The Punishment of the Grave

Question:

Does the punishment of the grave affect the spirit or the body?

Answer:

The punishment of the grave is confirmed in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger as for the Book of Allah, He, the Most High says:

And if you could but see when the Thalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers) are in the agony of death, while the angels are stretching forth their hands, saying: "Deliver your souls! This Day you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of what you used to utter against Allah other than the truth. And you used to reject His Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs revelations etc.) with disrespect.

And He says:
The Fire, they are exposed to it morning and afternoon and on the Day when the Hour will be established, (it will be said to the angels): "Place Fir'awn's (Pharaoh's) people in the severest torment!

As for the Hadiths which mention the punishment of the grave, they are numerous, including the Hadith known to scholars and lay people among the Muslims, which worshipper utter in prayer:

"I seek shelter with Allah from the punishment of the Hell- Fire, and from the punishment of the grave, and from the trial of life and death, and from the trial of Al-Masih Ad- Dajjal.

The punishment of the grave is essentially a spiritual one, but it might also affect the body sometimes, especially at the time of interrogation, when man is asked at the time of his burial who is his Lord, what is his religion, and who is his Prophet, for his soul is returned to his body, but it is the return of Al- Barzakh and it is not connected to the body in the same way as it was during the life of this world. So the deceased is asked about his Lord, his religion and his Prophet, and if he is a disbeliever or a hypocrite, he will say: "Hah! Hah! I do not know!" I heard of a man about whom they said something, and so I said likewise." Then he will be struck with an iron rod and he will cry out with such a cry that everything except mankind will hear him and if man were to hear it, he would fall down.