The Physical Punishment of Sinners in The Grave

Samurah Ibn Jundub narrated: The Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu alaihi wasallam) often used to ask his Companions: “Has any one of you seen a dream?” So whoever Allah wished to do so would tell of a dream he had seen. One morning, he told us: “Last night, two persons came to me (in a dream), and said to me: ‘Let's go!’ So I set off with  them,  and  we came  to  a man  who  was  lying down, with another man standing  over him holding a big rock. He was throwing the rock down on the other man's head, smashing it. The rock rolled away, and the thrower went after it and brought it back. By the time he came back to the man, his head has been restored, then he proceeded to do the same thing again. I said, 'Subhan-Allah! Who are these two?' (My two companions) said to me: 'Go on, go on!'.

 “So we went on, and came to a man lying flat on his back, with another   man standing over him holding and iron hook.  He put the hook in one side of the man's  mouth  and tore off that  side of his face to the back  (of his neck),  and  then  tear  his nose  likewise from front  to back, and  his eye from  front  to back, and  then do the same on the other  side of the man's face. He had hardly   finished on the second side, when the first side was restored, so he went back and started again. I said: 'Subhan-Allah! Who are these two?' (My two companions said: ‘Go on, go on!'.

“So we went on, and came across something like a Tannur [a kind of oven: usually a pit lined with clay for baking bread]. - I think he said:  In it there was much noise and voices. - We looked into it, and inside it were naked  men and  women,  with flames coming up to  them  from  underneath; When the  flames reached them,  they cried  loudly.  I asked, 'Who are these?' (My two companions) said: 'Go on, go on!'.

“So we went on and came to a river- I think  he said: red  like  blood-   and  in  the  river  there  was  a man swimming,  and  another   man  on  the bank  who had gathered  many  stones. The man who was swimming came to the one who had gathered  many stones, and opened  his mouth,  and  the  man  on  the  river-bank placed  a stone  in his mouth.  The man in the river swam away, and then came back, and every time he came back, he opened his mouth and a stone was put in it. I asked (my two companions), 'Who are these two?' and they said to me, 'Go on, go on!'.

 “So we went on, and came to an ugly man, with the most repulsive appearance you have ever seen. Beside him was a fire, and he was kindling it and running around it. I asked: 'Who is this?'  (My two companions) said to me: 'Go on, go on!'.

“So we went on, and came to a garden of deep green dense vegetation, with all sorts of spring colours.  In the midst of the garden there was a very tall man, so tall that I could hardly see his head.  Around   this man were more children   than   I had ever seen.  I asked:  ‘Who is this? Who are they?' My two companions said: 'Go on, go on!'.

“So we went on until we came to a huge garden, bigger and more magnificent than any I have ever seen. My two companions told me: 'Go  up into  it',  so we went  up  into  it,  to  a city  built  of gold  and  silver bricks. We came to the gate of the city, asked for it to be opened, and we were admitted.   There  we met men with  one  half  of their  bodies  as handsome   as any you have ever seen, and  the other  half as ugly. My two companions  told them: 'Go and throw yourselves  into  that   river' - there  was  a river  flowing through  the city, with water  as white  as milk. They went and did as they were ordered, and came back with all trace of ugliness removed, in the best form.

“My two companions told me: ‘This is the Paradise of 'Adan (Jannah 'Aden- Garden of Eden), and that is your place' - and I looked up and saw a palace like white clouds! My two companions said to me: 'That is your place'.  I said to them:  'May Allah bless you both!  Let me enter it.  They said:  'Now (is not the time) for you to enter it'.

I said: 'I have seen many wonders tonight.  What is (the meaning of) all that I have seen?' They said: 'We will inform you: The first man whom you saw having his head smashed with a rock,  is the man  who  studies  the  Qur'an   but neither recites nor acts upon it, and who  sleeps  and  neglects the  prescribed   prayers ...The  man  you  saw having  his face  torn   from  his  mouth,   nose  and  eyes,  front  to back,  is the  man  who  goes  out  of  his  house   in  the morning  and  tells so many  lies that  it spreads  all over the world.  The  naked  men  and  women who were in something like a Tannur are the adulterers  and adulteresses,  and  the man  whom  you  saw swimming  in the river and having stones thrown  in his mouth  was one who used  to consume Ribas  (usury).  The ugly­ looking man you saw kindling the fire and walking around it is Malik, the gatekeeper of Hell. The tall man in the garden is Ibrahim, and the children around him are all the children who died in a state of fitrah [i.e. the natural - born state of mankind].

Some of the Muslims asked: “O Messenger of Allah!  What about the children of the Mushrikin [pagans]?” The Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu alaihi wasallam) said:

“The children of Mushrikin (are there) too. And the  people  who  appeared   half  handsome  and  half ugly were those  who  had  mixed a good  deed  with a  bad  deed,  but  Allah  forgave  them”. [Reported by Al-Bukhari].

In another report: “Tonight I saw (in a dream) two men who came to me and took me to a holy land. Then he mentioned it and said:  We went on and came to a hole like a Tannur. Its upper part was narrow and its lower part was wide. The bottom of it was filled with fire. When the fire flared up, it lifted up the people inside, so that they nearly came out of the top, and when the fire died down, they went back inside. In this hole were naked men and women. We went  on until  we came  to  a river  of blood -  a man was standing  in the middle  of this  river, and  on the bank there was a man who had some stones in front of him.  The man in the river would approach him, but when he tried to climb out, the man on the bank put a stone in his mouth, and pushed him back. Every time the man  in the  river  tried  to come  out, the one on the bank  threw  a stone in his mouth  and sent him back ... They brought  me to a tree and took me into a house more beautiful  than  any I have ever seen, in which there  were old men and  young  men …

The one whom I saw with his mouth  being torn, was the liar who spoke lies which spread  from him until it reached the horizon;  they will continue doing this to him  until the Day of Resurrection ... The one whom I saw with his head  being smashed  is the one whom  Allah  taught   the  Qur'an,   but  be slept  (and failed to recite it) at night,  and  failed to act upon  it during  the day; they will continue  doing  this to him until the Day of Resurrection.  The first house which I entered   is a house for all the believers, and the (second) house is the house of the martyrs … 'I am Jibril and this is Mika'il. Look up!' So I looked up and above me I saw something   like clouds.  They said:

'That is your place'. I asked: 'Let me enter my place'. They said: 'There is still some time for you to complete; when you have completed it you will come to your place'.”[1]