Response to Ali Kayali's Denial of Grave Punishment - A Lecture by Brother Hussam Abdulaziz

Response to Ali Kayali's Denial of the Punishment of the Grave

Is the topic of the punishment of the grave so important that we dedicate an episode to it instead of discussing honesty, sincerity, or justice? I mean, people have already seen the moon, and we are still talking about the punishment of the grave? What is the evidence from the Quran that there is something called the punishment of the grave? What guarantees that the hadiths speaking about the punishment of the grave are authentic and that the Prophet (peace be upon him) actually said them? And then, has Mansour Kayali proven that there is no punishment of the grave? Some people say that Sheikh Sha'rawi - may God have mercy on him - said there is no punishment of the grave.

The Creed of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama'ah

The creed of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama'ah is that the punishment of the grave is established by the Quran, the Mutawatir Sahih Sunnah, and the consensus. Therefore, believing in the punishment of the grave is an obligation by Sharia.

Evidence from the Quran

The Verse "The Fire They Are Exposed to It Morning and Evening"

Allah the Almighty says: {The Fire they are exposed to it morning and evening and the Day the Hour is established: "Enter the family of Pharaoh the most severe punishment."}

The Prophet (peace be upon him) explains this verse and says: "When one of you dies, he is shown his seat (in the Hereafter) morning and evening. If he is from the people of Paradise, then he is from the people of Paradise, and if he is from the people of Hell, then he is from the people of Hell. It is said to him, 'This is your seat until Allah resurrects you on the Day of Judgment.'" Where will you find this hadith? In Al-Bukhari and Muslim. No, you are angry about the hadith in Al-Bukhari and Muslim. Okay, take a pen and paper and write with me, my dear sister. You will find the hadith in the Sunan of Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Al-Bayhaqi, Muwatta Malik, Musnad Ahmad.

Response to Mansour Kayali's Interpretation of the Verse

Mansour Kayali said that this verse is not evidence for the punishment of the grave. How? Let's listen to this. Allah the Almighty says about the family of Pharaoh: "The Fire they are exposed to it morning and evening." He says that the punishment is that the Fire is shown to the person, not that the person is shown to the Fire. And that "The Fire they are exposed to it" means that Allah shows the names of the disbelievers to the Fire morning and evening every day while they are still alive. That is, he says that the Fire is the one that sees the names of the disbelievers every day, not the disbelievers who see the Fire in their graves.

This is, of course, extreme ignorance of the language and the Quran. In language, there is no difference between saying that someone is shown to the Fire and that the Fire is shown to him. This is called in language "the inversion." That is, the Arabs say: "A beast is shown to the pool" and they mean "A beast is shown to the beast." And the Arabs also say: "The finger is inserted into the ring" and "The ring is inserted into the finger," and "The cap is put on my head" and "My head is put into the cap." Anyone who is watching this episode can open any dictionary such as Lisan Al-Arab or Mukhtar Al-Sahah or Al-Mu'jam Al-Wasit or Taj Al-Arus or Al-Misbah Al-Munir, and they will find this meaning of the word "exposed" written explicitly.

This is not only ignorance of the language but also ignorance of the Quran. Because when Allah wanted to inform us that the disbelievers will see the Fire and look at it, He used the same expression "they are exposed to it." Allah says in Surah Al-Shura: {And you will see them exposed to it, humbled by disgrace, looking with a furtive glance. And those who believed will say, "Indeed, the losers are they who have lost themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Unquestionably, it is the wrongdoers who are in an enduring punishment."} They are exposed to it and they look, and the punishment is coming to me.

And in Surah Al-Ahqaf, Allah uses the same expression to inform us that the disbelievers see the Fire and He asks them about the punishment they see and says to them: {Is this not the truth?} {And the Day those who disbelieved are exposed to the Fire, [it will be said], "Is this not the truth?" They will say, "Yes, by our Lord." And Allah will say, "Then taste the punishment because you disbelieved."} So, you say to the Fire, it is exposed to it, and it shows the names of the disbelievers? Is this interpretation?

