None escapes the squeeze of the grave

11-11-2007 | IslamWeb

Question:

Is it right that no person will escape the squeeze of the grave, even the righteous believers?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.

 

No one escapes the squeeze of the grave: young or old, wrongdoer or righteous, as indicated in many narrations.

On the authority of Ibn ‘Umar the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, stated that even Sa‘d Ibn Mu‘aath to whose death the Throne of Allaah shook, and for whom the gates of the heavens opened and whose funeral was witnessed by 70 thousand angels, was squeezed by the grave and then released. [An-Nasaa'i] On the authority of Abu Ayyoob the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, having buried a young boy said that had anyone escaped the squeeze of the grave, it would have been that boy. [At-Tabaraani] It is known that a young by does not sin (i.e. he is not accounted for what he does).

Ar-Ramli stated that no one escapes the squeeze of the grave, whether righteous or wrongdoer, but the difference between a Muslim and a non-Muslim is the continuity  of the squeeze - for a Muslim this happens only once when the person first enters the grave, then afterwards the grave loosens again, but a non-Muslim continually experiences this. Moreover, Muslims vary in their experience according to their deeds.

Allaah Knows best.