Punishment of the grave
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Assalamu
Alaikum,
Thanks
for sending the related topic as reply to my question. Unfortunately, my
question is not cleared. Now I understood from you that we will have
resurrection only once. But then how punishment in Qabr is possible? can you
please answer at your convenience. I am not in hurry.
I
repeat my question:
I
would like to know how many births we will have after our death? I learned only
we will have one death here and one rebirth on the day of judgement. Also
I heard that there will be questioning and punishment in Qabr. So after rebirth
in Qabr, when we will die again? Please clarify. Does this Qabr means the same
grave we are put into or any other place? I heard that there will be
punishment of 300 hundred years or more or less in Qabr. But now a
days remnants of Qabr are being removed after 10 to 20 years even in Makkah and
Madeena to put new dead bodies. So how it is? can you please le me know.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Punishment of the
grave
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Your
Question: ….I would like to know how many births we will have after our death?
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 23 Surah
Muminoon verses 12-16:
12 Man We did create from a quintessence (of
clay);
13 Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm
in a place of rest firmly fixed;
14 Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that
clot We made a (foetus) lump; then We made out of that lump bones and clothed
the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature: so blessed
be Allah the Best to create!
15 After that at length ye will die.
16 Again (only) on the Day of Judgment will
ye be raised up!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chatper 58 Surah
Mujadila verse 6:
6 (Only) On the Day (of Judgment) that Allah will raise them all up (again) and show them the Truth of their conduct. Allah has reckoned its (value) though they
may have forgotten it: for Allah is Witness to all things.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah
Aaraaf verses 24-25:
24 …On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood
for a (prescribed) time."
25 He (Allah) said: "therein shall ye live and therein shall
ye die; and from it shall ye be taken out (for the Day of Judgment)."
Dear and beloved Brother, Islam Declares in Truth that
each individual will be born only once, sent to live one life as a test on this
earth; and each and every human being will taste the element of death only
once…..and then all will be raised up to life again on the Day of Judgment to
give a full accounting for their deeds in the Presence of their Lord Creator,
Most Majestic, Most Supreme.
Each and every human being will ever only live one life on
this earth; each and every human being will taste the element of death only
once; and each and every human being will be raised up (not born) and given
eternal and everlasting life in the Realms of the Hereafter.
Your
Question: ….I learned only we will have one death here and one rebirth on
the day of judgement.
Islam guides that each individual will be born from their
mother’s womb only once…..on the Day of Resurrection there is no ‘rebirth’ from
one’s mother’s womb, but rather each individual will be ‘raised back’ to life,
with their body and their soul, to give a full accounting of their deeds unto
their Lord Creator.
The only time an individual will taste the element of
death is in at the conclusion of one’s life on this earth….after one has been
‘raised back’ to life in the Hereafter, there will be no death.
Your
Statement: Also I heard that there will be questioning and punishment in Qabr.
Dear and Beloved brother, whatever happens to the soul
after death in the grave, on the Day of Judgment, etc. is what is known as the
knowledge of the ‘unseen’; and none possesses the Knowledge of the unseen
except Allah Subhanah, the Lord of the Worlds, Alone. Thus to know what exactly transpires after
death or in the grave, we must rely on only what is Declared by
the All-Knowing Lord in His Glorious Quran, or what Allah Subhanah made known
to Prophet Mohamed (saws) through inspiration, and he (saws) narrated it to the
believers in his authentic traditions.
One cannot of himself say ‘I think…’, ‘I suppose…’, ‘I
assume….’, or ‘it is said….’ etc. when it comes to knowledge of the
unseen! The Only One Who has the
Absolute Knowledge of the Seen and the Unseen is none other than the One Who Created
everything in existence; and He Alone has the Right to declare in Truth what
exactly transpires in the events of the ‘unseen’. Thus for any information of the ‘unseen’ the
believers must rely only on what is declared by the All-Knowing
Lord in His Glorious Quran, or what He Willed to make known to the Last
Messenger (saws) through inspiration, and he (saws) narrated it to the
believers.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 5352 Narrated by Abu Sa'id
The Prophet (saws) said: "The grave (or the life of the soul between
one’s death and one’s resurrection on the Day of Judgment) is one of the
Gardens of Paradise, or one of the pits of Hell!"
