Contents

Introduction

Corpse of a Centuries Old Martyr and its Sustenance

The Transfer of Hazrat Hamzah radiyallahu anhu's Grave.

Pleasant Fragrance in the Grave

Recitation of the Kalimah After Death

Conversation in Arabic at the Time of Death

The Truth about Punishment in the Grave

Death is considered a certainty, to the point that you would fail to find any rational person who would deny it. It is a common observation that every thing, whether it consists of life or not, is destined towards annihilation.

What will confront man after death? What will become of him in the grave? How will he rise again on the Day of Judgement? These, are those states of affairs, which we have not yet witnessed. But Allah Ta’ala has made all these circumstances clear to us, in great detail, through his Messengers alaihimus salaam and lastly through the Holy Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihe wasallam who is the Seal of Prophethood.

Allah Ta’ala has also repeatedly made references, concerning these circumstances, in the Holy Qur’aan. It is therefore necessary upon every Muslim to believe in resurrection (to be brought back to life) and the Day of Judgement from the deepest recesses of their hearts. At present, if you were to hold a discussion regarding ‘Death and the Day of Judgement’, you will either be ignored or you will be given the impression that they are matters of no real concern.

As a Doctor I have witnessed the deaths of approximately a hundred Muslims, and have also been in a position of knowing their final words. Only three people, out of the hundred, were fortunate to have died with the kalimah at the moment of death. The others died with worldly concerns on their lips e.g. One person asked for a milkshake whereas another was singing. Some were praising the names of their film heroes whilst others were discussing matters regarding their estate.

During these last forty years of my life, which have largely been spent practising medicine, I have personally heard and/or seen many matters which I considered necessary to relate so that it may prove beneficial to the readers. May Allah Ta’ala gives us all divine guidance to prepare for the hereafter. Aameen.

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The Corpse of a Centuries Old Martyr and its Sustenance

This incident goes back thirty years, to when a friend of mine was the supervising engineer at an irrigation department. He had a son who was mentally ill who they constantly had to keep bound, because he would otherwise wreck the house. One day, due to the servant’s lack of attention, the boy got into the drawing room and caused damage worth thousands of rupees. My friend brought him to me and close to tears said, "Doctor, he has tormented me more than I can bear, please do something about him otherwise I will strangle him." I, whilst trying to explain to him said, "Sir! Fear Allah. Do not say such things which could become a cause for your punishment on the day of judgement." Upon this he replied, (Allah Forbid) "Who is going to live after death? And who is going to ask?" I became silent fearing he may say something more blasphemous. Thus, the conversation ended.

A few days later the friend of mine went to inspect the ‘Daryah Gaazi Khan Canal’ (which was being drawn out from the Tunsi barrage; the digging of which had now been completed). When he arrived, he saw that all the workers had gathered in one place and were causing a commotion. Upon seeing the engineer the workers came towards him, and informed him that part of a man’s body had been seen from an opening below the river. The engineer decided to inspect this for himself and ordered for the earth around the body to be cleared away. Once this had been done, a human body became evident. However, there were two strange things about the corpse. Firstly, the clothes were soaked in blood; from which it was assumed as being the body of a martyr. Secondly, there was something, which resembled fruit, above his mouth and at intervals some drops would fall into it. The river, in which the body had been sheltered, was approximately twenty feet deep, from which it can be assumed that many centuries had passed since this man had died.

That same night the Engineer came to my house, and relating the whole incident to me he said, "The verse related in the Qur’aan meaning, ‘Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and they have provision.’ I have seen a live example of this verse and now have complete faith that there is life after death in which there is also a day of reckoning. If there was not, then the Earth would have eaten away the Martyr’s body which has remained secure beneath the Earth for centuries." He claimed, "It looked as though the dead was in anticipation for the time when he would be brought back to life, when his soul would be returned and he would rise for the day of judgement." I told the Engineer that there was a difference between his belief and of our belief in the day of judgement. I informed him, "We had faith merely upon hearing the sayings of our Holy Prophet sallallahu alaihe wasallam, whereas you did not believe until you saw the truth for yourself." From that day forward the Engineer refrained from hurting his son and repented sincerely for his past misgivings.

