grave. I wanted to know if dead people actually visit or see or feel
each other whilst in the grave.
Praise be to Allaah.
Yes, it is proven that the souls of the believers meet and visit one
another. There follow some of the ahaadeeth which indicate that, as
well as some of the fatwas of the scholars onthis matter.
It was narrated from AbuHurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: "When the believer is dying, theangels of
mercy come to him with white silk and say: 'Come out content and with
the pleasure ofAllaah upon you to the mercy of Allaah, fragrance and a
Lord Who is not angry.' So it comes out like the best fragrance of
musk. They pass him from one to another until they bring him to the
gate of heaven, where they say: 'How good is this fragrance that has
come to you from the earth!' Then the souls of the believers come to
him and they rejoice more over him than any one of you rejoices when
his absent loved one comes to him. They ask him: 'What happened to So
and so, what happened to So and so?' They say: 'Let him be, for he was
in the hardship of the world. When he says, 'Did he not come here?'
They say: 'He was taken to the pit (of Hell).' Whenthe kaafir is
dying, the angers of punishment come to him with sackcloth and say:
'Come out discontent and subject to divine wrath to the punishment of
Allaah. So it comes out like the foulest stench of a corpse. They
bring himto the gates of the earth,where they say: 'How foul is this
stench!' Then they bring him to the souls of the kuffaar." Narrated by
al-Nasaa'i, 1833; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah
al-Saheehah, 2758.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: Does his soul meet with the souls
of his family and relatives? According to the hadeeth narrated from
Abu Ayyoob al-Ansaari and others of the salaf, and narrated by Abu
Haatim in al-Saheeh from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him): "When his soul is taken up it is met by the souls who ask
himabout the living and they say to one another: 'Let him rest.' And
they say: 'What happened to So and so?' And he says: 'He did a
righteous deed.' They say: 'What happened to So and so?' and he says:
'Has he not come to you?' They say: 'No.' They say: 'He was taken to
the Pit (of Hell).'"
And because the deeds of the living are shown to the dead,
Abu'l-Darda'used to say: "O Allaah, I seek refuge with You from doing
any deed that would shame me before 'Abd-Allaah ibn Rawaahah." This is
how they meet when he comes and they ask him questions and they answer
him.
With regard to where they settle, that dependson their status before
Allaah. For the one who is among those who are close to Allaah
(al-muqarrabeen - cf. al-Waaqi'ah 56:88), his status will be higher
than those of the Right Hand (cf. al-Waaqi'ah 56:90). The one who is
higher may descend to the one who is lower but the one who is lower
cannot ascend to the one who is higher, thus they will gather when
Allaah wills as theyused to gather in this world, despite their
differences in status, andthey will visit one another.
That will happen whether their places in which they are buried inthis
world are far apart or close together. Souls may meet even though
their places of burial are far apart, or they may beseparated even
though their places of burial are close together. A believer may be
buried beside a kaafir, but the soul of the former will be in Paradise
whilst thesoul of the latter is in Hell. Two men may be sitting or
sleeping in the same place, but the heart of one is blessed and the
heart of the other is tormented, and there is no connection between
the two souls. As the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said, "Souls are troops collected together and those who got
along with each other (in the heaven from whence they come) would have
an affinity with one another (in this world) and those amongst themwho
opposed each other(in heaven) would also be divergent (in the world)."
Narrated by Muslim, 2638; Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 24/368.
Ibn al-Qayyim said:
The second issue is whether the souls of the dead meet one another,
visit one another and talk to one another.
This is a good question. The answer is that souls are of two types:
those that are punished and those that are blessed. Those that are
punished are too preoccupied with the torment that they are facing to
visit and meet one another, but the souls that are blessed are free
and are not detained, so they meet one another, visit one another and
talk about what they used to do in this world and what happened to the
people of this world. So each soul will be with itsfriends who did
similar good deeds. The soul of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) is with the highest companions.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And whoso obey Allaah and the Messenger (Muhammad), then they will be
in the company of those on whom Allaahhas bestowed His Grace, of the
Prophets, the Siddeeqoon (those followers of the Prophets who were
first and foremost to believe in them, like Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq), the
martyrs, and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are!"
[al-Nisa' 4:69]
This togetherness is confirmed in this world, in al-Barzakh and in the
abode of reward (Paradise), and "A man will be with those whomhe
loves" in these three realms... Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"(It will be said to the pious -- believers of Islamic Monotheism): 'O
(you) the one in (complete) rest and satisfaction!
28. 'Come back to your Lord,-- well-pleased (yourself) and
well-pleasing (unto Him)!
29. 'Enter you then among My (honoured) slaves,
30. 'And enter you My Paradise!'"
[al-Fajr 89:27-30]
i.e., enter among them and be one of them. Thisis said to the soul at
the time of death... And Allaah has told us that the martyrs are: "are
alive, with their Lord, and they have provision" [Aal 'Imraan 3:169];
they "rejoice for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but
are left behind" [Aal 'Imraan 3:170] and "They rejoice in a grace and
a bounty from Allaah" [Aal 'Imraan3:171]. This indicates that they
will meet one another in three ways: (1) they are with their Lord and
are given provision, and if they are alive then they meet one another;
(2) they rejoice at the arrival of their brothers and their meeting
with them; and (3) the word yastabshiroon (translated as "rejoice")
implies that they pass the good news to one another. Al-Rooh, p. 17,
18.
There are ahaadeeth which state that the dead visit one another and we
are commanded to make their shrouds beautiful because of that, but
none of these ahaadeeth are saheeh. For example, the hadeeth of Abu
Qataadah according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: "Whoever takes theresponsibility of preparing his
brother for burial, let him make his shroud beautiful, for they visit
one another in them." Shu'ab al-Eemaan, 7/10.
Its isnaad includes Salamibn Ibraaheem al-Warraaq whom Ibn Mu'een and
al-Dhahabi classed as a liar, as did others.
And Allaah knows best.
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