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 132 Narrated by Uthman ibn Affan
The Prophet (saws)
said: “Verily the grave is the first step in the stages of the Hereafter. If
one finds salvation at this stage, the
succeeding stages become easy for him.
And if he does not find salvation at this stage, what follows this stage is very hard upon
him. I have never seen a site more
horrible than that of the grave.”
Sahih Muslim Hadith 6859 (part) Narrated by Zayd ibn Thabit
The Prophet (saws) said: “The people who invoke others with Allah, are
passing through the ordeal in the graves.
If it were not for the fact that you would stop burying your dead in the graves, I would have certainly made you hear the sound
of the torment in the graves, which I
hear.”
Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 4735 Narrated by Al-Bara' ibn Azib
The Prophet (saws) said: “When a believer is buried in the grave two
angels will come to him (Munkar and Nakir,
both have dark faces and blue eyes),
make him sit up, and ask : ‘Who is your Lord?’ He will reply: ‘My Lord is Allah.’ They will ask him: ‘What is your religion?’ He will reply: ‘My religion is Islam.’ They will ask him: ‘What is your opinion about the man who was
sent on a mission among you?’ He will
reply: ‘He is the Messenger of Allah
(peace be upon him).’ They will ask: ‘
Who made you aware of this?’ He will
reply: ‘I read Allah's Book, believed
in it, and considered it true.’ Then
a crier will call from Heaven: ‘My
servant has spoken the truth. So
spread a bed for him from Paradise,
clothe him from Paradise, and
open a door for him into
In light of the guidance of the Messenger of Allah (saws)
there is indeed questioning and punishment of the souls in the graves.
Your
Question: ….So after rebirth in Qabr, when we will die again? Please clarify.
Firstly brother, there is no such thing as ‘rebirth’ in
the ‘Qabr’ or anywhere else, where one will be reborn from one’s mother’s womb!
The one and only time one will be born
from one’s mother’s womb is in the life of this world.
Similarly, each individual will taste the element of death
only once…ie. after one’s conclusion of life on this earth. After an individual has tasted this
inevitable element of death once, he/she will never ever taste the element of
death again!
Your
Question: ….Does this Qabr means the same grave we are put into or any other
place?
The period of one’s life in the ‘qabr’ means the period of
time between one’s death and one’s being resurrected on that Inevitable and
Tumultuous Day of Resurrection.
Regardless of whether one was buried after one’s death or
burnt or its body was consumed by the animals….the soul of this deceased will
be captured by the Angel of Death appointed by Allah Subhanah. Depending on the deeds of the person
concerned, it is this soul which will be treated with honor if righteous, and
punished if unrighteous.
Your
Statement: ….I heard that there will be punishment of 300 hundred
years or more or less in Qabr.
To the best of our knowledge there is no specific time
period specified regarding the punishment of the unrighteous in the graves in
either the Glorious Quran or the authentic and established Sunnah of the
Messenger of Allah (saws).
The condition and treatment of one’s soul in the graves is
entirely dependant on the Will of Allah Subhanah….if Allah Subhanah Wills, He
may punish the soul of the deceased from its death until the Day of
Resurrection; and if Allah Subhanah Wills, He may save the soul of the deceased
from any punishment whatsoever in their graves.
Your
Question: …..But now a days remnants of Qabr are being removed after 10 to 20
years even in Makkah and Madeena to put new dead bodies. So how it is? can you
please le me know
Respected brother in Islam, after one has tasted the
element of death, the soul is removed from one’s physical bodies….and it is
this soul which experiences pleasure or punishment in the time period of the
graves, not the physical body of the deceased!
Thus regardless of whether the physical body of the
deceased is removed from the graves, or burned, or consumed by animals….the
soul is secured by the Angels appointed by Allah Subhanah; and it is this soul
which experiences honor or punishment, not the physical body of the deceased.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
Wister