What Happens in the Grave? The Hadeeth of al-Baraa bin Aazib

The Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam gives us the answer!
Upon the authority of al-Bara' ibn `Aazib who said: We went out with
the the Prophet (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) to a burial of a man
from the Ansar (original inhabitants of Madina) until we arrived at
the grave, and he still had not been placed in the slot of the grave.
Then the Messenger of Allah (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) sat down
and we sat around him. You would have thought that birds were upon our
heads from our silence, and in the hand of the Messenger of Allah
(salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) was a stick which he was poking the
ground with. [Then he started looking at the sky and looking at the
earth and looking up down three times]. Then he said to us: "Ask Allah
for refuge from the torment of the grave", herepeated this command two
or three times. [Thenhe said O Allah I seek refuge in you from the
torment of the grave] [three times]. Then he said: "Verily, the
believing servant, when leaving this life and journeying to the
hereafter angels will descend upon him, their faces will be white as
if they were suns, they will have with them a shroud (kafan) from the
shroud of Paradise), and an embalmment (HanouT) from the embalmments
of heaven. Then, they willsit within eye-shot of him.
Then the angel of death (peace be upon him) will come and sit at his
head and will say "O you virtuous soul; come out to a forgiveness and
a pleasure from your Lord". So it will come out as a drop comes out of
the mouth of a jug (with ease), then he will take it,not leaving it in
his hand for longer that a blink of an eye until they (he and the
other angels) have placed it in that shroud and that embalmment. And
there will emanate from it a smell like that ofthe most sweet smelling
musk on the face of the earth. Then they shall ascend with it, and
they shall not pass with it by any group of angels but they will say:
What is this good and sweet-smellingsoul?. Then they shall say to them
(he is) "such" theson of "such" choosing the best of the names he used
to be called in this life. Until they reach the lowest sky, then they
shall ask permission to enter, and they shall be granted entry, until
they end at the seventh heaven sky, then Allah, exalted and high,
shall say: "write the book of my servant in `illiyeen (1)[And what
will explain to you what Illiyeen is `illiyeen, there is a register
fully inscribed to which bear witness thosenearest to Allah (see
83:18)], and his book will be written in `illiyeen, and the shall be
said"return him to the earth, for [I promised them] I have created
them from it, and into it I shall return them, and from it Ishall
extract (resurrect) them a second time (20:55)". So [he is returned to
earth and] his soul is returned to his body [he said and he will hear
the footsteps of his friends who buried him when they leave him].
Then two [severe] angels shall come and [terrify him and] sit him up
next to them and shall ask him: "Who is your Lord?".He shall reply "My
Lord is Allah". Then they shall askhim: "What is your religion?". He
shall answer them: "My religion is Islam". Then they shall ask him
"Who is this man who was sent among you?". He will reply "He is the
Messenger of Allah (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) peace be upon him".
Then they shall ask him"What have you done?". He shall reply: "I read
the book of Allah, then I believed in it and accepted it". [The angel
will terrify him and ask him "who is your Lord?","what is your
religion?""who is your prophet?", and this will be the last trial on
earth for the believer, it is then when Allah says : "Allah will
establish in strength those who believe with the word that stands
firmin this world", so he will answer my Lord is Allah, my religion is
Islam and my Prophet is Mohammad salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam. Then a
caller will call from the sky: "My slave has spokenthe truth, so
spread out for him from the heaven, and clothe him from the heaven,
and open a door for him from the heaven (within his grave)", so
it'sgoodness and its smell will come unto him, then his grave will be
expanded for him as far as he can see.
Then a man will come to him. His face will be handsome, and his
clothes will be handsome, and his smell will be sweet. Then he shall
say unto him: I bringyou glade tidings of that which will make you
happy [Rejoice with a pleasure of Allah and delights that endure].
This is the day that you were promised (46:16). Then he will say [and
may Allah give you glad tiding] "who are you?, for your face is the
face of someone who comes with good news". He shall reply: "I am your
good deeds, [by Allah, I did not know of you but that you were quick
to the obedience of Allah and slow to His disobedience, so may Allah
reward you good]". Then he shall say: "My Lord bring the hour so that
I might return to my family and my wealth" [itwill be said to him "be
tranquil"].
He (Mohammed, salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: { And the
disbelieving [transgressor/wicked] servant}, if he is leaving this
life and journeying to the hereafter then angels will descend uponhim,
their faces will be black, they have with them a coarse woolen fabric
(sackcloth)[ made of fire]. Then they will sit within eye-shot of him.
