There is no doubt that the torment and blessing of the grave
are real, as is indicated by the verses of the Qur’aan, the ahaadeeth of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the consensus
of the salaf (early generations) of this ummah. Please see question no.
34648 for more
details on this issue.
With regard to the question of whether the blessing and
torment in the grave happen to both the body and the soul or to one of them
only, the basic principle is that the torment and blessing of the grave
happen to the soul, and the soul may connect with the body so that it will
experience something of the torment or blessing.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said: It should be noted that the view of the salaf (early generations) and
imams of this ummah is that when a person dies he will be in a state of
bliss or torment and that that will happen to both his soul and his body.
After the soul departs from the body it will remain in a state of bliss or
torment, and it may connect to the body sometimes, so the body will
experience the bliss or torment along with it (at those times). Then on the
Day of Resurrection the souls will be restored to their bodies and will be
raised up from their graves to meet the Lord of the Worlds. All of this is
unanimously agreed upon among the scholars of al-hadeeth wa’l-Sunnah.
There are many ahaadeeth which speak of this matter, such as
the hadeeth narrated by Abu Dawood (4127) and classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, from al-Baraa’ ibn ‘Aazib (may
Allaah be pleased with him) who said: We went out with the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to attend the
funeral of a man from among the Ansaar. When we reached the grave the lahd
(niche) had not yet been made, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) sat down and we sat around him as if there were birds on
our heads. In his hand was a stick with which he scratched the ground. Then
he raised his head and said: “Seek refuge with Allaah from the torment of
the grave,” two or three times. Then he described how the soul is taken and
how it is taken up to the heavens then brought back to (the body). Then he
said: “And he hears their footsteps when they leave. Then it is said to him:
‘O So and so, who is your Lord? What is your religion? Who is your Prophet?”
According to another version: “There come to him two angels
who make him sit up and say to him: ‘Who is your Lord?’ He says: ‘My Lord is
Allaah,’ They say: ‘What is your religion?’ He says: ‘My religion is Islam.’
They say: ‘Who is this man who was sent among you?’ He says: ‘He is the
Messenger of Allaah.’ They say: ‘How do you know?’ He says; ‘I read the Book
of Allaah and believed in it (or in him).’ That is what Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
‘Allaah will keep firm
those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world (i.e. they
will keep on worshipping Allaah Alone and none else), and in the Hereafter.
And Allaah will cause to go astray those who are Zaalimoon (polytheists and
wrongdoers), and Allaah does what He wills’
[Ibraaheem 14:27]
Then a caller calls out from heaven: ‘My slave has spoken the
truth. Provide him with furnishings from Paradise and clothe him from
Paradise and open to him a door to Paradise.’ Then there comes to him some
of its breezes and fragrance, and (his grave) is expanded for him as far as
his eyes can see. But the kaafir …” And he mentioned how the kaafir dies,
and said: “His soul is returned to his body and two angels come to him and
sit him up, then they say to him: ‘Who is your Lord?’ He says: ‘Oh, oh, I
don’t know.’ They say to him: ‘What is your religion?’ He says: ‘Oh, oh, I
don’t know.’ Then a caller calls out from heaven: ‘My slave is lying.
Provide him with furnishings from Hell and clothe him from Hell and open to
him a door from Hell.’ Then there comes to him some of its heat and hot
winds, and his grave compresses until his ribs interlock. Then there appears
to him a blind and dumb man who has an iron mallet which, if he were to
strike a mountain with it, it would turn to dust. He strikes him with it,
giving a blow that is heard by everything that is between the east and the
west, except the two races (of mankind and jinn) and he turns to dust, then
his soul is restored to him.”
This hadeeth clearly indicates that the soul is returned to
the body and that the ribs interlock. This clearly shows that the torment
befalls both the soul and the body.
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with
him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“When the believer’s (soul) is taken, the angels of mercy come to him with
white silk and say: ‘Come out to the mercy of Allaah.’ So it comes out like
the best fragrance of musk and they pass it to one another and smell it
until they bring him to the gate of heaven. They say: ‘What is this good
smell that has come from the earth?’… Then they bring him to the souls of
the believers who rejoice more than the family of an absent loved one
rejoices when he returns… As for the kaafir, there come to him angels with a
piece of sackcloth and say: ‘Come out to the wrath and anger of Allaah,’ and
it comes out like the foulest stench of a corpse…”
Narrated by Ibn Hibbaan, 7/284; its narrator said: its isnaad
is saheeh.
This hadeeth and others like it indicate that the soul and
the body will both experience the bliss or torment of the grave, and that
the soul will experience bliss along with the body that is in the grave – in
sha Allaah.
With regard to the soul
experiencing torment or bliss on its own, we have quoted above a report
which indicates that. In Sunan al-Nasaa’i (2073) it is narrated from
Ka’b ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The soul of the believer
is (like a bird) eating from the trees of Paradise, until Allaah sends it
back to his body on the Day of Resurrection.” Classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Nasaa’i.
These ahaadeeth indicate
that the bodies that are in the graves will experience bliss or torment – if
Allaah wills that and as He wills it, and that the soul will experience
bliss in Paradise by itself. Both of them are true. The ahaadeeth also
indicate that the souls will continue to experience bliss or torment after
they leave their bodies.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was
asked: Does the torment of the grave happen to the body or to the soul?
He replied:
The basic principle is
that it happens to the soul, because the rulings after death apply to the
soul, and the body becomes a motionless corpse. Hence the body no longer
needs nourishment in order to be sustained, as it neither eats nor drinks;
rather it is eaten by the worms. So the basic principle is that it happens
to the soul. But Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said that the soul may be
connected to the body so that it experiences torment or bliss along with
it…. Based on that, the scholars said that the soul may be in contact with
the body so the torment happens to both of them. Perhaps that may be
indicated by the hadeeth in which the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The grave compresses for the kaafir
until his ribs interlock.” This indicates that the torment will happen to
the body because the ribs are part of the body.
Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen,
1/25
And Allaah knows best.
See : Majmoo’ Fataawa Shaykh al-Islam, 4/282-299
Al-Qiyaamah al-Sughra by Shaykh ‘Umar al-Ashqar, 107
(This book is available
in English under the title: The Minor Resurrection, published by
International Islamic Publishing House, Riyadh).
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