Part 15

They said, "That is your dwelling." I said, "Then let me enter my dwelling." They replied, "You still have a life which you have not yet completed — when you have completed it then you will enter your dwelling."'47 This is an authentic sahih hadith which vividly describes some of the punishments of the grave, as the scholars have interpreted it. Avoiding Punishment in the Grave This matter has two approaches, one general and one specific. As regards the general approach, we can avoid punishment in the grave by obeying the commands of Allah and by refraining from wrong actions. We should be pleasing to Allah in this world in order to avoid the punishment of the grave, as well as that of the next world. As we have seen in the above hadith, the Prophet described some of the (disobedient) people who are punished in the grave including liars, slanderers, hypocrites, adulterers and usurers. As regards the specific approach, there are a number of sayings of the Prophet which indicate how we can avoid punishment in the grave: Salman al-Farsi related that the Prophet said, "Keeping watch for a day and a night (during jihad) is better than fasting for a whole month and standing in prayer every night. If a person dies (while doing this), it will be as if his action continues and he will go on receiving his reward for it perpetually and he will be saved from the punishment of the grave."48 Fudalah Ibn Ubaid related that the Prophet said, "Everyone who dies has completed their actions, except for someone who was at the frontier (fighting in the Way of Allah) — whose actions will continue to go on increasing until the Day of Rising and who will be safe from the trials in the grave."49 Al-Miqdam Ibn Ma'd Yakrib related that the Prophet said, "The martyr receives six blessings from Allah: he is forgiven as soon as the first drop of his blood is shed; he is shown his dwelling in the Garden; he is protected from the punishment in the grave; he is kept safe from the Greatest Terror; he has placed on his head a crown of honour, a ruby of which is better 47 al-Bukhari, 3/251-252. 48 Muslim, 13/61; Al-Tirmidhi, 7/162; Al-Nasa'i', 6/39. 49 Abu Dawud, 2483; Al-Tirmidhi, 7/123; Ahmed, 6/20; Al-Hakim, 2/144. than the world and what it contains; he is married to seventy-two wives of the maidens with large dark eyes; and he is made intercessor for seventy of his relatives."50 50 Al-Tirmidhi, 7/161; Ibn Majah, 2799; Ahmed, 4/131. FIVE THE DAY OF RISING So far we have considered the agonies of death and the punishment in the grave for wrongdoers, but more terrifying than these are the standing before Allah on the Day of Rising, His questioning us about all the things we did in the life of this world, the setting up of the Balance — and then the Sirat, the bridge over the Fire which must be crossed in order to enter the Garden on the Day of Judgement, and which is described in the ahadith as being narrower than the blade of a sword, thinner than a hair and with obstacles on it to block wrong-doers and plunge them into Jahannam (the Fire of Hell). Some will cross the Sirat into the Garden like lightning or like the wind, some with ease, some with difficulty and some with great difficulty — and some will fall down into the Fire waiting below. These will be terrifying moments on the Day of Rising — and you must know about them and believe in them and reflect carefully and deeply about them in order to prepare yourself for them. You must be aware of the Day when you will be resurrected from the grave, bewildered by the sound of the Trumpet being blown. Allah says: ( The Trumpet will be blown and those in the heavens and those in the earth will all lose consciousness, except those Allah wills. Then it will blown a second time and at once they will be standing upright, looking on. ) (39: 65). Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said, "Between the two blasts of the Trumpet there will be forty." People asked, "O Abu Hurairah! Forty days?" I refused to reply. They asked, "Forty years?" I still refused to reply and added, "The whole of the human body wastes away and perishes except for the coccyx — and from that bone Allah will bring the whole body back to life."51 You must think about all the creatures — about their abasement and sorrow, waiting for Allah to judge between them. How will you be when the heavens and the earth are transformed — when the earth is darkened and people are waiting naked and barefooted, with their eyes fixedly staring in horror?