It is a (mere) word that you speak...

It is a (mere) word that you speak,’ and one of the angels would say: ‘If you are sent back to the world, you will again do the same.’ When his dead body is interred and people go away from there, Nakeer and Munkar come to him in the most terrible form and they raise him up for questioning. They ask him: ‘Who is your god? What is your religion? And who is your prophet?’ Since the disbeliever had no sincere faith in them, he would stammer and fail to reply.

Thus those two angels would lash him in a punishment that everything will be terrified of it. They would ask him: ‘Who is your god? What is your religion? And who is your prophet?’ He would reply: ‘I don’t know.’ So they would tell him: ‘Neither you know, nor you were guided to the right path.’ Thus a door would be opened to Hell before him and the scalding fluids of Hell would come down to him.

(56:94) That is, in the hereafter, he would be consigned to Hell.”[^2] Imam Ali (as) said: “When the corpse is interred, two angels, named Munkir and Nakeer arrive. Their first questions to the dead are about God, prophet and caliphs. If it replies correctly, it is given salvation and if it is unable to reply correctly, they punish it.”[^3] Tens of other traditions also mention the same points, but quoting all of them here would prolong the discussion.

Squeeze of the Grave Squeeze of the Grave is a painful event, which is mentioned in some traditions and the Infallibles (as) have also informed about it. For example: Amirul Momineen (as) wrote to Muhammad bin Abu Bakr: “O people, events occurring after death are more severe than death itself. Beware of the squeeze of the grave and the darkness and loneliness in it.

The grave calls out every day: I am the house of strangeness, a house of dust, abode of loneliness and the house of stinging creatures. Grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise or a pit from the pits of Hell. When a believer is buried, the grave says: Welcome, previously I was desirous that you would walk to me, now that you are entrusted to me, you will see how I behave with you. At that moment the grave will be expanded as far as the eye can see.