How Punishment & Reward Will be Given in the Grave? By Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi
Collected & Compiled by: Mufti Umar Anwar Badakhshani
Objections to Punishment in the Grave & its Answers
Question
How the atheists and unbelievers may be countered when they rejected the possibility of punishment and reward in the grave and asked how can a grave be a ditch of Hell or a garden of Paradise, how can be it be spacious or squeezed small while the corpse cannot sit in it or stand? They assert that they dig open the graves but find neither blind and speechless angels who beat the corpse with the iron chains and hammers nor snakes or serpents. They do not sense the heat of a fierce burning fire. They aver that if they dug open the grave to verify the condition of the corpse they find it in the very condition in which they had left it. They point out that if they place mercury on its eyes and grain on its chest, it remains unchanged.
Their question is: how the grave extend and expand to the limits of the eye-sight for the corpse or contract and squeeze him? They do not observe any change in the size of the grave, neither larger nor smaller than originally prepared. How the grave squeezes and how may the angels and the shape that befriends the dead or scares him occupy the grave. They say, “Everything that is contrary to common sense and observation is the imagination of the speaker.” They cite the case of one who is hanged and left hanging on the scaffold. “We do not see the Munkar or Nakeer interrogating him or spy any movement of his body.
We do not notice a terrible fire that bums him. Then what about the wild beast devour, and virtues feasts upon. Pieces of its flesh in the stomach of beasts and birds how can anyone interrogate him? Part of him digested by snake and part dissolved in the atmosphere or carried away by the winds, how is it possible to subject him to questioning? When his body is bisected in this manner, how can the two angels Munkar and Nakeer do their job? How can the grave be a garden of Paradise or a ditch of a Hell for such a person? Or, a grave becomes congested and contracted to crush his ribs?
Answer
Objections were raised before Ibn e Qayyim on punishment and reward in the grave. He was asked, Before venturing to remove these doubts let us say something by way of an explanation so that the answers may be easily understood.
- 1: The Messengers have not said anything that may be described as absurd. The messages conveyed by the Messengers are of two types:
- One which is seconded by intelligence and instinct,
- And the other which is beyond the comprehension of intelligence.
Examples of the second kind are reports of the Unseen and the Barzakh (the period between death and resurrection), the Qiyamah (Day of Resurrection), and the punishment. However ‘the reports of the Messengers have given are never absurd from an intelligent point of view. Besides, if they seem to be absurd and beyond intelligent comprehension but are upheld by a correct line, of transmission then it is obligatory to interpret them according to the other rules of Shari’ah. Thus, the news of the grave falls under the second classification. They are not absurd to the intelligence but are deduced by an intelligent deduction.
If anyone considers these reports as absurd then it is simply his own thinking and doubt which he imagines to be sensible and obvious.
- 2: The other thing is that we must not exaggerate in interpreting the saying of the Holy Prophet. We must not let our imagination run wild and deduce from his words what he did not mean to say. If anyone turns away from the true meaning of what the Holy Prophet’s saying then he will never from the Straight Path. In a misunderstanding, the Words of Allah and His Messengers many misled sects have risen in Islam and they have innovated religious practices, for example, the Qarriyah, Mulhid, Kharji, Mutazalah, Jahmiyah, Rafidi, and so on. Many such people turned away from Islam and pay very little attention to it.
- 3: The third point we refer to is that Allah has appointed three stages through which a man passes after his birth. They are this world, the Barzakh, and Darul Qarar (the final abode). There are different sets of rules and commands for each stage and they apply to that very phase. Man is made up of body and soul and the rules of the worldly stage apply to bodies while souls are subject to these bodies. That is why the injunctions of Shari’ah are framed with the tongue and parts of the body and in mind, although the heart may conceal differing things. The rules of the stage in Barzakh apply to the souls, subjecting bodies to the souls. Thus, as the soul suffers or enjoys with the body in the world because it is subject to it so too the body feels the pains and joys with the soul in the Barzakh, (which we call the grave) because it is subject to the soul there. In the world, the body is in the forefront and obvious and the soul is unseen and unobserved. In the stage of the grave, meaning the Barzakh, the soul will be observed and is in the forefront and superior but the body will be unseen and secondary. The rules of Barzakh will apply to souls. The soul will feel the pain and joy, and it will be reflected on the body just as the joy or pain of the body in the world is sensed by the soul. Thus, it is not necessary that these things be seen on the obvious body because they apply to the souls which senses them and those things happen in the other stage so, it is not necessary that they may be observed by us – rather, it is impossible to observe them as a general rule. (There may be certain exceptions if Allah wills.)
