Dars e Imam-Life After Death
“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)
11. Qādī ‘Iyād-He has, in his book, ash-Shifā (1:227-8) narrated
Adam’s intermediation through the Holy Prophet ﷺ with the help of sound and famous traditions.(Page 150-151) In
addition, in the chapters on ‘visiting the Prophet’s grave,’ ‘virtues and
merits of the Prophet ﷺ’ and in many other chapters in his book he has
referred to the qualities and attributes of the Holy Prophet ﷺ.
In the book ‘Radd-al-Mukhtar’, and ‘Bahar-e-Shar’iyyat’, it states
that one should not arrive to the grave
from the headside, as it is a means of giving difficulty and hardship,
to the person who is in the grave. Whilst
in the presence of the grave, one may recite any chapters or verses of the
Noble Qur’an, some of the more effective being Surah Ya Sin, Surah Mulk, Surah
Idha zulzilat, and Surah alhakum ut takathuru. Other supplications and
invocations can also be made.
It is narrated by Abu Na’im and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal that the great Tabi’i (a person who met the Sahabah) Thabit al-Bannani, used to say “O Allah! If you would give anyone the honour of making salah in the qabr (grave), give me that honour.”
Abu Na’im narrates that on the day of Thabit’s death ,Jubair (r) one of the great Tabi’in also, said: “I swear by Allah who created me, other than whom there is no Lord, I put Thabit al-Bannani in his his qabr that day when we buried him and with me was a person named Humaid at-Taweel and when we had finished putting the stones on the qabr one of the bricks fell down and I saw Thabit al-Bannani making salat in his qabr.” In other words, Allah (subhanu wa taala) accepted the du’a of this great wali to make salat in his grave This is a sahih Hadith narrated by Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Abu Na’im.
It is narrated by Tirmidhi and an-Nasa’i as well as al-Hakim that one of the Sahabah put his tent over a qabr without knowing it and when he was inside the tent, he heard someone reciting surat al-Mulk. He went to Nabi Muhammad ﷺ and told him what he heard. Nabi Muhammad ﷺ informed him that surat al-Mulk is a protection against punishment in the qabr, and is protecting the man buried there. The `Ulama of Hadith explain that that man loved reciting surat al-Mulk when he was alive and thus Allah (subhanu wa taala) granted him that he could recite it in his qabr as well.
Another sahih Hadith is interpreted by Ibn Taymiyah, who is called Shaykhul Islam by his followers. We note that most of his followers claim that the dead have no perception or power after their demise -“ an Atheistic Materialistic view of death. However Ibn Taymiyah narrates in his Fatawa (vol.24 p.331) that Nabi Muhammad ﷺ said that “When one passes by the grave of his mu’min brother who he had known in the dunya, and stands at the qabr and says, `Assalamu `alaykum’, the person in the qabr will know him and also return his greeting”(yarifuhu wa yarudda alayihi as salaam)”. This shows that the dead have awareness and are able to invoke Du`a for the living, as the Islamic greeting is a Du`a.
Ibn Taymiyah on the Life of the Dead
Furthermore Ibn Taymiyah was asked in his Majmu at al-Fatawa (vol.24 p.362) whether the dead could perceive the living acquaintances that visit them. He replied that: There is no doubt that they can. And he quoted the following Sahih Hadith in substantiation of that: Evidence to this effect comes from the two Sahih books of Bukhari and Muslim where Nabi Muhammad ﷺ said that when the people have buried a dead person and leave for home the dead person can hear the steps of those who leave (yasma`u qar’a ni `alihim). (This even refers to the kuffar).
What makes people who have studied Hadith claim that Prophets, Awliya and ordinary dead have no awareness after their demise? Maybe they have not studied properly.
Imam Suyuti on the Life of the Dead
The Great Hadith and Tafsir scholar al-Suyuti was asked the following questions:
Do the Dead recognize their visitors and know their states in life?
Do the Dead hear what the living say?
Do the souls of the Dead meet and see each other?
He replied to all Questions : “YES”, and produced many Hadith in support.
About the Ayah which some people quote about the Dead not hearing, the learned Suyuti says that it is an allegorical statement (an-Nafi Ja’a ala m’ana al-Majaz). and the actual meaning of it is that “They cannot listen to Guidance (Ma’naha Sama` Huda) i.e. they are dead and they cannot be guided now”. Any scholar can check al-Hawi lil Fatawa (vol.2 p.169-175) by Imam Jalaluddin al-Suyuti. Do we want to follow the great giants of Islamic knowledge or modern day dwarfs?
Do Not Harm Those in the Grave
In another Sahih Hadith narrated by Ibn Hanbal, Hakim and Tabarani, Nabi Muhammad (s) saw a person sitting on a qabr and told him: “Do not harm the person in the qabr and he will not harm you.”(la tu’zi sahib al-Qabri wala yu’zeek).
In a Sahih Hadith regarding the Battle of Badr, it is narrated that the Muslims threw Abu Jahal and other kuffar who were slain into a well. Nabi Muhammad ﷺ went to their Qubur and asked them whether they had found the promise of Allah (subhanu wa taala) to be true (that the kuffar would be punished.) Sayyidana Umar (r) inquired of Nabi Muhammad ﷺ whether the dead could hear him. Nabi Muhammad ﷺ explained that he (Umar) could not hear any better than them, but they did not have the ability to respond (Bukhari and Muslim). This is the life of the dead of the kuffar.
UNDERSTANDING DEEN
1.Quran 2.Sunnah 3.Quran /sunnah and its derivatives 4. Ijma/consensus 5.Qiyas/research
BALANCED DEEN(6/153, 29/69,91/9,3/31,2/45,2/143)
Our deen lies between law(sharia) and spirit(marifa)——intellect and love—– theology and spirituality—–negligence and extremisim—–Hope and fear—– moderation and justice.
COMPLETE DEEN/KULL DEEN (2/208, 5/3, 6/59)
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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