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What is the legitimate (Sharia) opinion regarding stories that speak of what happens after burial, depict events in the grave, personify angels such as Munkar and Nakir, and describe the torment and bliss of the grave in this manner?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

This literary story is not a question, but a short story that deals with the trial of the grave and the torment of the Barzakh (interim period between death and resurrection). The author added matters to it that were not mentioned in the Sunnah, such as the woman's nausea, describing the angels as having cold faces, and the two angels withdrawing upon the arrival of a young man. This is not befitting of the noble Hadith, because it could be a lie attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, or a lie to portray a story that has no existence. For the noble Hadith is entirely truthful, while literary texts, their beauty may stem from their distance from reality, hence it was said: "The best of it is the most untruthful." Therefore, in matters of the unseen, one should restrict oneself to what has been authentically reported.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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