to his body, and two angels come to him.
In the Two Ṣaḥīḥs, on the authority of Qatādah from Anas, the Prophet ﷺ said:
“When the deceased is placed in his grave and his companions walk away, he surely hears the sound of their sandals. Two angels then come to him, make him sit up and ask, ‘What used you to say about this man, Muhammad?’ The believer replies, ‘I testify that he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger.’ The angels then say, ‘Look at your place in the Fire; Allah has replaced it with a place in Paradise.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ added: so he sees them both. As for the disbeliever or the hypocrite, when he is asked, ‘What did you use to say about this man?’ he answers, ‘I do not know; I only repeated what the people were saying.’ They say to him, ‘You neither knew nor recited.’ Then he is struck between the ears with an iron hammer, and he lets out a cry heard by everything around him except the two weighty beings (humankind and jinn).”
Another narration in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Ḥātim states: “Two angels—black and blue—come to him; one is called Munkar and the other Nakir.”
Still another report, recorded by Aḥmad in the Musnad and in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Ḥātim, from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), relates that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“When the deceased is placed in his grave, he hears the footsteps of those who turn away from him. If he was a believer, the prayer stands at his head, fasting at his right, zakat at his left, and the good deeds of charity, maintaining kinship, benevolence and kindness at his feet. An approach is then made to him from the side of his head, but the prayer says, ‘From my side there is no entrance.’ He is approached from his right, but fasting says, ‘From my side there is no entrance.’ Then from his left, but zakat says, ‘From my side there is no entrance.’ Finally he is approached from his feet, but the good deeds of charity, kinship, benevolence and kindness say, ‘From our side there is no entrance.’
He is then told, ‘Sit up.’ He sits, while the sun is made to appear to him as though it is setting. He is asked, ‘This man who was among you—what do you say about him, and what testimony do you bear concerning him?’ He replies, ‘Leave me until…’