Sunnah Daily سُنَّة

Death and the grave

Chapter 13 · about 14 min read

In short

  • Every soul will taste death. Only Allah knows when and where. Death is not the end. It is a door to the next life.
  • For the believer, the angels come at death with good news of Allah's mercy, so meeting Allah becomes the thing they love most.
  • After death comes the barzakh: the life between this world and the Day of Resurrection.
  • In the grave, two angels ask three questions: who is your Lord, what is your religion, and who is this man. Allah keeps the believer firm, and their grave becomes wide, full of light and open to Jannah.
  • What helps most: tawhid, salah and good deeds, asking Allah for protection from the punishment of the grave, and staying away from what Nabi ﷺ warned about.
Take the short lessonsThe key points of this chapter, a few screens at a time, with a quick check at the end.

Every soul will taste death

Allah says: every soul will taste death, and you will be paid your reward in full on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is kept away from the Fire and entered into Jannah has truly won1.

  • No one knows when or where. No soul knows in what land it will die2.
  • Life and death are a test. Allah created death and life to test which of you is best in deeds3.
  • We return to Him. We belong to Allah, and to Him we return4.

This is not meant to scare you. For a believer, death is a door, not an end. When a funeral passed by, Nabi ﷺ said: a believer is relieved by death from the hardship of this world, and goes to Allah's mercy5.

Remembering death keeps life in its true size. Nabi ﷺ said: remember often the thing that ends all pleasures, meaning death6. And he told Ibn Umar: be in this world as if you were a stranger, or a traveler7.

This chapter is about what we believe happens at death and after. For what to do when someone is dying, and washing and shrouding the body, see Before and after death. For the funeral prayer and burial, see The Janazah prayer, burial and grief.
Sources for this section
  1. 1(Quran 3:185)
  2. 2(Quran 31:34)
  3. 3(Quran 67:2)
  4. 4(Quran 2:156)
  5. 5(Bukhari 6512)
  6. 6(Tirmidhi 2307)
  7. 7(Bukhari 6416)

The moment of death

Allah has an angel for this. The Angel of Death, who is put in charge of you, will take your soul, then you will be returned to your Lord8. Allah's messengers take the soul, and they never fail in their task9.

  • Death can be hard on the body. Even Nabi ﷺ, as he was dying, wiped his face with water and said: la ilaha illallah, death has its pains. Then he raised his hand and kept saying: with the highest companions, until he passed away10.
  • So pain at death is not a sign that Allah is angry. It happened to the best of creation.

Good news for the believer

Nabi ﷺ said: whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him. Aisha said: but we all dislike death. He explained: when death comes to a believer, he is given the good news of Allah's pleasure and His blessing. Then nothing is dearer to him than what is ahead, so he loves to meet Allah11.

  • Allah says: those who say our Lord is Allah and then stay on the straight path, the angels come down to them: do not fear, and do not be sad, and receive the good news of Jannah12.
  • The angels take them in a good state, saying: peace be upon you, enter Jannah because of what you used to do13.
  • And to the soul at peace it is said: return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing to Him. Enter among My servants. Enter My Jannah14.

The good soul and the other

Nabi ﷺ described what the angels say at death15:

  • To a good person: come out, O good soul, that was in a good body. Come out with praise, and receive good news of mercy, sweet fragrance, and a Lord who is not angry. The soul is taken up, the gates of the heavens open for it, and it is welcomed by name.
  • To an evil person, the angels give bad news instead. The gates of the heavens do not open for that soul, and it is sent back down.
  • Abu Hurairah also reported that the believer's soul is met by two angels, carried up with a sweet scent, and the people of the heavens send blessings on it16.

The wish to go back

When death comes to someone who wasted their life, they say: my Lord, send me back, so I may do good in what I left. Allah says: no. And behind them is a barrier until the Day they are raised17. Allah tells us this now, while we still have time: give, and do good, before death comes18.

Thinking well of Allah

  • Three days before he died, Nabi ﷺ said: let none of you die except while thinking well of Allah19.
  • Whoever's last words are la ilaha illallah will enter Jannah20.
Sources for this section
  1. 8(Quran 32:11)
  2. 9(Quran 6:61)
  3. 10(Bukhari 6510)
  4. 11(Bukhari 6507)
  5. 12(Quran 41:30)
  6. 13(Quran 16:32)
  7. 14(Quran 89:27-30)
  8. 15(Ibn Majah 4262)
  9. 16(Muslim 2872)
  10. 17(Quran 23:99-100)
  11. 18(Quran 63:10)
  12. 19(Muslim 2877)
  13. 20(Abu Dawud 3116)

Barzakh: the life between

The ayah above says: behind them is a barrier until the Day they are raised21. The Arabic word is barzakh: a barrier, a space in between. It is the life from death until the Day of Resurrection.

