Is the Prophet ﷺ ALIVE in his grave? Can he hear us or know about us?

by Asma bint Shameem

The Prophet ﷺ is NOT in this world any more. 

He ﷺ passed away 1400 years ago. 

That is a fundamental belief of a Muslim.

The Prophet ﷺ died just as other Prophets and other people before him died. 

🍃 Allaah says: 

“And We granted not to any human being immortality before you (O Muhammad); then if you die, would they live forever?” [al-Anbiya’ 21:34] 

🍃 And Allaah says:

“Whatsoever is on it (the earth) will perish.

And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honor will remain forever” [al-Rahmaan 55:26,27] 

🍃 And He said:

“Verily, you (O Muhammad) will die, and verily, they (too) will die” [al-Zumar 39:30] 

And there are many other aayaat which show that the Prophet ﷺ has passed away.

The Sahaabah radhi Allaahu anhum knew that and understood very well, that the Prophet ﷺ has died.

That’s why they washed him, shrouded him, offered the Janaazah prayer for him and buried him. 

If the Prophet ﷺ had not died, the Sahaabah would not have done any of that.

Also Faatimah radhi Allaahu anhaa asked Abu Bakr radhi Allaahu anhu for her inheritance from the Prophet ﷺ, because she knew that he had died.

He died just like any other human dies, because fundamentally he was a human being made of flesh and bones, just like me and you.

🔺 However, the Prophet ﷺ is “alive” in a very “special” way.

But he is NOT ALIVE in the way you and I are alive.

So he does not hear us.

He does not see us.

He has no idea about the Dunya and what’s going on in it.

He doesn’t eat. He doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t need to use the bathroom.

If he was alive in the worldly sense, he would need to do all that.

But he doesn’t.

In fact, NONE of the Sahaabah believed that the Prophet ﷺ is still alive in the worldly sense.

That’s why they never went to his grave to ASK him anything or make Duaa to him.

Rather, they chose a khaleefah to succeed the Prophet ﷺ. 

And that’s why, when the Prophet ﷺ passed away, Abu Bakr radhi Allaahu anhu said:

“Whoever used to worship Muhammad, Muhammad has DIED, but whoever used to worship Allaah, Allaah is alive and will never die.”

However out of honor for the Prophets, Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala keeps the Prophets ALIVE in their graves in a very special way.

🍃 The Prophet ﷺ said:

“Allaah, the Exalted, has prohibited the earth from consuming the bodies of prophets.” (Abu Dawud and Al-Nasa’i; saheeh by al-Albaani)

🍃 And he ﷺ said:

“The Prophets are alive and they pray in their graves.”

(al-Mundhiri, al-Bayhaqi: saheeh) 

But that “life” is NOT like the life of this world.

Rather, that is a very SPECIAL life of al-Barzakh while the soul of the Prophet ﷺ is in the highest part of ‘Illiyyeen.

That’s because he’s the best of mankind, and because Allaah has given him al-waseelah which is the highest position in Jannah.

Al-barzakh is a kind of life that comes in between life in this world and life in the Hereafter. 

This is a realm which is completely DIFFERENT from this dunya. 

And completely different from the Aakhirah. 

It is NOT like the life of this world. 

You see, we must understand that once a human being passes away, he enters “al-Barzakh”.

When you and I or any “ordinary” person passes away, we also enter al-Barzakh.

But we are NOT alive.

We die.

However although the Prophet ﷺ or other Prophets or shuhadaa also “pass away” in a worldly sense, they are alive in a special way.

🍃 Allaah says:

“And say not of those who are killed in the way of Allaah, ‘They are dead.’ Nay, they are living, but you perceive (it) not” [al-Baqarah 2:154] 

And although they’re “alive in the grave”, they don’t eat or drink or sleep or wake up like we do in the worldly sense.

They don’t hear or see or know anything about this dunya.

🍃 Shaykh al-Albaani said:

“It should be understood that the life of the Prophets AlayhimusSalaam that is affirmed in this hadeeth is the life of al-barzakh, which is nothing like the life of this world.

Hence we must believe in it, without trying to give likenesses for it, imagine how it is, or liken it to what we know in the life of this world.

This is how the believer should understand such issues: believing in what is mentioned in the hadeeth without resorting to analogies and personal opinions, as the innovators do who, in some cases, go as far as claiming that the Prophet ﷺ is alive in his grave in a “real” sense, meaning that he eats, drinks and is intimate with his wives!

Rather it is the life of al-barzakh, the true nature of which no one knows except Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala.”

🍃 The scholars of the Standing Committee said:

“The life of al-barzakh is a special life. 

The Prophets and the shuhadaa (martyrs) are alive in al-barzakh as the Prophet ﷺ said: 

“The Prophets are alive and they pray in their graves.” (al-Mundhiri and al-Bayhaqi; saheeh because of corroborating reports in al-Saheehayn.) 

Allaah says:

“And say not of those who are killed in the way of Allaah, ‘They are dead.’ Nay, they are living, but you perceive (it) not” [al-Baqarah 2:154] 

This is a special life, the nature of which is known to Allaah. 

It is not like the life of this world in which the soul remains with the body.  

The basic principle concerning the dead is that they do not hear the words of the living sons of Adam, because Allaah says:

“but you cannot make hear those who are in graves” [Faatir 35:22] 

Allaah confirmed that those whom he (the Prophet ﷺ) was calling to Islaam could not hear, by likening them to the dead. 

There is nothing in the Qur’aan or in the saheeh Sunnah to indicate that the Prophet ﷺ  can hear every duaa or call from human beings. 

Rather it is proven that the only thing that reaches him ﷺ is the blessings and salaams of those who send blessings and salaams upon him. 

This was narrated by Abu Dawood, 2041, with a hasan isnaad from Abu Hurayrah radhi Allaahu anhu who said that the Prophet ﷺ said: 

“There is no one who sends salaams upon me but Allaah will restore to me my soul so that I may return his salaams.” 

This does not mean that he hears the words of the one who sends salaams. 

Rather it is possible that he comes to know of those salaams when the angels convey that to him.

If we assume that he hears the words of the one who sends salaams, this is an exception from the general rule, as in the case of the dead hearing the footsteps of those who carry his bier, and as in the case of the slain kuffaar in the well at Badr who heard the call of the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ when he said to them: “Have you found your Lord’s promise to be true? For we have found our Lord’s promise to be true.”

(Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 1/313, 318, 321). 

And Allaah knows best.