Qur'an Verses About The Grave

Ala-Maududi

(9:84) Do not ever pray over any of them who dies, nor stand over his grave. They disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died in iniquity.^[88]

88. This verse was sent down to prevent the Prophet (peace be upon him) from saying funeral prayers for Abdullah bin Ubayy, the ringleader of the hypocrites, who died a short while after the Tabuk expedition. His son Abdullah who was a sincere Muslim called on the Prophet (peace be upon him) and requested him to give his shirt for his father’s shroud. The Prophet (peace be upon him) very generously granted his request. Then he begged the Prophet (peace be upon him) to lead his father’s funeral prayer. The Prophet (peace be upon him) agreed to this also but Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) very respectfully requested him repeatedly not to do so, saying, “O Prophet of Allah! will you say funeral prayer for a person who was guilty of such and such crimes and sins.” The Prophet (peace be upon him), who was a blessing both for friends and for foes, got ready to say funeral prayer even for that man who was a deadly enemy of Islam. At last when he stood up to lead the funeral prayer, this verse was sent down to prevent him from this by a direct command from God, in accordance with the changed policy declared in Ayat 73 which forbade to do anything that might encourage the hypocrites among the Muslims.

The above incident led to the formulation of the regulation that the leaders and prominent people from among the Muslims should neither lead, nor offer the funeral prayers of the sinners against Islam, or for those notorious for their disobedience to Islam. After this, whenever a request was made to the Prophet (peace be upon him) for a funeral prayer, he would first inquire about the conduct of the deceased person. If he came to know that he was a bad person, he would say to his people, “You may perform his burial just as you like”.

Ala-Maududi

(22:7) (all of which shows that) the Hour shall surely come to pass – in this there is no doubt – and Allah shall surely resurrect those that are in graves.^[9]

9. In (Surah Al-Hajj, Ayat 5-7), the effects of rain on the earth and the growth of vegetation and different stages of the life of man have been cited as pointers to five realities.

(1) Allah alone is the truth.

(2) He brings the dead to life.

(3) He has power over everything.

(4) The Day of Resurrection and the end of the world is inevitable.

(5) Most surely Allah will bring back to life all the people who have died.

Let us now consider how these signs point to the above five realities.

(1) Allah is the truth: In order to prove this, let us first take the case of man. All the stages of his development are a clear proof that Allah has designed them with wisdom. He takes his birth from a sperm-drop which itself is produced in a wonderful manner. The food, which a man takes, turns into hair, flesh, bones and a part of it is turned into semen, which is potentially capable of producing millions of human beings. It is the Wise and True God Who decides which of these millions of seeds from the semen should be utilized to make a woman pregnant by mixing the seed with the eggcell. This insignificant thing turns into a living child in nine months in the womb of the mother. If we consider the different stages of the child’s birth, we come to the inevitable conclusion that all these have been designed by the True, Ever Living Designer. For it is He Who decides whether it should be a male or a female, seeing or blind, etc. Then it is He Who decides how long a child is destined to live. All these things are a clear proof that Allah alone is the Truth.

(2) He brings the dead to life: Even a little thinking on the right lines will convince every sensible and honest man that this process of bringing the dead to life is continuously going on before our eyes. Every human being has been created from a dead sperm-drop. Then he gets life from dead things like food containing dead matter like coal, iron, lime, salts, gases, which help make him a living human being. Then let us consider our surroundings. Seeds of different things which had been scattered here and there by the wind and birds, and the roots of different kinds of vegetation which lay rotten and dead in the soil, spring up to life as soon as there occurs a sprinkling of rain water. This process of the dead coming to life is observed during every rainy season year after year.

(3) Allah has power over everything: There are people who believe that no doubt Allah created everything and is governing the universe, but He cannot do anything in the future in addition to or apart from this. This is because they do not observe the phenomena of His powers which have been and are appearing every moment. They do not realize that if man, His creation can perform wonderful feats of science which could not even be dreamed of in the former ages, why should Allah alone be held as having only limited powers?