The Transfer of Hazrat Hamzah’s radiyallahu anhu Grave

This incident dates back to 1968 while I was working as a physician in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia. I came to Madinah on a Friday for Ziyaarah (visiting the blessed tomb of our Holy Prophet sallallahu alaihe wasallam) and during my stay I resided with a friend of mine who was also a Doctor. The doctor became ill and there were many patients to be seen, so he requested of me to see to them. I therefore examined the patients and discharged them.

One day an old Bedouin took me with him to see a patient near Mount Uhad, who lived in a tent which was in close proximity to the cemetery where the Martyrs of Uhad were buried. Having examined him I wrote him a prescription. Thereafter, the Bedouin took me to the blessed grave of Hazrat Hamzah radiyallahu anhu and informed me that fifty years ago Hazrat Hamzah’s radiyallahu anhu's grave had been situated beneath the valley. However, one day, due to torrential rainfall, his grave was flooded with water. The chieftain of Makkah, who in those days was the ruler of Hijaaz, saw Hazrat Hamzah radiyallahu anhu in his dream, and informed him to make arrangements to stop the rainwater from entering his grave, as it was causing him severe distress. The chieftain of Makkah informed the scholars and together they decided that his grave be raised to a higher level. When the grave was finally unearthed it was discovered that the water had, in fact, seeped into the grave.

The old Bedouin informed him that he was also amongst the people who had participated in unearthing the grave. He told me that while they were digging, a casual blow from a pickaxe accidentally hit Hazrat Hamzah’s radiyallahu anhu ankle and people were shocked to see that fresh blood began to gush from the wound. A bandage was bound around it to stop the bleeding. When Hazrat Hamzah’s radiyallahu anhu body was finally exposed, we saw that the kafn burial shroud only covered the lower portion of his body. Fresh blood was gushing from his wounds, one of his eyes had been dislocated from the eye-socket, his ears had been severed and his stomach had also been slit. All the people who were present saw Hazrat Hamzah radiyallahu anhu

Hazrat Hamzah radiyallahu anhu was transferred from the old grave to a higher level in the same condition. The reason why the Bedouin related this story was so that we could strengthen our belief in the existence of life after death. If there were no life after death then Hazrat Hamzah radiyallahu anhu who had achieved martyrdom fourteen hundred years ago, would not have remained so secure in the Earth.

Pleasant Fragrance in the Grave

The following incident took place a few years ago. A grave had been prepared for a person in the Rajanpoor cemetery. The strange thing about this was the whole cemetery had become fragrant with a delightful smell even before the people had arrived with the body. All the people were bewildered as to where the sweet smell was coming from, there were only a few trees and some wild plants in the cemetery and even they did not emit any fragrance. It became known, after a search had been made, that the source of the fragrance was an opening situated in the freshly dug grave. Once the opening had been widened, it was discovered that another grave existed underneath, in which an old man with a white beard rested. The astonishing fact was that a flower lay on top of him emitting the sweet fragrance. All the people in the city witnessed this phenomenon.

It was Hazrat Maulana Ahmed Ali Lahori rahmatullahi alaihe who had passed away in Lahore and was buried there. After he had been buried, a sweet fragrance began to emanate from his grave and his devotees began to carry the soil away. It has been related that the fresh soil that had been brought to refill the grave also began to emit the sweet smell. This continued for forty days. I was working in Saudi Arabia, at the time, as a physician. I was shown the soil from the grave by one of Hazrat Lahori’s disciples, which even then, was emitting a sweet smell.

