Do the Dead Hear?
هل يسمع الميت؟
Yes, the deceased hear the greetings of peace when we greet them, and they receive the supplications we send them. This is based on the Prophet's (pbuh) hadith, (The Messenger of Allah admonished the inhabitants of the well at Badr: "O Abu Jahl bin Hisham! O Utbah bin Rabi`ah! O Shaybah bin Rabi'ah (and he called their leaders by name)! Have you found what your Lord promised to be true (the Fire)! I certainly found what my Lord has promised me to be true (victory)." Umar said, "O Allah's Messenger! Do you address a people who have become rotten carrion!" He said, "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul! You do not hear what I am saying better than they do, but they cannot reply.")
نعم الميت يسمع السلام حينما نسلم عليه ويصله الدعاء إذا دعونا له، لحديث الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم عندما مر على موتى صناديد قريش بعد غزوة بدر، وقف ينادي: (يا فلان بن فلان إني وجدت ما وعدني ربي حقا فهل وجدتم ما وعدكم ربكم حقا) قال عمر بن الخطاب: يا رسول الله، إنك تنادي أجسادا لا أرواح فيها، فقال الرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام: (ما أنتم بأسمع لما أقول منهم لكن لا يستطيعون أن يجيبوا).
1. Allah Makes Whom He Wills Hear | إن الله يسمع من يشاء
Allah says: Nor are the dead and the living equal. Indeed, Allah alone makes whoever He wills hear, but you can never make those in the graves hear (35:22). Ibn Kathir explains that this is a parable Allah strikes for the believers, who are the living, and the disbelievers, who are the dead ... as the dead, who died as disbelievers and went to their graves, do not [hear or] benefit from guidance and the call to it, so too those idolaters destined for misery: you have no means with them and cannot guide them. On the similar verse 30:52 he adds: just as it is not in your power to make the dead in their graves hear or convey your words to the deaf who do not hear, while they turn away from you, so you cannot guide those blind to the truth or turn them back from their misguidance; that belongs to Allah, for by His power He makes the dead hear the voices of the living when He wills.
وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْأَحْيَاءُ وَلَا الْأَمْوَاتُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَن يَشَاءُ ۖ وَمَا أَنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَّن فِي الْقُبُورِ (سورة فاطر: 22)
قال تعالى: (وما يستوي الأحياء ولا الأموات إن الله يسمع من يشاء وما أنت بمسمع من في القبور) (فاطر 35: 22)، قال ابن كثير: وهذا مثل ضربه الله للمؤمنين وهم الأحياء، وللكافرين وهم الأموات ... كما لا [يسمع و] ينتفع الأموات بعد موتهم وصيرورتهم إلى قبورهم، وهم كفار، بالهداية والدعوة إليها، كذلك هؤلاء المشركون الذين كتب عليهم الشقاوة لا حيلة لك فيهم، ولا تستطيع هدايتهم، وقال في قوله تعالى: (فإنك لا تسمع الموتى) (الروم 30: 52): كما أنك ليس في قدرتك أن تسمع الأموات في أجداثها، ولا تبلغ كلامك الصم الذين لا يسمعون، وهم مع ذلك مدبرون عنك، كذلك لا تقدر على هداية العميان عن الحق، وردهم عن ضلالتهم، بل ذلك إلى الله تعالى، فإنه بقدرته يسمع الأموات أصوات الأحياء إذا شاء.
2. The Slain of Badr | ما أنتم بأسمع لما أقول منهم
The scholar’s evidence is in Sahih Muslim: the Prophet stood over the slain of Badr and called them: O Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, O Umayyah ibn Khalaf, O Utbah ibn Rabi’ah, O Shaybah ibn Rabi’ah, have you not found what your Lord promised you to be true? I have found what my Lord promised me to be true. Umar asked how they could hear when they had decayed, and he said: By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, you do not hear what I say better than they do, but they cannot reply (Sahih Muslim 2874). Qatadah said: Allah brought them to life until He made them hear his words, as a rebuke, a humiliation, a vengeance, and a cause of regret and remorse (Sahih al-Bukhari 3976). This does not contradict So you certainly cannot make the dead hear (30:52), for Ibn Kathir explains that Allah, by His power, makes the dead hear the voices of the living when He wills.
فَإِنَّكَ لَا تُسْمِعُ الْمَوْتَىٰ (سورة الروم: 52)
ودليل الجواب في صحيح مسلم: قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم لقتلى بدر: "يا أبا جهل بن هشام، يا أمية بن خلف، يا عتبة بن ربيعة، يا شيبة بن ربيعة، أليس قد وجدتم ما وعد ربكم حقا؟ فإني قد وجدت ما وعدني ربي حقا"، فسمع عمر قول النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: يا رسول الله، كيف يسمعوا وأنى يجيبوا وقد جيفوا؟ قال: "والذي نفسي بيده، ما أنتم بأسمع لما أقول منهم، ولكنهم لا يقدرون أن يجيبوا" (صحيح مسلم 2874)، وقال قتادة: أحياهم الله حتى أسمعهم قوله توبيخا وتصغيرا ونقيمة وحسرة وندما (صحيح البخاري 3976)، ولا يعارض هذا قوله تعالى: (فإنك لا تسمع الموتى) (الروم 30: 52)، فقد قال ابن كثير: ذلك إلى الله تعالى، فإنه بقدرته يسمع الأموات أصوات الأحياء إذا شاء.
