In the name of Allāh, Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.
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All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation, may Allah extol the mention of our noble Prophet Muhammad in the highest company of Angels, bless him and give him peace and security―and his family, his Companions and all those who follow him correctly until the establishment of the Hour.
Additional notes from Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid.
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This Ummah will be Put to Trial in their Graves, and Questioned
We now move on to the next point in Imām Ahmad’s Usool us-Sunnah regarding the trial in the grave. Imām Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (rahimahullāh) said:
وأن هذه الأمة تفتن في قبورها, وتسأل عن الايمان والاسلام, ومن ربه؟ ومن نبيه؟ ويأتيه منكر ونكير, كيف شاء الله عز وجل وكيف أراد, والإيمان به والتصديق به
“[And to have faith] that this Ummah will be put to trial in their graves. Each person will be questioned about Imān (Faith), Islām, who is his Lord and who is his Prophet. Munkar and Nakeer will come to him in whatever way Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, wills and in whatever way He wants. One must have faith in this and attest to its truthfulness (believe in it).”
The Explanation
The questioning of the angels Munkar and Nakeer is established in the Hadeeth of al-Barā bin ‘Āzib and others. When the servant dies and is buried in his grave, two angels will come to him, one of them called Munkar and the other Nakeer.
They will ask him, ‘Who is your Lord? What is your religion? Who is this man who was sent among you?’ The believer will say, ‘Allah is my Lord, Islām is my religion and Muhammad (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) is my Prophet.’ They will say to him, ‘We already knew that you were a believer.’ A door will be opened for him that will show him the Hellfire and it will be said to him, ‘This would have been your destination if you had disbelieved.’ Then a door will be opened for him in Paradise, and it will be said to him, ‘This is your home tomorrow if Allah wills.’ So the person will say, ‘My Lord! Establish the hour!’ He will repeat this because now that he knows that he has been given the glad tidings of Paradise, he wants the hour to be established.
As for the disbeliever or the hypocrite, when he is asked these same questions, he will call out, ‘Haa! Haa! I do not know- I used to hear the people say some words and I just repeated them.’ He will then be beaten in his grave, struck with an iron rod such that if it were to strike a mountain, it would turn to dust! This wicked one will let out a scream that all of Allah’s creation will be able to hear, except for the Jinn and mankind – and if they were to hear it, they would fall dead out of terror. This is just a portion of the punishment of the grave, and other, extra punishments are reported elsewhere.
This is the belief of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamā’ah concerning the grave. Imām Ibn Abul ‘Izz al-Hanafi (rahimahullah) stated in his Sharh ‘Aqeedah at-Tahawiyyah (page 450):
“The reports from the Messenger of Allah (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) which confirm the torment and the bliss of the grave, according to what the person deserves, and the questioning by the two angels, reach the level of mutawātir (i.e. there are so many narrators at every level of the chain of narration, that it is impossible for them to be untrue, or for the people to have gathered to invent a lie). It is obligatory to accept these narrations and believe in them. We do not discuss how these things occur, because the human mind is not able to comprehend how they happen – it is something which is not known in this world. Islām does not teach us anything that opposes the intellect, although it may inform us of matters that are beyond the human imagination.
The torment of the grave is the torment of the Barzakh. Everyone who dies and deserves punishment will receive his share of it, whether he is buried in the grave or elsewhere – whether he is eaten by wild animals or he is burnt to ashes, whether he is crucified or drowned at sea. His body and his soul will experience the same torment/bliss as those who are buried in their graves. He will be made to sit up and be questioned; his ribs will interlock when he is squeezed, as has been narrated. It is essential to understand and accept what the Messenger of Allah (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) meant and intended, without adding to it, or taking away from it.”
