Session 01: Life in the Grave | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Session 01: Life in the Grave

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَعَاقِبَةُ الْمُتَّقِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ، الَّذِي اسْمُهُ مَكْتُوبٌ فِي الْإِنْجِيلِ وَالتَّوْرَاةِ، أَمَّا بَعْدُ

Allah says in His Noble Book — I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 15; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 44)

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1631)

The Four Stages of Human Life

My dear friends, brothers and sisters — Allah began the inception of our creation far before and way before we were ever in this world.

There was a time that we were not present in this world, but we were already known in the heavens. And then there came a time that Allah gave us a presence in this world. And many of us are unknown in the heavens. And there once again will come a time where nobody in this world — perhaps very few people — will remember our names, but hopefully we are remembered in the heavens once again.

Our journey of life has four stages, and the life begins through the ruh — the soul. The original human being, the origin of our creation, is actually the ruh, the soul, because the body is but a shell — it's a vessel, as Imam Ghazali rahimullah refers to it as a vessel. It's there today, tomorrow it's not there, but we're still alive. Our association to life will never be contingent upon the physical body. It will always be related to the ruh.

Therefore, when a person passes away, though their body is physically there — it's laying there, it's present in every way, shape and form — we will still refer to that person as dead, or as mayyit, or as a person who has passed, because their soul has left their body. So the creation of the human being is associated to their souls, and the moment the soul transitions and transfers, that human also transfers. And we have four stages of life.

Stage One: 'Alam al-Arwah — The Plane of Souls

The first stage of our life was in 'alam al-arwah — the plane of the souls — where all these souls were collected. In Allah's Quran He refers to this:

When Allah gathered all the souls of all the human beings in one plane, in one gathering, and He asked them: do you believe that I am your Lord? And we all responded in the affirmative and said, yes, you are our Lord. Every single one of us responded in this way.

Ali used to say: I remember — I can remember and feel that moment where Allah asked me that question — like I can recall it, because my soul has such a powerful presence in my body that it can remember what it remembered, and I can remember it because of it.

A lot of times our limitations in remembering things is because we are always trying to remember with our mind, and our mind forgets quick. But the heart and the soul do not forget. So sometimes when we meet someone we may not remember their name, but we remember how they made us feel — that's because the soul is the essence of the human being.

The soul was created where everyone was there together. The hadith of the Prophet ﷺ says all the souls were gathered together, and some of them they got along, others didn't get along. And the ones that got along — in this world when they connect, they connect quick. And the ones that didn't get along — we use that as an excuse sometimes, that maybe I didn't get along with you in the heavens, so perhaps I don't get along with you over here. That's not true — you can still get along with each other, but it takes a little bit more effort.

That's because the souls are the essence of existence. If the soul exists, the human being is alive. And the opposite is true as well — if the soul is removed, the body is dead. And as Imam Ghazali says: if a person ignores the presence of their soul while they're alive — in other words, they're saying that you don't exist — and if the soul is not fed the needs that it has and the demands that it has, that means the soul doesn't really exist, that means we're just bodies and zombies walking around because the soul has no presence.

The soul is the essence. Imam Hussain used to say that we are created from two essences: one is the physical self which is made from the dirt, so all of our physical needs come from the dirt:

And our second sense of existence is a soul, and that came from the amr of Allah:

So all of our needs of the soul can only be fulfilled by fulfilling the commandments of Allah. If the body is made from the earth and its needs are fulfilled by the earth, it's quite simple that since the ruh came from Allah's command, our needs for the soul will only be fulfilled by upholding Allah's command. So that was the first stage.

Stage Two: Life in the Womb

The second stage is the stage of the ruh and the body being brought together in the womb of the mother. So now there's body and there's soul — the body is there and the soul is there as well — but they're not fully formed, so we don't necessarily call it a full life. But after the time of four months or 120 days, we know that now that life is a real life, that life is as alive as any one of us that are living. In our tradition, if someone were to hurt that child, there would actually be a penalty for that person. That child is alive because there's soul and body attached. This is called the life of the womb — this is the second stage.

