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Bismilla The Dragons of The grave
Prohet (SAS) ; اَحبِب ما اَحبَبت فَاِنِّك مُفارِقه
(Love anything that you like, know that you will be separated from object of your love)


Punishment of grave It’s reality and it’s degree

You should know that the essence of the punishment of Grave is the love and friendship with this dunya(world).That is why the punishment of grave for different people will be in different degrees of their attachment and detachment to this Dunya. Punishment of a person who has only one attachment will be different from the one who has attached himself to many worldly things such as; family, wealth, cloth, power, and other worldly blessings that Allah (SWT) has bestowed on him.
Prohet (SAS) said; اَحبِب ما اَحبَبت فَاِنِّك مُفارِقه
(Love anything that you like know that you will be separated from that love)
Imam (RA) explains the attachment issue with a very beautiful example; He (RA) say, If some one give you bad news that, one of your ten horses is stolen. Naturally you will be sad hearing that news. But if he had told you that all ten of your horses were stolen you will be a lot more sad. How about if they come and tell you , your horses, your house, your wealth, your children, your wife, your gardens are all gone. That is the meaning of death. Ones reaction to that loss depends to the extend of ones attachment and detachment to his material wealth.
Allah (SWT) says; ذَٲلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمُ ”
ٱسۡتَحَبُّواْ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنۡيَا عَلَى ٱلۡأَخِرَةِ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَهۡدِى ٱلۡقَوۡمَ ٱلۡڪَـٰفِرِينَ‘This because they love the life of this world better than the Hereafter: and Allah will not guide those who reject Faith”
The dragons

Once prophet (SAS) asked sahabi(companion) do you know for what purpose Allah (SWT) has send this Ayah (20/124)
وَمَنۡ أَعۡرَضَ عَن ذِڪۡرِى فَإِنَّ لَهُ ۥ مَعِيشَةً۬ ضَنكً۬ا وَنَحۡشُرُهُ ۥ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِ أَعۡمَىٰ
"But whosoever turns away from My Message, verily for him is a life narrowed down, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Judgment." (124)
The Sahabah (RA) said, Allah and his messenger knows. Prophet SAS said,” it means the punishment of a kafir in grave will be ninety nine dragons. These dragons are similar to snake and each one has nine heads. They will, bite the kafir, leak him and blow on him until the day of mahshar(gyamah)”. naudubillah!
Imam (RA) farther explains that many saintly men of basira(who has vision of unseen) have seen these dragons. Only a stupid person who only rely on his five senses denies them. The ignorant person argues; I peeked into the grave I did not see any snake or dragon there.

Dragons of ones soul

Imam (RA)argues that these stupid persons who deny the existence of the dragon inside the grave should know that before the death the dragons were within the essence of that dead person’s spirit, though he was ignorant of it. dragons are in fact attributes of his nafs and its heads are his different kholog (character) that were dominant within the persons nafs. The essence of these dragons are from love of dunya(world). And its head are the bad characters that form within the soul of the person due to hobb(love) of dunya. Examples of these bad kholog are; hate, jealousy, show off, pride, lust, plots, animosity, love of power, love of wealth, popularity, ostentation, arrogance, etc. only with the light of basirah (eye of heart)one can see the heads of these dragons. Imam(RA) explain that the light of a nobowwah (prophts) encompass all of the bad characters within the humans soul. Nevertheless that comprehensive knowledge is not available for anyone else other than prophets. It is important to note that, these dragon have settled within the soul of the kafir not because he does not believe in Allah (SWT) and his prophet(SAS) but because he has given all of himself to dunya.
Allah (SWT) say ; This because they love the life of this world better than the Hereafter: and Allah will not guide those who reject Faith (16/107)
ذَٲلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمُ ٱسۡتَحَبُّواْ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنۡيَا عَلَى ٱلۡأَخِرَةِ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَهۡدِى ٱلۡقَوۡمَ ٱلۡڪَـٰفِرِينَ

Also Allah (SWT) mentions in another ayah (46/20)
أَذۡهَبۡتُمۡ طَيِّبَـٰتِكُمۡ فِى حَيَاتِكُمُ ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَٱسۡتَمۡتَعۡتُم بِہَا فَٱلۡيَوۡمَ تُجۡزَوۡنَ عَذَابَ ٱلۡهُونِ بِمَا كُنتُمۡ تَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ بِغَيۡرِ ٱلۡحَقِّ وَبِمَا كُنتُمۡ تَفۡسُقُونَ
And on the Day that the Unbelievers will be placed before the Fire, (it will be said to them): "Ye received your good things in the life of the world, and ye took your pleasure out of them: but today shall ye be recompensed with a Penalty of humiliation: for that ye were arrogant on earth without just cause, and that ye (ever) transgressed."


Discussion

So, these dragons reside within the soul of a person. These dragons actually are the formation of his characteristics. That is why he can not run away from them. He is like a person that has sold a slave girl but he is deeply in love with her. that dragon within his soul is that love that was inside his heart before he sold the slave girl. It was hidden he did not know about the love. Once the girl is gone the pain is evident. While he was with his lover he was enjoying her ,once he separated the pain of separation become evident. If he did not have love then at time of separation he would not have had any pain.similarly the love of dunya is so comforting in a person’s earthly life but it becomes the source of pain later on. Each love has different representation within the human soul. For example, Love of position is like a dragon, love of wealth is like a snake, love of house is like a scorpion, and so on. So everyone in a sense carry his own punishment with himself to his grave. For this reason prophet (SAS) said
اِنّما هىَ اَعمالكم ترَدب الىكم “Every persons punishment will not be more than what he deserves”.