There is another amazing narration regarding the condition of people in the Barzakh (life of the grave) after their deaths, and one of the people who is tried in his grave is the one who neglected his prayer:
سَمُرَةُ بْنُ جُنْدَبٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِمَّا يُكْثِرُ أَنْ يَقُولَ لأَصْحَابِهِ ” هَلْ رَأَى أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمْ مِنْ رُؤْيَا ”. قَالَ فَيَقُصُّ عَلَيْهِ مَنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَقُصَّ، وَإِنَّهُ قَالَ ذَاتَ غَدَاةٍ ” إِنَّهُ أَتَانِي اللَّيْلَةَ آتِيَانِ، وَإِنَّهُمَا ابْتَعَثَانِي، وَإِنَّهُمَا قَالاَ لِي انْطَلِقْ. وَإِنِّي انْطَلَقْتُ مَعَهُمَا، وَإِنَّا أَتَيْنَا عَلَى رَجُلٍ مُضْطَجِعٍ، وَإِذَا آخَرُ قَائِمٌ عَلَيْهِ بِصَخْرَةٍ، وَإِذَا هُوَ يَهْوِي بِالصَّخْرَةِ لِرَأْسِهِ، فَيَثْلَغُ رَأْسَهُ فَيَتَهَدْهَدُ الْحَجَرُ هَا هُنَا، فَيَتْبَعُ الْحَجَرَ فَيَأْخُذُهُ، فَلاَ يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِ حَتَّى يَصِحَّ رَأْسُهُ كَمَا كَانَ، ثُمَّ يَعُودُ عَلَيْهِ، فَيَفْعَلُ بِهِ مِثْلَ مَا فَعَلَ الْمَرَّةَ الأُولَى. قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُمَا سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ مَا هَذَانِ قَالَ قَالاَ لِي انْطَلِقْ ـ قَالَ ـ فَانْطَلَقْنَا فَأَتَيْنَا عَلَى رَجُلٍ مُسْتَلْقٍ لِقَفَاهُ، وَإِذَا آخَرُ قَائِمٌ عَلَيْهِ بِكَلُّوبٍ مِنْ حَدِيدٍ، وَإِذَا هُوَ يَأْتِي أَحَدَ شِقَّىْ وَجْهِهِ فَيُشَرْشِرُ شِدْقَهُ إِلَى قَفَاهُ، وَمَنْخِرَهُ إِلَى قَفَاهُ وَعَيْنَهُ إِلَى قَفَاهُ ـ قَالَ وَرُبَّمَا قَالَ أَبُو رَجَاءٍ فَيَشُقُّ ـ قَالَ ثُمَّ يَتَحَوَّلُ إِلَى الْجَانِبِ الآخَرِ، فَيَفْعَلُ بِهِ مِثْلَ مَا فَعَلَ بِالْجَانِبِ الأَوَّلِ، فَمَا يَفْرُغُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ الْجَانِبِ حَتَّى يَصِحَّ ذَلِكَ الْجَانِبُ كَمَا كَانَ، ثُمَّ يَعُودُ عَلَيْهِ فَيَفْعَلُ مِثْلَ مَا فَعَلَ الْمَرَّةَ الأُولَى. قَالَ قُلْتُ سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ مَا هَذَانِ قَالَ قَالاَ لِي انْطَلِقْ. فَانْطَلَقْنَا فَأَتَيْنَا عَلَى مِثْلِ التَّنُّورِ ـ قَالَ فَأَحْسِبُ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ ـ فَإِذَا فِيهِ لَغَطٌ وَأَصْوَاتٌ ـ قَالَ ـ فَاطَّلَعْنَا فِيهِ، فَإِذَا فِيهِ رِجَالٌ وَنِسَاءٌ عُرَاةٌ، وَإِذَا هُمْ يَأْتِيهِمْ لَهَبٌ مِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنْهُمْ، فَإِذَا أَتَاهُمْ ذَلِكَ اللَّهَبُ ضَوْضَوْا ـ قَالَ ـ قُلْتُ لَهُمَا مَا هَؤُلاَءِ قَالَ قَالاَ لِي انْطَلِقِ انْطَلِقْ. قَالَ فَانْطَلَقْنَا فَأَتَيْنَا عَلَى