Why Are We Questioned in the Grave?

Hazrat Al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib (رضی اللہ عنہ) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ explained the following verse of Allah:

Arabic (Qur’an 14:27):

يُثَبِّتُ اللّٰهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِالْقَوْلِ الثَّابِتِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ ۖ وَيُضِلُّ اللّٰهُ الظَّالِمِينَ ۚ وَيَفْعَلُ اللّٰهُ مَا يَشَاءُ

“Allah keeps firm those who believe, with the firm word, in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. And Allah leaves the wrongdoers astray. And Allah does whatever He wills.”

To explain this verse, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ also spoke about the questions the angels will ask in the grave.

The Questions:

مَنْ رَبُّكَ؟ — Who is your Lord?

مَا دِينُكَ؟ — What is your religion?

مَنْ نَبِيُّكَ؟ — Who is your Prophet?

The Believer’s Answers:

رَبِّيَ اللَّهُ — My Lord is Allah.

دِينِيَ الْإِسْلَامُ — My religion is Islam.

نَبِيِّي مُحَمَّدٌ ﷺ — My Prophet is Muhammad ﷺ.

Reference: Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3120.

Have you ever thought about why these questions will be asked in the grave?

The first question is the most important of all.

To understand its significance, we must go back to the testimony mentioned in the Qur’an on the Day of Alast, when Allah asked us:

أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ شَهِدْنَا

“Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes indeed, we testify.”

— Surah Al-A‘raf (7:172)

When a person leaves this world, they will be asked:

“Who is your Lord?”

Here’s something to reflect upon:

If a person comes into this world and forgets who their Lord is, how will they be able to testify to the truth in the grave?

The remaining questions will reveal which Prophet’s community a person belonged to and how faithfully they followed their religion.

When we hear these questions, they seem very easy to answer. But have you ever tried answering them while imagining yourself in the darkness of the grave?

If not, then from today onward, make light a part of your life, because it is the light that can show you the way.

Just as you walk along a path throughout the day, you gradually become familiar with it. When night falls, you do not stumble in the darkness because you remember where the ditches are and which parts of the path are uneven.

In the light, you may stumble and get hurt, but when darkness falls, those same painful experiences remind you where to be careful.

“Darkness may offer temporary relief from the sting of the scorching light, but it can never show you the way.”

This verse and the Hadith point towards two profound realities connected by a single testimony: the acknowledgment of Allah as our Lord. The testimony mentioned in the Qur’an and the question we will face in the grave connect the beginning and the end of this cycle.

The cycle begins with our testimony and will be completed when we are questioned in the grave.

But the question is: Are we truly prepared for that moment?

If You Want to Know the Hidden Story of Light?

Read this article.

👉 WHAT IS TRUTH? HOW LIGHT CHANGES YOUR PERSPECTIVE | QUR’ANIC PSYCHOLOGY THROUGH A STORY WITH SPIRITUAL WISDOM

 What is Scarcity Brain?

Michael Easter explained this concept in his book Scarcity Brain.

''Scarcity Brain is a mental state in which we strongly focus on something we feel we lack.''

What Behavioral Studies Show:

Researchers Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir studied Indian sugarcane farmers.

The farmers were tested before and after the harvest.

Before the harvest, they had less money and faced greater financial scarcity.

They performed worse on cognitive tests before the harvest than after it.

The study suggested that financial scarcity can reduce mental bandwidth and affect thinking.

The Original Scarcity Loop 

In the Story of Adam (A.S.):

Surah Al-Baqarah  2:35

وَقُلْنَا يَا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَكُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

“And We said, ‘O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise, and eat freely from it wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you both be among the wrongdoers.’”

They were doing well in Paradise until Satan came.

He put a waswasah (whisper/temptation) in their minds:

Surah Al-Araf  7:20

فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ لِيُبْدِىَ لَهُمَا مَا وُۥرِىَ عَنْهُمَا مِن سَوْءَٰتِهِمَا وَقَالَ مَا نَهَىٰكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَـٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰلِدِينَ 

Then Satan tempted them in order to expose what was hidden of their nakedness. He said, “Your Lord has forbidden this tree to you only to prevent you from becoming angels or immortals.”

This waswasah worked in a way that is similar to the scarcity-brain concept.

They already had Paradise, but Satan triggered the feeling that there was something they did not have: becoming angels or gaining everlasting life.

That feeling of “something is missing” captured their attention.

The result was that they did not perform well in the test and slipped, as the Qur’an mentions.

But we are ordinary human beings. So how can we overcome this?

Before searching for the answer, we need to understand one more piece of information

What is a Scarcity Loop?

A scarcity loop is a cycle in which feeling that something is lacking increases our focus on it, which makes us want it more and keeps the feeling of scarcity going.

When we are born, we do not know anything. As we grow up, we develop our own patterns.

Then, when we realize things and hold on to guidance, we may still fall into the same sins even while knowing that they are wrong.

This is why the scarcity loop can be triggered inside us again and again, and we keep falling.

But falling is not as dangerous as not getting back up.