I do not know why, people, you do not believe that four hundred years of interpreters, jurists, and hadith scholars in the hundreds who used to recite the Quran and understand it better than you. At least, the classical Arabic was their mother tongue. This is advice to brother Mansour Kayali: Please, before you speak about the interpretation of a verse, read the entire Quran well. And if you feel that this is difficult and will take time, you can open a dictionary and get the meaning of the word and see what the Arabs say.

Response to "No Punishment Before the Reckoning"

Okay, let's go with Mansour Kayali and understand his interpretation of the verse and show you that he contradicts himself. Why did you not say this to yourself when you said that Allah shows the names of the disbelievers to the Fire daily in this world while they are alive? It is the same record that has not been closed. And if you say that because Allah knows the unseen and knows their fate that they are in the Fire, I will say the same to you and say that when He punishes them in the grave, He also knows the unseen and knows that their fate is the Fire.

Why do we deny dozens of verses that there is no punishment before the reckoning? No, it is you who denies the verses, not us. Because Allah has punished people in this world and told us that in the Quran. Since Allah has punished them in this world, it is not unlikely that He punishes them in their graves. {And if they turn away, then Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, and He has prepared for them a Blaze. In this world and the Hereafter.} Surah At-Tawbah. {So We sent upon them a barren wind in inauspicious days to let them taste the punishment of disgrace in this worldly life.} And in Surah Al-Ahqaf, Allah says: {But it is what you have hastened [i.e., the punishment] - a wind therein is a painful punishment.} All of this was in this world, and Allah called it punishment. So, how is there no punishment before the reckoning, O Hajj Mansour?

Response to Mansour Kayali's Doubts

Doubt "No Grave, No Punishment"

There is no punishment of the grave, people, according to Mansour Kayali because you may not be buried in a grave, the fish may eat you. Do you see the logic? A person is eaten by a fish, a person is in mass graves, a person, a person, a person. Okay, with the same logic, do we deny resurrection because Allah in the Quran said that the resurrection is from the graves and there are people whose fish ate them?

Okay, by Allah, I will let you hear the verses of resurrection in the voice of Mansour Kayali himself: {And the Horn will be blown, and at once from their graves to their Lord they will hasten. They will say, "Woe to us! Who has raised us from our sleeping place?"} The idea, O Professor Mansour, is that this is called "the predominance in language." The predominant is that people die and are buried in graves, so there is no problem at all that the hadiths use the word punishment of the grave just as the Quran used in the resurrection the word graves (al-ajdath), and used the word our resting place (marqadina) even though the human may be entirely fish and not resting or anything. And he will not be resurrected in this case from the grave. And there is no problem at all that the person is punished even if he is burned with ashes. This is a life in the Barzakh that is not subject to the laws of physics, like the sleeper who dreams that he traveled and was imprisoned and was punished and was beaten while he did not move from his bed.

Doubt "The Resting One is Comfortable"

The worst thing now, and I consider it a disgrace to scientific integrity, is that Mansour Kayali always adds an additional meaning from his mind to the speech. I will give you three examples. What will the disbeliever say on the Day of Resurrection? {They will say, "Woe to us! Who has raised us from our resting place?"} Resting comfortably! Who said that every resting one is comfortable? Okay, when a cancer patient is resting and talking in bed, will you tell him to be quiet, my dear, you are comfortable, you will understand more than Mansour Kayali? The matter is simply that the horrors of the Day of Resurrection have nothing like it, so the one who comes out of the grave will wish to return to the grave again from the horrors he sees, because what he saw in the grave is certainly a very small copy of what will happen to him.

Doubt "Displaying Hell for the First Time"

Listen to this as well: "{And We will show Hell to them on that Day for a display}." So how will the disbeliever see it for thousands of years, then Allah says it will be shown to him for the first time on the Day of Resurrection? The same action, he adds a strange meaning to the word "that Day" and says "for the first time." Where did this "for the first time" come from? We don't know anymore.

"And We will show Hell to them on that Day for a display" does that mean it will be shown for the first time on the Day of Judgment and not before? So when our Lord says: "{Indeed, your Lord that Day will be Aware of them}" do we say that our Lord will be aware of us for the first time on the Day of Resurrection? And with the same logic of brother Mansour Kayali, when our Lord says: "{But indeed, they from their Lord that Day will be veiled}" does that mean the disbelievers used to see our Lord in this world and were not veiled from Him? And when our Lord says: "{So that is a Day, difficult}" does that mean the punishment that our Lord destroyed nations with and called it painful and called it bad days was not difficult?

