The Test of The Grave
Following on from last week’s reminder, we are reminded this week of the test of the grave. Both in the Quran and in the teachings of the Prophet SAWS, we are reminded of the test of the grave.
And make no mistake, this is a test that is both coming for each and every one of us and it is something that we cannot take lightly.
Allah SWT warns us repeatedly of those who will suffer in their grave. The imam, for example, mentioned ayat 93 of Sura Al-An’am which is translated to say:
Who does more wrong than the one who fabricates lies against Allah or claims, “I have received revelations!”—although nothing was revealed to them—or the one who says, “I can reveal the like of Allah’s revelations!”? If you ˹O Prophet˺ could only see the wrongdoers in the throes of death while the angels are stretching out their hands ˹saying˺, “Give up your souls! Today you will be rewarded with the torment of disgrace for telling lies about Allah and for being arrogant towards His revelations!”
And Sura Al-Anfal, ayat 50 which is translated to say:
If only you could see when the angels take the souls of the disbelievers, beating their faces and backs, ˹saying,˺ “Taste the torment of burning!
Dear brothers, for those of us who have heard this reminder before, we are taught from the Prophet SAWS that we will be asked about our God, who we followed and to which faith did we belong by the angels when we are lying down in our graves. Just this point alone is harrowing to think about. Imagine how that will feel and only Allah SWT knows exactly how that will be for each of us.
And for those amongst us who are thinking that we know the answers to these questions, the reminder today is that this isn’t questioning like you have in an exam or test, it isn’t enough to just utter then answers to these questions.
Dear brothers, we need to live the answers to these questions. Ask yourself, is your conduct, your manners, your everyday behaviour an answer to these questions. Are you living by the teachings of the book of Allah SWT? Are you adhering to the sunnah of the Prophet SAWS?
We can all say that Allah is our God, the Prophet SAWS is our teacher and Islam is our deen but does our life reflect these answers? This is the reminder today and it is a reminder that each and every one of us should reflect upon consistently as none of us know when our time will come.
The Prophet SAWS is reported to have said:
“When you die, your place will be shown to you in the morning and the evening. If you are one of the people of the Garden, then you will be with the people of the Garden, and if you are one of the people of the Fire, then you will be with the people of the Fire. You will be told, ‘This is your place of waiting until Allah raises you on the day of rising.’ ”
And so we need to take steps today to ensure that we are of those people who are shown the beauty of the afterlife in our graves. And we can all achieve this by simply living the life Allah SWT has instructed us to live, optimistic in the knowledge that one day we will return to Him who will be happy with how we lived our lives in this dunya.
May Allah SWT make us of the people of the Garden, may Allah SWT make our test in the grave an easy one and may Allah SWT enable us to live practically the answers to the questions of the grave.
