Explanation of the author's statement: Then after this trial - either bliss or punishment
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The Shaykh :"Then either punishment or bliss"
"Then" here indicates simple sequence, not delay, because the person is punished or granted bliss immediately, as previously mentioned: if he says, "I do not know! What is it?", he is struck with a mallet, and the one who answered correctly is opened a door to Paradise and his grave is made spacious for him.
So the author's statement: "Then after this trial" means sequence without delay, unless the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) holds that the immediate punishment or immediate bliss that follows the question and answer is a distinct thing. And his statement: "Then after this trial, either bliss" means the continuous state.
In any case, we say: that after this trial, it is either bliss or punishment until the Day of Resurrection.
Is this bliss bliss for the body, or for the soul? And is it for the body alone, or for the soul alone? Meaning, is it for both the body and the soul together?
We say: what is known among the people of the Sunnah and the community is that originally it is for the soul, and the body follows it, just as punishment in this world is for the body, and the soul follows it.
So in this world, for example, if a man is struck, the pain returns to the body, but the soul suffers internally. You find the person becomes disturbed, his chest tightens, and it is known on his face. So punishment in this world is external, and the internal is a follower of it, which is the soul.
Just as the legal rulings in this world are for what? For the external, and we do not hold the internal accountable for it.
In the Hereafter, it is the opposite. So in the grave, the punishment is for the soul, or the bliss, but the body is affected by this as a follower, not independently. And perhaps the punishment is for the body and the soul follows it, meaning that perhaps the person is punished in his body and its effect appears on the body. But this may not occur except rarely. The original is that the punishment is for what? For the soul, and the body follows. The bliss is for the soul, and the body follows, because the body enjoys when the soul enjoys for it, so it enjoys well.
And his statement: "either bliss or punishment" affirms the bliss in the grave and affirms the punishment in the grave.
And the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) have indicated this. Indeed, we can say: and the consensus of the Muslims.
And let us listen to that from the Book of Allah. Remember the three categories in the end of Surat al-Waqi'ah; you will find them clear in the establishment of the punishment and bliss of the grave.[Al-Waqi'ah 56:83-89] When? Immediately when he dies [Al-Waqi'ah 56:89-94].
And this is an observed matter; sometimes the dying person welcomes those coming to him from the angels. He says: "Welcome!" Sometimes he says: "Welcome, sit here!" As Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in his book "The Soul". Yes. And sometimes he feels that this man has been struck by something frightening, so his face changes at death when the angels of punishment descend upon him, refuge with Allah.
Another proof: Allah the Exalted said:[Al-An'am 6:93] And they are reluctant with their souls, they do not want to look, because they have been informed - refuge with Allah - of punishment and retribution. So you find the soul recoiling, not wanting to look, refusing. For this reason he said: [Al-An'am 6:93] The "al" here is for present presence, like His saying: [Al-Ma'idah 5:3] Today, meaning: the present day. Similarly The "al" here is for present presence, and it means: the day of the presence of the angels to take their souls. [Al-An'am 6:93].
In Surat al-Mu'taqin he said:[An-Nahl 16:32] When? Hmm? At the time of death. [An-Nahl 16:32]. In this state.
For this reason, it came in the authentic hadith:.
So she rejoices with this good news, and comes out obedient and easy, not tiring. Yes. And even if the body may suffer. But the soul is obedient and hopeful. Yes, indeed.
Now, is this in the bliss of the grave or its punishment, the last verse? It is in the bliss of the grave.
In the punishment of the grave also, there is a third verse, which is His saying the Exalted regarding the family of Pharaoh:[Ghafir 40:46]. He said: [Ghafir 40:46] Before the Hour or after? Before, by the proof of his saying: [Ghafir 40:46].
And as for the Sunnah regarding that, it is mass-transmitted, mass-transmitted in the bliss of the grave and its punishment.
And as for the consensus, all Muslims say in their prayer: "I seek refuge with Allah from the punishment of Hell, and from the punishment of the grave." And if the punishment of the grave were not established, it would not be valid for them to seek refuge from it, since there is no seeking refuge from a matter that is not, right? That does not exist. So seeking refuge with Allah from the punishment of the grave by all Muslims indicates that they believe in it.
And in "the two Sahihs" from the hadith of Ibn Abbas he said:Mishkat al-Masabih 338 to the end of the hadith, so that indicates that the punishment of the grave is established, and it is mass-transmitted in the Sunnah.
