The Prophets are alive in their grave

Life after death is one of the greatest enigmas of human existence. While most cultures affirm its reality in some sense or the other, modern man has essentially relegated it to the realm of myth, fantasy and folklore. However, for us Muslims, it is a cornerstone of our faith - indeed, the reality of life beyond the grave undergirds all of Islamic discourse and without it, there is no concept of faith.

A Muslim is by definition a believer in the Unseen Realm - and what could be more hidden than the continuation of a life even after the final breath has escaped the lips, never to return? How could anyone 'exist, after death has sucked all vitality out of them and no trace of the breathing consciousness that once animated the body is detectable in the material shell that is left behind?

Islam deals with these questions in more detail than one can imagine and yet the topic remains controversial due to widespread ignorance and the obduracy of certain heretical factions who find the subject intruding too heavily on their delicate (mis) understandings of Divine Unity (Tawheed).

To stymie such shallow minded piety, Muslim scholars have written extensively on the topic and there is enough material available to convince even the staunchest critic - except, the wilfully blind.

This book by the great Hadith master, Imam al-Bayhaqi, is an exposition on the topic of Life after Death, and it concerns itself with the specific subject of the Lives of the Prophets after their passing away. He has compiled authentic narrations that prove beyond all doubt, that these chosen slaves of Allah are alive even after death; a life which is much more real and much more perfect than that of this mundane realm.

'Death' for them, is but a promise that has to be fulfilled, a moment of crossing over. It is not a cessation, nor a confinement, but a rejuvenation and an amplification of their powers, and the light that shines brighter and more intensely than it did in their lives in this world.