Punishment of the Grave: Difference between revisions

According to a hadith transmitted in ʿIlal al-sharaʾiʿ from Imam ʿAli (a), punishment of the grave is occasioned by gossiping, urination, and a man’s withdrawal from his wife. In a footnote in Bihar al-anwar, a man’s withdrawal from his wife is interpreted as misconduct and mistreatment, and urination is interpreted as carelessness about cleanliness.

In reference to these hadiths, Shaykh ʿAbbas Qumi believes that much of punishment of the grave arises from these three factors. Other things that might occasion such punishment include:

Mistreatment of one’s family: according to a hadith from the Prophet (s), the reason for Saʿd b. Maʿadh’s punishment in the grave was his mistreatment of his family.

Taking the prayer lightly: according to a hadith cited in ʿAli Mishkini’s al-Mawaʿiz al-ʿadadiyya, indolence in performing the prayers leads to the tightness and pressure of the grave.

Wasting God’s blessings: according to a hadith, a believer’s punishment in the grave is an expiation of the blessings he has wasted.

Moreover, based on hadiths, punishment of the grave is occasioned by gossiping, not being protected by the guardianship of the Infallible Imams (a), failure to help the oppressed, and saying the prayers without wuduʾ (ritual washing). In the book Jamiʿ al-saʿadat, if one’s mother is not satisfied with him, his throes of death and punishment of the grave will be more intense.

Love of the Prophet’s Household (a): according to a hadith from the Prophet (s) in Bihar al-anwar, love of the Prophet (s) and his Household is useful on seven occasions, one of which is in the grave.

Performing particular supererogatory prayers: according to hadiths cited by Sayyid b. Tawus in his Iqbal al-aʿmal, performing particular supererogatory prayers in Rajab and Shaʿban months removes punishment of the grave.

Being buried in Najaf: according to Hasan b. Muhammad Daylami in his Irshad al-qulub, there are hadiths to the effect that the soil of Najaf removes punishment of the grave and the interrogation by Nakir (the Denier) and Munkar (the Denied).

Recitation of the Quran: there are hadiths about virtues of Quranic suras to the effect that recitations of certain suras remove punishment of the grave, including the persistent recitation of Sura al-Zukhruf and Sura al-Nisaʾ on each Friday and recitation of Sura al-Takathur when speeling.

Performing the full rukuʿ in the prayer

Performing the Night Prayer

A woman’s tolerance of her bad-tempered or poor husband

A woman’s renouncement of her right to the mahr (dower) in favor of her husband

 

According to Imam Khomeini in his book, Sharh chihil hadith, the criterion for how long punishment of the grave would last is the extent of one’s this-worldly attachment and one’s love of this world. Accordingly, the less the worldly attachment the wider the grave (or barzakh) and the shorter the stay therein.

In Sunni sources of hadith, a hadith is attributed to the Prophet (s) to the effect that a deceased person would be punished in the grave when his or her family and relatives cry for him or her. The hadith was transmitted by the Second Caliph and his son ʿAbd Allah b. ʿUmar. However, ʿAʾisha said that they did not accurately transmit the hadith from the Prophet (s), since what the Prophet (s) had actually said was: “the deceased person is punished for his sins in the grave, while his close ones are crying for him at the time.” According to Nawawi, a commentator on Sahih Muslim, Sunni scholars dispute over how this hadith should be interpreted. Some take it to pertain to those deceased persons who willed that people cry for them after their death, while others believe that punishment of the dead because of what the survivors do does not square well with the verse, “No bearer shall bear another’s burden.”

There is a controversy over whether punishment of the grave is suffered by the worldly body or by a barzakh body. According to the majority of theologians and philosophers, upon death the human soul will attach an imaginal body (a body resembling the worldly body, except that it lacks its matter and its features such as weight and mass). Nevertheless, Sayyid Murtada and Sadid al-Din Himmasi Razi, two Imami theologians, allegedly hold that upon death the soul returns to the physical body, and the pressure of the grave is experienced by the worldly body. According to ʿAbd al-Razzaq Lahiji, those who believe that the soul does not survive the physical death hold that punishment of the grave is solely experienced by the body, but those who believe that the soul survives the physical death maintain that upon death the soul returns to the body, and punishment of the grave is either experienced by the soul only or by the soul and the body both.

According to Abu-l-Hasan Ashʿari, the founder of Ashʿarite School, there is a dispute among Muslims as to punishment of the grave. In his view, the majority of Muslims believe in such punishment, while he attributes the denial of this punishment to Muʿtazilites and Khawarij. In his Tabaqat al-Muʿtazila, Ibn Abi-l-Hadid quotes Qadi-l-Qudat as saying that since Dirar b. ʿUmar, a student of Wasil b. ʿAtaʾ, did not believe in punishment of the grave, the view came to be attributed to all Muʿtazilis, while they generally endorse such punishment, with only a few of them having doubts about punishment of the grave. However, the majority of Muʿtazilis who believe in punishment of the grave attribute it to the soul rather than the physical body.

According to what ʿAllama Majlisi has quoted from Shaykh Bahaʾi, the following verse has been adduced in books of theology as evidence for punishment of the grave: “They will say, ‘Our Lord! Twice did You make us die, and twice did You give us life’.” The argument runs as follows: the first death is in this world and the second death is in the grave, and the first case of giving life is in the grave and the second case is on the day of resurrection. According to ʿAllama Majlisi, some Quranic exegetes such as ʿAbd Allah b. ʿUmar Baydawi and Fadl b. Hasan Tabarsi in his Jawamiʿ al-jamiʿ interpret the above verse as follows: the first death is before the formation of the sperm and the second is after its formation. The first account is also attributed to Fadl b. Hasan Tabarasi in his Majmaʿ al-bayan and to Fakhr Razi.

ʿAllama Majlisi has also interpreted the term “wretched life” in the Quranic verse “But whoever disregards My remembrance, his shall be a wretched life, and We shall raise him blind on the Day of Resurrection” as punishment of the grave.

Moreover, in Majmaʿ al-bayan (written in sixth century AH) some exegetes are quoted as saying that in the verse “We will punish them twice, then they shall be consigned to a great punishment” one of the two punishments is that of the grave and the other is that of the resurrection. According to ʿAllama Tabatabaʾi, a Shiite exegete of the Quran (d. 1360SH), the verse “the Fire, to which they are exposed morning and evening. On the day when the Hour sets in, Pharaoh’s clan will enter the severest punishment” implies that Pharaoh’s clan would be exposed to the fire first, and then they would enter the fire, where the former can be interpreted as punishment of the grave and the latter as punishment after the resurrection.

Punishment of the grave has been discussed in books such as Shaykh ʿAbbas Qumi’s Manazil al-akhira (Stations of the afterlife), Muhammad Shujaʿi’s ʿUruj ruh (The ascent of the spirit), and Niʿmat Allah Salihi Hajiabadi’s Insan az marg ta barzakh (Man from death to barzakh). Moreover, independent works have been devoted to punishment of the grave, including:

Tahqiqi Qurʾani wa-riwayi darbara adhab qabr (A Quranic and hadith-based investigation of punishment of the grave) by Mahdi Farbudi, which was published in 1386SH.

ʿAlam qabr: raz buzurg (The world of grave: the great mystery), by Jabir Ridwani.