A hadis in Sunaan Tirmidhi (45) says that a grave is a horrible place. It is the first stage in the resurrection process.
Have you ever thought about the affairs of the person freshly buried in a grave? Most of us will have no clue as to what befalls on the dead person once the funeral is over, the person laid to rest under soil, and the mourners depart.
Here is what Allah does to a freshly‐dead, buried corpse:
Once people have buried a dead, and start departing, the dead man listens to the sounds of the shoes of his relatives after they have put him in his grave (Sahih Muslim, 40.6863).
Sunaan Abu Dawud (2.20.3225) writes that a dead man, when placed in a grave, hears the stepping sound of his departing companions.
Further, in Sunaan Abu Dawud (3.40.4734) we read that when a man is placed in his grave and his friends leave him, he hears the beat of their sandals; then two angels come and speak to him. Sunaan Tirmidhi (50) writes that upon burial in a grave, a Muslim will rise up, see the setting sun and offer prayer.
Obviously, we should have no doubt about the fate of the unbeliever’s corpse, as he will not
58 offer any Islamic prayer.
Sahih Muslim (40.6862) writes that after the burial in the grave, and after the mourners have left the burial site, two angels enter the grave and ask the dead person regarding Allah
Ch. 7: Islamic Grave Voodoo Islamic Voodoos
and Muhammad. If he were a non‐Muslim he would be shown his seat in hell fire. Once the angels are satisfied that the corpse is that of a Muslim, they expand the grave of the believer to seventy cubits, and he will be shown his place in paradise. Sahih Bukhari (2.23.450, 451) further explains, in connection with verse 14:27, that the dead man sits up in his grave and the angels talk to him about Allah and Muhammad.
The names of those two angels who interrogate the freshly‐buried corpse are Munkar and Nakir. In Sunaan Tirmidhi (44) we get a description of these two angels of graves. This hadis says that Munkar and Nakir, the two angels of grave, have black faces and blue eyes. They will question a Muslim in his grave. When satisfied with the answers regarding Muhammad and Islam, these angels will increase the volume of the Muslim’s grave to 4900 cubic feet, light the grave, and instruct the Muslim to have a peaceful sleep. For a hypocrite his gravesides will be squeezed so much so, that his bones are crushed.
Here are a few more ahadith to understand what Allah does to a corpse once it is inside a grave:
A person will be raised in the same very state in which he had died…(Sahih Muslim, 40.6878)
When a Muslim is questioned in his grave he testifies that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is Allah’s messenger. It is written in the Qur’an in
14:27…(Sunaan Abu Dawud, 3.40.4732)
Munkar and Nakir, the two terrible angels, will make a dead person sit up with his soul and body (in grave) and ask him questions about his religion and his prophet.
This is the first examination after death…(Ghazali, p.1.1010)
ISLAMIC TORMENT IN GRAVES
Many people (including many moderate Muslims) will find it impossible to believe that Allah will torment them in their graves. However, Allah is merciless when He deals with the unbelievers. Ghazali (p.1.117) writes that belief in the punishment of grave is compulsory.
Malik’s Muwatta (16.6.18) says that even a child (infidel, of course) is liable to be tormented in his/her grave.
CASKETS ARE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE AN ISLAMIC GRAVE
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ry of how Allah’s angels will carry out the torment.
Ninety‐nine poisonous dragons bite a non‐Muslim in his grave; the dragons breathing air will destroy all verdure on earth… (Sunaan Tirmidhi, 46)
Curiously, Muhammad borrowed this concept of Allah’s torment in grave from the Jews of Medina. In verse 40:45 Allah says that He protected the believer (Moses’ disciple) who was in the midst of Pharaoh’s people, but destroyed Pharaoh. On the exegesis of this verse ibn Kathir writes that in the beginning Muhammad denied there would be the punishment in the grave. Later, when he heard from a Jewish woman when she told Aisha about the punishment in grave, Muhammad changed his mind. Muhammad now insisted that the unbelievers, including the Jews, are tormented in their graves (Sahih Bukhari, 2.23.457).
Let us first examine the Qur'an about the Islamic torment perpetrated on infidels in their graves.
Sahih Muslim (40.6861) writes that Muhammad heard the sound of torture of the Jews in their graves.
Allah says in verse 6:31 that on the resurrection day, the unbelievers will regret when they have to carry their loads on their backs. Ibn Kathir explains this bizarre situation (load) in this manner:
Every unjust person, upon entering his grave, will meet a man with ugly face, dark skin and awful odour and wearing dirty clothes; on the resurrection day the unjust person will carry this ugly companion on his back to enter hell.
Previously, we read that the two angels, Munkar and Nakir, will interrogate the inhabitants of graves. So, this ugly man, with dark skin and terrible body odour, must be another human (an unbeliever, perhaps) who will enter the grave to humiliate the non‐Muslim buried in his grave.
In verse 52:47 we read that besides the punishment on the resurrection day, the unbelievers will receive additional punishment. In verse 32:21 Allah specifies this additional
punishment. In this verse (32:21) Allah says that He will mete out lighter penalty in this life, before inflicting the supreme penalty hereafter. According to ibn Abbas this lower
punishment refers to the punishment of the life of this world: dryness of the land, drought, hunger, assassination, and the punishment of the grave.
Allah repeats His threat in verse 40:11. In this verse Allah says that the disbelievers will suffer two deaths; they will beg Allah for a reprieve. According to ibn Abbas the first death is when Allah took away their souls [in the life of the world] and the second death refers after Munkar and Nakir had questioned them in their graves.
While the reason/s to punish the unbelievers in their graves in understandable, it is quite interesting to note that Allah even punishes those Muslims (in their graves), because of their family’s wailing over him (Sahih Muslim, 4.2015, 2018, 2025).
Sunaan ibn Majah (2.1593) writes that the angels torment a dead body for its relative’s wailing over it.
We may wonder about the modality of Allah’s torture on the inmates of graves: Here is a summa
Ch. 7: Islamic Grave Voodoo Islamic Voodoos
When a man is placed in his grave the angel comes to him and asks him questions regarding his faith. An infidel is given a blow between his ears with an iron hammer…(Sunaan Abu Dawud, 3.40.4733)
Muhammad said, “The punishment of an unbeliever is that, in his grave ninety‐nine serpents will be biting him and each serpent will have seven heads. This will continue up to the Resurrection Day.”… (Ghazali, p.4.4150)