QABAR (THE GRAVE)

THE GRAVE (QABR) One of the fearsome stages of the Hereafter is the grave, which calls out daily: "I am the abode of loneliness, I am the house of terror, I am the home of worms". Terror of the Grave  It is quoted in Man La Yahzaruhul Faqih, that when a dead body is brought for burial, it should not be buried immediately. For there is no doubt that the terror of the grave horrifies the dead person, and he seeks refuge from Allah's wrath. The dead body should be laid to rest for sometime far from the grave, so that it prepares itself, and gets accustomed to it. Again one should stop and then take it to the grave. Allamah Majlisi while commenting on the above, says that even though the spirit is separated from the body, it is still maintains relation with it, and remains somewhat attached to it. The darkness and loneliness, questioning by 'Munkir and Nakeer', Squeezing in the grave (Fishar), and the chastisement in hell are some of the frightful stages. Hence it is necessary for man to take lessons from a dead man's state, and reflect upon it, because one day he himself will have to pass through these stages. Yunus narrates that one day he asked Imam Moosa al-Kazim (A.S.) that, "Whenever I think about the door of a house, the house becomes narrow in my sight, why is it so"? Imam (A.S.) replied, "It is so because whenever you take a dead body for burial, you should lay it to rest for sometime near the grave, so that the dead person may ready itself to enter there in, and collect strength to answer the questions of 'Munkir' and Nakeer"'. Bara bin Azib, one of the companions (Ashab) of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.S) says that one day I was in the presence of the Prophet, when we saw a group of people gathered. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.S) asked them as to why they had gathered? They replied that they had gathered to dig a grave. As soon as the Prophet heard the name of the grave, he hurried towards it and sat on one side of the grave. I sat on the other side facing him so as to get a clear view of what he did. I saw that the Prophet (S.A.W.S) started weeping bitterly so much so that his face became wet, then he looked at us and said, "O my brothers! Prepare yourselves for this house". Shaikh Bahai says that at times he saw many kings and rulers regretting their sins and wailing over their lives while dying. The Shaikh asked one such person who was about to die as to what was the reason for such regret. The dying king replied, "What do you have to say about the person who is proceeding for a journey without having gathered any provisions for it, and devoid of a helpful companion. He is stopped on the way in a horrifying grave, to be produced later before the Almighty Ruler, without having any goodness in store".  Allamah Qutubuddin Rawandi says, that after the death of Hazrat Maryam (A.S.), her son Prophet Isa (A.S.) called her, "0 mother! Please speak to me, and tell me whether you are desirous of returning back to this world". Hazrat Maryam (A.S.) answered, "Yes, I desire to return back, so that during the cold winter nights I could recite Namaz, and during the hot summer days I could fast. 0 my dear! Verily the way to the hereafter is very difficult." It is narrated that when the last moments of Hazrat Fatema (A.S.) neared, She called Amirul Mo'meneen Ali (A.S.) and said, "When I die, you bathe me, shroud me, pray Namaz over my dead body, and bury me. When you do so, sit near my grave for sometime and recite the Holy Qur'an, and pray for my forgiveness. For verily after death the dead person relies totally on the prayers (dua's) and affection of the living ones".  When Hazrat Fatema binte Asad (the mother of Hazrat Ali) died, Amirul Mo'meneen (A.S.) came weeping to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.S) and gave Him the new of her death. The Prophet was grieved and said, "My mother has died". History bears witness that she had brought up the Prophet affectionately like a mother. The Prophet (S .A.W. S) gave her his own gown for the shroud (Kafan), and Himself lay in the grave for sometime before burying her. After burying her, he stood near the grave and called out: "Your son, your son, not Aqeel, nor Ja'far". People were surprised and asked him the reason for uttering these words. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.S) replied that, "One day we were discussing about Qayamat, and I said that on that day people will be coming out of their graves in a state of nakedness. My aunt (Fatema binte Asad) started crying, so I assured her that I would give her my own gown for shroud, so she would not have to face that humiliation. She was scared of the squeeze in the grave (Fishare Qabr), so I lay myself in her grave so as to save her from this too. After burying her, Munkir & Nakeer came to question her. They asked her about her Lord, she replied that Almighty Allah was her Lord. Then they asked her about Prophet hood (Nabuwwah), she bore testimony that I was Allah's Apostle. But when they questioned her about her Imam, she was a bit confused. Hence I called out to her that "Your son, your son, not Aqeel nor Ja'far (but Ali)". Fatema binte Asad was a distinguished lady, who had the honour of giving birth to a son like Ali (A.S.), and herself remaining in the Ka'bah for three days as Allah's guest. She was the second woman who accepted the Prophet hood of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.S) the first being Hazrat Khadija (A.S.) even then she was fearful of the hereafter and wept. And we being sinful have forgotten our end, and do not take account of our deeds, but are averse to the terror of the hereafter. Sayyed ibne Tawoos relates from the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.S) that he said that the first night is the most fearful and difficult for the dead person, hence give Sadqa for his safety. If you do not have to give anything as 'Sadqa' then recite two unit (Rak'at) Namaz: In the first Rak'at after Surah-al-Hamd recite twice Surah-at-Tawheed, and in the second Rak'at after Surah-al-Hamd recite ten times Surah-at-Takasur. After finishing the Namaz recite the following dua: اللهم صل على محمد وآل محمد وابعث ثوابها إلى قبر ذلك الميت وفلان بن فلان(here take the name of the dead man)  Allah will immediately send one thousand Angels to the grave of the dead person with attires of Paradise, and expand his grave till Qayamat. And for the one who recites this Namaz, Allah will offer him great rewards and exalt his position forty times.  The other Namaz to be recited on the first night of burial is as follows: Two Rak'at Namaz is to be recited, in the first Rak'at after Surah-al-Hamd recite once Ayatal Kursi, and in the second Rak'at after Surah-al-Hamd recite ten times surah-al-Qadr. After finishing Namaz say: اللهم صل على محمد وال محمد وابعث ثوابها الى قبر فلان (here take the name of the deceased person). My teacher Allamah Mirza Husain Noori (may Allah exalt his position) quotes in his book Darus Salaam from his teacher Haj Fath Ali Sultanabadi that he said: It was my routine that whenever I heard about the death of follower (Shi'ah) of Ahlulbait (A.S.), whether known or unknown to me, I recited (the above stated) Namaz, and this was not known to anyone else except my self. One day I met one of my friends who told me that the previous night he saw in a dream a Shi'ah who had died some days ago. My friend asked him as to how his state was. He replied that he was in deep trouble facing the consequences of his deeds, till one so and so (he took my name) person recited Namaz for him. He said that, "May Allah bless his father, he rescued me from severe chastisement". My friend asked me regarding the Namaz and I had to tell him. (source book: Shaikh Abbas bin Mohammad Reza Al-Qummi)