Munkar and Nakeer

In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.

Answer

Narrated by Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet said, “When a human being is laid in his grave and his companions return indeed he can even hear their footsteps, two angels come to him and make him sit and ask him: What did you use to say about this man, Muhammad ? He will say: I testify that he is Allah’s slave and His Apostle. Then it will be said to him, ‘Look at your place in the Hell?Fire. Allah has given you a place in Paradise instead of it.’ “The Prophet added, “The dead person will see both his places. But a non?believer or a hypocrite will say to the angels, ‘I do not know, but I used to say what the people used to say! It will be said to him, ‘Neither did you know nor did you take the guidance (by reciting the Qur’an).’ Then he will be hit with an iron hammer between his two ears, and he will cry and that cry will be heard by whatever approaches him except human beings and jinns.” [Bukhari]

Abu Hurayrah narrates: “The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) said: ‘When the deceased is buried (or he said: when one of you is buried), there come to him two blue-black angels, one of whom is called Munkar and the other Nakeer. They ask him, ‘What did you used to say about this man?’ and he says what he used to say: ‘He is the slave and Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam): I bear witness that there is no god except Allah and that Muhammad is the slave and Messenger of Allah. They say, ‘We knew beforehand that you used to say this.’ Then his grave will be widened for him to a size of seventy cubits by seventy cubits and it will be illuminated for him. Then they tell him, ‘Sleep.’ He says, ‘Go back to my family and tell them.’ They tell him, ‘Sleep like a bridegroom whom no-one will wake up except his most beloved,’ until Allah raises him up. If (the deceased) was a hypocrite, he says, ‘I heard the people saying something so I said something similar; I do not know.’ They say: ‘We knew beforehand that you used to say this.’ The earth will be told to squeeze him, so he will be crushed until his ribs are interlocked, and he will remain like that until Allah raises him up.’” (reported by al-Tirmidhi, no. 1071)

Only Allah Knows Best

Written by Yusuf Zaman

Checked and Approved by Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham