Will he be subjected to the trial of the grave (the questioning of Munkar and Nakeer)?
Will he be subjected to the torment of the grave?
Will this child really intercede for his parents to be admitted to Paradise?
I heard that the Prophet of Allaah Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) is the one who is responsible for taking care of the children of the Muslims who die at this age. What I know is that Sayyiduna Ibraaheem is in the seventh heaven, so does this mean that the child who dies is living in the seventh heaven or is he in the grave under the ground?
Is no one spared the squeezing of the grave, not even children?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The
squeezing of the grave is the first thing that happens to the deceased when
he is placed in his grave. In the texts it indicates that this is something
that happens to everyone who is placed in the grave, and no one is spared
it. And Allaah is the One Whose help we seek.
Ahmad (6/55,
98) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “The grave has squeezing. If anyone were to be saved from it or
spared it, Sa’d ibn Mu’aadh would have been spared it.” Al-Albaani said in
al-Saheehah (1685): This hadeeth, when its isnaads and corroborating
reports are all taken into account, is undoubtedly saheeh. We ask Allaah to
make the squeezing of the grave easy for us, for He is the Most Generous.
It was
narrated from Abu Ayyoob (may Allaah be pleased with him) that a boy was
buried, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “If anyone were to be spared the squeezing of the grave, this boy
would be spared.” Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer
(4/121); classed as saheeh by al-Haythami (3/47) and by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah
al-Saheehah (2164).
Secondly:
The scholars
differed as to whether children will be questioned in the grave or not.
There are two views:
1 – That
they will be questioned. This is the view of some of the Maalikis and some
of the Hanbalis. It was the view favoured by al-Qurtubi and also by Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, as is narrated from him in al-Furoo’.
See:
al-Furoo’ (2/216); Sharh al-Zarqaani, 2/85.
Ibn
al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Rooh (87-88):
The proof of
those who say that they will be questioned is that is it prescribed to offer
the funeral prayer for them and to say du’aa’ for them and to ask Allaah to
protect them from the torment of the grave and the trial of the grave.
It was
narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) offered the
funeral prayer for a boy, and he was heard praying: “O Allaah, protect him
from the torment of the grave.” Narrated by Maalik (536) and Ibn Abi Shaybah
(6/105).
They also
quoted as evidence the report narrated by ‘Ali ibn Ma’bad from ‘Aa’ishah
(may Allaah be pleased with her), that the funeral of a small boy passed by
her and she wept. It was said to her: “Why are you weeping, O Mother of the
Believers?” She said: “This boy; I am weeping out of compassion for him
because of the squeezing of the grave.”
They said:
Allaah will make them mature so that they will understand the situation they
are in and they will be inspired to answer the questions that they are
asked. End quote.
2 – That
they will not be tested or questioned in their graves. This is the view of
the Shaafa’is and some of the Maalikis and Hanbalis.
Ibn Muflih
said in al-Furoo’ (2/216):
This is the
view of al-Qaadi and of Ibn ‘Aqeel. End quote.
The evidence
for this view was explained by Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him),
and it seems that he was inclined towards this view, when he said in
al-Rooh (87-88):
The others
said:
The
questioning is only for the one who is mature enough to understand the
message sent by Allaah to His Messenger; he will be asked whether he
believed in the Messenger and obeyed him or not? It will be said to him:
“What did you say about this man who was sent among you?” With regard to the
child who has no understanding of these issues, how could he be asked what
do you say about this man who was sent among you? If his reasoning is
restored to him in the grave, he would not be asked about something he could
not understand or have knowledge of, and there would be no point in this
questioning.
With regard
to the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah, the torment in the grave does not mean that
the child is being punished for not obeying or committing sin, for Allaah
does not punish anyone for a sin he did not do.
Rather the
torment of the grave refers to the pain that is felt by the deceased for
other reasons, and it is not a punishment for something that he did. The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The deceased
is tormented because of his family’s crying for him,” i.e., he feels pain
and suffers because of that; he is not being punished because of the sin of
the living.
Undoubtedly
there is pain and misery in the grave which may affect the child and cause
him pain. So it is prescribed for the one who is offering the funeral prayer
for him to ask Allaah to protect him from that torment. And Allaah knows
best. End quote.
Thirdly:
With regard
to where the children who have died are – are they in the seventh heaven
with Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) or in their graves?
What has
been narrated concerning that is the hadeeth of Samurah ibn Jundub (may
Allaah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) often used to say to his companions:
“Has anyone among you seen a dream?” and whoever Allaah willed would tell
him what he had seen. One day he said: “Last night two people came to me and
made me get up, and they said to me: ‘Let’s go.’ So I set off with them…” He
mentioned things that he had seen, then he said:
“We set off,
and we came to a verdant garden, in which were all the colours of spring,
where there was a man who was so tall that I could hardly see his head in
the sky. Around the man was the largest number of children I had ever seen…”
Then among things that the two angels explained to him was: “As for the tall
man who was in the garden, that was Ibraaheem. As for the children who were
around him, these are all the children who died in a state of fitrah.” One
of the Muslims said: “O Messenger of Allaah, what about the children of the
mushrikeen?” He said: “And the children of the mushrikeen.” Narrated by
al-Bukhaari (7047).
This hadeeth
indicates that whoever dies before reaching the age of puberty is in
Paradise under the care of Ibraaheem (peace be upon him), not that he is in
the seventh heaven.
See:
Sharh Muslim by al-Nawawi, hadeeth no. 2657.
Fourthly:
There are
many ahaadeeth from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) which speak of children interceding for their parents on the Day of
Resurrection, such as the following:
It was
narrated that Abu Hassaan said: I said to Abu Hurayrah: Two sons of mine
have died. Will you not narrate to us a hadeeth from the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) that will comfort us in our
loss?
He said:
Yes, their children are the little ones of Paradise, and one of them will
meet his father – or his parents – and take hold of his garment – or his
hand – as I am taking hold of the edge of this garment of yours, and he will
not let go until Allaah admits him and his father to Paradise. Narrated by
Muslim (2635).
And Allaah
knows best.
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