Doubt "Time Stops in the Barzakh"

A third example you will see how Mansour Kayali plays with the meaning of the word Barzakh to prove that time stops for the dead, so they do not see punishment or bliss there. "Two days: a day of resurrection in which the earth will be destroyed and another day for resurrection and reckoning, between them time is completely stopped." If time is completely stopped for the dead as you say, how do you explain His saying: "{And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, being provided for}." Alive and being provided for, where? In a family on planet Earth? Do you not know that being provided for means they are being provided for in the life of Barzakh? So there is life in Barzakh and time is not stopped?

And a comment on your absurd definition of Barzakh as a light barrier, this is the third time you play with words. Barzakh is any barrier between two things, a light barrier or a heavy one, it makes no difference, it is all called Barzakh. Any dictionary for 2 pounds and a quarter has the meaning of the word Barzakh, so look it up, may Allah honor you.

Doubt "Iblis the Only Beneficiary"

Listen to this joke: "If there is punishment in the grave, the only beneficiary is Iblis because he will die last of all creatures on earth, so will people be punished in the grave and Iblis will roam and enjoy?" So there is no punishment in the grave because then Iblis will be the beneficiary and will roam and enjoy? So why did our Lord destroy the disbelieving nations with the wind, the scream, and the stones and called it painful punishment? Was Iblis also roaming and enjoying at the same time the disbelievers were being punished? Brother Mansour Kayali tells you that the disbelievers were punished more, he measures Allah's punishment by the measure of the sheep! He does not know that Allah is able to multiply the punishment on Iblis, and what is the meaning of severe punishment and on everything He is capable?

Doubt "Dirt Does Not Punish"

"Why does the disbeliever on the Day of Resurrection say, 'I wish I were dirt so that I could escape the punishment?' So dirt does not punish and Allah says that the dead will become dirt, so if we die and become dirt and bones?" Is this official tampering? When the disbeliever says: "{I wish I had been dust!}" he means I wish I had not been created human, I wish I had been created inanimate so that I would not have carried the trust and been held accountable. What does this have to do with the punishment of the grave? I do not understand?

The creed of Ahl al-Sunnah is that there is not only punishment in the grave, there is also bliss in the grave. And the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah is that the punishment of the grave is just a small model of what will happen in the Hereafter. No one denies this except some misguided sects like the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah.

The Position of Sheikh Sha'rawi

And by the way, here we must point out another tampering done by Mansour Kayali. Oh brother, by the great Allah, the late Sha'rawi - may Allah have mercy on him - when he first said that there is no punishment in the grave. Sheikh Sha'rawi - may Allah have mercy on him - did not deny the punishment of the grave, he only denied some forms of punishment of the grave even though they are established and narrated from the Sunnah of the Prophet as we will see, and this is a mistake from the mistakes of the Sheikh may Allah have mercy on him.

So the punishment of this world is one thing, and then comes the punishment of the grave, so the word they return on the Day of Resurrection and two punishments: punishment in the first time of this world and punishment in whom? In the grave. The punishment of the grave is a form of punishment? He told you yes, the punishment of the grave is a form of punishment with which the disbeliever is punished. Do you remember the verse: "{They will be shown the Fire morning and evening}" which Mansour Kayali said does not mean that the disbelievers will see the Fire in their graves? Come, listen to Sheikh Sha'rawi's interpretation of the last verse: "The money is shown to them, so the display is only at the time of death." So it was a great mistake when Mansour Kayali tampered with the people and told them that Sheikh Sha'rawi denied the punishment of the grave, while Sha'rawi's speech is the opposite of Mansour Kayali's speech completely.

Evidence from the Prophetic Sunnah

We have spoken about the evidence from the Quran, now let us see the evidence from the Sunnah. At first, I thought to tell you the hadiths that prove the bliss and punishment of the grave, but I found that just mentioning the hadiths would take about an hour. 107, 107! Of course, the poor ones who say these hadiths are fabricated had better stop the episode now, because if you imagine that 107 hadiths were reported by more than 40 companions who are fabricated, then there is no rational discussion that can work with you at all.