  • The barzakh is real, but it is part of the unseen. We believe what Allah and His Messenger told us about it, and we do not guess beyond that.
  • It is not this life, and not yet the Hereafter. Nabi ﷺ said: the grave is the first stage of the Hereafter. If a person is saved there, what comes after is easier22.
  • Each person is shown their place. When anyone dies, they are shown their final place, in Jannah or in the Fire, morning and evening, and told: this is your place until Allah raises you on the Day of Resurrection23.
  • Martyrs. Allah says those killed in His way are not dead. They are alive with their Lord, and given provision24.

The word grave in these hadith means this stage after death. Scholars explain that it reaches every person who dies, even someone who was never buried, like someone lost at sea. Allah is able to do all things.

Sources for this section
  1. 21(Quran 23:100)
  2. 22(Tirmidhi 2308)
  3. 23(Bukhari 1379)
  4. 24(Quran 3:169)

The questioning in the grave

Nabi ﷺ said: when a person is laid in their grave and the people walk away, he hears the sound of their footsteps. Then two angels come to him, sit him up, and ask him25.

The three questions

  • Who is your Lord? The believer says: my Lord is Allah.
  • What is your religion? The believer says: my religion is Islam.
  • Who is this man who was sent to you? The believer says: he is the Messenger of Allah26. In another report: I testify that he is the slave of Allah and His Messenger27.

Asked how he knew, the believer says: I read the Book of Allah, believed in it, and accepted it as true28.

Allah keeps the believer firm

Allah says: Allah keeps firm those who believe, with the firm word, in this life and in the Hereafter29. Nabi ﷺ said this ayah is about the grave: the believer is sat up and testifies that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah30.

The answers are not something you can memorize at the last minute. They are the life you lived. The one who lived with Allah as their Lord, Islam as their way, and Nabi ﷺ as their guide, Allah makes firm on that Day.

  • The two angels. One hasan report names them Munkar and Nakir31.
  • The one who did not believe says: I do not know. I just said what people were saying32.
  • Help your brother. After a burial, Nabi ﷺ would stand at the grave and say: ask forgiveness for your brother, and ask Allah to keep him firm, because he is being questioned now33.
The full story: at the graveside with Nabi ﷺ

Al-Bara ibn Azib said: we went out with Nabi ﷺ for the funeral of a man from the Ansar. The grave was not ready yet, so Nabi ﷺ sat down, and we sat around him as still as if birds were on our heads. He had a stick in his hand and was scratching the ground.

He raised his head and said, two or three times: seek refuge with Allah from the punishment of the grave.

Then he told them about the questions, and the believer's answers. Then a caller calls from the heaven: My servant has spoken the truth. So spread for him a bed from Jannah, dress him from Jannah, and open for him a door to Jannah. Its breeze and fragrance come to him, and his grave is made wide as far as the eye can see34.

What this teaches us

  • Nabi ﷺ used a real funeral to teach. A burial is a time to think about our own grave, quietly.
  • The answers the believer gives are simple: Allah, Islam, the Messenger. Live by them now.
  • He did not stop at the warning. He ended with the beautiful reward of the one who answers well.
Sources for this section
  1. 25(Bukhari 1338)
  2. 26(Abu Dawud 4753)
  3. 27(Bukhari 1374)
  4. 28(Abu Dawud 4753)
  5. 29(Quran 14:27)
  6. 30(Bukhari 1369)
  7. 31(Tirmidhi 1071)
  8. 32(Bukhari 1338)
  9. 33(Abu Dawud 3221)
  10. 34(Abu Dawud 4753)

Blessing and punishment in the grave

Ahl al-Sunnah (mainstream Sunni Muslims) all agree that there is blessing and punishment in the grave. Aisha asked Nabi ﷺ about it, and he said: yes, the punishment of the grave is true. After that, she never saw him pray without seeking refuge from it35. Allah also tells us that Pharaoh's people are shown the Fire morning and evening, before the Hour comes36.

The believer's grave

  • He is shown his place in the Fire and told: Allah has given you a place in Jannah instead. He sees both37.
  • A bed from Jannah, clothes from Jannah, a door open to Jannah, and its breeze and fragrance. His grave is made wide as far as the eye can see38.
  • His grave is filled with light, and he is told: sleep like a newlywed, whom no one wakes except the one dearest to them39.

The other grave

  • The one who did not believe gets the opposite: a door to the Fire, and the grave closes in on him4041.
  • Nabi ﷺ could hear people being punished in their graves. He said: if you would not stop burying your dead, I would ask Allah to let you hear what I hear42.
  • He passed two graves and said the two people were being punished. One was careless about urine on his body and clothes. The other went around spreading gossip to make people fall out43.
You may hear: the grave is a garden from the gardens of Jannah, or a pit from the pits of the Fire. The chain of that exact hadith is weak. But its meaning matches the sahih reports above: for the believer, a wide grave full of light with a door to Jannah, and for the other, the opposite.

How does it happen? This is from the unseen. The body may look still to us, but what happens there is real, in a way Allah knows. We believe it, and we do not ask how.

