Innal hamdallilah nahmaduhu wa nasta’inuhu wa nastaghfiru wa na’uuzbillahi min shururi anfusina wa min saiiati a’malina main yahdihillahu fala mudillalah wa wamain yudlil fa la hadia lah wa ashhadu an la ilaaha llla Allahu wahdahu la shareekalahu wa ashhadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasooluhu
Verily all praise is for Allah, we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of ourselves and our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, no one can misguide him; and whomsoever He leads astray, none can guide him.
I bear witness that none has the right to worship but Allah. He is Alone without any partner, and I bear witness that Muhammed is His servant and messenger.
Servants of ALLAH, Allah the Almighty has revealed to His Prophet, Salla AllahuAlaihi Wa Sallam, that there are 6 pillars of Iman, of Faith, without believing in them, you would not be a muslim. And among these pillars: To believe in the Day of Judgment, to believe in The Hereafter. Because there are 3 stages that we humans will go through . The first stage is this life, which is ending soon for each and everyone of us and this life is not eternal, yet for it and for its sake, those who are heedless, work day and night. The second stage is The Day Of Judgment, The Hereafter, which is eternal and never ending.
And in between, there is the stage of Al Barzaq, The Barrier : It’s the stage where people will wait in their graves, until the Trumpet has been blown in and they would be resurrected.
And our Topic for today would be about that stage. This grave that we do not see, people in it may have pleasures and blessings and favours and enjoyments from Allah az zawa jal, may Allah make all our graves like this. Yet others fail and would be tormented and would be punished in their graves. And Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, taught us how to seek refuge in Allah from the torment of the grave at the very end of every prayer and all muslims do this.
Uthman ibn Affan, May Allah be pleased with him ,and this hadith was reported in sunnan Tirmithi wa Maajah, whenever he stood by a grave, he used to cry and weep until he wet his beard and his companions asked him, “We mention hell and we mention paradise and you do not cry as you cry whenever you stand by a grave, why is that?
”He said, ”Because I heard the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, say, The grave is the 1st stage of the Hereafter, so whomever Allah makes it easy for him in the grave, then whatever is after that is easier, and whomever Allah az zawa jal makes it hard for him, then whatever is afterwards is even harder.” And Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, said, ”I have never seen anything except the grave is more horrible than that.”These are the words of Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam.
And the muslims believe that people are tormented, are punished in the graves and this is what gave the righteous people and the believers, sleepless nights. Whenever they think of what may awake them in their graves, they are terrified, they are horrified. They do their level best to avoid that. And it is convenient to know some of the sins that Allah would punish those who do them, in their graves.
For example: The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam,and the causes of the torment of the grave are so many but I will mention few, may Allah az zawa jal protect us all from the torment of the grave. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us,” Among the sins, that the people would be tormented in the graves for, is not cleansing yourself. When you urinate you do not protect your body, your clothes from urine splashing back at you. And likewise those who do not clean themselves properly after urinating.
And a footnote would be: This a natural thing that all humans do, so don’t be tempted by shaitan{devil} by spending 5 or 10 minutes in the toilet, cleansing yourself, like many people with OCDs do. This is wrong, this shouldn’t take that long, but at the same time you shouldn’t be heedless and not pay any attention to it. Among the sins that the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam has told us about is backbiting.
Those who backbite will be tormented in their graves. Those who gossip with the intention to spoil the relationship between two muslims, to spread discord among the muslims, they gossip,” He said so and so about you.” And this is known as NAMIMAH, whoever does this would be tormented in his grave.
Likewise Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, told us about what he had seen in the Glorious night journey, when he was ascended to the heavens, he saw people being tormented in their graves and he gave an explanation, a description, so that we can be aware of that and prevent from being among those.
Among those whom he had seen, Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, is a LIAR, a person who lies, while his lie reaches the edges of the earth. What is his punishment? In his grave there will come a man, an angle probably, with a hook of iron and it will b put in the right side of his mouth, his nose and his eyes, and it will be torn to the back of his head and then he goes to the left side and does the same while Allah az zawa jal cures the right side back again. And this would be his punishment till The Day Of Judgment. And what awaits him after that, may Allah protect us from that.
This is a liar whose lies spread, so if he slanders a woman and everybody spreads that amongst the people and if he slanders a Sheikh, a Daee, a normal person and everybody takes it for granted, this is what will happen to him. In the Arab world, in the muslim world, the journalists and those who work in the media has a great deal of this hadith.
