And whether burial places in this world are far apart or close together, souls may meet despite the distance between their graves, or remain apart despite their graves being close together. A believer may be buried beside a disbeliever, yet the soul of the former is in Paradise and that of the latter in the Fire. Two men may be sitting or sleeping in the same place, yet the heart of one enjoys bliss while the heart of the other suffers torment, with no connection between their souls. Souls, as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, are:

“Troops assembled: those that recognize one another come together, while those that do not recognize one another remain apart.”

The body is not transported to its birthplace. Rather, it has been reported:

“The deceased is sprinkled with soil from his grave.”

A report of this kind cannot be affirmed with certainty or cited as proof. There is, however, a stronger hadith which states:

“No one dies away from his native town without the distance from his birthplace to the place where his journey ended being measured out for him in Paradise.”

A person will be resurrected from where he died, and his body is visibly present in his grave. What is observed must not be rejected on the strength of groundless conjectures that, moreover, contradict both reason and revelation.

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As for the questioner’s words, “Does weeping over him cause him distress?” this is a matter of disagreement among the early and later generations and the scholars. The correct view is