What remains for us: is the punishment and bliss permanent or does it cease?
It is said: as for the punishment for the disbelievers, it is permanent. The punishment for the disbelievers is permanent and it is not possible for the punishment to be removed from them, because they are deserving of it. Because if the punishment were removed, it would be removed to bliss, and they are not worthy of that. So they are continuously in punishment until the Day of Resurrection, until the Day of Resurrection. Even if the period is long? Even if the period is long, the people of Noah who were drowned[Nuh 71:25] they are still being punished in this fire in which they were put until the Day of Resurrection, and their punishment continues, refuge with Allah. Yes. So the punishment is therefore permanent for the one who died a disbeliever.
As for the sinners among the believers whom Allah the Exalted decrees punishment for, their punishment may last and may not last, and it may be long and may not be long, according to the sins, and according to the pardon of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
And their punishment in the grave is easier than their punishment on the Day of Resurrection, because their punishment in the grave does not have disgrace and shame, but in the Hereafter there is disgrace and shame, refuge with Allah, because the witnesses are present:[Ghafir 40:51].
Now, if someone says: how is this established while we see a person die in the wilderness and is not buried, whether he is a Muslim or a disbeliever? How do we say punishment of the grave?
We say: what is meant by the grave is the barzakh, the interval between this world and the Hereafter. And our naming of it as the punishment of the grave is by way of title, by way of the concept of a title that does not prevent the inclusion of others based on what? Based on the majority, since most of the dead are buried.
Now, if someone says: what if this man is torn to pieces, eaten by wild beasts, and scattered by the winds? How is his punishment? How is his questioning?
The answer is: that Allah Mighty and Majestic is able to do everything, and this is a matter of the unseen, not a sensory matter. So Allah Mighty and Majestic is able to gather these things in the realm of the unseen, even though we see them in this world torn and scattered. But in the realm of the unseen, perhaps Allah gathers them.
These angels - as we mentioned earlier - descend to take the soul of the person in the same place[Al-Waqi'ah 56:85]. And yet, do we see them? Never do we see them.
The Angel of Death speaks to the soul: "Come out, O peaceful soul." He speaks to it, and we do not hear, do we? We do not hear.
Jibril sometimes appears to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and speaks to him with the revelation in the same place, and the people do not look and do not hear. He speaks to him as a man speaks to his companion, and he understands what he says, and the people look but do not see and do not hear.
So the realm of the unseen can never be measured by the realm of the visible, and this is from the wisdom of Allah Mighty and Majestic. Now, your soul that is in your belly, you do not know how it attaches to your body? And how? How is it distributed on the body? And how is this? You do not know. And how does it come out of you when you sleep? Do you feel it? You feel it when you wake up that it returns? And from where does it enter, with the head or with the back or with the leg or with the hand? From where? Yes. So in the realm of the unseen, there is only submission, and measurement is absolutely impossible in it. So Allah Mighty and Majestic is able to gather these scattered parts of the torn body that the winds scattered, and then the questioning and the punishment or the bliss occur, because Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is able to do everything.
Now, if you say: the dead person is buried in a narrow grave, about a hand's width, so how is it made spacious for him the distance of the eye? The same thing, we say: the realm of the unseen is not measured by the realm of the visible. Indeed, if it were assumed that someone dug a hole the distance of the eye, and buried the dead person in it, and covered it over. The one who does not know about this hole, does he see it or not? Of course, he does not see it, and his grave has been made spacious for him the distance of the eye.
Now, if someone were to say: We see the dead body, the body of the disbeliever, when we examine it after a day or two, we see that his ribs have not changed, they have not collapsed from the tightness? What do we say?
We also say: This is from the unseen realm, and it is possible that they are different, but when it is uncovered, Allah releases them and returns everything to its place as a test for the servants, because if they remained collapsed and we had buried him with his ribs straight, then believing in that would be belief in the unseen without proof? Proof? What benefit is there? It is not difficult for Allah, meaning that perhaps at the last moment, when they reach this dead person, his ribs are collapsed and then they return to their place. This is not strange. Yes.
Now, if someone were to say, as the philosophers said, for the philosophers are more embarrassed than the people of the Shari'ah in such questions, they said: We place mercury on the dead body, and mercury is the fastest thing to move and flow, we place it on the dead body, and when we come the next day, we find the mercury as it was. You say that the angels come and sit this man down, the one who sits, how does the mercury remain on him?