Also, among those who will be punished in their graves until the Day Of Judgment, are those who know the Qur’an and yet they oversleeps over mandatory prayers, such as Fajr and Fajr is early these days. How many of us pray Fajr on time? Such as Asr, such as Isha, when Isha is late. What is the punishment for people who do this? And a lot of the muslims do this and say,” We will seek Allah’s forgiveness.
” And Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam says,” The punishment is, that this person lies in his grave and a man brings a huge rock and he smashes his head into pieces and then Allah heals it back and he keeps on doing this until the Day Of Judgment. Have you ever suffered a severe migraine, a severe headache where you feel like pounding your head against a wall? This is nothing compared to what awaits those who oversleep Fajr, Asr or Isha , yet they know the truth.
Among the punishments in the grave, may Allah protect us all, those who deal in Usury, those who deal in Riba, those who consume what Allah az zawa jal has forbidden for them, whether they are lending or borrowing, whether it’s a mortgage in Riba, whether it’s a student’s loan, whether it is your credit card that you keep on buying things and having this interest piling up on you. What is the punishment for those who claim that,” we cannot live except if we follow with the flow and borrow in Riba.” The prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam tells us, that he swims, the person who deals in Riba, whether giving or taking, he swims in the river of blood and he tries hard to reach the shore with an open mouth. Once he reaches the shore, a man throws a big rock into his mouth which he swallows and goes back to the middle of the river trying to swim once again.
Do you love to party? Do you love to have fun? Do you love to have boyfriends and girlfriends? Do you love to enjoy sex? Well the prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us about the punishment in the grave for the fornicators. He told us that there will be a furnace, like a building, wide from the bottom, narrow from the top, men and women, nude who used to fornicate, who used to enjoy their flesh, will be punished in the flesh. The fire would light from underneath, they will go to the top crying and shouting and then the fire is put off and they go back and it starts over and over again.
Those who do not fast in Ramadan, have a great torment in the grave. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us, the punishment for those who break their fast just before Maghrib, he tells us, will be hung upside down, from their ankles and heels, with their mouths torn apart and its bleeding and those who broke their fast before the time was due. So what do you think the punishment for those who miss a day or two. What is the punishment of those who miss the entire month of Ramadan as if Allah is not watching.
Even those who are righteous, even those who are pious, we don’t know what’s in their hearts and the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us about a man, who was his servant, who was, so who we think, martyred in the cause of Allah az zawa jal, killed by an arrow, no one knew who shot that arrow. When the people said, “Masha Allah he’s in paradise.” The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “He’s in hell.”Because he took a cloak , without being distributed by the Imam from the booty of wars. And the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said that it is burning fire in his grave. May Allah protect this.
Now look at those who consume from public money, look at those who embezzle the money of the muslims and take it unlawfully, what do you think they will have in their graves? Even those who borrow for legitimate reasons and without interest, if they do not pay back, or if they do not intend to pay back, they have a problem. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam tells us that those who borrow will be deprived from the pleasures of Allah az zawa jal, in their graves because of their debts and the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said,” Jibreel came to me and said Allah will forgive the martyr every single sin he had done except the debt.” So who among us have debt and he’s not paying it back on time?
The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam tells us that whoever wears his dress, his cloak, his trousers, his pants, below the ankles and he drags them out of arrogance, he will be punished in his grave. Not only that the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us, those who are not kind to animals will be punished in the graves. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam saw a woman admitted into hell because of a kitten she kept, neither she fed it nor she let it go to eat from the insects of the earth. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us this woman was admitted into hell because of this sin.
And likewise, those who kill themselves , those who commit suicide, their punishment in the grave: they will be tortured by the same means they chose to end their lives. So those who stab themselves to death, will be stabbed in their graves till The Day Of Judgment. Those who consume poison, they will consume that poison and they will die on and on and on in their graves until The Day Of Judgment.
Those who throw themselves from a high building, they will be punished with the same punishment in their graves. And those who blow themselves up, ending their lives and the lives of others, claiming that this is for the cause of Allah, they are committing suicide and they will be blown up in their graves until The Day Of Judgment. Who detonated it? Who pushed the button? Who killed you? It was you, and you are committing suicide, regardless of your false intentions or false claims. May Allah protect us all from these torments and the likes of them.
I say what you hear and I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you so ask Him for forgiveness for He is Most Forgiving, The Most Merciful.