Stage Three: Life in This World

The third stage is the stage of this world, where the soul and the body are completely attached and hence we're able to physically move around, and our soul also has a sense of ease and comfort — it feels things. And the soul is the essence of feeling.

Stage Four: After This World

And the fourth stage of our journey is when we leave this world and the soul separates from our body, and our life continues but in a different form. So these are four stages. We're not speaking about the fifth stage in this class, but there is a fifth stage — and that fifth stage is the life of Jannah for us inshallah as believers, and the life of Jahannam — may Allah protect us all — where the soul and the body are reattached.

Our focus in this class is to begin the journey after the soul departs from the body. While we live in this world, first we have to build the backdrop — that the soul is the essence, the soul is the origin, and the origin has to be given its due rights.

The Moment of Transition: Leaving This World

A person lives in this world with the soul and the body, and Allah gives him life as long as He gives it. And then the time comes — every single person has to leave this world, they have to transition. The word in Arabic would be intiqal — they transition from this world.

The human being does not die — the human being transitions. Allah is the only one, الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ:

He was existing before anything and He will exist after everything. He doesn't have a beginning:

There is no inception to Him, so hence there can never be a conclusion to Him. There was no beginning, so there can never be an ending. The only other creation that is unique is human beings — and someone can add jinns as well — where we have an inception but we actually have no ending. The human being has a beginning, has an ibtida' — we have a beginning where we started our journey — but we actually don't have an ending. And inshallah we'll learn that through this entire class.

The Soul Senses Its Time Coming

The first thing that happens as this person is leaving — in whatever state that person is in — before they leave, they're able to sense their time coming near. This is why you hear stories of many pious people that before they leave this world, they have already sensed it. And if they sense it, they have the chance to fulfill all their demands of this world — if it means giving back someone's loan, paying fidya, asking for forgiveness, and so on. Others — it's fujaa', it comes out of nowhere. But even those people have a sense because the soul — the Quran says that a pious person when he leaves this world, the soul knows his time is coming close, so it's actually jumping out, it's trying to jump out of the body, because it knows that it's going to a beautiful place — it's going to the most beautiful of all places, which is in the presence of Allah.

So the soul a few days before leaving, or some time before leaving, it already feels the time of death coming near. And a believer's soul starts to get excited — like a person before a really important, exciting day of their life. They wake up early in the morning on their wedding day, whatever it may be, because it's an exciting day of their life. So now this soul, since it's excited, it wants to leave. So the person knows that something is about to happen.

The Angels Descend

When this person's time of death comes near, Allah sends down angels. In one narration — a very lengthy narration that comes in Abu Ya'la's Musnad and Ibn Abi Dunya's books as well — when this person is about to leave this world, five hundred angels descend, in one narration five thousand angels:

(Ibn Abi Dunya, Kitab al-Mawt; referenced in Ibn al-Qayyim's Kitab al-Ruh)

And with them are the clothing and the garments of Jannah, and the fragrances of Jannah. And when this person is leaving this world and these angels are coming to welcome this person — he's not afraid — because now the shutters on his eyes are opened up and he can see these angels, and the room is filled with angels.

Sa'd ibn Mu'adh — when he passed away, when he became a shaheed — some companions heard the whispers of the munafiqoon saying that we held his body but his body was very light, you know, it wasn't as heavy, and that was an indication that perhaps he was not a person of great piety and good deeds. So these statements reached the Prophet ﷺ, and he called these companions and he said: have I heard this, is this true that people are saying this? And the companions said yes, some people are saying these things. And the Prophet ﷺ responded by saying: number one, the Arsh of Allah shook out of happiness when Sa'd ibn Mu'adh left this world. And then he said: I saw angels — they were falling upon each other because there was no room for them to stand, they were literally fighting for space. The reason why the body was light is because angels were carrying it — all you were doing was putting your hand over there, it wasn't you, it was angels that were carrying it.