نَهَرٍ ـ حَسِبْتُ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ ـ أَحْمَرَ مِثْلِ الدَّمِ، وَإِذَا فِي النَّهَرِ رَجُلٌ سَابِحٌ يَسْبَحُ، وَإِذَا عَلَى شَطِّ النَّهَرِ رَجُلٌ قَدْ جَمَعَ عِنْدَهُ حِجَارَةً كَثِيرَةً، وَإِذَا ذَلِكَ السَّابِحُ يَسْبَحُ مَا يَسْبَحُ، ثُمَّ يَأْتِي ذَلِكَ الَّذِي قَدْ جَمَعَ عِنْدَهُ الْحِجَارَةَ فَيَفْغَرُ لَهُ فَاهُ فَيُلْقِمُهُ حَجَرًا فَيَنْطَلِقُ يَسْبَحُ، ثُمَّ يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْهِ، كُلَّمَا رَجَعَ إِلَيْهِ فَغَرَ لَهُ فَاهُ فَأَلْقَمَهُ حَجَرًا ـ قَالَ ـ قُلْتُ لَهُمَا مَا هَذَانِ قَالَ قَالاَ لِي انْطَلِقِ انْطَلِقْ. قَالَ فَانْطَلَقْنَا فَأَتَيْنَا عَلَى رَجُلٍ كَرِيهِ الْمَرْآةِ كَأَكْرَهِ مَا أَنْتَ رَاءٍ رَجُلاً مَرْآةً، وَإِذَا عِنْدَهُ نَارٌ يَحُشُّهَا وَيَسْعَى حَوْلَهَا ـ قَالَ ـ قُلْتُ لَهُمَا مَا هَذَا قَالَ قَالاَ لِي انْطَلِقِ انْطَلِقْ. فَانْطَلَقْنَا فَأَتَيْنَا عَلَى رَوْضَةٍ مُعْتَمَّةٍ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ نَوْرِ الرَّبِيعِ، وَإِذَا بَيْنَ ظَهْرَىِ الرَّوْضَةِ رَجُلٌ طَوِيلٌ لاَ أَكَادُ أَرَى رَأْسَهُ طُولاً فِي السَّمَاءِ، وَإِذَا حَوْلَ الرَّجُلِ مِنْ أَكْثَرِ وِلْدَانٍ رَأَيْتُهُمْ قَطُّ ـ قَالَ ـ قُلْتُ لَهُمَا مَا هَذَا مَا هَؤُلاَءِ قَالَ قَالاَ لِي انْطَلِقِ انْطَلِقْ. ـ قَالَ ـ فَانْطَلَقْنَا فَانْتَهَيْنَا إِلَى رَوْضَةٍ عَظِيمَةٍ لَمْ أَرَ رَوْضَةً قَطُّ أَعْظَمَ مِنْهَا وَلاَ أَحْسَنَ. ـ قَالَ ـ قَالاَ لِي ارْقَ فِيهَا. قَالَ فَارْتَقَيْنَا فِيهَا فَانْتَهَيْنَا إِلَى مَدِينَةٍ مَبْنِيَّةٍ بِلَبِنِ ذَهَبٍ وَلَبِنِ فِضَّةٍ، فَأَتَيْنَا باب الْمَدِينَةِ فَاسْتَفْتَحْنَا فَفُتِحَ لَنَا، فَدَخَلْنَاهَا فَتَلَقَّانَا فِيهَا رِجَالٌ شَطْرٌ مِنْ خَلْقِهِمْ كَأَحْسَنِ مَا أَنْتَ رَاءٍ، وَشَطْرٌ كَأَقْبَحِ مَا أَنْتَ رَاءٍ ـ قَالَ ـ قَالاَ لَهُمُ اذْهَبُوا فَقَعُوا فِي ذَلِكَ النَّهَرِ. قَالَ وَإِذَا نَهَرٌ مُعْتَرِضٌ يَجْرِي كَأَنَّ مَاءَهُ الْمَحْضُ فِي الْبَيَاضِ، فَذَهَبُوا فَوَقَعُوا فِيهِ، ثُمَّ رَجَعُوا إِلَيْنَا قَدْ ذَهَبَ ذَلِكَ السُّوءُ عَنْهُمْ، فَصَارُوا فِي أَحْسَنِ صُورَةٍ ـ قَالَ ـ قَالاَ لِي هَذِهِ جَنَّةُ عَدْنٍ، وَهَذَاكَ مَنْزِلُكَ. قَالَ فَسَمَا بَصَرِي صُعُدًا، فَإِذَا قَصْرٌ مِثْلُ الرَّبَابَةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ ـ قَالَ ـ قَالاَ هَذَاكَ مَنْزِلُكَ. قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُمَا بَارَكَ اللَّهُ فِيكُمَا، ذَرَانِي فَأَدْخُلَهُ. قَالاَ أَمَّا الآنَ فَلاَ وَأَنْتَ دَاخِلُهُ. قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُمَا فَإِنِّي قَدْ رَأَيْتُ مُنْذُ اللَّيْلَةِ عَجَبًا، فَمَا