Squeeze of the Grave is a Fact

Allamah Majlisi says in Haqqul Yaqeen: Muslims have a unanimously agreed belief that the squeezing of grave and both reward and punishment therein are real facts. According to reliable traditions, the grave will press the same body, which was been buried. Of course, every body is not necessarily squeezed in the grave. It depends upon the deeds, that is, this punishment is inflicted only on those who have earned it by sinning. The degree of squeeze will also depend on the severity of his sins. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) is reported to have said that the squeezing of the grave is the expiation of the sin of wasting away the bounties granted by God. Shaykh Kulaini (r.a.) has, reliably narrated from Abu Baseer that he asked Imam Ja'far Sadiq (a.s), "Is any body spared the squeeze in

grave?" The Imam replied, "Refuge God from this matter! Very few people escape the squeeze of the grave." When Ruqaiya, the stepdaughter of the Prophet expired, the Prophet stood at her grave raising his head towards the sky. Tears flowed from his eyes. Then he told the people, "I remembered the calamity this lady has just passed. It made me extremely gloomy and I prayed: O Allah! Forgive her. You are Most Merciful. Please save her from the squeeze of the grave.'" Then he said, "God has pardoned her." It seldom so happens that a person is saved from the squeeze of grave. This is because the squeezing of the grave is the result of sins. The matter is so sensitive that even an unwise and unjust behaviour with one's own family members can cause squeeze in the grave. As a testimony to this statement and with a view to show the importance of this squeeze, we narrate below a tradition related to Saad bin Muaaz Ansari. Saad was a chief of the Ansars as well as a respected person in the eyes of the Holy Prophet and also in the opinion of all Muslims. Once he was riding to visit the Holy Prophet. The latter asked Muslims to receive him. The Holy Prophet himself had also stood to welcome him. The Holy Prophet had once appointed Saad as arbiter in a case concerning some Jews. When he (Saad) expired, seventy thousand angels joined his funeral procession. The Holy Prophet shouldered all the four corners of his coffin and said, "There were columns and rows of angels in the funeral of Saad. My hand was in the hand of Jibraeel. I was following him (Jibraeel) wherever he moved." In short, he was such a nice gentleman that, besides all these things, the Holy Prophet lowered his body in the grave. Seeing this, the mother of the deceased cried out, "Congratulation to you, O Saad! Congratulation for winning paradise." The Holy Prophet asked that lady, "From where did you know that your son has reached paradise? Right now he is under squeeze of the grave." The companions asked, "O Messenger of God! Is a pious man like Saad is also being squeezed in the grave?" The Holy Prophet replied, "Yes."

According to another narration, when people asked the reason for the squeeze of Saad's grave, the Holy Prophet replied that Saad was not behaving nicely with his family members and his attitude towards his wife was rather bad. Squeeze of Grave is Possible Everywhere The respectable scholar, Kulaini (r.a.) has narrated from Yunus that he asked Imam Reza (a.s.) in the matter of one who was hanged. (In the past people were not only being hanged but their corpses were also left hanging for days. Zaid, the martyr was kept thus hanging for three years and birds had made nests in his body). The Imam replied, "Yes. The Almighty God commands air to squeeze the body." Imam Ja'far (a.s.) has been quoted in another tradition saying that the Lord of the earth and air is one. He orders air to squeeze the hanging body more forcibly than the force of a grave. The same is the case of those who drown in water. Reasons of Squeeze of the Grave It is known from the above that wasting (not appreciating) the bounties granted by God causes grave squeeze. Similarly not behaving nicely with family members is also a reason for such squeeze of the grave. (Details about non-appreciation of Divine graces and bad behaviour with wife can be seen in the second volume of Ayatullah Dastghaib's book Gunahane Kabira (Greater Sins). Some other causes of such squeeze are, not purifying oneself after urinating, backbiting, making false allegations etc. The soul is squeezed. It is also likely that the body is also affected. Contrary to this, the graves of those whose behaviour and attitude towards all is good become spacious in proportion to their nice manners. For some the width goes upto seven yards or seventy yards. For some it is upto the reach of one's eyesight. Consequently their souls live in comfort and ease.