So when a believer is leaving this world — and this is pre-leaving this world, this is before they leave this world — angels descend and they come with these beautiful garments, this amazing smell of Jannah. Imagine living in this world in your last moment and being able to smell the fragrance of Jannah. You at that moment will care nothing about the beauties of this world and you will say, please let me leave, because now I can see the clothing of Jannah, I can see the angels of Jannah, I can even smell the fragrance of Jannah. They come down with this beautiful fragrance:

Beautiful fragrance. And while they're coming down with this beautiful clothing and this beautiful fragrance:

The angels, as this person is leaving, they comfort him. They come around him — or they come around her — imagine five hundred angels. Ibn al-Qayyim says the angels don't have to fit in that area — they line up linearly and vertically as well, so it's not only horizontal, they pile upon each other, because they're made from noor, they don't have physical weight, so they can fit anywhere. But these angels fill up this room.

If you've ever been in a room of a person who has left this world — and a righteous person, may Allah make us all amongst them — there's a sense of peace, there's a sense of pure sakinah. And wallahi that sakinah is not because of us. That sakinah is because now there's a presence of angels. Why does everyone feel peace in Madinah? Because in al-Baqi', in the Prophet's grave, in the Sahaba's graves — because there's always angels there. Angels are set to be in those places. So angels descend and — I'm going to use the example of a hospital bed — they sit next to this person on the hospital bed. And the narration mentions that they massage this person. Like: it's alright, don't worry. And this is what the angels are saying — don't be afraid, don't feel sad, don't feel afraid about what's to come, don't feel sad about what you left.

One of the main reasons why I even undertook the project of going through this entire journey is after my brother passed away, and I was absolutely — even as a scholar — I was intrigued about how much we don't know about the soul, and what actually happens to this person when they leave this world. And once you learn what happens to the soul and the body when you leave, you actually don't feel as afraid of death, because you realize it's not really a death — it's a transition. And they can feel certain things that we don't think they can feel, but they can feel it. And we'll speak about those things in a few minutes as well.

The Soul is Called Forth

The angels come, they sit next to this person, they ease this person, and then they're told the time has come, and now you have to pull this soul from this body and take it out. Now the angels will say to this person:

"Come out, O pure soul" — tayyib means pure — "O pure soul, come to the bliss of paradise, come to the gardens of Jannah, come to the rivers of Jannah, come to the different fruits of Jannah, come into the gathering of angels, come into the gatherings of Allah":

And the soul will start to come, slowly. And the angel of death — the head angel — will be instructed in the way we've been taught:

It says that Allah orders these angels to remove the soul with more gentleness and care than how a mother holds her toddler. So careful, so aware, making sure everything is comfortable. The angels are told: the soul is leaving, but it needs to feel comfortable. And it will only feel comfortable because of your ability of making it feel comfortable. Like, why does the child feel comfortable with the mother? Because the mother made the child feel comfortable. So the angels have the responsibility — with people like you and I — to make our souls feel comfortable. That's their job. Their job is to make sure, if we're amongst the pious — may Allah make us amongst them — that our soul feels comfortable. And the soul leaves with ease.

And as the soul leaves:

Allah tells these angels that you should know that this soul of mine is beloved to me — حَبِيبٌ لِرَبِّهِ وَكَرِيمٌ عَلَى اللَّهِ — and this soul is honorable to Allah, because it lived its life in fulfilling the commandments of Allah. And this soul will leave like a needle leaves a thread — it will be so easy, just a very small pull — and now this soul will leave the body.

I want all of us to just think of this. Imagine sitting in a room when someone is leaving the world, and inshallah — people of piety and people of iman, may Allah make us amongst them — what a tragedy it would be if we learn about this but cannot be amongst them.

Imagine sitting and someone is leaving the world, and as you're sitting there you're imagining this — the angels are coming down, they're welcoming this person, they're telling this person: don't be afraid, it's okay, you're going to a place that will be better for you than anything you've experienced. And don't feel sad.

