Dars e Imam-Dead Meeting

“Bismillahir Rahmannir Raheem””Al-Hamdu Lillaahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen was Salaatu was- Salaamu ‘Alaa Sayidinaa Muhammadin wa Aalihi wa Asabihi Ajma ‘een (tauheed- risalat- ahkirat and islam-iman-ihsan)

Spirits of the dead meeting each other in the intermediate realm:There are two types of spirits in the intermediate realm: Those who are in blessings and those who are being punished.

According to Ibnu’l Qayyim’s explanation, the spirits that are punished do not have the chance to meet each other. They are some kind of prisoners. On the other hand, free spirits, in other words, spirits that are in blessings, meet and visit each other. They discuss the things that happened and that will happen in the world. Each spirit meets the friends who are in the same level as they are in actual deeds. In the Surah an-Nisa, the following is stated “Whoever obeys God and the Messenger (as they must be obeyed), then those are (and in the Hereafter will be, in Paradise) in the company of those whom God has favored (with the perfect guidance) – the Prophets, and the truthful ones (loyal to God’s cause and truthful in whatever they do and say), and the witnesses (those who see the hidden Divine truths and testify thereto with their lives), and the righteous ones (in all their deeds and sayings, and dedicated to setting everything right). How excellent they are for companions!” (the Qur’an, An-Nisa, 4:69) and this company is in three places: in the world, in the intermediate realm and in the hereafter. In each of these three places, people are with those whom they love. Ibnu’l-Qayyim, p. 17; Suyuti, Bushra’1-Kaib, v. 147 b; Hasan al-‘Idwi, p. 74; Rodosizade, Ahval-i Alem-i Berzah, elyazma, İst. Süleymaniye Küt. v. 19 a.

In this verse, it is informed that spirits will meet each other in the intermediate realm because, there is an event that is reported as the reason why this verse was sent: One of the Honored Companions became sad and cried because he thought after death, the rank of the Prophet ﷺ would be higher than theirs and they would be separated from the Prophet ﷺ. When the Prophet asked him why he was sad, he replied : “We cannot help ourselves but be always by your side in this world, O the Apostle of God! We will not be able to see you after death, for your rank will be higher than ours. How can I help myself, being separated from you?”. Over this event, this verse was sent Ibnu’lQayyim, ibid, p. 17; Ibn Keathir, Tafsir, v. I, p. 522; Rodosizade, ibidi v. 19 b.and it has been reported that those who love God and His Prophet (pbuh) will be with him in the intermediate realm and in the hereafter.

God informs us in the surah Aal-i ‘Imran that “those killed in God’s cause are not dead and rather, they are alive; with their Lord they have their sustenance”, and “rejoicing in what God has granted them out of His bounty, and joyful in the glad tidings for those left behind who have not yet joined them, that (in the event of martyrdom) they will have no fear, nor will they grieve.”3/169-170.These verse also stand as a proof that spirits in the intermediate realm meet each other because, as the phrase “yastabshirun” in the verse means “they want glad tidings to be given”, it also means “they become joyful and give the glad tidings to each other” Mu’jamu’l-Wasit, v. I, p. 57; Atay Kardeşler. Arapça Türkçe Büyük Lügat, v. I. p. 128; Ibnu’l-Qayyim, ibid, p. 18. Since they give glad tidings to each other, they must be meeting and talking with each other.

In a report by Ibn Abi’d-Dunya, when the Prophet ﷺ was asked “ Do the dead know each other?”, he replied “ I swear by Allah in whose hand my soul is that they know each other just like birds know each other on the top of the trees”. Suyuti, B. al-Kaib, v. 144 b.
This question was asked by the mother of Bishr b. Bara b. Ma’rur from the Honored Companions and when she learnt that the dead knew and met each other, she immediately went to a person from Bani Salama, who was about to die and she sent her greetings to her son by means of this person. A. Sirajuddin, ibid p. 107; Ibnu’l-Qayyim, ibid, p. 19.

In another report of the hadith, those who will know and meet each other in Paradise like birds, are stated to be “good spirits”. 

When Bilal b. Rabah from the Honored Companions was about to pass away, his wife began to sigh and groan. Bilal began to say “What a great joy, what a great happiness! I will be with Muhammad ﷺ and with his companions.” Suyuti, B. al-Kaib, v. 148 b. Here Bilal gives the good news that he will meet the Apostle of God ﷺ and his companions in the intermediate realm and they will be together just like in the world. Abdullah Sirajuddin, ibid p. 107. and with his word, he reminds his wife that she should not be sad but in deed she should be happy with that.

In a hadith which Bayhaqi reported from the narration of Ibn Abbas, it is informed that the spirit of a believer who gives good answers to the questioning in the grave will be in the company of other believers. See Suyuti, Sharhu’s-Sudur. v. 53 a.

Also, in the report of Bayhaqi from Ali b. Abi Talib in “Shu’abu’l Iman”, Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “There were two believers and two disbelievers who were friends.  One of the believers passed away. When he was given the glad tidings that he would go to Paradise, he remembered his friend and saying “ O Allah, my friend always ordered me to be obedient to You and to Your Prophet ﷺ and he advised me the good and kept me away from the evil…”, he prayed to Allah that his friend would not deviate after him and he would also be given the blessing he was offered. Later, when the latter friend passed away, their spirits met and said to each other : “ What a nice brother, what a nice company and what a nice friend”.When one of the disbelievers died and informed he was going to be punished, he remembered his friend and said : “ God, my friend always suggested me to rebel against You and Your Prophet ﷺ and asked me to commit the evil deeds, not the good ones. God, keep him away from the right path, so that he might be punished as I am and You will be angry at him as You are at me.” Then, the latter died and when their spirits met, they said to each other: “What an evil brother and what a bad companion”. Suyuti, Sharhu’s-Sudur, v. 38 b; v. 173 b.These all shows that good and bad spirits meet each other in the intermediate realm.  

In the hadith, which is reported from Abu Qatada and Jabir and is about making the shrouds nicely for the dead people, there is this sentence “ It is for sure that they visit each other in their graves”, in the version of this hadith reported from Suyuti and Bayhaqi. Suyuti, Bushra’1-Kaib, v. 147 b; Suyati, Sharhu Sunani’n-Nasai, v. IV, p. 34; Hasan al-‘Idwi, ibid, p. 73; Abdullah Sirajuddin

After reporting the hadith from Abu Qatada in “Shu’abu’l-Iman” (54/673), Bayhaqi stated that this hadith which was about those who were killed in God’s cause informed they had their sustenance and this hadith was in conformity with the 169th and 170th verses of the Surah Aal-i ‘Imran in the Qur’an. Suyuti S.Sunan’n-Nasai, v. W, p. 34; H. al-‘Idwi, ibid, p.73.

People trusting fazal/grace of Allah= winners in form of jannah (fazal is neymat and neymat is a veil) .jannat waste without deedar of Allah

People trusting Allah alone (zaat e elahi)= winners in form of qurb/raza/mahaboobiat +deedar e elahi(sight on Allah) (kamil/perfect)

When I want to talk to allah I say prayers and when I want that he talk to me I recite quran- Hazrath Ali(ra)

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