And Allah (SWT) said; if you had been given ilm yaqeen (certainty of heart) you would have seen the hell fire.(102/5,6,7,)
كَلَّا لَوۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ عِلۡمَ ٱلۡيَقِينِ (٥) لَتَرَوُنَّ ٱلۡجَحِيمَ (٦) ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّہَا عَيۡنَ ٱلۡيَقِينِ (٧) ثُمَّ لَتُسۡـَٔلُنَّ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ عَنِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ (٨)
Nay, were ye to know with certainty of mind, (Ye would beware!) (5) Ye shall certainly see Hell Fire! (6) Again, ye shall see it with certainty of sight! (7) Then shall ye be Questioned that Day about the joy (ye indulged in)! (8)
Also Allah SWT said;
وَمِنۡهُم مَّن يَقُولُ ٱئۡذَن لِّى وَلَا تَفۡتِنِّىٓ*ۚ أَلَا فِى ٱلۡفِتۡنَةِ سَقَطُواْ*ۗ وَإِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ لَمُحِيطَةُۢ بِٱلۡڪَـٰفِرِينَ
Among them is (many) a man who says: "Grant me exemption and draw me not into trial." Have they not fallen into trial already? And indeed hell surrounds the Unbelievers (on all sides).
Please note that Allah SWT did not say the hell fire will encompass them. Allah swt say it is encompassing them.




why we can not see the dragon
You should know that whatever is from other world (alame amr, angelic world)we can not see while in this world (alame khalg, world of creation). The dead person sees the dragon, but people who are from this world can not see it.

The example of it is like a person who is dreaming a snake is biting him. He feels the pain though another person sitting next to him does not see a snake nor he feels the threat. And if a person sees in the dream that a snake is biting him it means in this world his enemy will overcome him. So it is a spiritual pain on his soul (heart). Once the event happens in due time he will say I saw the interpretation of my dream. Often times, he will say “I wish a snake in real world had bitten me than my enemy had overcome me. Hence the pain on his heart is greater than the pain on his body”.
If you argue that this snake has no real existence and what bites him is only an imagination, You should know whatever you see in dream it has a reality and existence in your realm. Similarly the torment that the dead and a sleeping person senses has real existence in their realm. The only difference is that the sleeping individual can weak up from the dream and free himself from the pain but the dead person can not free himself and he has to stay with the torment until the day of judgment.
In the sharia also it does not say one can see the snake or dragon with the physical eyes unless they have achieved spiritual state of kashf(vision of the eye of heart). Nevertheless, Anbia and Ulya(prophets and friends of Allah SWT) they do see the snakes and dragons in the awake state. The world of senses does not block them from the vision of unseen.

Who will be tormented in the grave
As we mentioned before, the punishment of grave is due to the love of dunya (this world). However, No body is immune from this love, Other than some rare people (darawish) who are fed up with this world and are waiting for death to be freed from this world and meet their beloved. Most other people on the other hand have some attachment to their worldly blessings such as wife, children, wealth, position, etc. Imam Gazali (RA) divide these people to Two groups.
First group despite their love of their worldly possession they also love Allah (SWT). So if they love Allah (SWT) more than their worldly possession then they will have no punishment. The example of this kind of person is like some one who loves his house and his city however he loves being a president or a minster more than his city and house. If King gives him a position of governance in another city he will happily accept it and he will feel no suffering or pain leaving his city to the new one.
Similarly the prophets , and pious Muslims even though they have attachment to their wife, children and country, however, once the friendship of Allah (SWT) matters the pleasure and intimacy with Allah (SWT)(UNs with allah) make them forget every thing else. This intimacy of preferring to be with Allah to any other attachment shows itself in the time of their death. So they are protected from this torment. But any one who loves the lust and pleasures of this dunya more than the creator of everything, Allah (SWT) he would not be freed from the punishment of the grave. for that reason Allah (SWT) said; ( 19/71-72).
وَإِن مِّنكُمۡ إِلَّا وَارِدُهَا*ۚ كَانَ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ حَتۡمً۬ا مَّقۡضِيًّ۬ا (٧١) ثُمَّ نُنَجِّى ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَواْ وَّنَذَرُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ فِيہَا جِثِيًّ۬ا
Not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished. (71) But We shall save those who guarded against evil, and We shall leave the wrongdoers therein, (humbled) to their knees.

Naudhubillah

So, these people will receive punishment in the grave for a while until they forget the dunya and its passion completely diminish in their souls. As a result, some love and friendship of Allah SWT that existed within the soul will be revived. But the person who did not have love for Allah SWT he will be in that torment for ever. That is one of the reason that the punishment of a kafir would not leave him because love of world had encompassed his soul.

Who really loves Allah (SWT)
You should know any one who verbalize that “I love God” or “I love God more than this world”does not necessarily love Allah. That is the word of every religion all over the earth but only in tongue. There is a way to test the truthfulness of these claims.

When a persons soul and lust desire something that is against the law of Allah (shariah) and he prefers desire of Allah (SWT) then he loves Allah more than this dunya.
The example of this is like someone who loves two people. If there is a fight between the two then the person have tendency to keep his friendship with the one that he loved the most. Only verbally saying has that I love both has no use in this situation. For this reason prophet (SAS) said;
“They always say لاالاه الا الله and free themselves from the punishment of Allah aziwajal until they prefer a worldly benefit to the dinee one . Then allah (SWT )say your لاالاه الا الله was nothing but a lie. Naudubillah