Is the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم alive in his grave or not?

Fatwa of Sheikh ‘Abdul-‘Aziz bin Baaz (2/386/388)

Question: Is the Prophetصلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  alive in his grave or not? And does he know what is happening in the Dunya?

Answer: Many of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah have explained that the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  is alive in his grave in the sense of the life of Barzakiyyah, or the life that exists in the grave, we don’t know how this is and this knowledge is with Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى. It is not like the life of the Dunya, rather it is a form of life in which that the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  lives in pleasure in which he hears the Salaam/ Salutations of the Muslims, at which point his soul is restored periodically by Allaah, the Most High, so that he may respond. All of this has been narrated in narrations, such as the one narrated by Abu Dawud with an Isnad which is Hasan:

On the authority of Abu Hurairahرضي اللّه عنـه  that the Messenger of Allaah صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم said:

 “There is no one who sends salutations/Salaam upon me but Allaah will restore my soul so that I may return his salutations/Salaam.”

                [Classed as Sahih in Sahih Sunan Abi Dawud by Shaykh al-Albani (1795)]

It is also been reported al-Bazzar with an Isnad which is Hasan on the authority of Ibn Ma’sud رضي اللّه عنـه  that the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  said,

“Verily, Allaah has Angels that travel through the land and they deliver the Salaam or the salutations that my Ummah send upon me.”

[Narrated by al-Nasa’i (1282) & Classed as Sahih by Shaykh al-Albani in Sahih al-Jami’ (2170)]

And he صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  said,

“Do not take your houses like graveyards and do not take my grave as a place that you repeatedly visit; send Blessings upon me because your greetings will reach me no matter where you are.”

[Abu Dawud (2042) & classed as Sahih by Shaykh al-Albani in Sahih al-Jami’ (7226)]

And there are many other narrations. The point being that he is now living a life of the Barzakh which is a life which is even more perfect than that of the martyrs about which Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى describes:

“Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allaah as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and they have provision.”

[Al-Imran 3:169]

And,

"And say not of those who are killed in the Way of Allaah, “They are dead.” Nay, they are living, but you perceive (it) not.”

[Baqarah 2:154]

The soul of the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم is more virtuous than the souls of the martyrs in status with Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى therefore this makes his life in the Barzakh even more complete and pleasurable than those who have been accepted as martyrs.

However, just because he has this perfect life in the Barzakh, it does not mean he knows the unseen or that he knows the affairs of the Dunya, rather he has died and his connection to the Dunya has also ceased. This is based on the statement,

“When a man dies, all his good deeds come to an end except three: ongoing charity; beneficial knowledge; and a righteous son who will pray for him.”

[Narrated by Muslim (1631)]

And he صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  said:

“I will reach the Cistern ahead of you. Whoever comes to it will drink and drinks from it will never thirst again. Some people will come to me whom I will recognize and they will recognize me, but then a barrier will be placed between me and them.” Abu Hazim said: al-Nu’man ibn Abi ‘Ayyash heard me narrating this hadith and said: “Is that how you heard Sahl say it?” I said, “Yes.” He said: “I bear witness that I heard Abu Sa’id al-Khudri add: and he [meaning the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  said: ‘They are from me.” And it will be said; “You do not know what they did after you were gone.” And I will say, “Away with those who changed after I was gone!”’

[Narrated by al-Bukhari (6528) and Muslim (4243) from the Hadith of Sahl رضي اللّه عنـه].

There are other Ahadith which are similar to this all explaining that the Prophetصلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  does not know the unseen during the time he was alive, then how about after he has died?

Allaahسُبحانه وتعالى  commands His Messenger to tell the people:

“Say (O Muhammad): ‘I don’t tell you that with me are the treasures of Allaah, nor (that) I know the unseen; nor I tell you that I am an angel. I but follow what is revealed to me by inspiration.” Say: “Are the blind and the one who sees equal? Will you not then take thought?’”

[An’aam 6:50]

And,

“Say (O Muhammad): ‘I possess no power of benefit or hurt to myself except as Allaah wills. If I had the knowledge of the Ghaib (unseen), I should have secured for myself an abundance of wealth, and no evil should have touched me. I am but a Warner, and a bringer of glad tidings unto people who believe.’”

[A’raf 7:188]

And the evidences to prove that he does not know the unseen are many. If this is the case for the Prophet صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم, then this is even more so applicable for others from the creation; that they don’t know the unseen either.

Whoever believes and calls the people to this belief, that the Prophetصلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  knows the unseen, then he is attributing a lie to Allaah as A’ishahرضي اللّه عنـه  has reported in saying. The incident revolving around this statement that she made occurred when some people left out for an expedition and some of the hypocrites and those following them started to spread rumors that A’ishah (al-Ifk) had done something bad and clarity and her declaration of innocence did not come until Ayat were revealed concerning her blamelessness. Had the Prophetصلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  known the unseen then her innocence would have been declared by the Prophet and he would not have waited until Ayat were revealed about her. This incident had begun when A’ishahرضي الله عنها  lost her necklace and she quested to find it and she returned only to find that the camp had left without her and the necklace was in the place where her camel had been resting. Had the Prophetصلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم  known the unseen, then he would have known that she was left behind and that she had lost her necklace.

And there are many narrations that prove that he did not know the unseen but what I have mentioned should be sufficient, if Allaah Wills.