Recitation of the Kalimah After Death

Doctor Nawazish Ali Bhut was an eye surgeon at Bhawalpur hospital and was considered to be a very pious man. He was suffering from jaundice (yellow skin fever) due to a disease in his liver. The disease had spread to such an extent that the time of his death drew near. I was at his bedside at the time of death. I noticed that the pupil of his eyes had dilated, his heartbeat had halted and he had stopped breathing. Medically he had died. His family, who were also present in the room, began to cry. I instructed his elder brother and wife to recite the Kalimah and informed them that Doctor Bhut was now departing from this world and it was better for them to recite the Kalimah, rather than cry. Consequently, they began to recite the Kalimah loudly. All of a sudden Doctor Bhut opened his eyes and sat up. He recited the Kalimah and said, "Doctor Noor, bear witness that I am going towards Allah’s abode having recited the Kalimah." He lay down on the bed again and passed away.

Conversation in Arabic at the Time of Death

A few years ago, I went to see a patient suffering from paralysis. He was in critical condition and looked as though it would only be a matter of time before he passed away. In any case I decided to examine him. During the course of the inspection he tried to talk but was unsuccessful. However, when I asked the patient for his name in Arabic he answered me immediately. He also complied when I asked him to open his mouth and eyes. After a short while he passed away. Upon enquiring, from his dependants, I learned that the person was uneducated. Arabic was out of the question, he did not even know Urdu. I had learned from scholars that Arabic will be the language spoken in the grave, on the day of judgement and all question and answers, that will take place in the grave, will also take place in Arabic. I believe, that this is what I had been made witness to, by the authority of Allah Ta’ala.

The Truth about Punishment in the Grave

A few years ago I was travelling in a jamaat which happened to reach a smallholding outside Mansehrah. Having placed our possessions in the Masjid we began our Ta’lim. We noticed that there were quite a lot of people sitting idle around the Masjid, so we invited them to join us. One person came and told us, "I will be here for salaah, after which I will relate a story to you concerning punishment in the grave." Therefore, as promised, the person sat beside us after the afternoon prayers and introduced himself. He stated that he was a retired young army recruit. During the 1965 India-Pakistan war, he, along with other youths, had been given duty to protect a temporary hoard (store) of arms, which had been placed in a cemetery.

He narrated, "It was around daytime, and I had nothing to do, so I decided to wander around the cemetery. As I passed by an old grave, I felt as though I heard noises of bones breaking coming from within. My curiosity was aroused so I began to remove a few bricks from around the grave with the butt of my gun so that I could discover the source of the noise. The noise seemed to get louder and louder the more I dug away, which only added to my curiosity and fear. What I witnessed, were the skeletal remains of a human body lying in the grave and sitting along it was a beast resembling a rat. This, it seemed, was the cause of the noise. As the creature bit into the skeleton it would cause it to stiffen and the noise of bones breaking and splitting would be heard. The animal repeated this three times as I stood by and watched. This made me feel sympathy for the dead person; as he was suffering so much pain. Thus, I decided to hit the animal with the rifle and no sooner had I tried it buried itself in the earth. When it appeared a short while later it leapt towards me, I was struck with so much terror that I began to run for my life. Having covered quite a distance I looked back only to see that the animal was still rapidly pursuing me. I spotted a lake nearby and waded into it hoping this would be my escape from the animal. As I looked back, I saw that the lake had indeed stopped the creature by the edge of the water. It seemed to stand there for quite a while and then suddenly put its mouth to the water. Just as soon as it had the water began to boil and I had to leap quickly out. My feet began to burn to such an extent that they turned red and began to blister. The pain made it unbearable to walk and so I called out to my companions.

Thereafter, I was admitted into the Aybatabaad hospital only to be transferred to the general army hospital in Rawalpindi. The flesh around my feet had now began to decay and an unpleasant smell hung around the blood and pus, which oozed constantly. When all treatments failed I was sent to America, but even that failed to help. By this time, the disease had reached such an extent that the flesh had rotted away exposing the bone and a stench rose with it resembling that of a decayed corpse.

He then revealed his feet to us, which were still wrapped in bandages

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