Sources for this section
  1. 35(Bukhari 1372)
  2. 36(Quran 40:46)
  3. 37(Bukhari 1338)
  4. 38(Abu Dawud 4753)
  5. 39(Tirmidhi 1071)
  6. 40(Abu Dawud 4753)
  7. 41(Tirmidhi 1071)
  8. 42(Muslim 2867)
  9. 43(Bukhari 216)

What helps you in the grave

Nabi ﷺ said: three things follow the dead person to the grave: family, wealth and deeds. Two go back, and one stays. Family and wealth go back. Deeds stay with him44. So the best preparation is simple, and it starts today.

  • Tawhid. Worship Allah alone, and live by la ilaha illallah. That is the firm word Allah makes firm in the grave45.
  • Salah and good deeds. Pray on time, read Quran, be good to people. These are the deeds that stay with you.
  • Ask Allah for protection, every day. Nabi ﷺ told us to say this at the end of salah, after the tashahhud: Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min adhabi jahannam, wa min adhabil-qabr, wa min fitnatil-mahya wal-mamat, wa min sharri fitnatil-masihid-dajjal. O Allah, I seek refuge with You from the punishment of Hell, from the punishment of the grave, from the trials of life and death, and from the evil of the trial of the Dajjal46.
  • Be careful with urine on your body and clothes, and do not spread gossip47.
  • Surah Al-Mulk. Nabi ﷺ said a surah of thirty ayat intercedes for a person until he is forgiven: Tabarakalladhi biyadihil-mulk48. Many Muslims read it every night.
  • Martyrs are kept safe from the punishment of the grave49.

What others can do for you

  • When a person dies, their deeds stop, except three: a charity that keeps giving, useful knowledge, and a righteous child who makes dua for them50.
  • The dua of those who stand at the grave after burial51, and any dua at any time, reaches them. More on this in the Janazah chapter.
Allah is more merciful than we can imagine. The same Lord who tells us about the grave is the One who sends angels to the believer with the words: do not fear, and do not be sad52.
Sources for this section
  1. 44(Bukhari 6514)
  2. 45(Quran 14:27)
  3. 46(Muslim 588)
  4. 47(Bukhari 216)
  5. 48(Tirmidhi 2891)
  6. 49(Tirmidhi 1663)
  7. 50(Muslim 1631)
  8. 51(Abu Dawud 3221)
  9. 52(Quran 41:30)

Common questions

I am scared of death and the grave. Is that bad?
No. Aisha said: we all dislike death53. Some fear is healthy if it moves you to do good. But do not let it become despair. Think well of Allah54, keep your salah, and say the dua after the tashahhud55. If anxiety about death is taking over your days, also talk to someone you trust or a doctor. That is not weak faith.
My life is very hard. Can I ask Allah to let me die?
Nabi ﷺ said: do not wish for death because of a hardship. If you must, say: O Allah, keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and take me when death is better for me56. And please reach out to someone today. You do not have to carry this alone.
What about someone who drowned, or whose body was never found?
Scholars explain that the life of the barzakh reaches every person who dies, buried or not. Allah knows where every soul is. Make dua for them. It reaches them.
Do the dead hear us when we visit their graves?
The Companions discussed this. Nabi ﷺ said the dead person hears the footsteps of the people leaving57, and he spoke to the dead at Badr and said: you do not hear better than they do58. Aisha understood it differently, from the ayah: you cannot make the dead hear59. What is sure: give salam when you visit, and your dua for them reaches them. Ask Allah for them. Do not ask them for anything.
Our little child died. Will they be questioned?
Children are in Allah's care. When Nabi ﷺ lost his baby son Ibrahim, he said: he has a wet nurse in Jannah60. Parents who lose young children are promised great reward, as explained in the Janazah chapter.
Does the punishment of the grave last forever?
The grave is a stage, not the end. It lasts until the Day of Resurrection61. After that come the Judgement, then Jannah or the Fire. See Resurrection and judgement. For believers who sinned, Allah's forgiveness and the intercession of Nabi ﷺ are a great hope.
How can I prepare without becoming gloomy?
Live normally, but with purpose. Pray on time, keep one daily good deed, read Surah Al-Mulk at night, keep your debts and will in order, and make peace with people. Nabi ﷺ loved life, laughed, and worked, and still remembered death often. Both go together.
Sources for this section
  1. 53(Bukhari 6507)
  2. 54(Muslim 2877)
  3. 55(Muslim 588)
  4. 56(Bukhari 5671)
  5. 57(Bukhari 1338)
  6. 58(Bukhari 1370)
  7. 59(Bukhari 1371)
  8. 60(Bukhari 1382)
  9. 61(Bukhari 1379)
Take the short lessonsThe key points of this chapter, a few screens at a time, with a quick check at the end.

This guide teaches what all of Ahl al-Sunnah agree on and notes where the schools of creed differ. For your own questions, ask a scholar you trust or your local masjid.

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