هَذَا الَّذِي رَأَيْتُ قَالَ قَالاَ لِي أَمَا إِنَّا سَنُخْبِرُكَ، أَمَّا الرَّجُلُ الأَوَّلُ الَّذِي أَتَيْتَ عَلَيْهِ يُثْلَغُ رَأْسُهُ بِالْحَجَرِ، فَإِنَّهُ الرَّجُلُ يَأْخُذُ الْقُرْآنَ فَيَرْفُضُهُ وَيَنَامُ عَنِ الصَّلاَةِ الْمَكْتُوبَةِ، وَأَمَّا الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي أَتَيْتَ عَلَيْهِ يُشَرْشَرُ شِدْقُهُ إِلَى قَفَاهُ، وَمَنْخِرُهُ إِلَى قَفَاهُ، وَعَيْنُهُ إِلَى قَفَاهُ، فَإِنَّهُ الرَّجُلُ يَغْدُو مِنْ بَيْتِهِ فَيَكْذِبُ الْكَذْبَةَ تَبْلُغُ الآفَاقَ، وَأَمَّا الرِّجَالُ وَالنِّسَاءُ الْعُرَاةُ الَّذِينَ فِي مِثْلِ بِنَاءِ التَّنُّورِ فَإِنَّهُمُ الزُّنَاةُ وَالزَّوَانِي. وَأَمَّا الرَّجُلُ الَّذِي أَتَيْتَ عَلَيْهِ يَسْبَحُ فِي النَّهَرِ وَيُلْقَمُ الْحَجَرَ، فَإِنَّهُ آكِلُ الرِّبَا، وَأَمَّا الرَّجُلُ الْكَرِيهُ الْمَرْآةِ الَّذِي عِنْدَ النَّارِ يَحُشُّهَا وَيَسْعَى حَوْلَهَا، فَإِنَّهُ مَالِكٌ خَازِنُ جَهَنَّمَ، وَأَمَّا الرَّجُلُ الطَّوِيلُ الَّذِي فِي الرَّوْضَةِ فَإِنَّهُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَأَمَّا الْوِلْدَانُ الَّذِينَ حَوْلَهُ فَكُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ مَاتَ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ ”. قَالَ فَقَالَ بَعْضُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَأَوْلاَدُ الْمُشْرِكِينَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ” وَأَوْلاَدُ الْمُشْرِكِينَ. وَأَمَّا الْقَوْمُ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا شَطْرٌ مِنْهُمْ حَسَنًا وَشَطَرٌ مِنْهُمْ قَبِيحًا، فَإِنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ خَلَطُوا عَمَلاً صَالِحًا وَآخَرَ سَيِّئًا، تَجَاوَزَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ
Narrated Samura bin Jundub:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) used to often ask his Companions, “Did any of you see a dream?”
So dreams would be narrated to him. One morning the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Last night two persons came to me in a dream and woke me up and said to me, ‘Proceed!’ I set out with them and we came across a man lying down, and behold, another man was standing over his head, holding a big rock. He was throwing the rock at the man’s head, injuring it. The rock rolled away and the thrower followed it and took it back. By the time he reached the man, his head returned to the normal state. The thrower then did the same as he had done before. I said to my two companions, ‘Glorified be Allah! Who are these two persons?’ They said, ‘Proceed!’
