Pressing Of The Grave Is An Agreed (True) Fact

Allamah Majlisi says in Haqqul Yaqeen: All Muslims have a unanimously agreed belief that the squeezing of grave and both reward and punishment therein are real facts. According to reliable hadiths, the grave will press the same body which was been buried. Of course, every body is not being necessarily squeezed in the grave. It depends upon the deeds, that is, this punishment is inflicted only on those who have earned it by sinning. The degree of pressure will also depend on the severity if his sins. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) is reported to have said that the squeezing of the grave is the expiation of the sin of wasting away the bounties granted by God.

Saikh Kulaini (r.a.) has, reliably narrated from Abu Baseer that: I asked Imam Jafar Sadiq (a.s): Is any body spared from the sandwiching in grave?

The Hazrat replied: May God save. Very few people escape from the pressure in grave.

When the stepdaughter of the Holy Prophet, whose name was Ruqaiya, expired the Holy Prophet stood at her grave raising his head towards the sky. Tears flew from his eyes. Then he told the audience: I remembered the calamity from which this lady has just passed. It me extremely gloomy and I prayed: O Allah! Forgive her. You are Most Merciful. Please save her from the pressurizing of grave. Then he said: God has pardoned her.

It seldom so happens that a person is saved from the pressure of grave. This is because the squeezing of the grave is the result of sins. The matter is so sensitive that even an unwise and unjust behaviour with one's own family members also causes such squeezing in the grave. As a testimony to this statement and with a view to show the importance of this pressure, we narrate below a hadis related to Saad bin Muaaz Ansari.

Saad was a chief of the Ansars as well as a respected person in the eyes of the Holy Prophet and also in the opinion of all Muslims. Once he was going riding a horse, to visit the Holy Prophet. The latter asked Muslims to receive him. The Holy Prophet Himself had also stood at his arrival. The Holy Prophet had once appointed Saad as a Hakam (arbiter) in a case concerning some Jews. When he (Saad) expired seventy thousand angels had joined his funeral procession. The Holy Prophet had shouldered all the four corners of his coffin and had said: There were lines and rows of angels in the funeral of Saad. My hand was in the hand of Jibreel. I was following him (Jibreel) wherever he moved. In short, he was such a nice gentleman that, besides all these things, the Holy Prophet lowered his body in the grave. Seeing this, the mother of the deceased cried out: Congratulation to you, O Saad! Congratulation for winning paradise. The Holy Prophet asked that lady: From where did you know that your son has reached paradise? Right now he is under pressure of the grave. The companions asked: O Messenger of Allah! Is a pious man like Saad is also being pressurized in the grave? The Holy Prophet said: Yes.

According to another narration, when people asked the reason for the sandwiching of Saad's grave, the Holy Prophet replied that Saad was not behaving nicely with his family members and his attitude towards his wife was rather ugly.

Pressurizing Of Grave Is Possible Everywhere

Kulaini (r.a.) has narrated from Yunus that he asked Imam Reza (a.s.) in the matter of one who was hanged. (In the past people were not only being hanged but their corpses were also left hanging for days. Shaheed Zaid was kept thus hanging for three years and birds had made nests in his body). The Imam replied: Yes. The Almighty God commands air to pressurize the body.

Imam Jafar (a.s.) has been quoted in another hadith saying that the Lord of the earth and air is One. He orders air to presses the hanged body more forcibly than the force of a grave. The same is the case of those who drown in water.

Reasons of Pressing In Grave

It is known from the above that wasting (not appreciating) the bounties granted by God causes grave pressure. Similarly not behaving nicely with family members is also a reason for such sandwiching of the grave. (Details about non-appreciation of Divine graces and bad behaviour with wife can be seen in volume two of Aayatullaah Dastgaib (r.a.)'s book Gunaahaan-e-Kabeerah (Greeter Sins).

Some other causes of such pressure are not being clean after urinating, backbiting, making false allegations etc. The soul is pressurized. It is also likely that the body is also affected.

Contrary to this, the graves of those whose behaviour and attitude towards all is good become spacious in proportion to their nice manners. For some width goes upto seven yards, seventy yards. For some it is upto the reach of one's eyesight. Consequently they, that is, their souls live are comfort and ease.