Is the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) alive in his grave or not?

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Is the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) alive in his grave or not? And does he know the affairs of this world in his grave? And is this belief shirk (associating partners with Allah) or not?

Answer: Many of the people of the Sunnah have explicitly stated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is alive in his grave with a barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection) life, the essence and nature of which are known only to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). It is not of the same kind as the life of the people of this world, but rather it is another type by which he (peace and blessings be upon him) feels bliss and hears the salam of the Muslim upon him when Allah returns his spirit to him at that time, as in the hadith narrated by Abu Dawud with a good chain from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

If any one of you greets me, Allah returns my soul to me and I respond to the greeting.

ما من أحد يسلم علي إلا رد الله علي روحي حتى أرد عليه السلام

Sunan Abi Dawud 2041Hasan (Al-Albani)

Al-Bazzar also narrated with a good chain from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Indeed, Allah has angels who move about and convey to me the greetings of my Ummah (community).

إن لله ملائكة سياحين يبلغوني عن أمتي السلام

And Abu Dawud narrated with a good chain from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Do not make my grave a festival, nor your houses graves. Send prayers upon me, for your prayers reach me wherever you are.

لا تجعلوا قبري عيدا ولا بيوتكم قبورا وصلوا علي فإن صلاتكم تبلغني حيث كنتم

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There are many hadiths in this meaning, and this barzakh life is more complete than the life of the martyrs about which Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) informed us in His saying:

And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision,

وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ

[Al Imran: 169] and in His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) :

And do not say about those who are killed in the way of Allah, "They are dead." Rather, they are alive, but you perceive [it] not.

وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَنْ يُقْتَلُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتٌ بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ وَلَكِنْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ

[Al Baqarah: 154]. His spirit, may Allah's prayers and blessings be upon him, is in the highest of the heavens with his Lord (Mighty and Majestic), and he is better than the martyrs, so he has a more complete share of this barzakh life than they do. However, this life does not imply that he knows the unseen or knows the affairs of the people of this world, for that has been cut off by death, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

When a man dies, his deeds come to an end except for three things: Sadaqah Jariyah (ceaseless charity); a knowledge which is beneficial, or a virtuous descendant who prays for him (for the deceased).

إذا مات ابن آدم انقطع عمله إلا من ثلاث: صدقة جارية، أو علم ينتفع به، أو ولد صالح يدعو له

Riyad as-Salihin 1383

narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): يذاد رجال يوم القيامة عن حوضي فأقول: يا رب أصحابي فيقال: إنك لا تدري ما أحدثوا بعدك فأقول كما قال العبد الصالح: وَكُنْتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا مَا دُمْتُ فِيهِمْ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِي كُنْتَ أَنْتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَنْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ [المائدة:117] Men will be driven away from my pool on the Day of Resurrection, and I will say: "O my Lord, these are my companions." It will be said: "You do not know what they did after you." I will say as the righteous servant said: "And I was a witness over them as long as I was with them. But when You took me away, You were the Watcher over them. And You are, over all things, a Witness." [Al Ma'idah: 117] agreed upon for its authenticity. There are many hadiths in this chapter, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know the unseen in his lifetime, so how could he know it after his death?
And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said:

Say, "None in the heavens and earth knows the unseen except Allah, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected."

قُلْ لَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ الْغَيْبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ أَيَّانَ يُبْعَثُونَ

[Al Naml: 65]. And He (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded His Prophet to convey to the people:

Say, [O Muhammad], "I do not tell you that I have the depositories [containing the provision] of Allah or that I know the unseen, nor do I tell you that I am an angel. I only follow what is revealed to me." Say, "Is the blind equivalent to the seeing? Then will you not give thought?"

قُلْ لَا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ عِنْدِي خَزَائِنُ اللَّهِ وَلَا أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ وَلَا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ إِنِّي مَلَكٌ إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلَّا مَا يُوحَى إِلَيَّ قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الْأَعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَفَلَا تَتَفَكَّرُونَ

[Al An'am: 50]. And He (the Exalted) said:

Say, "I hold not for myself [the power of] benefit or harm, except what Allah has willed. And if I knew the unseen, I could have acquired much wealth, and no harm would have touched me. I am not except a warner and a bringer of good tidings to a people who believe."

قُلْ لَا أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِي نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ وَلَوْ كُنْتُ أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ لَاسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ السُّوءُ إِنْ أَنَا إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ

[Al A'raf: 188].
The verses indicating that he (peace and blessings be upon him) does not know the unseen are numerous, and likewise for other people, a fortiori. Whoever claims to know the unseen has committed a great lie against Allah, as Aisha, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), said. When some people slandered his wife Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) in one of his expeditions and some of the hypocrites and those who followed them spread it, the Prophet did not know of her innocence until the Qur'an was revealed regarding it. If he had known the unseen, he would have told her and the people that she was innocent and would not have waited for the revelation to come down regarding it. Similarly, when her saddlebag was lost in one of his journeys, he sent his companions to search for it, but they did not find it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know its location until they stood up the camel on which it had been carried, and when they stood it up, they found it underneath it. There are many hadiths regarding this, and what I have mentioned is, if Allah wills, sufficient.

Source binbaz.org.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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