Grand Ayatollah Shirazi remarks on “Prayer of Burial Night”, chastisement in Hereafter
The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadiq al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Tuesday, the 27th of Jumadi al-Awwal. In this meeting, like the previous sessions, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various legal issues.
Grand Ayatollah Shirazi discussed some issues related to death and the Hereafter life in purgatory and the Resurrection. He said: “Although some hadiths use the term “Night of the Burial”, other narrations do not mention such an expression, but stress that the most difficult time for the dead is the first night following their death, which can be when they are still at home or in the hospital or anywhere else.
His Eminence went on to say: Unlike the present time, when burial is sometimes delayed due to some considerations, in the past, especially during the time of the Infallibles (peace be upon them), anyone who died was buried on the same day, so “the first night of the grave” and “the night of death” were the same. For this reason, some traditions in this regard became known as “Night of the Burial”. Therefore, the Prayer that is performed on such a night, or the charity that is paid, is related to the first night of death, whether the dead body is buried or not.
The Marja then explored verses 107 and 108 of Surah al-Hud, [They will eternally remain in the fire of Hell until the heavens and the earth remain, except for what is the will of your Lord, which of course, God does whatever He wills, and the people of Salvation will all dwell in the eternal paradise until the heavens and the earth remain, except for what is the will of your Lord; That is an eternal and uninterrupted bestowment]. He said: Not everyone that goes to Hell will stay there forever, and the torment of some of them will end in hellfire, according to our hadith.
Grand Ayatollah Shirazi went on to say: Some hadiths mention that some people are purified [from sins] to some extent in this world because of the injustices done to them, and if they are not completely purified in this world, they will be purified in the Purgatory, but if not yet purified, they may end up in hell for many years. It is even stated in narrations that some people remain in hellfire for up to three hundred thousand years, and after that, they leave hell and enter heaven, which means that not everyone going to hell will remain there forever. Of course, some people will be in Hell permanently and eternally.
