“When (Allah’s) slave is
put in his grave and his
companions return and he
hears their footsteps,
two Angels come to him
and make him sit…”[1]
This Hadeeth is brought
forth to prove hearing
for the dead, but this
Hadeeth only refers to a
temporary condition at
the time of burial and
it only mentions the
hearing of footsteps and
nothing else.
Another argument put
forth is the Hadeeth
reported in Saheeh
al-Bukharee when, “On
the day of Badr, the
Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam)
ordered that the corpses
of twenty-four leaders
of Quraysh should be
thrown into one of the
dirty dry wells of Badr…”
He (sallallahu alaihi
wa-sallam) halted at the
edge of the well, and
addressed the corpses of
the Quraysh infidels by
their names and their
fathers’ names:
“O so-and-so, son of
so-and-so and O
so-and-so, son of
so-and-so! Would it have
pleased you if you had
obeyed Allah and His
Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam)? We
have found true what our
Lord promised us. Have
you too found true what
your Lord promised you?”
Umar (radhi allahu anhu)
said: “O Messenger of
Allah! You are speaking
to bodies that have no
souls!” Allah’s
Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) said:
“By Him in Whose Hand is
Muhammad’s ((sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam)) soul,
you do not hear, what I
say better than they
do.”[2]
This Hadeeth refers to
an exceptional case,
when the Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) killed
the Kuffar
(disbelievers) in the
battle of Badr and
ordered for them to be
thrown in the well,
whereby to humiliate
them. Qatada said while
commenting on this
Hadeeth, “Allah brought
them to life (again) to
let them hear him, to
reprimand them and
slight them and take
revenge over them and
caused them to feel
remorseful and
regretful.”[3]
Umar Ibn Khattab (radhi
allahu anhu) believed
that the dead do not
hear, and therefore he
questioned: “O Messenger
of Allah (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam)! You
are speaking to bodies
that have no souls!”
Similarly, Aa’ishah
(radhi allahu anha) too
believed that the dead
do not hear, and
therefore when this
incident was mentioned
to her, she said: “But
the Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) said:
“Now they know very well
that what I used to tell
them was the truth.”
Then she recited (the
Qur’aanic Verse):
“You cannot make the
dead hear... (till the
end of Verse.)”[4]
[5]
This shows the firm
belief of the Sahabah
that the dead cannot
hear. The Kuffar who
were thrown in the well
of Badr were temporarily
given life as in the
statement of Qatada.
However, if it is still
argued that this Hadeeth
proves the listening of
the dead in their
graves; then who are
those who are referred
to, in this Hadeeth?
Arrogant Kuffar!! -
Those who fought against
the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) and
were killed and thrown
in the well to be
humiliated. This
argument is therefore
false, for it would
claim hearing for
everyone, pious and
wicked, which no one
claims!
[1]
Saheeh al-Bukharee
(Eng. Trans.) vol.2,
Hadeeth no. 456.
[2]
Saheeh al-Bukharee
(Eng. Trans.) vol.5,
Hadeeth no. 314.
[3]
Saheeh al-Bukharee
(Eng. Trans.) vol:
5, Hadeeth no. 314.