We also say, as we said: This is from the unseen realm, and it is upon us to believe and affirm, and it is also possible that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) returns this mercury to its place after it has moved due to the sitting, clear?
The student: It did not move at all. It is permissible that it did not move from the beginning, even if he sat.
The Shaykh : In any case, the known thing is that ... All right.
We also say: Look now at the man in the dream, he sees in the dream things that, if it were according to his seeing of them, he would not remain in his place on the bed, right? Sometimes he sees that he went out with his companions on a trip. Yes. They were riding in a car and they reached the destination, they served lunch and ate lunch, then they played some sports after lunch. Yes. And where is he? In his bed. Right or not? In his bed, and sometimes the dream is true from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and it happens as it was, it happens as it was, as if he is reading it in his sleep. Yes. And yet, we believe in this thing, we believe.
And when a person sees in his sleep what he dislikes, when he wakes up he is distressed, and when he sees what pleases him, he wakes up hopeful and happy, all of this indicates that the matters of the soul are not among the observed matters. Yes, indeed.
"Then" here indicates simple sequence, not delay, because the person is punished or granted bliss immediately, as previously mentioned: if he says, "I do not know! What is it?", he is struck with a mallet, and the one who answered correctly is opened a door to Paradise and his grave is made spacious for him.
So the author's statement: "Then after this trial" means sequence without delay, unless the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) holds that the immediate punishment or immediate bliss that follows the question and answer is a distinct thing. And his statement: "Then after this trial, either bliss" means the continuous state.
In any case, we say: that after this trial, it is either bliss or punishment until the Day of Resurrection.
Is this bliss bliss for the body, or for the soul? And is it for the body alone, or for the soul alone? Meaning, is it for both the body and the soul together?
We say: what is known among the people of the Sunnah and the community is that originally it is for the soul, and the body follows it, just as punishment in this world is for the body, and the soul follows it.
So in this world, for example, if a man is struck, the pain returns to the body, but the soul suffers internally. You find the person becomes disturbed, his chest tightens, and it is known on his face. So punishment in this world is external, and the internal is a follower of it, which is the soul.
Just as the legal rulings in this world are for what? For the external, and we do not hold the internal accountable for it.
In the Hereafter, it is the opposite. So in the grave, the punishment is for the soul, or the bliss, but the body is affected by this as a follower, not independently. And perhaps the punishment is for the body and the soul follows it, meaning that perhaps the person is punished in his body and its effect appears on the body. But this may not occur except rarely. The original is that the punishment is for what? For the soul, and the body follows. The bliss is for the soul, and the body follows, because the body enjoys when the soul enjoys for it, so it enjoys well.
And his statement: "either bliss or punishment" affirms the bliss in the grave and affirms the punishment in the grave.
And the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) have indicated this. Indeed, we can say: and the consensus of the Muslims.
And let us listen to that from the Book of Allah. Remember the three categories in the end of Surat al-Waqi'ah; you will find them clear in the establishment of the punishment and bliss of the grave.
(83) Then why, when the soul at death reaches the throat (84) And you are at that time looking on - (85) And Our angels are nearer to him than you, but you do not see - (86) Then why do you not, if you are not to be recompensed, (87) Bring it back, if you should be truthful? (88) And if the deceased was of those brought near to Allah, (89) Then
فَلَوْلا إِذَا بَلَغَتِ الْحُلْقُومَ وَأَنْتُمْ حِينَئِذٍ تَنْظُرُونَ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْكُمْ وَلَكِنْ لا تُبْصِرُونَ فَلَوْلا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ غَيْرَ مَدِينِينَ تَرْجِعُونَهَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ فَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ فَرَوْحٌ(89) Then [for him is] rest and bounty and a garden of pleasure. (90) And if he was of the companions of the right, (91) Then [the angels will say], "Peace for you; [you are] from the companions of the right." (92) But if he was of the deniers [who were] astray, (93) Then [for him is] accommodation of scalding water (94) And burning in Hellfire
فروح وَرَيْحَانٌ وَجَنَّتُ نَعِيمٍ وَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ فَسَلامٌ لَكَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ وَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ الضَّالِّينَ فَنُزُلٌ مِنْ حَمِيمٍ وَتَصْلِيَةُ جَحِيمٍAnd this is an observed matter; sometimes the dying person welcomes those coming to him from the angels. He says: "Welcome!" Sometimes he says: "Welcome, sit here!" As Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in his book "The Soul". Yes. And sometimes he feels that this man has been struck by something frightening, so his face changes at death when the angels of punishment descend upon him, refuge with Allah.
