Affirming the Punishment of the Grave

Abu Hanifah—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “Whoever says, ‘I do not acknowledge the Punishment of the Grave,’ is from the doomed Jahmiyyah (Jahmites), because he has denied the Almighty’s statement: ‘We will punish them twice’ (Q 9:101)—that is, with the torment of the grave; and His statement: ‘And indeed, for those who have wronged there is a punishment before that’ (Q 52:47), meaning in the grave.

If someone says, ‘I believe in the verse but not in its interpretation and explanation,’ then, Abu Hanifah ruled, he is a disbeliever, for there are portions of the Quran whose very revelation is their interpretation; whoever rejects them has disbelieved.

Abu Hanifah—may Allah have mercy on him—also narrated to me from al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, from Ibn ʿAbbās—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The worst of my community are those who claim, ‘I am in Paradise and not in the Fire.’”