3. Aisha’s Reading and the Footsteps After Burial | إنه ليسمع قرع نعالهم
The Companions read the Badr hadith in two ways. Ibn Umar reported that the Prophet stood at the well of Badr and said: Have you found what your Lord promised to be true? Then he said: They now hear what I say; Aisha said that he said: They now know that what I used to tell them is the truth, and she recited: You certainly cannot make the dead hear (27:80) (Sahih al-Bukhari 3980, 3981). The scholar takes the first reading, and another sound hadith supports a hearing that Allah grants: When a person is laid in his grave and his companions turn away and leave, he hears the sound of their footsteps, and two angels come to him (Sahih al-Bukhari 1338).
إِنَّكَ لَا تُسْمِعُ الْمَوْتَىٰ (سورة النمل: 80)
روى الصحابة رضي الله عنهم حديث بدر على وجهين: فروى ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وقف على قليب بدر فقال: "هل وجدتم ما وعد ربكم حقا"، ثم قال: "إنهم الآن يسمعون ما أقول"، فذكر لعائشة فقالت: إنما قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: "إنهم الآن ليعلمون أن الذي كنت أقول لهم هو الحق"، ثم قرأت: (إنك لا تسمع الموتى) (النمل 27: 80) (صحيح البخاري 3980، 3981)، وقد أخذ الجواب بالوجه الأول، وفي حديث صحيح آخر ما يؤيد سماعا يهبه الله تعالى، قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: "العبد إذا وضع في قبره، وتولي وذهب أصحابه حتى إنه ليسمع قرع نعالهم، أتاه مَلَكان" (صحيح البخاري 1338).
4. Greeting the Graves and Praying for the Dead | السلام عليكم دار قوم مؤمنين
The Prophet used to go out to al-Baqi and say: Peace be upon you, abode of a believing people; there has come to you what you were promised, you who are given respite until tomorrow; and we, if Allah wills, will join you. O Allah, forgive the people of Baqi al-Gharqad (Sahih Muslim 974). The supplication of the living reaches the dead: When a person dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge that benefits, or a righteous child who prays for him (Sahih Muslim 1631). Believers pray: Our Lord! Forgive us and our fellow believers who preceded us in faith (59:10). The dead are prayed for, not prayed to: which requests are allowed is explained in the permitted request, and what death is in what death is.
رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلِإِخْوَانِنَا الَّذِينَ سَبَقُونَا بِالْإِيمَانِ (سورة الحشر: 10)
كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يخرج إلى البقيع فيقول: "السلام عليكم دار قوم مؤمنين، وأتاكم ما توعدون غدا مؤجلون، وإنا إن شاء الله بكم لاحقون، اللهم اغفر لأهل بقيع الغرقد" (صحيح مسلم 974)، ودعاء الأحياء يصل إلى الأموات، قال صلى الله عليه وسلم: "إذا مات الإنسان انقطع عنه عمله إلا من ثلاثة: إلا من صدقة جارية، أو علم ينتفع به، أو ولد صالح يدعو له" (صحيح مسلم 1631)، وقال تعالى: (ربنا اغفر لنا ولإخواننا الذين سبقونا بالإيمان) (الحشر 59: 10)، فالميت يدعى له، ولا يدعى من دون الله.
Scholarly Insight: What the dead person hears after burial is followed at once by the two angels’ questions, and the answer is given by Allah’s help: Allah makes the believers steadfast with the firm Word in this worldly life and the Hereafter (14:27); the Prophet said that the believer seated in his grave testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and that this is the meaning of the verse, which was revealed about the punishment of the grave (Sahih al-Bukhari 1369). Read more in the tafsir of Surah Ibrahim.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
Do the dead hear?
Yes. The dead hear the greeting of peace when we greet them, and the supplication we make for them reaches them; the Prophet told Umar at Badr: You do not hear what I say better than they do, but they cannot reply (Sahih Muslim 2874).
How did Aisha understand the hadith of Badr?
She reported his words as: They now know that what I used to tell them is the truth, and recited: You certainly cannot make the dead hear (27:80) (Sahih al-Bukhari 3981).
Does the dead person hear the footsteps after burial?
Yes. The Prophet said that when a person is laid in his grave and his companions leave, he hears their footsteps, and two angels come to him (Sahih al-Bukhari 1338).
Does supplication benefit the dead?
Yes. When a person dies his deeds end except three: ongoing charity, knowledge that benefits, or a righteous child who prays for him (Sahih Muslim 1631).
Prepared by Eng. Ghada Homad, founder of IslamFAQ, researched and written in consultation with qualified scholars, reviewed by Professor Khaled Jassem Al-Houli, Associate Professor of Comparative Jurisprudence and Islamic Politics, Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies, University of Kuwait. Read more about the authors and this project →