Is there a Hadith saying that most of the punishment in the grave is from urine?
Quran
Hadith
Islamic Text
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the Name of Allah Most Merciful Most Kind
Short Answer
Yes, there is a Hadith saying that most of the punishment in the grave is from urine. The Hadith is authentic.
Explanation
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: اسْتَنْزِهُوا مِنَ الْبَوْلِ فَإِنَّ عَامَّةَ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ مِنْهُ
(Sayidina) Abu Hurairah (May Allah Most High be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: Purify yourselves from urine. Indeed the generality of the punishment of the grave is from it. (Darqutni, 264).
Hadith narrations
The above Hadith clearly asserts that most of the punishment in the grave is from urine. It was narrated by Imam Darqutni three times in his Sunan collection. The above narration from is from Sayidina Abu Hurairah. He also narrated from Sayidina Anas (459) and Sayidina Ibn Abbas (466).
Imams Bazar (4907) and Tabarani (al-Kabeer, 11120) both narrated from Sayidina Ibn Abbas too. Imam al-Bayhaqi (Kubra, 4141) narrated the above Hadith from Sayidina Abu Hurairah too. However, the wording is slightly different.
Authenticity
وَعَن ابْن عَبَّاس عَن النَّبِي صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم َ قَالَ: تنزَّهوا من الْبَوْل، فَإِن عَامَّة عَذَاب الْقَبْر مِنْهُ. حَدِيث حسن. (خلاصة الأحكام)
Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: Purify yourselves from urine. Indeed the generality of the punishment of the grave is from it. It is a Hasan Hadith. (Imam Abu Zakariyah al-Nawawi, Khulasatu al-Ahkam).
In the Nass above we find Imam al-Nawawi asserting that the Hadith saying that most of the punishment in the grave is from urine is Hasan. A Hasan Hadith is a strong Hadith. It is almost the same as a Sahih Hadith. Imam al-Nawawi also mentioned this in his book al-Majmoo. Imam Ibn Mulaqin said the same in Tuhfatu al-Muhtaaj. However, he specifically mentioned the narration from Daraqutni.
وَعَن أنس رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْه أَن رَسُول الله صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم َ قَالَ تنزهوا من الْبَوْل فَإِن عَامَّة عَذَاب الْقَبْر مِنْهُ رَوَاهُ الدَّارقطني بِإِسْنَاد حسن. (تحفة المحتاج إلى أدلة المنهاج)
Anas narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Purify yourselves from urine. Indeed the generality of the punishment of the grave is from it. It was narrated by Darqutni with a Hasan chain. (Imam Siraj al-Deen Ibn al-Mulaqin, Tuhfatu al-Muhtaaj).
A single Hasan narration is more than sufficient to establish the fact that most of the punishment in the grave is from urine. However, we find numerous narrations repeating the same notion. Therefore, the Hadith is further strengthened due to multiple narrations.
The Hadith is Sahih
أنَّه – صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسلم – قَالَ: استنزهوا من الْبَوْل؛ فَإِن عَامَّة عَذَاب الْقَبْر مِنْهُ. هَذَا الحَدِيث صَحِيح، وَله طرق كثيرات بِأَلْفَاظ مختلفات، وَفِي الْمَعْنى متفقات. (البدر المنير في تخريج الأحاديث والأثار الواقعة في الشرح الكبير)
He ﷺ said: Purify yourselves from urine. Indeed the generality of the punishment of the grave is from it. This is a Sahih Hadith. It has numerous chains of narration, with variant wording. Although the meaning is all the same. (Imam Siraj al-Deen Ibn al-Mulaqin, al-Badr al-Mubeen).
Although Imam Ibn Mulaqin stated that the Hadith asserting that most of the punishment in the grave is from urine, is Hasan in the first Nass (text), he affirms that it is Sahih in this Nass (text). This should not surprise anyone familiar with the science of Hadith. Since, it is well established that multiple narrations tend to strengthen one another.
In the initial Nass, Imam Ibn Mulaqin was speaking about the narration in Darqutni specifically. Therefore, he referred to it being Hasan. Whereas in this Nass he is speaking about the overall authenticity grading of the Hadith, which is why he said it is Sahih.
Conclusion
From the narrations and references above we can easily conclude that the Hadith saying that most of the punishment in the grave is from urine is authentic. More specifically, some of the individual narrations are Hasan and collectively the Hadith is Sahih. I would strongly encourage Muslims to study the science of Hadith to gain a better understanding of Hadith authenticity.
And Allah Most High Knows Best.
–Answered by Shaykh Noorud-deen Rashid (01.03.24)