An example of this stage is shown by Allah in this world in the state of sleep. The soul bears the joy and pain which a man sees in his dream and his body is secondary to the soul. The same happens in Barzakh with the soul and body of the person sleeping. The soul is targeted and is reflected in the body. Rather, it is more severe than in a dream because in the Barzakh the soul is predominant and perfectly obvious. Besides, the link of the soul with the body although not perceptible is definitely maintained and there is no complete de-link and separation.
The third stage is the Hereafter. On the day of Resurrection, when the people are raised from the graves, the feeling of happiness and pain is directed on both body and soul and is discernible too.
The foregoing account confirms that whatever the Messenger of Allah has said about punishment in the grave, and pain and relief, reward and torment expansion and contraction of the grave as a ditch of Hell and garden of Paradise -whatever he has said- is comprehended by intelligence and is not contrary to it. Undoubtedly if anyone cannot comprehend this then it is his fault and it is due to his lack of knowledge that he cannot understand it.
EXAMPLE OF PUNISHMENT AND REWARD IN THE GRAVE
Let us look at two people sleeping on one bed. One of them sleeps and his soul experiences happiness and comfort so when he awakes these conditions are apparent on his body and it reflects the comfort and relief. The other too sleep and His soul experiences pain and when he awakes, and it is reflected on his body. Although the two sleeps together and go through different experiences yet the condition of one is not discernable to the other. We must visualize the Barzakh on this pattern It is proven through reasoning and Islam asserts the companionship of the soul with the body is perpetual although after death the ephemeral body separates from the soul. However, in the Barzakh the soul does get a body to taste the repercussions of his deeds. That body is not like the one we know, but it is very fine, and it is made of light in the shape of deeds. In the Barzakh, the practical conditions of men will take the place of their bodies. Although this is a subtle secret, it is not an unreasonable one. A perfect man discerns an existence of light in this life apart from the known impure body. There are many examples of this in the world of revelation. Those who are gifted with a glimpse of that world are not surprised by a body made of deeds. This very body that is made up of deeds of a man is the one that receives reward or punishment. Those people gifted with an eye that discerns the unseen meet the dead in their waking state, and they observe the body of the sinners as pitch black as if it made up of smoke.
Thus, everyone gets a new body after death and it may be glowing or dark but Allah has concealed these affairs from the intelligent deduction. This thing points to the perfect wisdom of Allah so that a Believer may be distinguished from an infidel because of his belief in the Unseen.
Thus, the angels come to a man who is about to die. They sit close to him and do see them. They bring for him the shroud and scent of Paradise or bad-smelling odor of Hell. They say “Aameen” when the visitors or those who present greet the patient with a salutation or a supplication. Sometimes, the dying man says to them “Welcome”, and no one besides this man sees the angels. There is innumerable evidence of such occurrences.
Of the affairs of the Hereafter, this is the first affair and it occurs in this world before us. Although it happens in this world, it is invisible to us. Then an angel stretches his hand towards the soul and seizes it. The angel talks to the soul but none of these present see the angel talking or hear his voice. The soul comes out of the body and its light is bright as the rays of the sun and its fragrance sweeter than musk but, again, these things are not evident to those present, neither do they see anything nor smell the sweet fragrance. The angel takes the soul and Joins the group of the angels. Then the soul returns in a particular manner and watches the body given a bath and being lifted. It says, “Take me ahead,” or it says, “Where are you taking me?” But, the people around do not hear it say so.
APPEARANCE OF THE ANGEL WITHIN THE GRAVE
When the body is placed in the grave and the grave is filled with earth, it does not prevent the angels from going to the corpse. In fact, even if the grave sealed with bricks that would not have obstructed the angel from approaching the corpse in the niche. Impure, solid bodies are not a hindrance to the tearing through of the delicate spirits.
Rather, even the jinns manage to go through the solid bodies. Allah has made the earth and bricks for the angels as air and atmosphere are for the birds -who fly about in them. As far as the grave being spacious or contracted, it is for the soul itself while the body, being secondary, feels the space or lack of it in terms of the soul, for otherwise a body is accommodated in a very small place.
SHRINKING OF THE GRAVE
In the same way, it is correct the grave narrows down on the corpse. Its ribs are pressed and overpass each other. There is no doubt in that and it cannot be derived by common sense. As far as anyone reopening a grave and finding the condition of the corpse unchanged and its ribs in their proper places, Allah is Able to do everything. He is Powerful and has Absolute Authority. Nothing can preclude Him and these things may be happening in the spiritual realm, beyond our perception.
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