So we proceeded and came to a man lying flat on his back and another man standing over his head with an iron hook. And behold, he would put the hook in one side of the man’s mouth and tear off that side of his face to the back of the neck, and similarly tear his nose from front to back and his eye from front to back. Then he turned to the other side of the man’s face and did just as he had done with the first side. He hardly completed this side when the first side returned to its normal state. Then he returned to it to repeat what he had done before. I said to my two companions, ‘Glorified be Allah! Who are these two persons?’ They said to me, ‘Proceed!’
So we proceeded and came across something like a kind of baking oven. In that oven, there was much noise and voices.”
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “We looked into it and found naked men and women, and behold, a flame of fire was reaching to them from underneath, and when it reached them, they screamed aloud. I asked, ‘Who are these people?’ They said to me, ‘Proceed!’
And so we proceeded and came across a river, red like blood.”
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “In the river, there was a man swimming, and on the bank, there was a man who had collected many stones. As the swimmer went near the bank, he opened his mouth, and the man on the bank threw a stone into his mouth whereupon he went away swimming. He returned, and every time the performance was repeated. I asked my two companions, ‘Who are these people?’ They replied, ‘Proceed!’
And we proceeded till we came to a man with a repulsive appearance, the most repulsive appearance you ever saw in a man! Beside him, there was a fire, and he was kindling it. He was running around it. I asked my companions, ‘Who is this man?’ They said to me, ‘Proceed, proceed!’
So we proceeded till we reached a garden of deep green and dense vegetation, having all sorts of spring colours. Amid the garden, there was a very tall man, and I could hardly see his head because of his great height, and around him, there were children in such large numbers as I have never seen. I said to my companions, ‘Who is this?’ They replied, ‘Proceed, proceed!’
So we proceeded till we came to a huge majestic garden, greater and better than I have ever seen! My two companions said to me, ‘Go up’, so I went up. We ascended till we reached a city built of gold and silver bricks. We went to its gate and asked the gatekeeper to open the gate, and it was opened. We entered the city and found in it men with one side of their bodies as handsome as the most handsome person you have ever seen, and the other side as ugly as the ugliest person you have ever seen. My two companions ordered those men to jump into the river. There was a river flowing across the city, and its water was like milk in whiteness. Those men went and jumped into it and then returned to us and the ugliness of their bodies had disappeared, and they became the best of forms. My two companions (who were Angels) said to me, ‘This place is the Paradise or the Garden of Eden, and it is your place.’ I raised up my sight, and behold; there I saw a palace like a white cloud! My two companions said to me, ‘That palace is your place.’ I said to them, ‘May Allah bless you both! Let me enter it.’ They replied, ‘As for now, you will not enter it, but you shall enter it one day. I said to them, ‘I have seen many wonders tonight. What does it all mean?’ They replied, ‘We will inform you.
As for the first man you came across whose head was being injured with the rock, he was one who studied the Qur’an and then neither recited it nor acted on its orders, and he slept, neglecting the prescribed Prayers.
The man you came upon whose mouth, nostrils and eyes were torn from front to back, he is the man who went out of his house in the morning and told so many lies that they spread all over the world.
Those naked men and women whom you saw in a pit resembling an oven, they are the adulterers and the adulteresses.
The man whom you saw swimming in the river and given a stone to swallow, is the one who deals in usury (interest). The repulsive-looking man whom you saw kindling fire and going around it, is Mālik (an Angel), the gatekeeper of Hell.
The tall man whom you saw in the garden, is Ibrāheem and the children around him are those children who died young upon the innate nature of Allah’s worship with which every child is created.”
The narrator added, “Some Muslims asked the Prophet, ‘O Allah’s Messenger! What about the children of pagans?’ The Prophet responded, ‘And also the children of pagans.’”
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “My two companions added, ‘The men you saw half handsome and half ugly were those persons who had mixed an act that was good with another that was bad, but Allah forgave them.’”
(Al-Bukhāri, 7047) (End)
والحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين.
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت، أستغفرك وأتوب إليك
Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid.
Copyright 2024.
This article was transcribed by Umm Maryam (may Allah reward her) from the classes of Abu Khadeejah (SalafiSounds.com). Please share it with others.
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