The Reality of the Grave, Barzakh, and Its Punishment & Blessings

Source: Sermons of Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad Isḥāq Zāhid
Compiled by: Tawḥīd.com

The Grave (Qabr): The Third Stage of Human Life​

This article relates to the third stage of the human journey of life: the grave, or the realm of Barzakh. Human life consists of four stages:

① Life in the mother’s womb
② Life in this world
③ Life in the grave
④ The eternal life of the Hereafter

Whatever a person earns in this world, its first practical result becomes apparent in the grave. For this reason, the grave is the first and one of the most important stations of the Hereafter. In this article, we will discuss the reality of the grave, its severity, the questioning therein, its blessings and punishments, and those deeds that become a means of salvation from the punishment of the grave, as proven from the Qur’an and authentic Hadith.

The Grave: The First Station of the Hereafter​

The journey of the Hereafter begins with death, and immediately after death, the first station is the grave. This is a stage whose very thought causes the hairs of a true believer to stand on end.

The Statement of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān رضي الله عنه​

Hānī, the freed slave of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān رضي الله عنه, narrates that whenever ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه would stand at a grave, he would weep so intensely that his blessed beard would become wet. Someone asked him, “You do not weep this much when Paradise and Hell are mentioned, yet you weep so much upon seeing the grave?” He replied that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

(( إِنَّ الْقَبْرَ أَوَّلُ مَنَازِلِ الْآخِرَةِ، فَإِنْ نَجَا مِنْهُ أَحَدٌ فَمَا بَعْدَهُ أَيْسَرُ مِنْهُ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَنْجُ مِنْهُ فَمَا بَعْدَهُ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُ ))

Translation:
“Indeed, the grave is the first of the stations of the Hereafter. If a person is saved from it, then what comes after it will be easier; and if he is not saved from it, then what comes after it will be more severe.”

Reference: Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 2308; Ibn Mājah: 4267

(Authenticated by al-Albānī)

The Compression of the Grave (Ḍammat al-Qabr)​

After burial, the grave compresses the deceased, even if the deceased was righteous and pious.

Regarding Saʿd ibn Muʿādh رضي الله عنه​

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said about Saʿd ibn Muʿādh رضي الله عنه:

(( هٰذَا الَّذِي تَحَرَّكَ لَهُ الْعَرْشُ، وَفُتِحَتْ لَهُ أَبْوَابُ السَّمَاءِ، وَشَهِدَهُ سَبْعُونَ أَلْفًا مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ، لَقَدْ ضُمَّ ضَمَّةً ثُمَّ فُرِّجَ عَنْهُ ))

Translation:
“This is the one for whom the Throne of the Most Merciful shook, for whom the gates of the heavens were opened, and whose funeral was attended by seventy thousand angels; yet even he was compressed by the grave, then it was relieved for him.”

Reference: Sunan al-Nasāʾī: 2055

(Authenticated by al-Albānī)

Narration of ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها​

(( إِنَّ لِلْقَبْرِ ضَغْطَةً، لَوْ نَجَا مِنْهَا أَحَدٌ لَنَجَا مِنْهَا سَعْدُ بْنُ مُعَاذٍ ))

Translation:
“Indeed, there is a compression of the grave. If anyone were to be saved from it, Saʿd ibn Muʿādh would have been saved.”

Reference: Musnad Aḥmad; al-Baghawī; al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 1695

The scholars explain that the grave compresses both the righteous and the wicked. However, for the believer this compression is temporary and then the grave is expanded for him, whereas for the disbeliever it becomes a form of punishment.

Reference: al-Taʿlīqāt al-Salafiyyah ʿalā Sunan al-Nasāʾī: 234–235

The Questioning by the Angels in the Grave​

Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah believe that the deceased is questioned in the grave.

Ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه​

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

Translation:
A righteous believer is asked about his Lord, his religion, and his Prophet ﷺ. He answers correctly; the blessings of Paradise are shown to him and his grave is expanded. As for the wicked and the disbeliever, he is unable to answer; Hell is shown to him and his grave is constricted.

Reference: Sunan Ibn Mājah: 4268

(Authenticated by al-Albānī)

Life of the Grave Is a Reality​

It is the first testing ground after worldly life. Both blessings and punishment in the grave are mentioned in detail in the Qur’an and Hadith.

The Deceased Is Shown His Abode Morning and Evening​

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(( إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ إِذَا مَاتَ عُرِضَ عَلَيْهِ مَقْعَدُهُ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ ... ))

Translation:
“When one of you dies, his abode is shown to him morning and evening. If he is from the people of Paradise, then from Paradise; and if he is from the people of Hell, then from Hell. It is said: ‘This is your place until Allah resurrects you on the Day of Resurrection.’”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1379; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2866

Prepare for the Grave​

Al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib رضي الله عنه said:

(( يَا إِخْوَانِيْ! لِمِثْلِ هٰذَا فَأَعِدُّوا ))

Translation:
“O my brothers! Prepare yourselves for such a day.”

Reference: Sunan Ibn Mājah: 4195

(Authenticated by al-Albānī)

What Accompanies the Deceased​

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(( يَتْبَعُ الْمَيِّتَ ثَلَاثَةٌ ... ))

Translation:
“Three things follow the deceased: his family, his wealth, and his deeds. His family and wealth return, while his deeds remain with him.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 6514; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 296

Punishment of the Grave: An Unseen Reality​

The punishment of the grave is from the unseen, known only through the Qur’an and Sunnah. Allah, by His wisdom, has kept the living unaware of it so that:

➊ People do not fall into severe shock and despair
➋ The deceased is not disgraced
➌ People do not abandon burial

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(( لَوْلَا أَنْ لَّا تَدَافَنُوا لَدَعَوْتُ اللّٰهَ أَنْ يُسْمِعَكُمْ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ ))

Translation:
“Had it not been that you would stop burying your dead, I would have supplicated Allah to let you hear the punishment of the grave.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2868

Qur’anic Proof for the Punishment of the Grave​

Allah Almighty says:

﴿اَلنَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ...﴾

Translation:
“The Fire, they are exposed to it morning and evening; and on the Day the Hour is established, (it will be said): ‘Admit the people of Pharaoh into the severest punishment.’”

Reference: al-Muʾmin: 40:46

Ibn Kathīr رحمه الله said:
“This verse is a major foundational proof used by Ahl al-Sunnah for the punishment of Barzakh.”

Reference: Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr: 4/82

Acts That Save from the Punishment of the Grave​

✔ Guarding the borders (Ribāṭ)
✔ Martyrdom
✔ Reciting Sūrat al-Mulk nightly
✔ Death due to abdominal illness
✔ Dying on Friday or its night

(Each supported by authentic narrations as cited above)

Conclusion​

O Brothers in Islam!
We must hold ourselves accountable, repent from sins, renew our faith, and hasten toward righteous deeds so that our graves may be illuminated, the questioning made easy, and we be saved from the punishment of the grave.

May Allah grant us a death upon faith, turn our graves into gardens of Paradise, and protect us from the punishment of the grave, the punishment of Hell, and all trials.

Āmīn, thumma Āmīn.