The saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the deceased: (Indeed, he hears the striking of their sandals when they turn away from him, retreating)

The questioner : The hadith of the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the deceased: , and the hadith of the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the man who was wearing the two sandals: ; is there an apparent contradiction between these two narrations? And how do we reconcile them if there is one?

The Shaykh : There is no contradiction, naturally; because as you see today, and before today, and until Allah wills, most Muslims do not adhere to this ruling, as with many other rulings. So they enter the graveyards in their sandals, while he (peace be upon him) informs that the deceased, when placed in his grave, hears the striking of these sandals. So it is an information about a matter that occurs among many people or few people; it does not mean legislation, but rather it means information about the state of this deceased when he is placed in his grave. The legislation is taken from the second hadith: . So this is speech directed to that one who was walking in his sandals between the graves, commanding him to remove his sandals. There is no disagreement between this and that, just like, for example: . This is information about what will happen. As for whether this is prescribed or not prescribed? Then its ruling is taken from other hadiths that prohibit exaggeration in raising buildings and exaggeration in accumulating the furnishings of the house, as in the hadith of Muslim: . So there is no contradiction between the two hadiths at all.