Question:

In reference to your answer: Is The Prophet (PBUH) alive in his grave?, What does that actually mean?

Does it mean that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not pass away and the Sahabah (May Allah be pleased with them) buried him alive?

Isn't everybody alive in their grave i.e. everyone is questioned in their grave? And in a hadith, I think, it is mentioned that the deceased reply to the salam of the visitor by their grave.

So in what state is the Prophet (peace be upon him) be alive in his grave when he has passed away from this world?

Answer:

He, peace and blessings upon him, passed away from this Worldly life, the way any person would pass away that is his blessed soul was removed from his blessed body. Despite the soul being taken to the al-Rafeeq al-Aalaa (a special heavenly station) there remains a close connection with the blessed body in the grave.

The life of the Prophets in the Barzakh is different to other believers due to this strong link that exists between their souls and their earthly bodies. Some of the details of this existence we have been told about, for example, that their real bodies do not at all deteriorate and that they are able to, as mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim in Zad al-Ma`ad, perform acts of worship with their earthly bodies in their graves because of that stronger attachment between the body and the soul.

It is narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) offers Salah in his grave with that real body, see Zad al-Ma`aad p.49. It is narrated in Sahih Muslim hadith 6158, that the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, said: "I passed by Musa a.s. on the night I was transported (Isra and Miraaj), near the red hill, he was standing up and praying in his grave."

It is also narrated in the Musnad of Abu Ya`la, that Anas r.a. said that the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him said: "The Prophets are alive in their graves offering Salah." The chains of these narrations are both sound. It was due to such narrations that the vast majority of the Ummah, including its greatest scholars, held the belief the Prophets are alive in their graves.

One must realise we are talking about an existence that is far from our experience and understanding, thus we can only speak with certainty about it in a way that has been explicitly mentioned in the sacred texts. These texts state the Prophets, peace and blessings upon them, are alive in their graves. Thus to deny this life of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, merely on the basis of one's intellect which is by its nature highly limited, is not the way of the Ahl-ul-Sunna. Rather, we believe that revelation comes before intellect. And the texts mentioned above and in the previous answer you refer to, i.e the revelation on this issue, are clear that all the Prophets are physically alive in their graves, and may Allah's peace and blessings be upon them all. Ameen.

Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.