How do we reconcile the blackness that identifies the believer when his soul departs, accompanied by a pleasant scent and so on, with the fact that his grave is widened for him, yet he is then punished for some of his sins?

The questioner : How do we reconcile the blackness that identifies the believer when his soul departs, accompanied by a pleasant scent and so on, with the fact that his grave is widened for him, yet he is then punished for some of his sins in the grave? Or is that blackness only for the believer whose sins have been forgiven?

The Shaykh : There is no hadith that combines the two opposites mentioned in the question: on one hand, his soul departs accompanied by a pleasant scent and wrapped in soft silk, as mentioned in some authentic hadiths, and on the other hand, he is punished. There is no such combination of opposites in the hadiths regarding one who is punished, such as in the two previous hadiths. This has not come in a case where his soul is wrapped in silk. It appears that combining these two opposites is not a reality. This is, without a doubt, as is clear to everyone, a matter of the unseen (ghayb) which we referred to recently on the occasion of mentioning We said that it is not permissible to expand on matters of the unseen or use theoretical analogies, because this is a matter related only to faith and not to legal rulings. Therefore, we do not find in the Sunnah the combination of these two opposites. Yes.