]

If someone says:

Hafiz al-Dhahabi wrote that Al-A'mash's Mu'an'an (non-explicit) narration from Abu Salih is considered based on hearing.

[See Mizan al-I'tidal 2/224]

↰ It should be noted that this statement is not correct. Imam Ahmad criticized Al-A'mash's Mu'an'an narration from Abu Salih. See Sunan al-Tirmidhi [207 with my verification].

↰ In this issue, our Sheikh Abu Al-Qasim Muhibullah Shah Al-Rashidi (may Allah have mercy on him) was also mistaken. The correct view is that Al-A'mash is a Mudallis of the third category, and his Mu'an'an narrations in non-Sahih books are weak in the absence of explicit or corroborative statements. Therefore, this chain from Abu Al-Sheikh is also weak and rejected.

↰ This narration "Whoever sends blessings upon me at my grave, I hear it" contradicts the authentic Hadith which states:

"Indeed, Allah has angels roaming the earth who convey to me the greetings of my Ummah."

[Kitab Fadl al-Salah 'ala al-Nabi (PBUH) by Imam Isma'il bin Ishaq al-Qadi no. 21 and its chain is authentic, and Al-Nasa'i 3/43 no. 1283, Al-Thawri explicitly stated hearing]

↰ This Hadith is considered authentic by Ibn Hibban [Mawarid no. 2392] and Ibn al-Qayyim [Jala al-Afham p. 60] among others.

Summary of the Research: The conclusion of this research is that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) passed away, and after his death, he is alive in Paradise. His life is an afterlife (Akhirah), also referred to as intermediary (Barzakh) life. This life is not a worldly life. وما علينا إلا البلاغ
 
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