In one narration it says: when the soul is shown where it's going, the angels literally open up the layers of the akhirah for this person while they're still living, or as they're leaving this world, and they're shown where they're going. They're actually shown it. It's like a screen opening up for them — this is where you're going, brother, you'll be alright:

لَا تَخَافُوا — because of where you're going. But don't feel sad because of who you're leaving.

And then Allah says to them: do you want to return — إِلَىٰ أَهْلِكَ وَإِلَىٰ أَصْدِقَائِكَ — to your friends and your family? Do you want to go back? The person says: no, no, not anymore. What I've experienced now is something that I can never leave.

So Idrees alayhi salam — you know his famous story — when he was given a tour of Jannah, he said: I don't want to leave. So Allah took his soul in Jannah. Because once a person sees that, why would they ever want to leave that place?

Don't feel sad about your loved ones — نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَاؤُكُمْ — we are your friends. So imagine, in that room, these angels are there and they're comforting this person. They're literally massaging this person's arms and their shoulders — be at ease, just chill, relax, you're in good hands, don't fight it, just come:

So when the Prophet ﷺ was leaving this world:

He pointed his hand in the sky and said: I want to go there. When a person understands that they're going to a place where people know them, they don't mind going there anymore. Imagine a situation where someone says to you: let's go to this event, or this gathering, and you respond to your parents — no, I don't want to go, I don't know anyone there, I feel awkward. And then your mom says: no, no — Ahmad is there, or Fatima is there. You're like, oh really? You only know that one person, but because you know that one person, there's an acquaintance, and you now don't mind going anymore. Similarly, when we understand that where our soul is going is a place that we are known — people know us there — it becomes easier to leave. We're not allowed to ask for death, but we should always be comfortable when it comes to us.

Salam Upon the Soul: Four Occasions

Step number one: angels comfort the person. Step number two: angels show this person where they're going and they speak to this person — you're alright. Step number three: the moment the soul leaves the body, what is the first thing the angels say to this person? They say:

There's peace, bliss, and salam upon you. So the person who leaves this world will hear salam on four different occasions — it's referred to in the Quran in four different occasions:

Number one: The moment they leave this world — that first moment, they will hear salam.
Number two: The moment they are in the grave — second time.
Number three: The moment they are raised on the Day of Judgment — they will hear salam again.
Number four: The moment they enter Jannah:

In all these four stages, the angels are greeting us — we're with you, we haven't let you go, we're by your side, step by step we'll be with you.

The Body and the Soul: Separate Journeys

So the soul leaves and the angels congratulate the soul, they welcome the soul. Now the realms are physically disconnected — the soul is going to its own place and the body has to go somewhere else. Where does the body go, and where does the soul go?

The next stage of this journey is the body being placed inside of a grave. A pious person — when their soul gets detached from their body physically — the angels say: be quick, take me to my grave quick, be quick with me. This is why the sunnah is: when a person transitions from this world and passes away, we're supposed to bury them as quickly as possible. Because their stages of the hereafter begin when they're buried.

So the first step is of course the soul leaving our body. The soul is alive — just because the soul has separated from the body does not mean we are dead. We're just transitioning. So now the soul is taken up, and the body is now going to be placed inside of its grave. And as the body is being carried to the grave, the pious people — the angels speak to this body and they say: you don't know what's coming your way, welcome, we're going to be with you. And for the wretched souls, the angels speak to this person and say: how do you feel today? Are you excited about going where you're going? Do you know what's going to come your way? So the angels actually start the build-up. The build-up begins from the moment the soul leaves the body. And the angels say to this person: where are your friends that used to be with you? Where are your limbs that you used to disobey Allah with? Where is your wealth that you used to use against the commandments of Allah? This person can't speak but the build-up is coming.

Where Does the Soul Go? 'Illiyyun and Sijjin

The soul at this point is now taken up — it's elevated:

The soul is taken up to a place called 'Illiyyun. And as the soul goes up, Imam Suyuti rahimullah narrates in his book Sharh al-Sudur that as a soul is being elevated, it goes through each sky. And the angels of the right — Ashab al-Yamin — they're the ones that are actually responsible to take our soul up, because they're extremely careful. In one narration, this soul is wrapped inside — like imagine a beautiful gift box — it's wrapped, it's being carried with so much love. Like a delicate, fragile delivery. The soul is being taken up back to its Creator.

