al-Sahih al-Mathur fi Alam al-Barzakh wa al-Qubur
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- al-Sahih al-Mathur fi Alam al-Barzakh wa al-Qubur
al-Sahih al-Mathur fi Alam al-Barzakh wa al-Qubur (The Authenticated Transmissions on the Realm of the Intermediate State and the Graves) is an Islamic theological work by the Jordanian researcher Ahmad Mahmud al-Shawabkeh that examines the unseen realm of barzakh (the intermediate state between death and resurrection) and the trials and conditions of the grave through verified scriptural texts.
Purpose and Scope
The work is dedicated to detailing the theological and legal dimensions of human mortality, beginning with worldly asceticism, illness, and the pangs of death, and following the journey of the soul from its departure through the intermediate realm until the final resurrection. It surveys all matters pertaining to the unseen world of the grave, including the definition of barzakh as the barrier between this world and the hereafter, the questioning by angels, the squeezing of the grave (dammah), and the experiences of torment and bliss therein. The author incorporates ethical and spiritual reflections, addressing topics such as repentance, divine forbearance, and the expiation of sins to encourage behavioral rectitude through a balance of encouragement and admonition (al-targhib wa-l-tarhib).
Methodology
Al-Shawabkeh adheres strictly to textual proofs (al-dalil al-naqli) drawn from the Quran and authentic (sahih) or acceptable (hasan) prophetic traditions, aligning his conclusions with the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jama'ah. In evaluating reports, he attributes gradings of authenticity and weakness directly to recognized scholars of hadith criticism and explicitly identifies weak (da'if) and fabricated (mawdu') chains of transmission. A central methodological aim of the text is purging the subject matter of religious innovations (bida'), myths, fabrications, and unverified anomalous reports (ghara'ib), while conveying the scholarly material in an accessible literary style.
Reception and Publication
The book was reviewed and commended by several prominent scholars prior to publication. The hadith scholar Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut reviewed the text in Rajab 1436 AH / April 2015 CE, commending its strict reliance on verified sources and describing it as unique in its field. Additional prefaces and reviews were contributed in Rajab 1436 AH / May 2015 CE by professors of Islamic studies in Jordan, including Mahmud al-Sartawi (Professor of Comparative Fiqh at the University of Jordan), Muhammad Malkawi (Professor of Islamic Creed and Comparative Religion at Yarmouk University), and Samir Istaytiyyah (Professor in the Faculty of Arts at Yarmouk University).
The work was published in Amman, Jordan, by Dar al-Faruq.
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