Is This Proof That the Prophet Is Alive in His Grave?
Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Question: Asslamu Alaykum
“My life is a great good for you, you will relate about me and it will be related to you, and my death is a great good for you, your actions will be shown to me and if I see goodness I will praise Allah, and if I see evil I will ask forgiveness of Allah for you.” I want to know whether this is a Sahih Hadith and does this prove that Prophet Muhammad, may God’s peace and salutations be upon him, is alive in his grave?
Answer: Wa ‘alaykum as-salam wa rahm atullah wa barakatuh
Thank you for your question.
The hadith you mentioned is narrated by Imam al-Bazzār:
حَياتِي خير لكم وموتي خير لكم، أما حَياتِي فأسن لكم السّنَن وأشرع لكم الشَّرَائِع. وَأما موتِي فَإِن أَعمالكُم تعرض عَلّي فَمَا رَأَيْت مِنْهَا حسنا حمدت الله عَلَيْهِ، وَمَا رَأَيْت مِنْهَا سَيِّئًا استغفرت الله تَعَالَى لكم
‘My life is good for you and my death is good for you. As for my life, I set sunnas and legislate laws for you. As for my death, your deeds are presented to me; I praise Allah for the good I see of them, and ask Allah to forgive you for the bad that I see.’
Some experts considered all the narrators to be sound, whereas others disagreed (al-ʿIraqi, Mughni al-Asfar). The least that can be said of the hadith is that it is a well authenticated, ḥasan, hadith.
The Life of Prophets After Death
Yes, this narration is a strong proof for the life of the Messenger of Allah, and the other prophets (Allah bless them and grant them all peace), although the nature of their life in the Barzakh is different to what we perceive as life. Imam Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti has a work dedicated to this topic, Inbaʾ al-adhkiya bi hayat al-anbiyaʾ (Apprising the Intelligent of the Life of the Prophets).
In it he states, ‘The life of the Prophet [Muhammad] in his grave and the other prophets (Allah bess them all and grant them peace) is known to us with certainty due to many proofs and mass-transmitted (mutawatir) narrations. He then proceeds to cite various proofs such as the narration of Sahih Muslim which describes the prophet Musa praying in his grave on the night of the Isra.
And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 to study and sit at the feet of some of the most erudite scholars of our time.
Over the following eighteen months he studied a traditional curriculum, studying with scholars such as Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh Abdurrahman Arjan, Shaykh Hussain Darwish and Shaykh Muhammad Darwish.
In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years, in Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Shama’il, and Logic with teachers such as Dr Ashraf Muneeb, Dr Salah Abu’l-Hajj, Dr Hamza al-Bakri, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Dr Mansur Abu Zina amongst others. He was also given two licences of mastery in the science of Qur’anic recital by Shakh Samir Jabr and Shaykh Yahya Qandil.
His true passion, however, arose in the presence of Shaykh Ali Hani, considered by many to be one of the foremost tafsir scholars of our time who provided him with the keys to the vast knowledge of the Quran. With Shaykh Ali, he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Qur’anic Sciences, Tafsir, Arabic Grammar, and Rhetoric.
When he finally left Jordan for the UK in 2014, Shaykh Ali gave him his distinct blessing and still recommends students in the UK to seek out Shaykh Abdul-Rahim for Quranic studies. Since his return he has trained as a therapist and has helped a number of people overcome emotional and psychosomatic issues. He is a keen promoter of emotional and mental health.