Keep trying until Allah removes the loop, even if you die trying.

The goal is not to become someone who never falls.

The goal is to keep getting back up, keep seeking Allah’s guidance, and keep trying until the end.

If You Want to Know the Hidden Story of Light?

Read this article.

👉 WHAT IS TRUTH? HOW LIGHT CHANGES YOUR PERSPECTIVE | QUR’ANIC PSYCHOLOGY THROUGH A STORY WITH SPIRITUAL WISDOM

The Prophet ﷺ said:

“The seven heavens and the seven earths, in comparison to the Kursī, are like a ring thrown into a vast desert. And the superiority of the ‘Arsh over the Kursī is like the vastness of that desert over the ring.”

Sahih Ibn Hibban, Hadith 361 — narrated by Abu Dharr رضي الله عنه. Tafsir Ibn Kathir

The Prophet ﷺ gave us this comparison so that we could understand how small this world, these heavens, and everything we can see truly are before the vastness of  Allah’s ‘Arsh and Kursī.

The Qur’an mentions the Kursī in Ayat al-Kursī, where Allah says:

Surah Al-Baqarah (2:255)

وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ

“His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth.”

And modern science and technology have shown us just how enormous the universe itself is.

The observable universe is estimated to be approximately:

Diameter: around 93 billion light-years
Radius: around 46.5 billion light-years in every direction from Earth, or from our position as observers.

And this is only what we are able to observe. We do not even know how much larger the universe is beyond what we can see.

Yet all of this is described in the Hadith as being like a ring thrown into a vast desert when compared with the Kursī.

Think about how small we truly are.

And think about how immense our Creator is.

It is something we cannot even fully comprehend.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Seven are those whom Allah will shade under His Shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His Shade.”

The seven are:

1. A Just Ruler

2. A Worshipping Youth

3. A Heart Attached to the Mosques

4. Two Who Love Each Other for Allah

5. One Who Rejects Temptation Out of Fear of Allah

6. One Who Gives Charity Secretly

7. One Who Remembers Allah Alone and Weeps

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 660; Sahih Muslim 1031.

But there is another point worth reflecting upon.

The Shadow

We all know how vast the ‘Arsh is like a desert compared to the heavens and the earth. So, imagine how immense its shade would be.

But what if that immense shadow were cast over a small ring? Would the ring receive that shadow?

Of course it would.

But what if, on the Day of Judgment, you do not receive the shade of the ‘Arsh?

What would you call that?

Of course: misfortune.

Why?

Because on the Day of Judgment, Allah’s mercy and the shade of the ‘Arsh will be granted to those who are close to Allah.

If a person has distanced himself from Allah in this world, then imagine how far he will be on that Day—so far that he will not be given a place beneath the shade of Allah’s mighty ‘Arsh. Instead, he will be distanced from Allah.

So come under the shade of Allah’s mercy today, before it becomes too late.

This is a strange kind of shadow one in which there is light, and elevation.

Allah has given human beings the choice to attain it.

We have been given the opportunity in this world, before the time comes when there is no longer an opportunity to return.

So let us return to our Allah today.

If You Want to Know the Hidden Story of Light?

Read this article.

👉 WHAT IS TRUTH? HOW LIGHT CHANGES YOUR PERSPECTIVE | QUR’ANIC PSYCHOLOGY THROUGH A STORY WITH SPIRITUAL WISDOM

Allah says in the Qur’an, in Surah Al-Hijr 15:99:

وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ

“And worship your Lord until there comes to you the certainty (death).”

Have you ever thought about why Allah said this?

And what does this certainty, or death, actually mean?

Before searching for the answer to all of this, there is another question:

What is worship?

Obeying Allah’s commands is worship.

Allah Himself has given us these commands, and they are meant to be fulfilled.

But sometimes, we become tired, or something enters our life that does not align with Allah’s command. Because doing what Allah has commanded can sometimes feel difficult for the nafs, we try to remain patient.

Why?

Because this is our test.

But you must have seen many people who put in all their effort to fulfil a desire that is not right according to Allah’s commands, yet they do not care at all. They want to achieve that thing at any cost, even if achieving it costs them their life.

Why?

Because their stubbornness and ego have become so high that they have convinced their inner self that:

“If I do not get this, then I have nothing left.”

This is the most important part.

This is why Allah has said in this verse to worship until you die and reach the state of certainty—that it is so important that if I leave this, nothing will remain.

Indeed, this is difficult, because your heart wants something else, while you are trying to obey Allah.

But when you try to fulfil your desire, you become dedicated. There is passion within you. A voice comes from inside you saying:

“I must have this.”

And this verse tells us to shape our inner self in such a way that, when death comes, we are still choosing Allah over our desires.

So, when we die while trying to please Allah, what will happen?

Of course, we will be successful.

If You Want to Know the Hidden Story of Light?

Read this article.

👉 WHAT IS TRUTH? HOW LIGHT CHANGES YOUR PERSPECTIVE | QUR’ANIC PSYCHOLOGY THROUGH A STORY WITH SPIRITUAL WISDOM