What is the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the life of the barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection)?
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The questioner : In the first question, he asks: What is the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the life of the barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection)?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the righteous, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. The methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the life of the barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection) is that when a person is buried and his companions leave him, two angels come to him, sit him up, and ask him three things: Who is your Lord? What is your religion? And who is your Prophet? Allah makes firm those who believe with the firm word in this worldly life and in the Hereafter. May Allah make us and our Muslim brothers among them.
The believer says: My Lord is Allah, my religion is Islam, and my Prophet is Muhammad. As for the hypocrite, he says: Ha, ha, I do not know; I heard people saying something, so I said it. Then the believer remains in bliss in his grave, and the hypocrite remains in punishment in his grave. The punishment is originally upon the soul, and therefore he feels the punishment even if his body is torn apart and eaten by wild beasts. Sometimes the soul connects with the body, and the punishment is upon both the soul and the body. All matters of the Hereafter are unseen matters, and we do not know anything about them except through revelation. Therefore, it is not befitting for us to delve deeply into questioning them, because we will reach a closed door, and we will not reach any details except through the Book and the Sunnah. It is established in the two Sahihs from Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by two graves and said:Sunan Ibn Majah 349Sahih (Darussalam) meaning that they are not being punished for a difficult matter for them, but it is an easy matter. Sahih al-Bukhari 218 meaning by transmitting the words of people from one to another to cause corruption between them and to divide them. They said: Why did you do this, O Messenger of Allah? He said: Sahih al-Bukhari 6052 In this is clear evidence for the establishment of the punishment of the grave, and that it may be cut off or alleviated. Some of the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) derived from this that it is befitting to place a fresh palm branch on the grave, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did with these two graves. But this derivation is very weak, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not place the two palm branches, or the single palm branch, on the grave of every person who was buried. Rather, he placed it on these two graves that were being punished. So placing something like this on a grave proves a bad opinion of the owner of the grave and that he is currently being punished.
And then it is a religious innovation (bid'ah), because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did something for a specific reason, it does not imply that it is general for everything, but only for what is established for that specific reason. And this reason is not a known matter such that we know that this man is being punished in his grave, so we place the palm branch on him. Rather, the punishment of the grave is unknown. Therefore, it is forbidden to place flowers, or branches, or palm branches on the grave, because all of that is from religious innovations (bid'ah). And if it is intended to alleviate the punishment from that grave, it becomes a bad opinion of its owner. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the righteous, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. The methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the life of the barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection) is that when a person is buried and his companions leave him, two angels come to him, sit him up, and ask him three things: Who is your Lord? What is your religion? And who is your Prophet? Allah makes firm those who believe with the firm word in this worldly life and in the Hereafter. May Allah make us and our Muslim brothers among them.
The believer says: My Lord is Allah, my religion is Islam, and my Prophet is Muhammad. As for the hypocrite, he says: Ha, ha, I do not know; I heard people saying something, so I said it. Then the believer remains in bliss in his grave, and the hypocrite remains in punishment in his grave. The punishment is originally upon the soul, and therefore he feels the punishment even if his body is torn apart and eaten by wild beasts. Sometimes the soul connects with the body, and the punishment is upon both the soul and the body. All matters of the Hereafter are unseen matters, and we do not know anything about them except through revelation. Therefore, it is not befitting for us to delve deeply into questioning them, because we will reach a closed door, and we will not reach any details except through the Book and the Sunnah. It is established in the two Sahihs from Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by two graves and said:
They are being punished but they are not being punished for anything major.
إنهما ليُعذّبان وما يُعذّبان في كبيرOne of them never saved himself from being soiled with his urine, while the other used to go about with calumnies (to make enmity between friends).
أما أحدهما فكان لا يستبرئ من البول وأما الأخر فكان يمشي بالنميمةIt is hoped that their punishment may be abated till those two pieces of the leaf get dried.
لعلّه يخفّف عنهما ما لم ييبساAnd then it is a religious innovation (bid'ah), because when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did something for a specific reason, it does not imply that it is general for everything, but only for what is established for that specific reason. And this reason is not a known matter such that we know that this man is being punished in his grave, so we place the palm branch on him. Rather, the punishment of the grave is unknown. Therefore, it is forbidden to place flowers, or branches, or palm branches on the grave, because all of that is from religious innovations (bid'ah). And if it is intended to alleviate the punishment from that grave, it becomes a bad opinion of its owner. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh.