Upon the authority of al-Bara' ibn `Aazib who said: We went out with the the
Prophet (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) to a burial of a man from the Ansar (original
inhabitants of Madina) until we arrived at the grave, and he still had not been placed in the slot of the grave.
Then the Messenger of Allah (salla Allahu alaihi wa
sallam) sat down and we sat around him. You would have thought that birds were upon our
heads from our silence, and in the hand of the Messenger of Allah (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) was a stick which he was poking the ground with. [Then he started looking at the
sky and looking at the earth and looking up down three times]. Then he said to us:
"Ask Allah for refuge from the torment of the grave", he repeated this command
two or three times. [Then he said O Allah I seek refuge in you from the torment of the
grave][three times]. Then he said: "Verily, the believing servant, when leaving this life and journeying to the hereafter angels will descend upon him, their faces will be
white as if they were suns, they will have with them a shroud (kafan) from the shroud of
Paradise), and an embalmment (HanouT) from the embalmments of heaven. Then, they will sit within eye-shot of him.
Then the angel of death (peace be upon him) will
come and sit at his head and will say "O you virtuous soul; come out to a forgiveness and a pleasure from your Lord ". So it will come out as a drop comes out of the mouth of a jug (with ease), then he will take it, not leaving it in his hand for longer that a blink of an eye until they (he and the other angels) have placed it in that shroud and
that embalmment. And there will emanate from it a smell like that of the most sweet
smelling musk on the face of the earth. Then they shall ascend with it, and they shall not pass with it by any group of angels but they will say: What is this good and
sweet-smelling soul?. Then they shall say to them (he is) "such" the son of
"such" choosing the best of the names he used to be called in this life. Until
they reach the lowest sky, then they shall ask permission to enter, and they shall be
granted entry, until they end at the seventh heaven sky, then Allah, exalted and high,
shall say: "write the book of my servant in `illiyeen (1) [And what will expalin to
you what Illiyeen is `illiyeen, there is a register fully inscribed to which bear witness those nearest to Allah (see 83:18)], and his book will be written in `illiyeen, and the
shall be said "return him to the earth, for [I promised them] I have created them
from it, and into it I shall return them, and from it I shall extract (resurrect) them a
second time (20:55)". So [he is returned to earth and] his soul is returned to his
body [he said and he will hear the footsteps of his friends who buried him when they leave
him].
Then two [severe] angels shall come and [terrify him
and] sit him up next to them and shall ask him: "Who is your Lord?". He shall
reply "My Lord is Allah". Then they shall ask him: "What is your
religion?". He shall answer them: "My religion is Islam". Then they shall
ask him "Who is this man who was sent among you?". He will reply "He is the
Messenger of Allah (salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam) peace be upon him". Then they
shall ask him "What have you done?". He shall reply: "I read the book of
Allah, then I believed in it and accepted it". [The angel will terrify him and ask
him "who is your Lord?", "what is your religion?" "who is your
prophet?", and this will be the last trial on earth for the believer, it is then when
Allah says : "Allah will establish in strength those who believe with the word that
stands firm in this world", so he will answer my Lord is Allah, my religion is Islam
and my Prophet is Mohammad salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam. Then a caller will call from the
sky: "My slave has spoken the truth, so spread out for him from the heaven, and
clothe him from the heaven, and open a door for him from the heaven (within his
grave)", so it's goodness and its smell will come unto him, then his grave will be
expanded for him as far as he can see.
Punishment of the Grave; The Hadeeth of al-Baraa bin Aazib