And the soul, as it moves up — it's wrapped in the scent that the angels brought. As it's being carried up, at each sky the angels ask: can I come inside, can I move up? And the angels of that sky — the gatekeepers — they'll ask: who are you, and why do you want to come? And they'll say: oh, we're bringing so-and-so person. And the angels will say: ah, that's what that smell was — it's a person of Jannah. In one narration the angels will say: what is his name, or what is her name? And the angels of the right will say: this person's name is so-and-so. And the angels will respond: ah, we know that name! We know that name, because Allah has been speaking about that person.

You know, when we say Allah's name, Allah says our name. Whenever we sit down and gather and speak about Allah, Allah gathers the angels and speaks about us. Whenever we recite the Quran, Allah boasts about us in front of the angels, and He says our name — He actually says our name. Imagine the honor that a person feels when they're going into the heavens. You know when you enter a large building and let's say it's Google or Amazon and you walk in — "oh, we're waiting for you, welcome, welcome, we know who you are, come, you're being escorted by us, you have special access." That's what's being said to us when we're going up. The angels are literally saying: oh, we know who you are — you come, you're amongst us now. Welcome home, brother. Welcome home, sister. That's what the angels are saying. So each sky the soul is taken up until it reaches this place called 'Illiyyun, which is the loftiest station of the heavens.

This is not Jannah by the way — let's separate the discussion of the sky and Jannah. Jannah is where we will go inshallah when reckoning takes place. But this is the gateway to Jannah — 'Illiyyun. So 'Illiyyun is a place where all the pious souls are enjoying, they're relaxing. And Sijjin is where all the wretched souls are being punished.

The Soul and Body: A Satellite Connection

The soul and the body — I use the example of a satellite. Regardless of where the soul is, it is always connected to the body. It's never disconnected. Even though the soul is in 'Illiyyun or Sijjin, whatever is happening to the body or vice versa is being felt by the opposite. The body feels what the soul feels, and the soul feels what the body feels.

Where is the 'Illiyyun? The 'Illiyyun is at Sidratul Muntaha — the highest part. Underneath that there is a place called Jannatul Ma'wa. In some narrations it says that the 'Illiyyun is a station that is in Jannatul Ma'wa. I call it the waiting lounge of Jannah. 'Illiyyun and Sijjin are connected to what's happening in your grave — yes, so whatever is happening there is happening here too.

So 'Illiyyun is in Jannatul Ma'wa, which is like the waiting lounge of Jannah. All of the types of bliss of Jannah, at smaller levels, are experienced in the 'Illiyyun. Obviously our souls don't have the demands of the body, so we don't want to eat, we don't want to drink. But what does the soul want? The soul experiences all of our feelings. The soul — it has the ability of feeling. Uns comes from the soul — the sense of peace, tranquility, or uneasiness — those are all effects of the soul. Therefore if a person is sleeping and you hit them, they don't feel it, because the soul is not in their body. The soul is what feels — without the soul we don't really feel anything.

So sometimes we become numb to what's happening around us because our souls are dead. The soul has uns. The ruh likes istiraha. Ruh comes from the letters Ra, Waw, and Ha, which literally means peace and ease and comfort. Tarawih comes from the same letters — tarawih is like a rawha, it's supposed to be very comforting because the Quran is being recited. So the ruh wants comfort. And where does the ruh get comfort from?

Where do you feel most comfortable in life, my dear friends? It's one of two answers — there's no third answer. Imam Ghazali speaks about this in this discussion: you feel comfortable around certain people, and you feel comfortable in certain places. Places — you feel comfortable because of what they remind you of. And you feel comfortable around people because the soul is attached to those people. So the child — it doesn't matter what it's experiencing — the child just wants to be around the mother or father, because that's where the child feels comfort. The child doesn't even recognize physically who's who. Just think about the fact — the kid can't even see yet, he's still developing, but the soul of the child still knows what the comfort of the mother's warmth feels like. The soul of the child is already attached to the mother. The soul feels things.

The Reunion in 'Illiyyun

So our soul feels comfortable around specific people and around certain places. And in 'Illiyyun — this is the highlight of the 'Illiyyun, this is what I'm looking forward to, this is what all of us are looking forward to — the highlight of the 'Illiyyun is the moment the gates of the 'Illiyyun are opened, and we are literally being greeted by our loved ones and family. People from our family members — and they're waiting for us — and they will welcome us and they will greet us and they will be so excited. "Oh you've made it! You've made it to 'Illiyyun!" Like a person who has made it somewhere in life and they want their younger sibling or their friend to be there, and when they finally meet — "you made it too, man! Alhamdulillah, we're here together." So literally, the gates of 'Illiyyun open, and because no one knows where the soul is going except for Allah — and Allah tells that person where they're going, the angels — nobody else knows. So the moment this person is brought inside, there'll be a rush around them — "welcome, welcome, how are you doing?"

And Ibn al-Qayyim rahimullah literally says that people will be speaking to the soul, because the soul feels like there's an attachment. "How's this person doing, how's this loved one doing, how's my niece doing, how's my nephew doing?" Because they don't know the knowledge of the unseen — only Allah knows the knowledge of the unseen. And Allah gives it to people — certain aspects of it, of course, not everything.

And the soul is in the warmth of his family and loved ones, or her family and loved ones. In one narration, the Prophet ﷺ says in some books — it's deemed to be weak but extremely comforting — that before the soul finishes meeting everyone that it's meeting, before that gathering is even completed, the Day of Judgment begins. The Day of Judgment begins before that gathering is even completed. Just meeting everyone.

And it's also in that 'Illiyyun where believers meet the Sahabas. Where Fatima meets Fatima. Where Zayd meets Zayd. And where we meet the Prophet ﷺ. Where the soul is brought to the Prophet ﷺ, because all the souls are in one place. It's like the waiting lounge of Jannah — they're just waiting for the Day of Judgment to begin. And they're not really waiting, because they're already enjoying the bliss of Jannah. The windows of Jannah are open for these people. The fragrance of Jannah is brought inside. They're enjoying, just relaxing, and it's just a few seconds away that the doors of Jannah will be open and they will enter Jannah to the Firdaus.

This is why the life of the grave is the most challenging journey of the soul — because once that goes well, everything else also goes well. Uthman — whenever people would speak about the life of the grave, his face would turn pale and he would start weeping. He would say: you know, we talk about Jahannam and Jannah and so on and so forth, but you don't get as affected physically. He says: yes, it's the first stage from the stages of the akhirah. And if it goes well, the rest of the stages will also go well.

And there are narrations — Ibn al-Qayyim rahimullah has multiple narrations — about the people of the 'Illiyyun meeting the Prophet ﷺ. There's a narration about Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal where his son sees him in a dream. He says: how is it going? He says: I just got done meeting the Prophet ﷺ. And one narration is mentioned about Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa — someone asked him: how were you dealt with? He said: I just finished speaking to Allah. Because in the 'Illiyyun, a person is exposed to Allah. Now of course we physically are not there, but our soul is there. So our soul feels the closeness of Allah. Whoever feels the closeness of Allah in this world will be blessed with the closeness of Allah in the akhirah as well, and hopefully we're amongst them.

The Body in the Grave: Reunited with the Soul

So this is what's happening up there — they're connected, but they're two separate things happening at the same time. When is this happening? It's happening in the time before our body is placed inside of the grave. The soul is taken out and it's taken straight over here, and the soul is enjoying the bliss of 'Illiyyun, which is known as Jannatul Ma'wa as well. It's a paradise of waiting — it's like a waiting room — and everyone is there waiting for us, and everyone is there to welcome us.