But to save time, I will give you a quick summary of these 107 hadiths:

• The Prophet peace be upon him ordered seeking refuge from the punishment of the grave in general.
• The Prophet peace be upon him ordered seeking refuge from the punishment of the grave after the last tashahhud in prayer.
• The Prophet peace be upon him taught us to seek refuge from the punishment of the grave in the morning and evening remembrances.
• The Prophet peace be upon him informed us of the things that necessitate the punishment of the grave such as backbiting and not cleaning oneself from urine.
• The Prophet peace be upon him informed us about the questioning of the two angels and the bliss and punishment of the grave which is not only a display of the Fire, there is also beating with iron hammers and other types of punishment.
• The Prophet peace be upon him taught us that the martyr is saved from the punishment of the grave.
• The Prophet peace be upon him prayed in the Battle of the Confederates against the polytheists that Allah may fill their graves with fire.
• The Prophet peace be upon him informed the companions about certain people who are punished in their graves.

Some of the things I mentioned have ten or fifteen hadiths, so forgive me for not being able to read these hadiths because I am trying to shorten the time of the episode as much as possible. You have to read the hadiths from the book I told you about "Causes of Creed, Islamic Creed."

Response to "The Doubtful Authenticity of Hadith"

With our utmost respect for the noble hadith, we take certainty of authenticity from the Quran, not from the doubtful authenticity of hadith. The phrase "the doubtful authenticity of hadith" is a scientific catastrophe, because the Sunnah contains mutawatir (consecutive) hadith, which is certain in authenticity. The punishment of the grave is established by mutawatir transmission. And mutawatir is the strongest evidence of transmission. We are certain that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said the Quran because it is conveyed to us by mutawatir transmission. Mutawatir can be verbal or conceptual. The punishment of the grave is mutawatir in a conceptual sense, and in books, the number of Companions who narrated hadiths about the punishment of the grave reaches more than forty Companions. Those who want to read the names of these Companions can read the book "Nazm al-Mutanathir min al-Hadith al-Mutawatir." I will also put the link to it below the video. In short, the punishment of the grave is not a matter of doubtful authenticity; it is certain, and belief in it is obligatory. If the episode were not so long, I would have mentioned to you how many scholars and jurists from the scholars of the Ummah have spoken about the mutawatir transmission of hadiths on the punishment of the grave, not just the Hanbalis or the people of hadith, but even Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari himself. I would have quoted to you the speech about the consensus of the Companions and the Followers on the punishment of the grave.

Why does Mansour Kayali deny the punishment of the grave?

But I asked myself, why is Brother Mansour Kayali repeatedly making videos to deny the punishment of the grave? What is the goal? "They write to me all the time, saying, 'I am going towards atheism. Why, brother, is there punishment in this world, punishment in the grave, punishment on the Day of Judgment, punishment, punishment, I do not want this entire topic.'" Do you see, young people, he would have become an atheist because of the punishment of the grave, so Professor Mansour - may Allah bless him - told them, "There is no punishment of the grave." There is only the punishment of the Fire that burns the skins, changes them, and burns them again, and there is Zaqqum and boiling water that burns the faces and boils in the bellies. So the youth who would have become atheists said, "Praise be to Allah for the punishment of Hell." We were going to become atheists because of the punishment of the grave, but since there is the punishment of Hell, we will enter Islam and live in comfort and security and bring Muslims and Muslim women.

It is strange that Mansour Kayali made 3 videos about the punishment of the grave, and people are sharing them, with thousands of views on YouTube and Facebook. Now, Hassan is responding to Mansour Kayali. Look at the comments that will be under the video: "People have landed on the moon, and you are still talking about the punishment of the grave, oh nation that laughs at its ignorance, you talk about the superficial aspects of religion and leave the essence, the core, honesty, and truth." And as you see, sir, the punishment of the grave becomes superficial, but when we establish it, it becomes a manifestation of scientific progress when someone denies it. May Allah honor you, if you do not like talking about the superficial aspects, then do not share the superficial aspects when Mansour Kayali talks about them instead of being angry at those who respond to the superficial aspects. Of course, regardless of the fact that the punishment of the grave is not superficial in the first place.

Peace be upon you.