Does the earth consume the bodies of the prophets and the martyrs?

The questioner : His EminenceThe Shaykh : Does the earth consume the bodies of the prophets and the martyrs, and is it better to use the miswak with the right hand or the left hand?

The Shaykh : Yes, two questions. The standard is one, but one person can answer twenty issues according to his base, and the question is one. Do you allow him to proceed? Fine.
As for the answer to the first question, which is: Does the earth consume the bodies of the prophets? The answer is: It does not consume the flesh of the prophets. This is confirmed from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he informed his companions that whoever prays upon him, his prayer is presented to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). They said: Have you become crumbled? Meaning, have you turned to dust? He said: This is specific to the prophets. They are the ones about whom we are certain that the earth does not consume anything of them, meaning that they remain as they died, completely. As for the martyrs, the truthful ones, and the righteous ones, the earth may not consume some of them as a favor to them. Otherwise, the original state is that it consumes them, and nothing remains except the coccyx, which is the lower part of the spine. In it is a small bead resembling a date pit or smaller. By the permission of Allah, the earth does not consume it; it remains as a seed for the bodies when they are revived in the resurrection, as came in that hadith. For Allah the Exalted has made a cause for every thing, otherwise He is able to create the human being even if nothing remains of his first body. But some of the truthful ones, or the martyrs, or the righteous ones may be found whom the earth does not consume as a favor to them.
Some people told me that when they wanted to build a wall around this town, Unaizah, they dug for the foundation of the wall and came upon a grave. They found the owner of the grave dry; the earth had eaten his shroud, and he was dry, and nothing was missing from him, even his beard was curled and dyed with henna, and it was as it had been, not having fallen off. A pleasant fragrance emanated from him for which there is no equivalent in this world. The judge in the town at that time was 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman Babtin (may Allah have mercy on him), who has a marginal note on *al-Rawd al-Murba'*. They came to the Shaykh and said: The case is such and such, and we have dug and come upon this grave, so what should we do? Should we leave it as it is or move it? He ordered them to leave it as it is and to bend the wall behind or in front of it; I do not know now. This is evidence that the earth may not consume the bodies of some people. The important thing, the most important thing, is that a person be granted ease in his grave, whether the body remains or not. I ask Allah to make me and you among those granted ease in their graves.