Can the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) hear thosewho call upon him whenhe is in his grave?

Some people believe that the Prophet Muhamamd [(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him)] is "Shaheed" and is in BArzakh where he can hear
us if we send 'darood' on him and also if we ask his 'wasta' [by
virtue of his closeness to Allah]in praying to God.
Praise be to Allaah.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is alive in
his grave in the sense of thelife of al-barzakh, so he enjoys the
blessings that Allaah has prepared for him as a reward for his great
good actions that he did in this world. But the life in the grave is
not like the life of this world, or the life in the Hereafter. Rather
it is thelife of al-barzakh which comes in between his life in this
world and his life in the Hereafter. Hence we know that he died as
other Prophets and other people beforehim died. Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"And We granted not to any human being immortality before you (O
Muhammad); then if you die, would they live forever?"
[al-Anbiya' 21:34]
"Whatsoever is on it (theearth) will perish.
And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honour will remain forever"
[al-Rahmaan 55:26,27]
"Verily, you (O Muhammad) will die, and verily, they (too) willdie"
[al-Zumar 39:30]
And there are other verses which also indicate that Allaah caused him
to die. Moreover, the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them)
washed him, shrouded him, offered the funeral prayer for him and
buried him; if he had been alive in the worldly sense, they would not
have done the same as is done for others who die.
Faatimah (may Allaah be pleased with her) asked Abu Bakr (may Allaah
be pleased with him) for her inheritance from herfather (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) because she was convinced that he had
died, and no one among the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them)
differed withher concerning that. Rather Abu Bakr (may Allaah be
pleased with him) responded to her request by saying that nothing
could be inherited from the Prophets.
The Sahaabah agreed unanimously to choose akhaleefah for the Muslims
to succeed the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
and that wasdone with the appointment of Abu Bakr (may Allaah be
pleased with him) as khaleefah. If the Prophet(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) had been alive in a worldly sense, they would not
have done that. So this indicates that there was consensus among them
that he had indeed died.
When the tribulations (fitan) and problems increased during the time
of 'Uthmaan and 'Ali (may Allaah be pleased with them both), and
before and after that, they did not go to his grave to consult him or
ask him for a way out of those tribulations and problems, or the way
to solve them. If he had been alive in a worldly sense, they would not
have overlooked that when they were in such great need of someone to
save them from the trials that surrounded them.
With regard to the soul of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), it is in the highest part of 'Illiyyeen,because he is
the best of creation, and because Allaah has given him al-waseelah
which is thehighest position in Paradise.
The life of al-barzakh is aspecial life. The Prophetsand the shuhada'
(martyrs) are alive in al-barzakh as the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: "The Prophets are alive and they pray in
their graves." (Narrated by al-Mundhiri and al-Bayhaqi who classed it
as saheeh because of corroborating reports in al-Saheehayn.)
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And say not of those who are killed in the way of Allaah, 'They are
dead.' Nay, they are living, but you perceive (it) not"
[al-Baqarah 2:154]
This is a special life, the nature of which is known to Allaah. It is
notlike the life of this world in which the soul remains with the
body.
The basic principle concerning the dead is that they do not hear the
words of the living sons of Adam, because Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning):
"but you cannot make hear those who are in graves"
[Faatir 35:22]
Allaah confirmed that those whom he (the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him)) was calling to Islam could not hear, by
likening them to the dead. There is nothing inthe Qur'aan or in the
saheeh Sunnah to indicate that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) can hear every du'aa' or call from human beings.
Rather it is proven that the only thing that reaches him (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the blessings and salaams of those
who send blessings and salaams upon him. This was narrated by Abu
Dawood, 2041, with a hasan isnaad from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be
pleased with him) who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: "There is no one who sends salaams uponme
but Allaah will restore to me my soul so that I may return his
salaams." This does not mean that he hears the words of the one who
sends salaams. Rather it is possible that he comesto know of those
salaams when the angelsconvey that to him. If weassume that he hears
thewords of the one who sends salaams, this is an exception from the
general rule, as in the case of the dead hearingthe footsteps of those
who carry his bier, and as in the case of the slainkuffaar in the well
at Badr who heard the call of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) when he said to them: "Have you found
your Lord's promise to be true? For we have found our Lord's promise
to be true." (See Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah, 1/313, 318, 321).
With regard to calling upon the Prophet (peaceand blessings of Allaah
be upon him) and askinghim directly, this is the essence of shirk
which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was sent
to forbid and to fight against its people. For more details on the
ruling on that, see Question no. 10289 , 11402 , 1439 . We ask Allaah
to bring the Muslims back to the rightpath. And Allaah knows best. May
Allaah send blessings and peace upon his Prophet Muhammad and his
family and companions.21524