Another proof: Allah the Exalted said:
And if you could but see when the wrongdoers are in the overwhelming pangs of death while the angels extend their hands, [saying], "Discharge your souls!
وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ الظَّالِمُونَ فِي غَمَرَاتِ الْمَوْتِ وَالْمَلائِكَةُ بَاسِطُو أَيْدِيهِمْ أَخْرِجُوا أَنْفُسَكُمDischarge your souls! Today you will be awarded the punishment of [extreme] humiliation
أَخْرِجُوا أَنْفُسَكُمُ الْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُونِthe Day
اليومThis day I have perfected for you your religion
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْthis day you will be recompensed
اليوم تجزونToday you will be awarded the punishment of [extreme] humiliation for what you used to say against Allah other than the truth and [that] you were, toward His verses, being arrogant."
تجزون عذاب الهون بما كنتم تقولون على الله غير الحق وكنتم عن آياته تستكبرونIn Surat al-Mu'taqin he said:
The ones whom the angels take in death, [being] good and pure; [the angels] will say, "Peace be upon you. Enter Paradise
الَّذِينَ تَتَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ طَيِّبِينَ يَقُولُونَ سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمُ ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَwhom the angels take in death, [being] good and pure; [the angels] will say, "Peace be upon you. Enter Paradise
تَتَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ طَيِّبِينَ يَقُولُونَ سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمُ ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَFor this reason, it came in the authentic hadith:
It is said to the believer, it is said to his soul: Come out, O pure soul, come out to the mercy of Allah and His pleasure
يقال للمؤمن يقال لنفسه : أخرجي أيتها النفس الطيبة أخرجي إلى رحمة من الله ورضوانSo she rejoices with this good news, and comes out obedient and easy, not tiring. Yes. And even if the body may suffer. But the soul is obedient and hopeful. Yes, indeed.
Now, is this in the bliss of the grave or its punishment, the last verse? It is in the bliss of the grave.
In the punishment of the grave also, there is a third verse, which is His saying the Exalted regarding the family of Pharaoh:
The Fire, they are exposed to it morning and evening. And the Day the Hour appears [it will be said], "Make the people of Pharaoh enter the severest punishment."
النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوّاً وَعَشِيّاً وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِThe Fire, they are exposed to it morning and evening.
النَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوّاً وَعَشِيّاًAnd the Day the Hour appears [it will be said], "Make the people of Pharaoh enter the severest punishment."
وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْعَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِAnd as for the Sunnah regarding that, it is mass-transmitted, mass-transmitted in the bliss of the grave and its punishment.
And as for the consensus, all Muslims say in their prayer: "I seek refuge with Allah from the punishment of Hell, and from the punishment of the grave." And if the punishment of the grave were not established, it would not be valid for them to seek refuge from it, since there is no seeking refuge from a matter that is not, right? That does not exist. So seeking refuge with Allah from the punishment of the grave by all Muslims indicates that they believe in it.
And in "the two Sahihs" from the hadith of Ibn Abbas he said:
the Prophet came upon two graves and said, "Their occupants are being punished, but not for a great sin.
مر النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بقبرين، فقال : إنهما ليعذبان، وما يعذبان في كبيرWhat remains for us: is the punishment and bliss permanent or does it cease?
It is said: as for the punishment for the disbelievers, it is permanent. The punishment for the disbelievers is permanent and it is not possible for the punishment to be removed from them, because they are deserving of it. Because if the punishment were removed, it would be removed to bliss, and they are not worthy of that. So they are continuously in punishment until the Day of Resurrection, until the Day of Resurrection. Even if the period is long? Even if the period is long, the people of Noah who were drowned
Because of their sins they were drowned and put into the Fire, and they found not for themselves besides Allah [any] helpers.
مما خطيئاتهم أغرقوا فأدخلوا نارا فلم يجدوا لهم من دون الله أنصاراAs for the sinners among the believers whom Allah the Exalted decrees punishment for, their punishment may last and may not last, and it may be long and may not be long, according to the sins, and according to the pardon of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
And their punishment in the grave is easier than their punishment on the Day of Resurrection, because their punishment in the grave does not have disgrace and shame, but in the Hereafter there is disgrace and shame, refuge with Allah, because the witnesses are present:
Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand -
إِنَّا لَنَنْصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْأَشْهَادُNow, if someone says: how is this established while we see a person die in the wilderness and is not buried, whether he is a Muslim or a disbeliever? How do we say punishment of the grave?