So imagine if you have a loved one that has transitioned. You have to believe with every hair on your body, every limb on your body, every pore on your body — that when you leave, they'll be waiting for us, they'll be with us, they'll be welcoming us. And our souls will attach. And once again we'll enjoy like we enjoyed in this world.

Now when the body is placed in the grave, the first thing that happens is that the soul gets reattached. Now, does the soul physically get reattached or not? There are differences of opinion about it. But the idea is the soul is attached — like how I said, it's a satellite, regardless of where it is, it's attached to the body. So even if it remains in the 'Illiyyun, it's attached to the body. And why does the soul get reattached? Because now the questioning of the grave begins and the process of our examination starts.

The other narration mentions: no, the soul actually comes back inside the body. The moment this person is buried inside of the grave, Allah reattaches the soul to this person. So they open their eyes. And a believer, when they open their eyes for the first moment, they'll be frightened. And on our right side will be our salat. The salat will say: hey, we're with you. On the left side will be our siyam, and our siyam will say: it's okay, we're here, we got you. And on the back of our head will be our qira'ah — our Quran and our tilawah. And in front of us will be our charity, our sadaqah. Our a'mal will be our companions in the grave.

The Quran says: when a person passes away, three things come with him. The first thing that comes with this person — the three things that come with this person — is his wealth, his family, and his good deeds. His wealth: before he's even placed inside of the grave, his wealth is already being distributed, people are already fighting over it. The family stays for some time — the family, if the person is fortunate, will continue to pray for this person, send them good deeds. And inshallah we should all do that for our loved ones — send them isal al-thawab. And then the third are the a'mal — that will never leave this person's side, they will always remain with this person.

The Angels Munkar and Nakir

And now when the angels Munkar and Nakir come — and in this beautiful narration of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal — when they come to believers, they'll come in the most beautiful state, they'll come with love. The other narration mentions that when they first come, the angel of Munkar and Nakir will be in a very scary state — long hair, narrations talk about their descriptions, but extremely scary. But the moment they come and they start asking questions, our a'mal will speak up for us. And then the angels will realize who we are and they will speak to us with a soft tone. Rather than saying: what is your religion? Who is your Lord? — the tone will change, because now they know that we are believers. So our a'mal will cover us.

Dreams and the Soul's Journey

The soul is over there, the body is in the grave, but they're attached like a satellite. And yes — every single person that leaves is reunited with their loved ones and is reunited with the Prophet ﷺ and the Sahabas, because that's where they all are.

Therefore, when a person sees a dream — if anyone has seen a dream of someone that has passed away — it's because when we sleep, our soul is also taken from our body. Our soul is actually removed from the body and is brought back. This is why we say when you wake up:

We literally say that because we experience a small death when we fall asleep. And in our dreams, if we are experiencing that we're meeting someone, it's actually because our souls are in the 'Illiyyun and we're with them.

Someone once asked a great scholar: what does the 'Illiyyun look like? And he said: the most beautiful place in this world is Madinah — think of Madinah, but whatever else you could add to it. Because we don't really know. None of us have really seen the 'Illiyyun. None of us have seen Jannatul Ma'wa. But you can only imagine how beautiful it is because of the people that are there. We can only — our imaginations can never truly depict what 'Illiyyun looks like. But we know for a fact about the people who are there: the Sahabas, and the Prophet ﷺ, and inshallah our loved ones that have left before us.

And there are no levels in 'Illiyyun — that's for Jannah. 'Illiyyun is all one place. So everyone is in the same place, everyone is enjoying together. And the bodies are in the grave. Now the body and the soul remain attached.

The 'Adhab and Delights of the Grave

So when we talk about the 'adhab of the grave and the punishment of the grave — it's not necessarily only for the body. Yes, the body feels the tightness of the grave — and we'll speak about this next week, that's session two, where we'll speak about what is the 'adhab of the grave and what are the delights of the grave. But the body does feel it. But more importantly, it's the soul that experiences it as well. So the soul and the body experience these things together. But the primary recipient of the ease and comfort, and the discomfort and pain, is the soul. And whatever the soul feels, the body will also feel. So even if the body is scattered all over this world, the body will still feel the same thing, because the soul is what experiences this pain or this peace in Jannah, or in 'Illiyyun, or in Sijjin.

