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Fatwa CenterWhether person who cried out of fear of Allah can be tortured in grave
Question
Assalaamu alaykum, Brothers. I have a question and was wondering if you could kindly answer it. You see, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, told us that one who cried out fear of Allaah will not go to hell. My question is: can someone like that be punished in the grave? Keep in mind that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that the grave is either one of the gardens of Jannah (Paradise) or a pit from the Fire.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “A man who wept out of the fear of Allah shall not enter Hellfire until the milk returns to the udder...” [Ahmad, At-Tirmithi, and An-Nasaa'i]
Similarly, the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, “Two eyes will never be touched by Hellfire; an eye which weeps out of the fear of Allah, and an eye which spends the night in guarding in the cause of Allah.” [At-Tirmithi]
The two ahaadeeth were interpreted by some scholars to mean that they will not abide in Hellfire eternally, and not that they will not absolutely enter Hellfire. Other scholars interpreted them to mean that most of them will not enter Hellfire, not that this applies to each and every one of them. This is because there are other authentic texts indicating that some of the believers, who believe in Tawheed (the Oneness of Allah), shall enter Hellfire on account of their sins. Other scholars provided different interpretations as well for these ahaadeeth. Al-Munaawi 
wrote, “Regarding the hadeeth, ‘Two eyes will never be touched by Hellfire; an eye which weeps out of the fear of Allah, and an eye which spends the night in guarding in the cause of Allah,’ the intended meaning is: not abiding in Hellfire eternally.” [At-Tayseer bisharh Al-Jaami’ As-Sagheer]
Ibn Al-Jawzi in his commentary on the following hadeeth, “'He will never enter the Fire, the one who prays before the sun rises (i.e. the Fajr prayer) and before it sets (i.e. the Asr prayer).” wrote:
“Another narration reads, ‘He who observes prayer before the rising of the sun and its setting, will not enter Hellfire.’ If it is asked how to reconcile between these two ahaadeeth and the entrance into Hell of those who believe in Tawheed while they used to pray (these two obligatory prayers), the answer is that there are five possible interpretations:
First, this statement was made before the Hudood (Corporal punishment prescribed for certain crimes set by the Shariah) were prescribed and the prohibitions were clarified.
Second, it means that those people, who keenly observe these two prayers, would most likely avoid doing whatever leads to Hellfire.
Third, that they will not abide in Hellfire eternally.
Fourth, they will not enter the same Hellfire into which the disbelievers will be thrown.
Fifth, that such people are not supposed to enter Hellfire. It is similar to the situation in which you see a small house and remark, ‘This house is too small for a prince to live in,’ and it is still possible that a prince may actually live in such a house.” [Kashf Al-Mushkil]
Hence, it becomes clear that it cannot be decisively determined that the Muslim will not be punished in the grave merely because he has cried out of the fear of Allah; but the mercy of Allah is vast, and this is quite possible.
Allah knows best.
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