We say: what is meant by the grave is the barzakh, the interval between this world and the Hereafter. And our naming of it as the punishment of the grave is by way of title, by way of the concept of a title that does not prevent the inclusion of others based on what? Based on the majority, since most of the dead are buried.
Now, if someone says: what if this man is torn to pieces, eaten by wild beasts, and scattered by the winds? How is his punishment? How is his questioning?
The answer is: that Allah Mighty and Majestic is able to do everything, and this is a matter of the unseen, not a sensory matter. So Allah Mighty and Majestic is able to gather these things in the realm of the unseen, even though we see them in this world torn and scattered. But in the realm of the unseen, perhaps Allah gathers them.
These angels - as we mentioned earlier - descend to take the soul of the person in the same place
And Our angels are nearer to him than you, but you do not see -
وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْكُمْ وَلَكِنْ لا تُبْصِرُونَThe Angel of Death speaks to the soul: "Come out, O peaceful soul." He speaks to it, and we do not hear, do we? We do not hear.
Jibril sometimes appears to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and speaks to him with the revelation in the same place, and the people do not look and do not hear. He speaks to him as a man speaks to his companion, and he understands what he says, and the people look but do not see and do not hear.
So the realm of the unseen can never be measured by the realm of the visible, and this is from the wisdom of Allah Mighty and Majestic. Now, your soul that is in your belly, you do not know how it attaches to your body? And how? How is it distributed on the body? And how is this? You do not know. And how does it come out of you when you sleep? Do you feel it? You feel it when you wake up that it returns? And from where does it enter, with the head or with the back or with the leg or with the hand? From where? Yes. So in the realm of the unseen, there is only submission, and measurement is absolutely impossible in it. So Allah Mighty and Majestic is able to gather these scattered parts of the torn body that the winds scattered, and then the questioning and the punishment or the bliss occur, because Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, is able to do everything.
Now, if you say: the dead person is buried in a narrow grave, about a hand's width, so how is it made spacious for him the distance of the eye? The same thing, we say: the realm of the unseen is not measured by the realm of the visible. Indeed, if it were assumed that someone dug a hole the distance of the eye, and buried the dead person in it, and covered it over. The one who does not know about this hole, does he see it or not? Of course, he does not see it, and his grave has been made spacious for him the distance of the eye.
Now, if someone were to say: We see the dead body, the body of the disbeliever, when we examine it after a day or two, we see that his ribs have not changed, they have not collapsed from the tightness? What do we say?
We also say: This is from the unseen realm, and it is possible that they are different, but when it is uncovered, Allah releases them and returns everything to its place as a test for the servants, because if they remained collapsed and we had buried him with his ribs straight, then believing in that would be belief in the unseen without proof? Proof? What benefit is there? It is not difficult for Allah, meaning that perhaps at the last moment, when they reach this dead person, his ribs are collapsed and then they return to their place. This is not strange. Yes.
Now, if someone were to say, as the philosophers said, for the philosophers are more embarrassed than the people of the Shari'ah in such questions, they said: We place mercury on the dead body, and mercury is the fastest thing to move and flow, we place it on the dead body, and when we come the next day, we find the mercury as it was. You say that the angels come and sit this man down, the one who sits, how does the mercury remain on him?
We also say, as we said: This is from the unseen realm, and it is upon us to believe and affirm, and it is also possible that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) returns this mercury to its place after it has moved due to the sitting, clear?
The student: It did not move at all. It is permissible that it did not move from the beginning, even if he sat.
The Shaykh : In any case, the known thing is that ... All right.
We also say: Look now at the man in the dream, he sees in the dream things that, if it were according to his seeing of them, he would not remain in his place on the bed, right? Sometimes he sees that he went out with his companions on a trip. Yes. They were riding in a car and they reached the destination, they served lunch and ate lunch, then they played some sports after lunch. Yes. And where is he? In his bed. Right or not? In his bed, and sometimes the dream is true from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and it happens as it was, it happens as it was, as if he is reading it in his sleep. Yes. And yet, we believe in this thing, we believe.
And when a person sees in his sleep what he dislikes, when he wakes up he is distressed, and when he sees what pleases him, he wakes up hopeful and happy, all of this indicates that the matters of the soul are not among the observed matters. Yes, indeed.