Do They Know When We Visit Them?

The next discussion is: when a person comes to meet us — when we go meet someone that has left this world — do they know we visited them? Do they know that we came to say salam to them? This is for next session as well — I need to keep some cliffhangers. Next session we'll also speak about the three different layers of people who pass away: anbiya', siddiqeen, and shuhada', and how all of their life in the grave is different.

But the simple answer is: every single one of these people — when we go visit them — they know that we went to visit them. And in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sahih Muslim — referenced in Ibn al-Qayyim, Kitab al-Ruh; see also Ibn Abd al-Barr, Al-Istidhkar)

When a person goes to a grave of his sibling or loved one and he says salam to them, the salam is returned to that person. And one narration says:

That this person actually feels the comfort of his loved one coming to visit him. If you can understand that, you'll understand that visiting loved ones is important. Not that it's needed — but it's good to do it. It's good for our hearts, and it's good for them as well.

Questions and Answers

Where Does the Soul Go When We Sleep?

When the soul is taken when we're sleeping, it's taken to an in-between station. It's not in 'Illiyyun, it's not in Sijjin — it's just resting. But sometimes it goes to 'Illiyyun, sometimes it goes to Sijjin — it's given tours of both. And those tours are because of whoever we're meeting. May Allah protect us.

What Happens to the Soul When Someone Is in a Coma?

It's like they're sleeping. So it's the same thing — the soul has been lifted.

Does the Grave Embrace the Deceased?

Yes. When a pious person is coming in — regardless — if it's a pious person, the grave says: welcome, welcome, and it comforts the person. It says: when you were walking on top of me, there was no one else that I wanted to be buried inside of me other than you. I don't want anyone else to come inside but you, because you prayed salat and you gave charity. Like: I don't want anyone else to be with me. That's what the grave says. Now I'll be a place of peace for you. I'll be a home for you. Yes, from looking down all you see is dirt — but inside of that place there's a garden that that person is experiencing, that nothing in this world can give that person. For a disbeliever, the grave embraces it and says: now you're in my control — Allah has given me control of you, however I want to deal with you I will deal with you. It's a very dangerous thing.

Does It Matter Where You Are Buried?

That is an opinion — it's not necessarily true. It doesn't matter where you're buried. The main thing is that people are making du'a for us. It's more important to be buried as fast as possible.

Sources for This Class

This class is based on three different books. One of the books is Ibn al-Qayyim's Kitab al-Ruh. The other book is Imam Suyuti's Sharh al-Sudur. And the third book is by Shaykh Anwar Shah Kashmiri. Because there's no one book that everything is consolidated in, I'm taking from different places. I am working on a book as well that will be about this topic.

Will Everyone Cease to Exist for a Moment?

Yes, that is absolutely true. Everyone — all souls — will cease to exist for a moment. That is only for the moment where Allah exemplifies His power and strength.

How Does a Soul Sense Death?

The scholars of the past write about this — that a soul senses death like how Yaqub sensed the coming of Yusuf. They use that as an example. Like how Yaqub smelt the fragrance of Yusuf — like that fragrance he smelt — this is how the soul knows that death is coming near. It smells the fragrance of the angels coming down and it starts to understand that its time has come close.

Seeking Refuge from the Punishment of the Grave

The Prophet ﷺ used to make this du'a every day — seeking refuge in Allah from the punishment of the grave. No one can deny the punishment — nor the bliss — of the grave. There is no one from the believers, for a Muslim, who does not believe that the grave is actually a stage of the akhirah. And there are multiple ayat that speak about the 'adhab and the comfort of the grave. Fir'aun, for example — he is in the grave, and every day he is shown and he is experiencing the fire of Jahannam, while believers are in the opposite state.