(4-5) “The Day of Resurrection is inevitable” and “Most surely Allah will bring back to life all the people who have died”: These two are the rational corollaries of the preceding three premises. Allah is All-Powerful and therefore can bring about Resurrection at any moment He wills. He can also bring back to life all the dead people just as He brought to life human beings out of nothing in the first instance. As He is All-Wise, He has not created human beings without any object and purpose. He will judge their worldly lives in accordance with the object and purpose for which He created them. He will call them to account for everything He entrusted to them. This is very simple, even human beings ask one another to render an account of the property etc. they entrust to others. Likewise, Allah’s wisdom requires calling every human being to account for the things entrusted to him. Then human nature also demands that there should be a differentiation between good and bad, and it expects the reward of good works and dreads the punishment of bad deeds. That is why the people have set up judicial courts. Thus man cannot imagine that the Creator will not call him to account for the things, powers and faculties, etc. which He has entrusted to him. Therefore common sense confirms that Allah will hold the Last Judgment so that everyone should get his due reward and his due punishment.

Ala-Maududi

(35:22) nor are the living and the dead alike.^[42] Allah makes to hear whomsoever He wishes, but you, (O Prophet), cannot cause to hear those who are in their graves.^[43]

42. In these comparisons the present and the future of a believer and a disbeliever have been contrasted. There is a person who has closed his eyes to the realities and does not care to see as to what truth the whole system of the universe and his own existence itself are pointing. There is the other person, whose eyes are open and who clearly sees that everything outside and inside himself bears evidence to the Unity of God and to man’s answerability before him. There is a person, who is wandering blindly in the superstitions of ignorance and the darkness of presumptions and speculations, and is not inclined to benefit by the light of the candle lit by the Prophet. There is the other person, whose eyes are open and who, as soon as the light spread by the Prophet appears before him, comes to realize that all the ways being followed by the polytheists and the disbelievers and the atheists lead to destruction, and the way to success is only that which has been shown by the Messenger of God. Now how can it be possible that the attitude of the two persons be the same in the world and the two may follow one and the same path together? And how can this also be possible, either that the two should meet the same end and should both end up in the dust after death? Neither should one be punished for his wrongdoings, nor the other be rewarded for his righteous conduct. The sentence, “the cool shade and the heat of the sun are not alike” points to the same fate. The one will be provided shelter under the shade of Allah’s mercy and the other will burn in the fire of Hell. Thus, the notions that the two will ultimately meet the same end, is utterly false. In the end, the believer has been likened to the living and the stubborn disbeliever to the dead. That is, the believer is he whose feeling, understanding and perception are alive and whose conscience is making him aware of the distinction between the good and the evil every moment. Contrary to this, the person who has been, wholly lost in the prejudices of disbelief is even worse than the blind person who is wandering about in darkness. Nay, he is like a dead person who has no sense or feeling left in him.

43. That is, as for the powers of Allah, they are unlimited. He can even make the stones to hear. But it is not within the power of the Messenger to make those people to listen to him whose consciences have become dead and whose ears deaf to every call to the truth. He can only make those people to hear him, who are inclined to listen to every reasonable thing.

Ala-Maududi

(36:51) Then the Trumpet shall be blown and lo! they will come out of their graves and be on the move towards their Lord,^[47]

47. For the explanation of the blowing of the Trumpet, see (Surah TaHa, ayat 102) note 78. As for the length of the interval between the first blowing of the Trumpet and its second blowing, we have no information. The interval may be of hundreds and thousands of years. Abu Hurairah has related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Israfil has put the Trumpet to his mouth and is looking up to the divine Throne, awaiting orders for blowing it. The Trumpet will be blown thrice.

