How does a Muslim protect himself from the punishment of the grave and the punishment of the Fire?

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The questioner : How does a Muslim protect himself from the punishment of the grave and the punishment of the Fire?

The Shaykh : He protects himself by righteous deeds that bring him closer to Allah the Exalted. Righteous deeds are those that meet two conditions: the first is sincerity to Allah Mighty and Majestic, meaning that a person does not intend anything in his worship but the Face of Allah and the Hereafter; he does not intend showing off, seeking fame, praise from people, or anything of this world. Nor does he introduce anything of his own invention into the religion, for Allah does not accept any deed except what is pure for Him and in accordance with His Shari'ah. The evidence for this is His saying in the Holy Hadith:

I am the One, One Who does not stand in need of a partner. If anyone does anything in which he associates anyone else with Me, I shall abandon him with one whom he associates with Allah.

أنا أغنى الشركاء عن الشرك، من عمل عملاً أشرك فيه معي غيري تركته وشركه

Sahih Muslim 2985

and the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):

He who did any act for which there is no sanction from our behalf, that is to be rejected.

من عمل عملاً ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد

Sahih Muslim 1718b

Among the means of protection from the punishment of the grave is to keep oneself clean from urine and purify oneself completely from it, for it is established in the two Sahihs from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him)

That the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) passed by two graves and said: "Indeed, they are being punished, and they are not being punished for a great matter."

أن النبي صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم مر بقبرين فقال: إنهما ليعذبان وما يعذبان في كبير

meaning in a difficult matter, but it is an easy matter, so he said:

One of them did not keep himself from being defiled by urine. (A version by Muslim has "did not keep himself undefiled by urine”.) The other went about spreading slander.

أما أحدهما فكان لا يستنزه من البول، وأما الآخر فكان يمشي بالنميمة

Mishkat al-Masabih 338

It is also narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:

Beware of (smearing yourselves with) urine, because it is the main cause of punishment in the grave

استنزهوا من البول، فإن عامة عذاب القبر منه

Bulugh al-Maram 103

And among the means of protection from the punishment of the grave is for a person to frequently seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of the grave, and for this reason

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) commanded us that when we recite the tashahhud in prayer, we should seek refuge in Allah from four things, saying: "I seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of Hellfire, from the punishment of the grave, from the trial of life and death, and from the trial of the Dajjal (the false messiah)."

أمرنا النبي صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم إذا تشهدنا في الصلاة أن نستعيذ بالله من أربع نقول: أعوذ بالله من عذاب جهنم، ومن عذاب القبر، ومن فتنة المحيا والممات، ومن فتنة المسيح الدجال

Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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