Servants of Allah there are people among us who falsify the torment of the grave, who deny such a thing exists. And these people are blinded by the light. The Qur’an states clearly that there is torment in the grave. The Sunnah of the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, proves that to anyone with two eyes who can read or can hear. Yet they deny this because they use their logic, because they talk without knowledge. And whenever a person uses his logic with the Qur’an and with the Sunnah, he will end up with satan in hellfire.
” Why don’t you prostrate to what I have created with My two hands,” Allah az zawa jal says. And Allah has two hands. Why satan did not say,” well I was created by your two hands as well.” Satan said, and he used his logic, he said,” I am better than him, You created him from clay and You created me from fire, that is why I am not going to prostrate.” And look where he ended. So whoever uses his logic, rejecting the Qur’an and the sunnah, he will end up with satan.
They claim, the Hadith states that the dead person in his grave will be made to sit up and he will be tortured or he will be given the pleasure and the bounties of Allah az zawa jal in his grave but whenever we open a grave we don’t see people sitting, we don’t see traces or marks of torture and we don’t see people enjoying in their graves and SubhanAllah how ignorant people are or how ignorant people can be. When two people are asleep next to each other, they both wake up, one says,” I was in a very nice place with gardens and rivers and rain and fruits and women and I was having the time of my life.
” While the other says,” I was chased by lions and tigers, scorpions and snakes and I was beaten to death and I was suffering so much.” Yet when you look at them when they woke up, they look alike. So these things we cannot comprehend because this is from the world of unseen, yet we believe in what Allah has told us and we believe what the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam has taught us about.
And that is why Sheikh Al Islam Ibn Taimmiah said, everyone after death will get his share of pleasure or of torment, whether he’s been eaten by the beasts, lions and tigers, or was burnt into ashes or was drowned in the sea and consumed by fish or anything that happens to him, he will have and receive what Allah az zawa jal and Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam has told us about.
The torment of the grave is continuous for some sins, such as in the case of a person who drags his clothes, below the ankles,{ and this is for males}, out of arrogance, it will be continuous till The Day Of Judgment. Or those who kill themselves, committing suicide, they will be tortured until The Day Of Judgment. Other sins can be for a period of time, either because they have consumed that punishment due to their sins, so after 10, 20 years, a 1000 years, Allah knows how long, it will be stopped or due to good rewards that people offer for them, such as supplication, so if you have someone who’s dead and you want to benefit him: Supplicate and ask Allah for forgiveness, give charity, perform Umrah, perform Hajj on his behalf, all of this reaches that individual as stated by our Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam.
And something that usually confuse themselves about is, the punishment of the grave is not related to the accountability on The Day Of Judgment. People could come with mountains of good deeds yet be punished in their graves. And visa versa, people would come with few good deeds yet they have never committed any of these sins to be punished for in their graves and they will not be held accountable in their graves for such sins. So they are not totally related. And with the grace of Allah az zawa jal, Allah Subhana wa ta’ala, promised those who die in the cause of Allah, in a just and fair Jihad, or those who wait and anticipate, guarding the borders of the muslims, protecting them from the attacks of the enemies, Allah az zawa jal has promised them that they will not have any punishment in their graves. But a lot of us say that this is farfetched nowadays and it is too difficult to attain or reach so is there anything less, well there’s something Allah has given to those whom he chose, without any intervention from our side.
So the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam tells us, whoever dies in the night of Friday, or on the day of Friday, Allah az zawa jal will exempt them from the torment of the grave.
One will claim that people who are not that righteous, sinful people die on Fridays, well this is Allah’s favours , He gives them to whom he wills. Is there something that we can do? Yes there is! The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said that whoever recites Surat Ul Mulk, he said there is a Surah in the Qur’an, 30 Aya, 30 verses, it will intercede for the man who recites it until Allah az zawa jal forgives him, and it is Taba raka’al lazi bi yadi hi’l Mulk. Is it difficult to memorise? I have children, who are 5 and 6 years old who know it by heart.
And every night, before you go to bed, while you are on your bed, make it part of your Adkaar of going to bed. Because this is what Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam used to do, used to maintain reciting it. And all the righteous and knowledgeable people of Islam, and I believe that the majority of you know it by heart. Keep on reciting it and with the grace and favour of Allah az zawa jal, it will protect you, as long as you avoid the things that would make you be punished in your grave.
I ask Allah az zawa jal to benefit me and you from what we have heard and to benefit us from the Qur’an and from the Sunnah.