On the first blowing, called nafakhat al-faza, everything in the earth and heavens will be struck with terror. On the second blowing, called nafakhat as-Saaq, everyone will fall down dead. Then, when none shall remain except Allah, the One, the Everlasting, the earth will be changed altogether and will be spread flat and smooth without a crease or wrinkle on it. Then Allah will administer a rebuke to His Creation, whereupon everyone will rise at the spot where he had fallen dead, on the changed earth, and this will happen on the third blowing of the Trumpet called nafakhat al qiyam li-Rabbil-Alamin. This is supported by several allusions in the Quran also.

For example, see (Surah Ibrahim, Ayat 48); (Surah TaHa, Ayat 105-108), and the E.Ns thereof.

Ala-Maududi

(54:7) with down-cast eyes^[8] they shall go forth from their graves,^[7] as though they were scattered locusts.

8. Literally: Their looks will be downcast. This can have several meanings:

(1) That they will appear terror-stricken.

(2) That they will be reflecting disgrace and humiliation, for as soon as they arise out of their graves they would realize that it was indeed the same second life which they had been denying, for which they had made no preparation, and in which they would have to present themselves before their God as culprits.

(3) That with awe-struck looks they would be watching the dreadful scenes before them, from which they would not be able to avert their eyes.

9. That is, they denied that the Hereafter has to take place when man will have to render an account of his deeds; they denied the Prophethood of the Prophet who was making his people aware of this truth; and they denied the teaching of the Prophet, which taught them what to believe and what creed and conduct they should adopt in order to pass the reckoning of the Hereafter.

Ala-Maududi

(60:13) Believers, do not make friends with those against whom Allah is wrathful and who are despaired of the Hereafter, as despaired as are the unbelievers lying in their graves.^[24]

24. The words in the original can have two meanings:

First, that they have despaired of their well-being andrewards in the Hereafter just as the deniers of the life-afterdeathhave despaired of the resurrection of their near anddear ones, who are dead and gone into the graves. Thismeaning has been given by Abdullah bin Abbas and HasanBasri, Qatadah and Dahak.

The second meaning can be: They have despaired of the mercy and forgiveness of the Hereafter just as the disbelievers, who are Iying in the graves, have despaired of every good, for they are certain of their being involved in the punishment. This meaning has been related from Hadrat `Abdullah bin Mas’ud and from Mujahid, ‘Ikrimah, Ibn Zaid, Kalbi, Muqatil, Mansur (may Allah bless them all).

Ala-Maududi

(70:43) the Day on which they will hastily come forth from their graves, as though they were hurrying on to the altars of their deities.^[30]

30. There is a difference of opinion among the commentators about the meaning of the word nusub. Some have interpreted it to mean idols, according to which the meaning would be: They would be racing towards the place appointed by the Lord of Resurrection as they race today towards the shrines of their idols; and some others have taken nusub to mean the goal signs which are set for the competitors in a race, so that each tries to reach and touch the appointed post before the

Ala-Maududi

(77:26) for the living and the dead,

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(80:21) then He caused him to die and brought him to the grave,^[14]

14. That is, not only in the matter of birth and destiny but also in the matter of death he is absolutely helpless before his Creator. Neither can he take birth by his choice nor die by his choice, nor can defer his death even by a moment. He dies precisely at the appointed time, in the appointed place, under the appointed circumstances that have been decreed for his death, and he is deposited in the type of grave destined for him whether it is the belly of the earth, the depths of the sea, a bonfire or the stomach of a beast. Nothing to say of the man. The whole world together cannot change the Creator’s decree in respect of any person.

Ala-Maududi

(82:4) and when graves are laid open,^[2]

2. In the first three verses, the first stage of the Resurrection has been mentioned and in this verse the second stage is being described. Opening of the graves implies resurrection of the dead.

Ala-Maududi

(100:9) Is he not aware that when whatever lies (buried) in the graves is overthrown;^[7]

7. That is, the dead men will be raised back as living men from whatever state and wherever they would be lying buried in the earth.

Ala-Maududi

(102:2) until you reach your graves.^[2]

2. That is, you spend your whole life in the same craze and endeavor, until the time comes when you must die and leave the world.