a Jewish woman. She said, ‘The punishment of the grave is caused by urine.’ I said, ‘You are lying.’ She replied, ‘Indeed it is! We even cut away the parts of skins and clothing affected by it.’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came out to go to prayer while our voices were raised. He asked, ‘What is this?’ I told him what she had said, and he replied, ‘She has spoken the truth.’ From that day onward, he never prayed without saying at the end of the prayer: ‘O Allah, Lord of Gabriel, Michael, and Isrāfīl, protect me from the heat of the Fire and the punishment of the grave.’”

The author states in al-Ahkām: “The apparent meaning of ‘at the end of the prayer’ in these three hadiths is before the salutation, thus reconciling them with the previously cited hadiths of Ibn ‘Abbās and Abū Hurayrah.”

I say: What he has said is correct, for this hadith is found in the Sahīh collection, on the authority of ‘Ā’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her. A Jewish woman visited her, mentioned the punishment of the grave, and said to her, “May Allah protect you from the punishment of the grave.” ‘Ā’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, then asked the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about the punishment of the grave. He replied:

“Yes, the punishment of the grave is real.”

‘Ā’ishah said: “After that, I never saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, offer a prayer without seeking refuge from the punishment of the grave.”

The hadiths on this subject agree with one another and clarify what has preceded. And Allah knows best.