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The Punishment of the Grave

Question:

Does the punishment of the grave affect the spirit or the body?
Answer:

The punishment of the grave is confirmed in the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) as for the Book of Allaah, He, the Most High says: And if you could but see when the Thalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers) are in agony of death, while the angels are stretching forth their hands saying: Deliver your souls! This Day you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of that what you used to utter against Allaah other than the truth. And you used to reject His Ayat (proofs, verses, lessons, signs, revelations etc.) with disrespect. [1] The Fire, they are exposed to it morning and afternoon and on the Day when the Hour will be established, (it will be said to the angels): Place Firawns (Pharaohs) people in the severest torment! [2] As for the Hadiths which mention the punishment of the grave, they are numerous, including the Hadith known to the scholars and lay amongst the Muslims, which worshippers utter in prayer: I seek shelter with Allaah from the punishment of the Hell-Fire, and from the punishment of the grave, and from the trial of life and death, and from the trial of Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal. [3] The punishment of the grave is essentially a spiritual one, but it might also affect the body sometimes, especially at the time of interrogation, when man is asked at the time of his burial who is his Lord, what is his religion, and who is his Prophet, for his soul is returned to his body, but it is the return of Al-Barzakh [4] and it is not connected to the body in the same way as it was during the life of this world. So the deceased is asked about his Lord, his religion and his prophet, and if he is a disbeliever or hypocrite, he will say: Hah! Hah! I do not know! I heard of a man about whom they said something and so I said likewise. Then he will be struck with an iron rod and he will cry out with such a cry that everything except mankind will hear him and if man were to hear it, he would fall down. [5]
[1] Al-Anam 6:93 [2] Ghafir 40:46 [3] Al-Bukhari no. 832 and Muslim no. 589 [4] Al-Barzakh: a barrier; referring to all that occurs when the soul is returned to the body, from the time of death until the Day of Resurrection [5] At-Tirmithi no. 1071 and Abu Dawud nos. 4751 and 4753

Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih al-`Uthaymeen
Fatawa Islamiyah Vol. 1 Page 220

• THE CONDITIONS OF “LA ILAHA ILLA ALLAH
• Buying goods using debit cards
• Haadith Jibril
• Refutation upon the People of Innovation
• The Dajjaal shall be prevented from entering Makkah and Madeenah
• The Virtues of Muharram and Fasting on 'Ashura'
• Waving when giving salaams
• 'An Obligation Cannot Suffice Another Obligation'
• 'Bismillaah' or 'Bismillaah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem'?
• 'I am Flying'