Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
The punishment of the grave is one of the matters of the unseen that we know only through revelation. A person may be being punished in his grave, or enjoying comfort and bliss, while we do not perceive it. Allah also showed His Prophet ﷺ something of the punishment of some people in their graves, as in the hadith concerning the two men, one of whom used to spread malicious gossip, while the other did not protect himself from urine.
Among the most important wisdoms behind concealing the punishment of the grave from people are:
1. Allah’s mercy toward people:
If a person were to witness the punishment of his relatives in their graves, he would live in constant grief and anxiety, especially since he would be unable to remove the punishment from them.
2. Concealing the deceased’s faults:
The deceased may have had sins that Allah concealed from people. Revealing his punishment would expose what Allah had concealed from him, whereas concealing it is a form of mercy toward him.
3. So that people would not become reluctant to bury their dead:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Were it not that you would stop burying one another, I would ask Allah to let you hear some of the punishment of the grave.” Narrated by Muslim.
If people heard the cries of those being punished in their graves, burying their dead would become extremely difficult for them, and they might think that punishment occurs only after burial.
4. Preserving faith in the unseen:
If the punishment of the grave became visible to people, they would believe in it through direct observation and compulsion, and there would no longer be an opportunity to be tested through belief in the unseen. Believing in the report of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ without seeing the matter is part of the essence of faith.
Therefore, the believer accepts the report of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ with absolute certainty. The report of Allah cannot contain falsehood, whereas observation can be affected by illusion and error.
It is therefore obligatory to believe in the punishment and bliss of the grave as established by the texts, while submitting to the wisdom of Allah تعالى in what He has concealed from His servants.
And Allah تعالى knows best.