Chapter 7: Common Questions Answered

Chapter 7: Common Questions Answered
1. Groups of Muslims claim that the questioning in the grave is proved only
by hadeeth literature and not by the Qur'aan. To reply to them, consider the
following verse of Surah Ibrahim :



?Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the Word that stands firm in this
world and in the Hereafter. And Allah will cause the wrongdoers to go astray.
and Allah does what He wills." (Surah Ibrahim v 27)



The first stage of the Hereafter is the time of Barzakh, the period between
death and resurrection. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam), as narrated
by Al-Baraa bin Aazib, explained that the believers will be aided in standing
firm with their answers in the grave when the angels Munkar and Nakir come to
question them, while the wrong-doers will falter at this critical time.



2. The same group of Muslims claim that the punishment or bliss of the grave are
also proven only from hadeeth and not from the Qur'aan. Our reply is that the
punishment of the grave is mentioned in a number of Qur'aanic verses:



(a) Pharaoh and his followers have been exposed to the Fires of Hell every
morning and evening since their deaths, and they will continue to suffer in this
manner until the Day of Resurrection. On that day they will actually enter the
fire.



?The Fire; they are exposed to it morning and evening. And on the Day when the
Hour will be established, it will be said: Cause Pharaoh?s people to enter the
most severe torment.? (Surah Ghafir (40): 46).



(b) ?Because of their sins they were drowned, then (immediately) were made to
enter the Fire, and they found none to help them without Allah.? (Surah Nuh v
25)



The disbelievers from the people of Nuh were drowned and then immediately thrown
into the Fire. According to Arabic grammar, the letter ?fa? in this verse
indicates immediacy. As the Day of Judgement is still in the future, the
punishment which began immediately after Nuh?s people drowned must be the
punishment in Barzakh.



(c) ?And among the Bedouins around you (0 Muhammad), some are hypocrites and so
are some among the people of Madina. They exaggerate and persist in hypocrisy.
You know them not, but We know them. We shall then punish them twice, and
thereafter they shall be brought back to a severe torment". (Surah Al Tawba v
101)



Abdullah bin Abbas explained in his tafseer of this verse that the disbelievers
and hypocrites will be tortured twice before their chastisement on the Day of
Judgement. The first will be a wretched life on this earth, and the second will
be in Barzakh.



?And if you could see when the wrong-doers are in the agonies of death while the
angels are stretching forth their hands saying, ?Deliver your souls! This day
you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of what you
used to utter against Allah other than the truth." (Surah Al An?am v 93)



A disgraceful punishment is promised the day their souls leave their bodies. The
use of the word ?today? indicates that the torture will be immediate, and as
such cannot be referring to the Day of Judgement but to the time in the grave.



?And if you could see when the angels take away the souls of the disbelievers,
they beat their faces and their backs, (saying) ?Taste the punishment of the
blazing Fire. This because of that which your hands had sent forward. And
indeed, Allah is not unjust to His slaves.? (Surah Al Anfal v 50-51)



?Then how will it be when the angels will take their souls at death, beating
their faces and their backs?? (Surah Muhammad v 27)



Both the above verses speak of a beating by the angels immediately after death.



3. The rewards and bliss of the grave are also mentioned by the Qur'aan. For
example, the story is told of a man who warned a prophet that his enemies were
plotting to kill him. When the disbelievers realized that the man had betrayed
them, they punished him and viciously put him to death. Immediately after his
death the man was told to enter paradise and when he saw the luxuries and
wonders of paradise, the man wished he could tell his people about his happy
fate.



?It was said to him (when the disbelievers killed him): ?Enter Paradise?. He
said: ?Would that my people knew that my Lord has forgiven me and made me one of
the honored ones." (Surah Ya Sin v 26-27)



The real Paradise will reveal all its favors and wonders on the Day of Judgement,
but this man received only a taste of paradise in his grave which gave him such
rapturous joy.



?Those whose lives the angels take while they are in a pious state, saying to
them, ?Peace be upon you, enter Paradise because of the good which you used to
do in the world". (Surah Al Nahl v 32)



"Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allah as dead! Nay! They are
alive, with their Lord, where they have provisions. They rejoice what Allah has
bestowed upon them from His bounties. Rejoicing for the sake of those who have
not yet joined them but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear
shall come nor shall they grieve." (Surah Al Imran v 169-170)



The life of the martyrs is not like the life on earth. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu
alaihe wa-sallam) explained this further in the following narration.



?Their souls are in the crops of green birds which are in lamps suspended from
the Throne of Allah, which fly where they wish in Paradise and then return to
these lamp. Their Lord looks on them and asks whether they desire anything, and
they ask in reply what they wish when they can go where they like in Paradise.
He asks them three times, and when they see they will not be left until they ask
something, they tell their Lord that they wish Him to return their souls to
their bodies so that they may be killed in His path again. Then when He that
they lack nothing they are left without further questioning.? (Transmitted by
Muslim)

NOTE: The Next 2 Chapters of this Book are missing