Hearing of the Dead‏

 

There are two unequivocal texts from the Qur'an which deny the possibility of the dead in their graves possessing the faculty of hearing. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, states:

"Verily you cannot make the dead hear and you can not make the deaf hear the call when they turn their backs and retreat." [Surah an-Naml 27:80]
"The living and the dead are not alike. Allah makes whoever he wishes hear, but you cannot make those in the graves hear." [Surah Fatir 35:22]

In the first verse Allah addresses His messenger, Muhammad (saws), reminding him that he cannot make the disbelievers hear the invitation to Islam, for they are like the dead, who do not hear either. In the second verse Allah points to the difference between the living and the dead - they are not all alike. He further clarifies to His prophet that he cannot make the rejectors of faith hear the message (for they are dead in heart and in spirit) any more than he can make those in the graves hear what is spoken to them!

Just as the Qur'an denies the possibility of the deceased possessing the faculty of hearing, there are a number of texts in the sunnah which arrive at the same conclusion. One such hadith follows:
Ibn Mas'ud reported that the Prophet (saws) said: "Allah has angels who travel about the earth; they [do and will] convey to me the peace greeting from my ummah." [Authentically reported by Abu Dawud]

This hadith clarifies that the Prophet (saws) does not hear the greetings of peace from Muslims when they pronounce it upon him, for if he could hear it directly, there would be no need of angels to convey it to him. Therefore, it follows that the Prophet (saws) cannot hear other forms of conversation directed to him either; and it stands even more to reason that the deceased, being lesser than the Prophet (saws), also cannot hear the salam (greeting of peace) or any other form of speech. Thus contrary to a popular misconception, because the Messenger (saws) cannot directly hear either one's invocation of blessings or one's salam addressed to him, such greetings may be conveyed to him from anywhere, regardless of the distance or proximity of the greeter to the Prophet's grave. The erroneous belief that the Prophet (saws) hears these greetings directly disregards the previous hadith whcih specifies that the greetings are conveyed to him by the angels, and it is based on a forged tradition