What is the ruling on one who says that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is alive in his grave and that we call upon him?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. This questioner says: "O honorable Shaykh, some people say that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is alive in his grave and that we call upon him. Please clarify this for us. May Allah reward you with good?"

The Shaykh : Yes, we say: What kind of life is it that he claims the Messenger is alive with? Is it the life of this world, which is the life of action, or is it a life in the barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection) that has no parallel in the life of this world? If he says it is the former, meaning the life of this world, then that means the Companions buried their Prophet while he was alive, may Allah protect us from that, and they buried him while he was alive. No one can ever utter such a statement. And if he says he is alive with the life of the barzakh, of which Allah knows best, then we say that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is from the children of Adam, so his deeds are cut off by his death. However, his reward is not cut off, because he said, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him: And every scholar has inherited from his predecessors, and the Ummah has inherited from the scholars. So through whom is this? Through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Accordingly, whatever good the Ummah does, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has a share of it, because his knowledge, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, benefited the Ummah. He is the one who guided to good, and whoever guides to good has a reward like that of the doer. Therefore, it is foolishness for a person to give charity for the Messenger, or to pray two rak'ahs and say "for the Messenger of Allah," or to recite the Qur'an and say "for the Messenger of Allah." This is a mistake and an error. Because we say to this doer: Are you more knowledgeable than the Companions of the Messenger of Allah? He will say: "Me or the Companions of the Messenger?" He will say: "The Companions of the Messenger." Then we say to him: If they are more knowledgeable than you, are you more loving of the Messenger of Allah than they are, or are they more loving? They are more loving, without a doubt. Did any of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, ever perform a good deed and say, "This is for Muhammad, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him"? Absolutely not; this never came from them at all. Then we say: Whatever good deed you perform, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has a share of it. If you pray, the Messenger has a share of your prayer. If you give charity, the Messenger has a share of your charity. If you fast, the Messenger has a share of your fasting. If you perform Hajj, the Messenger has a share of your fasting. Why? Answer, everyone, because he is the one who guided us to this, and the one who guides to good is like the doer. And because we inherited knowledge from him, and it does not cease, and his reward, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, does not cease, because knowledge remains until the Day of Resurrection. So if you say, "I prayed two rak'ahs," and you say, "This is for the Messenger of Allah," that means you have deprived yourself of the reward only, because the reward of your two rak'ahs is established for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) whether you say that this is for the Messenger or not. Accordingly, a person is rewarded for the two rak'ahs for himself with the reward of the action, and the Messenger, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, is rewarded for that with the reward of what? The reward of guidance. So he has a reward like yours. For this reason, the most knowledgeable of the Ummah, who are the Companions, did not do this. That is, they did not perform the action and say, "This reward is for the Messenger." They absolutely did not do this. Yes.