We are working on the 2 nd of the 3 principles of Thalathul Usool which is 'What is your religion?' There are 6 pillars of faith in Islam and we are on the 5 th pillar which is 'Belief in the Last Day'. Included in Belief in the Last Day are: 1. Belief in Resurrection 2. Belief in the re accounts and recompense 3. Belief in Jannah (paradise) and Naar (Hell fire) 4. Trial of the Grave. 5. Punishment of the grave and the delight/pleasure. We have already discussed the first 3. Today we will talk about Trial of the Grave & the Punishment of the grave and the delight/pleasure. Trial of the grave: Prophet (SAW) taught us a dua that we should say during the prayer before Salam and after Tashhud: I seek refuge from fitna til kabar Fitna means a deception/ test or trial where the person doesn t know the answer until he s given firmness by Allah (SWT). Everyone will have the trial of the grave. What is Fitna til Qabar? Fitna til Qabar is the trial through the two angels who will question the dead person (Usool As Salas): 1. Who is your Lord? 2. What is your religion? 3. Who is your Messenger? Messengers, martyrs & Siddiqeen (the Truthful) will not have this trial. After the questioning, people will be divided into two groups: 1
1. Allah will give them firmness (only believers). They will be very firm and will answer the questions without hesitation. 2. The one who are unfair/unjust to themselves. Instead of believing is Allah alone, their belief in other things is more than Allah. The test is about our faith (to believe in Allah as our Lord, Perfect one). Zualimeen will be mislead them by Allah because of their actions in their life. How people will be misled? The misled people can be divided into two groups: Al Kafir Al Muanafiq Al Kafir (the disbelievers): Includes anyone who disbelieves in Allah (Mushrik as well). They are the ones who concealed the truth and openly declared it. The day when the above questions will be asked, they will reply: I don t know. Al Munafiq (the hypocrite): He is dual faced. Apparently he is a Muslim but actually he s a disbeliever. His acts are not truly for the sake of Allah. Fulfillment of the pillars of Islam is for the sake of people. In order, people say that he s a Muslim. When he ll be questioned by the angels in the grave (usool as salaas), he will reply: I don t know but I heard the people say, My Lord is Allah and I said it and they used to say my messenger is prophet Muhammad (SAW) and I said it, just to imitate the people. 2
Punishment of the grave and the delight/pleasure of the grave: Grave, for some people it can be a punishment/torment and for others a delight/pleasure. For the believers after they have been asked the question, they will have (delights of the grave) wheras the Zualimeen, after not answering the questions, they will have (punsihment of the grave). Evidence of (punishment of the grave) from Quran and Sunnah: We need evidence because there are people who don t believe in the punishment or the delight of the grave. Surah Al An am Ayah 93: And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allah or says, "It has been inspired to me," while nothing has been inspired to him, and one who says, "I will reveal [something] like what Allah revealed." And if you could but see when the wrongdoers are in the overwhelming pangs of death while the angels extend their hands, [saying], "Discharge your souls! Today you will be awarded the punishment of [extreme] 3
humiliation for what you used to say against Allah other than the truth and [that] you were, toward His verses, being arrogant." Surah Ghafir Ayah 46: The Fire, they are exposed to it morning and evening. And the Day the Hour appears [it will be said], "Make the people of Pharaoh enter the severest punishment." Sahih Muslim Hadith 6859 The Prophet (SAW) said: The people who invoke others with Allah, are passing through the ordeal in the graves. If it were not for the fact that you would stop burying your dead in the graves, I would have certainly made you hear the sound of the torment in the graves,which I hear. Evidence of (Delights of the grave) from Quran and Sunnah: There grave will be like a garden of Paradise. It will be very wide Surah Fussilat Ayah 30: Indeed, those who have said, "Our Lord is Allah " and then remained on a right course the angels will descend upon them, [saying], "Do not fear and do not grieve but receive good tidings of Paradise, which you were promised. There is a Hadith of Prophet (SAW) which states that after the true believer will answer the questions of the angels, a caller will call from the heaven that My servent has said the truth, make his grave furnished from paradise and clothe him in a garment from 4
paradise and open for him a door to paradise. The breeze and fragnance of paradise will come and his grave will be widened till his eyes can reach. Belief in the Day of Judgement is one of the pillars of Islam. After belief in Allah it s obligatory to believe in the Day of Judgement. There are people who deny the resurrection. They say that its not logical that a person who s dead can be resurrected, how he will be questioned and given punishment. How to answer the people who deny the resurrection? There are 5 evidences in the Quran that Allah is able to bring life to dead bodies: Evidence 1: Surah Al Baqarah Ayah 55 And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we will never believe you until we see Allah outright"; so the thunderbolt took you while you were looking on. 5
Evidence 2: Surah Al Baqarah Ayah 73 So, We said, "Strike the slain man with part of it." Thus does Allah bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you might reason. Evidence 3: Surah Al Baqarah Ayah 243: Have you not considered those who left their homes in many thousands, fearing death? Allah said to them, "Die"; then He restored them to life. And Allah is full of bounty to the people, but most of the people do not show gratitude. Evidence 4: Surah Al Baqarah Ayah 259: 6
Or [consider such an example] as the one who passed by a township which had fallen into ruin. He said, "How will Allah bring this to life after its death?" So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years; then He revived him. He said, "How long have you remained?" The man said, "I have remained a day or part of a day." He said, "Rather, you have remained one hundred years. Look at your food and your drink; it has not changed with time. And look at your donkey; and We will make you a sign for the people. And look at the bones [of this donkey] how We raise them and then We cover them with flesh." And when it became clear to him, he said, "I know that Allah is over all things competent." Evidence 5: Surah Al Baqarah Ayah 260: And [mention] when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead." [ Allah ] said, "Have you not believed?" He said, "Yes, but [I ask] only that my heart may be satisfied." [ Allah ] said, "Take four birds and commit them to yourself. Then [after slaughtering them] put on each hill a portion of them; then call them they will come [flying] to you in haste. And know that Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise." This is a transcript of a lecture given by Sister Eman al Obaid. We ask Allah subhana wa ta ala for His forgiveness and His Mercy. Anything that is good from these notes is from Allah subhana wa ta ala. Any mistakes & misrepresentations are my own. I ask Allah subhana wa ta ala for His forgiveness and to put forgiveness in the hearts of those who read them. JazakAllah Khairan. 7