Questions:
1. What is meant by the punishment of the grave? Does it relate to the soul, or does the body also become involved?
2. If the body too is punished in the grave, then what is the meaning of the punishment in the Hereafter?
3. According to the Qur’an there are two lives: the life of this world and the life of the Hereafter. Then what is the barzakhi life? Calling death a life is beyond my understanding.
4. The dead are incapable of hearing. Then what is the meaning of “innahu yasma’u qar’a na’lihim”? Does the Qur’an not itself say ﴿اَمْ لَھُمْ اذَانٌ یَّسْمَعُوْنَ بِھَا﴾ ?
5. Life is the union of soul and body. Then what is meant by “fa-tu’adu ruhuhu fi jasadihi”? Many corpses (such as that of Pharaoh in London and that of Mao Zedong in China) lie exposed in public, yet no signs of the soul being returned to them are visible. Furthermore, when the dead are raised, will they come out of their graves?
6. A hadith states: the punishment of the one deserving it (a disbeliever or polytheist) is carried out by angels who strike him, and as a result his cry is heard by all creatures except jinn and humans. Then what is the reason that the mule of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ shied, yet our flocks of sheep graze in graveyards and no incident of their being frightened has ever been reported? The mule of the Prophet ﷺ shying was a departure from the norm, and you would call it a miracle.
7. In the world of dreams, do the souls of the deceased come and meet their relatives, or is it merely imagination?
(Hafiz Muhammad Imran Farooqi, District and Tehsil Mianwali, Mohallah Yarokhel, Ahl-e-Hadith Mosque)
Answer:
Respected sir! Hafiz Rizwan Ahmad Farooqi, may peace and the mercy of Allah be upon you!
Your letter, which you sent to our respected teacher Hafiz Zubair Ali Zai, has been received. The brief answers to your questions are presented below.
1. The punishment of the grave means the punishment that is given to the deceased in the grave. And it is established from the clear texts of the Qur’an and Hadith that the grave is in the earth, and on the Day of Resurrection people will be raised from this earthly grave. There is no proof of any other imaginary grave apart from the earthly grave, and this punishment relates to the body, i.e., the deceased, while the soul is in Paradise or Hell.
The Prophet ﷺ used to seek refuge from both the punishment of the grave and the punishment of Hell. A hadith states:
الميت يعذب فى قبره بمانيح عليها
“The deceased is punished in his grave because of the wailing upon him.”
This hadith is completely clear regarding the punishment of the deceased (the body) in the grave.
Therefore it is established that the punishment relates to the body as well, and also occurs with the soul. Death is the name of the separation of soul and body, and only on the Day of Resurrection will the soul and body be reunited.
2. The body is punished in the grave, and it will also be punished on the Day of Resurrection. As for your objection, “then what is the meaning of the punishment in the Hereafter?”, the Qur’an establishes that at the time of the taking of the soul the disbelievers are punished.
I ask you the same question: when the disbelievers are punished at the time of the taking of the soul, then what is the meaning of the punishment in the Hereafter? Whatever your answer is, that will also be our answer.
3. The meaning of two lives is that the kind of life we have in this world, a similar perceptible and apparent life, will also be attained on the Day of Resurrection, and after death, in the state of death, the deceased and the soul also feel punishment and comfort. The Qur’an mentions punishment in the state of death with the words ضِعْفَ الْمَمَاتِ (double [punishment] after death).
Scholars of Islam, to explain the condition of reward and punishment after death, have called it the barzakhi life. However, leave aside the name and try to understand the reality.
4. You say that the dead are incapable of hearing. Which verse of the Qur’an, or which hadith, contains such a statement that the dead are incapable of hearing? Rather, the following words have come in the Qur’an:
﴿وَمَا يَسۡتَوِي الۡاَحۡيَآءُ وَ لَا الۡاَمۡوَاتُ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ يُسۡمِعُ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ ۚ وَ مَاۤ اَنۡتَ بِمُسۡمِعٍ مَّنۡ فِي الۡقُبُوۡرِ﴾
“Allah makes hear whomever He wills, and you (O Prophet ﷺ) cannot make hear those who are in the graves.”
From this verse it is known that Allah can make hear whomever He wills. However, the Prophet ﷺ or anyone else cannot make the dead hear. That is, it is not within the power of the Prophet to make the dead hear, but when Allah wills to make them hear, He made the people of the well of Badr hear the words of the Prophet ﷺ.
The deceased hears the sound of the footsteps of those returning.
In the grave the deceased is questioned: “Man rabbuka”, “Who is your Lord?”; ما تقول فى هٰذا الرجل “What do you know about this man?” All these matters Allah makes the deceased hear. The verse you have quoted is out of place. Please investigate this matter.
5. The meaning of “fa-tu’adu ruhuhu fi jasadihi” is that at the time of questioning and answering the soul is returned to the deceased, and this is a matter of the Hereafter, and matters of the Hereafter cannot be tested by the touchstone of reason. Furthermore, this is a matter of the unseen. ﴿الَّذِيْنَ يُؤْمِنُوْنَ بِالْغَيْبِ﴾ Believers have faith in these unseen realities, and to say of realities that are behind the veil of the unseen, “why are they not visible?” is the conduct of the disbelievers and polytheists. And if you wish to see these realities, then wait a little; at the time of death all these facts will become known to you.
6. When the dead person is punished, every creature except jinn and humans hears the cries and screams of that punishment. In a hadith, يعذبون حتي تسمع البهائم كلها
“All the animals hear the voice of the dead person.”
In another hadith, يسمع من يليه
“Everything nearby hears the voice of the dead person.”
Everything hears the cries of the dead person except humans, and if a human hears them, he faints.
From these hadiths it is established that everything and all animals hear the voice of the dead person’s cries, but humans and jinn cannot hear it. As for the matter of the Prophet ﷺ’s mule shying, it is certain that it was startled by that sudden sound. In the world there are also two kinds of animals: one kind of city animals that are not stirred even by the loud sound of a siren on the road, and the other kind of animals of the Tharparkar region that, on hearing the distant sound of a car, become so panicked and frightened that they run away in a way that leaves a person astonished. Therefore, the hardy kinds of animals do not shy from the sound of the grave, rather these sounds become their daily routine and a second nature, whereas sensitive kinds of animals shy from it.
And the Prophet ﷺ’s hearing the punishment of the grave was because of his being a Prophet. As for the Prophet ﷺ’s mule shying at the sound of the punishment, calling this a miracle is wrong, rather it is ignorance, because all animals hear the sound of the punishment of the grave. Therefore, instead of Uthmani philosophy, believe sincerely in the Quran and Hadith.
7: Sometimes in a dream one meets a person who has died, through which one learns his condition. As Tufayl bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) saw in a dream his companion who had migrated with him, after he had committed suicide, who told him that Allah had forgiven him because of his migrating to the Prophet ﷺ, but that He (Allah) said: “What you yourself have spoiled, namely the fingers of your hand, I will not set right.” On hearing this, the Prophet ﷺ made supplication that Allah forgive his fingers as well.
The Prophet ﷺ saw Sayyiduna Ja’far al-Tayyar (may Allah be pleased with him) in a dream; he had two wings on which there was blood.
Abu al-Sabha’ Silah bin Ashyam al-Adawi (a trustworthy Tabi’i) says that I saw (Sayyiduna) Abu Rifa’a al-Adawi (may Allah be pleased with him) after his martyrdom (in a dream), he was going on a swift she-camel. Etc.
