Here's a more detailed explanation:
The Soul's Role:
Questioning:
When a person dies, their soul is questioned by the angels Nakir and Munkar in the grave. They ask about the deceased's Lord, religion, and prophet.
Punishment/Blessing:
If the soul answers correctly, it is believed to experience a peaceful and blessed state in the grave (Barzakh). If the answers are incorrect, the soul may be punished.
Connection to the Body:
The soul is seen as the entity that continues to exist after death and experiences the rewards or punishments of the afterlife.
The Body's Role:
Physical Impact:
Some Islamic scholars believe the body also experiences the torment or bliss alongside the soul in the grave, as a real and tangible experience. This is supported by some hadiths (sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad).
Delayed Deterioration:
While the body is buried in the grave, it is seen as a vessel that holds the soul and is subject to decomposition. However, Islamic teachings emphasize prompt burial to prevent undue delay and potential physical deterioration.
Resurrection:
At the Day of Judgement, the body will be resurrected and reunited with its soul for the final reckoning.
Debate on the Extent of the Body's Experience:
Different Interpretations:
There are different interpretations among Islamic scholars regarding the extent to which the body is affected in the grave. Some believe the body is merely a shell while others believe it experiences a more profound impact.
Symbolic vs. Literal:
Some scholars interpret certain hadiths about the grave as symbolic rather than literal, while others take them at face value.
In essence, while the soul is the primary entity experiencing the events of the grave, the body is also believed to be involved in some way, though the exact nature of this involvement is a subject of ongoing scholarly discussion
Rabi bin Suleman (mercy of Allah be upon him) is reported to have said that he was going on 4 pilgrimages along with his brother and a group of pilgrims. When they reached Kufa, he went out to buy the provisions for the journey. While he was making a round of the bazaars, he saw a dead mule lying at a secluded place, and a woman, clad in tatters, was chopping it up with a knife and keeping the small bits of carrion in a basket.
He mistook her for an innkeeper and thought that she was carrying dead flesh for the purpose of cooking, so he decided to keep an. eye on her movements lest she should serve dead flesh to her customers. He pursued taking precautions so that he might not be detected by her. At last, she stopped in front of a building which had an exalted gate. She knocked at the gate and somebody, inside the house shouted who was there. She said that it was no other than the wretched woman.
When the gate was opened, there. Four girls appeared who wore misfortune on their faces. The woman entered the building and gave the basket of dead flesh to the girls. He peeped through a hole in the door and saw that the building was empty and desolate. The woman wept and asked the girls to cook dead flesh and thank God Almighty. She uttered that God Almighty has control over His men and it is He Who dominates the hearts of people.
Those girls chopped dead flesh and began to roast it. He was disgusted to see and shouted from outside that for God’s sake they should not eat dead flesh. The old woman asked him who was he. He replied that he was a stranger. She asked him what brought him there. She told him that they had fallen on evil days and had been living a miserable life for the last three years as they had no friend or helper to look after them. She asked him why he had come to obey the orders of the soul and acted in the same way as the things were represented to it. God Almighty will say to an angel to settle their dispute. ~
The angel will say that their case was analogous to that of a crippled and blind man. The crippled man informed the blind man that he had seen a fruit but it was beyond his reach. Then the blind man asked him to ride on him. The crippled man rode on the shoulders of the blind man and plucked that fruit. After quoting this example the angel will ask the soul and the body to tell which of the two was a transgressor. The soul and body will say that both men were equally responsible. On hearing it, the angel will say they were interdependent; whereas the body is a vehicle, the soul is a rider.
Hadrat Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) referring to a tradition, states that on the Day of Resurrection, the soul and the body will start disputing. The body will say, “I was lying like the trunk of a palm tree. If the soul had not existed, I could not have done anything by stirring my hand or foot.’’ The soul will say, “I was as light as air. If the body had not existed, I would have lost the power of doing something.” After this, the case of the soul and the body will be compared to that of the crippled and the blind man, as mentioned above. Then they will be held equally responsible.
(Daragutni Zawaid Zahid).
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