Then the angel of death will come and sit at his head and will say "O
you wicked soul; come out to a anger from your Lord and a fury (from
Him)". So it will be distributed (spread out) throughout his body,
then it will be ripped away as a skewer/spit is ripped out of damp
cotton [and in its way out it will tear and cut the nerves and blood
vessels] [and then he will be cursed by all the angels between the
earthand the sky and by all theangels in the sky, and thegates of
heaven are closed. There is no gate in the heaven but its people
supplicate that the wicked soul shall not be ascended to their side],
then he will take it (the soul), not leaving it in his hand for longer
than a blink of an eye until they have placed it in that sackcloth.
And there will emanate from it a stench like that of themost evil
smelling corpse on the face of the earth. Then they shall ascend with
it, and they shall notpass with it by a group ofangels but they will
say: What is this wicked soul?.Then they shall say to them (he is)
"such" the son of "such" choosing the most hated of the names he used
to be called in this life. Until they reach the lowest heaven (sky),
then they shall ask permission to enter, and they shall not be granted
entry. Then the Messenger of Allah (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam)
recited "The doors of the sky are not opened to them, nor shallthey
enter heaven until the camel passes throughthe eye of the needle"
(7:40).
Then Allah, exalted and high, shall say: "write thebook of my servant
in Sijjeen (2)(83:7) in the lowest earth". [Then will be said "return
my slave to the earth, for I promised them I have created them from
it, andinto it I shall return them,and from it I shall extract
(resurrect) them a secondtime (20:55)"]. Then his soul shall be taken
away [from the sky] with a mighty hurl [until it is cast into his
body]. Then he (the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) read: "and
those who associate partners with Allah, They are as one who falls
from the sky then is snatched by the birds or is cast by the wind into
a very low place (22:31)". Then his soul will be returned intohis
body, [he (the prophet) said : verily he will hear the footsteps of
his friends who buried him when they leave him]. Then two harsh severe
and fearsome angels shall come and [terrify him and] sit him up and
shall ask him:"Who is your Lord?". He shall reply "Huh?, Huh (this is
an expression of sorrow), I don't know". Then they shall ask him:"What
is your religion?". He shall answer them:"Huh?, Huh?, I don't know".
Then they shall ask him "Who is this man who was sent among you?". He
will reply"Huh?, Huh?, I don't know [I heard people saying that!]". He
(the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said"And then will be said
to him don't ever know anddon't ever recite!"].
Then a caller will call from the sky: "My slave has spoken falsely, so
spread out for him from the hell fire, and open a door for him from
the hell fire (within his grave)", so its heat and hot wind will come
unto him, then his grave will be contracted upon him until his limbs
are caught up among one another. Then a man will come to him. His face
will be ugly, and his clothes will be ugly, and his smell will bevile.
Then he shall say unto him: I bring you tidings of that which will
harm you. This is the day that you were promised (70:44). Then he will
say [and you, may Allah give you bad tiding] "who areyou?, for your
face is the face of someone who comes with evil". He shall reply: "I
am your evil deeds [by Allah, I did not know of you but that youwere
quick to the disobedience of Allah and slow to His obedience, so may
Allah reward you bad, and then will be assigned to him a blind, deaf
and mute person who holds in his hand a hammer, if a mountain is hit
with it, it would disintegrate, and he will beat him withit until he
becomes dust, and then Allah will render him to his initial form, and
he will beat him again, and he (the wicked) will cry of sorrow and
pain a cry that will be heard by all creatures except humans and jinn,
and a door of hell will be opened unto him within his grave and will
spread out for him sheets of hell fire]". Then he shall say: "My Lord
do not bring the hour".
This hadith is narrated byAhmad Ibn Hambal, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah,
at-Tayalisi, and al-Hakim who said it is according to the standards of
Bukhari and Muslim. This text is the text of Ahmad, all text between
brackets is from the other narrators and other narrations of Ahmad.
Notes
(1) `illiyin: comes from the root word of `uluww which means highness.
It is a place in the (highest) seventh sky where the souls of the
believers are gathered (Ibn `Abbas), it also carries the meaning of a
very high and wide place (Ibn Kathir).
(2) Sijjin: comes from the root word of sijn which means narrowness.
It is a place in the (lowest) seventh earth where the souls of the
unbelievers are gathered (Ibn `Abbas), it also carries themeaning of a
very low and narrow (Ibn Kathir).
Reading the previous hadith one may think that the punishment of the
grave is reserved onlyfor those who did not believe in Allah or
associated with him someone else in worship,lordship, creation or in
his names and attributes. It is not the case! the following authentic
hadith tells us more! so let us read it carefully : Ibn Abbas (Radiya
Allahu `anhuma) says that the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alaihi
wa sallam, once, while passing by two graves, remarked : The inmates
of these two graves are being tortured not for any serious sins, but
in fact they are serious sins. One of them used to carry tales
[gossiping] (nameemah) and the other used not to yastatir(1) when
urinating. [Bukhari and Muslim]
(1) yastatir means both not covering or hiding himself from the sights
ofothers as well as not cleaning himself after urinating.

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