Can the soul sense visitors from grave?

CategoriesDeath & Burial [161]

Fatwa ID: 03044

Answered by:  Aalimah Nasima Umm Hamza​

Question:

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

Does the dead person soul see who attends his/her janaza prayers & who buries them?

Is the soul returned to the body every time someone visits the grave to offer their duas.

Would be grateful if you can kindly answer my questions. Also if possible would it be possible to provide any links to read up in English about the soul once the body dies etc.

Answer:

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh

There are many hadiths which indicate that the dead person in the grave can hear the living when they are addressed by them.

At the burial, they hear the footsteps of the leaving attendants:

Allah's Messenger () said, "When Allah's slave is  put in his grave and his companions move away from him, indeed he hears their footsteps…” [[1]]

Ibn Kathir discusses the matter of whether the dead can hear the living in his tafseer of Surah Ar-Rum, Verse 52 [[2]]:

He mentions the Hadith where the Prophet () addressed the dead of disbelievers in the battle of Badr three days after their death-

"When he () halted at the edge of the well, he addressed the corpses of the Quraish infidels by their names and their fathers' names, "O so-and-so, son of so-and-so and O so-and-so, son of so-and-so! Would it have pleased you if you had obeyed Allah and His Apostle? We have found true what our Lord promised us. Have you too found true what your Lord promised you?"

'Umar (ra) said, "O Allah's Apostle! You are speaking to bodies that have no souls!"

Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hand Muhammad's soul is, you do not hear, what I say better than they do."

Ibn Kathir also mentions the narration from Ibn Adbul Barr who narrated the hadith from Ibn Abbas that the Prophet (pbuh) said:

“There is not a person who passes by the grave of his fellow believer whom he used to know in this life, and sends salam upon him, except that Allah (swt) returns his soul to him so he returns his greetings.”

 

Only Allah knows best

Answered By Aalimah Nasima Umm Hamza

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

 

[1] Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith Number 1374

 

[2] Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Surah Ar-Rum Verse 52, Volume 6, Page 291

 

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