streams of boiling water like a pot, some have fire blown into their bodies, some are fed rotten, foul-smelling meat, some are forced to eat burning embers, some are made to eat the flesh cut from their own sides! Are these the kinds of torments we can endure...!!  Ah! Who has the courage! Who possesses the strength for this! Yet, alas! We still do not reform; we still do not fear. When it comes to sin and disobedience, when it comes to luxury and frivolous activities, we're ready right now, but when it comes to repentance, we delay! Alas! If only we were granted the fear of Allah Almighty, if only we were granted concern for our graves and the Hereafter.

The Grave, A Garden of Paradise or a Pit of Hell

Sayyiduna Abū Sa‘id Khudri رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ narrated: The Beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said: “Remember often the destroyer of pleasures, death, for the grave calls out every day, saying: ‘I am the home of estrangement. I am the home of loneliness. I am the home of dust. I am the home of worms and insects.’ When a believer is buried in the grave, the grave says to him: ‘Welcome! Of those who walked upon my back, you were the most beloved to me. Now that you have come to me, see how well I treat you!’ Then the grave expands for him as far as the eye can see, and a door to Paradise is opened for him. But when a sinner or disbeliever is buried, the grave says: ‘You are not welcome! Of those who walked upon my back, you were the most detested. Now that you have come to me, see how I treat you!’ Then the grave tightens upon him until his ribs interlock. Allah Almighty appoints seventy thousand dragons (i.e., large snakes) upon him; if even one of them were to hiss upon the earth, nothing would ever grow again. Those serpents will continue biting him until the Day of Resurrection.” The narrator says: The Holy Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم further said: اِنَّمَا الْقَبْرُ رَوْضَةٌ مِّنْ رِيَاضِ الْجَنَّةِ اَوْحُفْرَةٌ مِّنْ حُفَرِ النَّار “Indeed, the grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise, or a pit from the pits of Hell.”^[1]

The Punishment for Sinning in Secret

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zayd رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ narrated: “I once passed by a graveyard