Can Dead People Hear?

Losing someone we love certainly would make us really sorrowful. Death has separated us, as he/she lives in the different world, and we are not able to communicate, to hug, to listen to his/her voice anymore, but every soul will experience death.

We all know that they live in a different realm, however, many people who visit graves continue talking to the deceased, pitting their grievances to their loved ones, in the hope that the dead will hear what they feel. A lot of people ask for help to Allah, SWT, through the dead person, with the wish that the dead can ‘help’ them to convey their requests to Allah, SWT. 

Do they think that the dead can hear the living or can give them some favors? Do they think that the dead can grant their prayers?

No. The dead can no longer hear the words of those who are still alive. As stated in the verses of the Holy Quran:

And not equal are the living and the dead. Indeed, Allah causes to hear whom He wills, but you cannot make hear those in the graves. (QS Fatir 35: 22)

Indeed, you will not make the dead hear, nor will you make the deaf hear the call when they have turned their backs retreating. (QS An-Naml 27:80)

Undeniably, there are hadiths relating that the Prophet, SAW, spoke in front of the graves of unbelievers in Qolib (a dry lake at Badr), but this is a special case. Allah, SWT, had caused the dead, whom He willed, to hear the Prophet, SAW, at that moment: 

It was narrated that Ibn `Umar, RA, said: “The Prophet, SAW, stood over the well of Badr (into which the bodies of the disbelievers had been thrown) and said, ‘Have you found the promise of your Lord to be true?’ Then he said, ‘They can hear what I am saying now.’” (Reported by Al-Bukhari, 3980; Muslim, 932)  

It was narrated that Abu Talhah quoted `Umar as saying, ‘O Messenger of Allah, why are you speaking to bodies that have no souls?’ The Messenger of Allah, SAW, said: ‘By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, you do not hear what I am saying any better than they do.’ ” Qutadah said: Allah brought them back to life so that they could hear what he was saying, so that they might feel regret and shame for their disbelief.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari, 3976; Muslim, 2875. See Fath al-Bari, 7/304).

If we want Allah, SWT, to forgive our loved ones’ sins and to accept their good deeds during their lifetimes we only need to offer our prayer. Not flowers covering over their graves, not excessive calls or cries, not grievances in front of the graves, etc. There are only 3 acts that will alleviate the corpse: i.e. eternal charity, beneficial knowledge, and prayer from their pious children.

The Prophet, SAW, said: “When a person dies, all his deeds come to an end except three: Sadaqah jaariyah (ongoing charity, e.g. a waqf or endowment), beneficial knowledge (which he has left behind), or a righteous child who will pray for him.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, no 1376; he said this is a saheeh hasan hadeeth)

The dead are currently like people who are sleeping very briefly (for the believers) until the Hour comes, as it is mentioned in the following verse:

And to Allah belongs the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth. And the command for the Hour is not but as a glance of the eye or even nearer. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent. (QS An-Nahl 16:77).

May Allah forgive us and all of our loved ones, who have preceded us to meet the Creator, and certainly we are following their trails sooner or later. 

by aMuslima

 

Wallahu a’lam

 

Further Readings:

Quran Sunnah

Quranic Path

Islam Help Line

On Islam

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