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Punishment of the Grave (Arabic:عذاب القبر,romanized: ʿadhāb al-qabr, also translatedTorment of the Grave) is aJudeo-Islamic concept about the time betweendeath and resurrection on theDay of Judgement. According to some hadiths, the souls of the unrighteous are punished bytwo angels in thegrave, while the righteous find the grave "peaceful and blessed".[1]
The punishment of the grave is not mentioned in theQuran, although it is mentioned in thehadiths such as those compiled byIbn Hanbal[1] and appears as early as the 9th century, still present among the majority ofSunnis andShias.[2]
A similar concept can be found in the Jewish narrative in which the wicked are punished byangels of destruction in an intermediary state between theresurrection of the dead and the individual death.
TheQuran itself gives very brief references about the period between death and the resurrection. It makes no mention of any kind of reward or punishment being given to the deceased/dead in the grave. However it mentions that certain individuals such asmartyrs are alive and not dead in2:154 and also indicates, that some are already in hell in71:25.[3] The termBarzakh indicates that the deceased and the living are entirely separated and can not interact with each other.[3] OtherwiseBarzakh refers to the whole period between the Day of Resurrection and death and is usedsynonymously for "grave".[4] Others regard barzakh as a world dividing and simultaneously connecting the realm of the dead and the living.[5] Therefore, some Muslim traditions argue about possibilities to contact the dead by sleeping on graveyards.[6] Despite the non-existent or at max, the brief mentionings in the Quran, Islamic tradition discusses elaborately, almost in graphic detail, as to what exactly happens before, during and after death, based on certain hadithic narrations.
After burial, each person is interrogated in the grave by two angels, calledMunkar and Nakir, appointed by God to question the dead in order to test theirfaith. The righteous believers answer correctly and live in peace and comfort, while the sinners and disbelievers fail and punishments ensue.[7][8] In the life ofBarzakh, the souls of the sinners and disbelievers are kept and punished in a place calledSijjin which is said to be located at the lowest level of the earth (traditionally hell, before the Day of resurrection orunderworld).[9] The books containing the full records of their deeds are also kept here. On the other hand, the souls of the righteous believers are kept in a place calledIlliyin. Their books of deeds are also kept here. According to some accounts,Illiyin is located in the heaven.[9] There is belief that the fire which represents the own bad deeds can already be seen during the Punishment of the Grave, and that the spiritual pain caused by this can lead to purification of the soul.[10]
Rabbinic literature offers many traditions about angels chastising the dead.[11] In Jewish religious books, the souls of the wicked are punished in the hereafter byDumah and three subordinate angels of destruction. They are only released from their suffering onShabbat (the Jewish sabbath).[12] Dutch Orientalist Arent Jan Wensinck (1882–1939) said that the Jewish belief in punishment in the grave comes from a period after Islam, and that it influenced Judaism rather than Judaism influencing Islam.[13]
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