The passing away of a person is a time of grief and sadness for family members who mourn the loss of a loved one. Yet for the Believer, passing away is the best gift from Allah Almighty and a terrible punishment for those who rejected the Truth. Whilst family and friends carefully tend to the processes of burying a loved one and are busy with the worldly actions of laying somebody to rest, the person who has passed away begins to experience the life Hereafter.
After passing away a good Muslim witnesses beautiful Angels sitting as far as the eye can see, all of whom have beautiful faces and are delightfully fragrant. A bad person witnesses Angels that look frightening and will have a horrific smell.
When a good Muslim is in the process of being buried, the soul of the deceased speaks out asking to be taken quickly to his final abode on this Earth. When a bad person is in the process of being buried, the spirit of the deceased laments and cries out asking where the people are taking him.
The spirit can observe all that is happening around itself and watches all the actions of the people around it. The body also has its own perceptive faculties which are amplified upon death, and that is why the body is handled delicately and sensitively. As soon as the body is finally buried and the last person who walks away from the grave has taken 40 steps, two Angels appear to question and test the faith of the person who is now lying in the grave.
These two Angels are called Munkar and Nakeer who appear as black Angels with blue eyes and long teeth. The questions that are posed to the person in the grave are:
- Who is your Lord?
- What is your religion?
- What did you say about this personality (in reference to holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon Him)?
If the questions are answered correctly, the Angels will take the person’s soul through the Heavens and show Paradise. As soon as the person travels through each celestial layer, the Angels proclaim: ‘Who is this lucky soul? This is going to be your final abode.’ The soul is then taken back to the grave and the Angels say: ‘Sleep like a newlywed bride and you will awake upon the Day of Judgment.’ Once the person awakens again, they will perceive they have only had a brief sleep. The grave itself is expanded for a good Muslim, as far as the eye can see, in each direction and is filled with beautiful fragrance.
If the questions are a struggle and answered incorrectly by a bad person, the person is taken up to the Heavens and the Angels proclaim negative comments about the person such as: ‘What foul soul is this?’ The person is then taken to Jahannam, Hell, instead and is shown their final abode within it and then returned to the grave. Munkar and Nakeer leave, and another Angel who is blind and deaf enters the grave. This Angel continuously beats the person with a metal rod and is unable to see the beating or hear the effects of the beating. A black snake enters the grave to torment that person and this snake has been described as so horrendous and dangerous, that if this snake was to rear its head out of the grave and into this world, nothing else would grow on this Earth again. The grave is constricted, and the ribs are broken to such an extent that the left ribs move to the right and vice versa. There are many other punishments in the grave which have not been detailed in this brief article.
The journey of the soul after it has left this mortal life and this Earth is the journey into its eternal life. This is the journey each one of us should be preparing ourselves for in this mortal life as it is an inevitable and undeniable fact that ‘every soul shall taste death’ and embark on this return to Allah Almighty.
May we all live our lives in goodness and in faith so that we may enter the ranks of the righteous in the Hereafter and be saved from the punishment of the grave and Hellfire.