Affirmation of the Punishment of the Grave

Abu Hanifah said, “Whoever declares, ‘I do not acknowledge the punishment of the grave,’ is one of the doomed Jahmiyyah (followers of Jahm ibn Safwan), for he has rejected the Almighty’s words:

‘We shall punish them twice’ (Qur’an 9:101),

which refers to the punishment of the grave; and His words:

‘And indeed, for the wrongdoers there is a punishment before that’ (Qur’an 52:47),

meaning: in the grave. Should someone say, ‘I accept the verse but I do not accept its interpretation and explanation,’ Abu Hanifah ruled that he is a disbeliever, for within the Qur’an there are passages whose revelation and whose interpretation are inseparable; whoever denies them has disbelieved.

Abu Hanifah—may Allah have mercy on him—also reported from al-Minhāl ibn ‘Amr, from Ibn ‘Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The worst of my community are those who say, ‘I am certainly in Paradise and never in the Fire.’”