al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “The soul may be connected to the body, and thus suffer punishment.” They based this on the fact that this has been physically witnessed in graves: some graves have been opened and marks of punishment seen upon the body, while others have been opened and marks of bliss seen upon it.

Some people told me that here in this town of Unayzah, while they were digging for the town’s outer wall, they came across a grave and its burial niche opened up. They found within it a deceased person whose shroud had been consumed by the earth, while his body remained dry; yet the earth had consumed none of it. They even said that they saw his beard, with henna in it, and that a fragrance sweeter than the finest musk wafted over them. So they stopped and went to the shaykh, who at that time was Abdullah ibn Abd al-Rahman Abu Butayn. They asked him, and he replied: “Leave him as he is and keep away from him; dig to the right or to the left.”

On this basis, the scholars said that the soul may be connected to the body, such that punishment affects both. This may also be supported by the previously mentioned hadith of al-Bara’ ibn Azib, in which the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Indeed, the grave constricts the disbeliever until his ribs interlock.” (1) This indicates that punishment affects the body, since the ribs are part of the body.

The third aspect: If the deceased is not buried, and wild beasts consume him, or the winds scatter him, or he falls into the sea and whales consume him, will he be punished?

The answer: Yes. The punishment will affect the soul, because the body has disappeared, decayed, and perished. Yet this is a matter of the unseen, and I cannot state with certainty that none of this punishment reaches the body, even if it has perished and been burned;