When the deceased is placed in his grave and the two angels question him, do the people who are reciting the tawbah to him hear him in this state?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), when he said that he is questioned by two angels: "What is your religion? Who is your God? Who is your Prophet?"
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : In this state, do the people who are sitting there and reciting to him hear him as well?
The Shaykh : No, it is not...
The questioner : And he is hearing the two angels who are reciting to him or questioning him; the hearing would be hearing that I am... or...
The Shaykh : Very limited.
The questioner : Limited?
The Shaykh : Yes, the hearing is very limited. Why? Because, as you know, we are talking to each other now. Let a person speak there next to you; you are hearing, but you are not aware, correct? You are occupied with what is more important, with what you are directing your entire heart and soul toward, correct? You hear voices, but you do not have the readiness to catch the benefit of these voices, if there is any benefit. And so the deceased is approximately in that state, because these are matters of the unseen, and in reality, we cannot expand on them.
The deceased in his grave is now under the questioning of two very terrifying angels. He does not think of his father, his son, his daughter, his wife, or anything else. His only concern at that moment is that he knows how to answer this angel's questions. So the questioning is limited, and his hearing and capacity are very limited. There is a hadith that we must mention on this occasion: that when the people turn away from the deceased, he says—(peace and blessings be upon him)—:Sunan Abi Dawud 3231Sahih (Al-Albani). The sound of their sandals is not their speech that he hears; the sound of the sandals has no known semantic significance, and they are turning away from him.
This is a hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari", but this does not mean that he has awareness and understanding as was said about the polytheists. What did our Lord, the Exalted, say? Yes,[An-Naml 27:80].
The intended meaning of "the dead" here is the living polytheists. He likened them to the dead in that the dead do not hear, so I am amazed that they are alive and yet they do not hear.
The questioner : They do not respond.
The Shaykh : They do not respond, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : In this state, do the people who are sitting there and reciting to him hear him as well?
The Shaykh : No, it is not...
The questioner : And he is hearing the two angels who are reciting to him or questioning him; the hearing would be hearing that I am... or...
The Shaykh : Very limited.
The questioner : Limited?
The Shaykh : Yes, the hearing is very limited. Why? Because, as you know, we are talking to each other now. Let a person speak there next to you; you are hearing, but you are not aware, correct? You are occupied with what is more important, with what you are directing your entire heart and soul toward, correct? You hear voices, but you do not have the readiness to catch the benefit of these voices, if there is any benefit. And so the deceased is approximately in that state, because these are matters of the unseen, and in reality, we cannot expand on them.
The deceased in his grave is now under the questioning of two very terrifying angels. He does not think of his father, his son, his daughter, his wife, or anything else. His only concern at that moment is that he knows how to answer this angel's questions. So the questioning is limited, and his hearing and capacity are very limited. There is a hadith that we must mention on this occasion: that when the people turn away from the deceased, he says—(peace and blessings be upon him)—:
he hears the stepping sound of their shoes
إنه ليسمع قرع نعالهمThis is a hadith in "Sahih al-Bukhari", but this does not mean that he has awareness and understanding as was said about the polytheists. What did our Lord, the Exalted, say? Yes,
Indeed, you will not make the dead hear, nor will you make the deaf hear the call when they have turned their backs retreating.
إنك لا تسمع الموتى ولا تسمع الصم الدعاء إذا ما ولّوا مدبرينThe intended meaning of "the dead" here is the living polytheists. He likened them to the dead in that the dead do not hear, so I am amazed that they are alive and yet they do not hear.
The questioner : They do not respond.
The Shaykh : They do not respond, yes.