Advice for the Muslim

people to the things they dream. Therefore, it is not difficult to
find an agreement between the above explanations and the
statement. ‘The souls are by their graves,’ by [Hâfiz Yûsuf] ’Abd
al-Birr [al-Mâlikî, d. Shâtiba, Andalusia (Spain), 463 A.H.
(1071)]. The souls are permitted to affect and dispose (tasarruf)
their bodies and be present in their graves. If a corpse is
transferred to another grave, the attachment of the soul to the
body will not be disturbed. This attachment will not fade even
after the body decays and its earthen substances, liquids and gases
diffuse into the soil.” Al-Imâm as-Suyûtî said, “The hadîth
narrated by Ibn ’Asâkir on the authority of ’Abdullâh ibn ’Abbâs
shows that souls are permitted to attach to and to dispose their
bodies even while they are at ’Illiyyîn: Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu
ta’âlâ’alaihi wa sallam) declared, ‘One night Ja’far Tayyâr came
to me. There was an angel with him. It had two wings. The tips of
the wings were stained with blood. They were going to the valley
of Bîsha in Yemen,’ after Ja’far Tayyâr had been martyred. It was
declared in a hadîth sharîf, ‘I saw Ja’far ibn Abî Tâlib among
angels. They were giving the good news of the coming rain to the
people of Bîsha,’ which was related by Ibn ’Adî on the authority
of ’Alî ibn Abî Tâlib. Hadîth scholar Hakîm reported ’Abdullâh
ibn ’Abbâs as saying that he was sitting by Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu
ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam), and Asmâ’ bint ’Umais was also present;
Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam), after saying
“Alaikum salâm,” declared: ‘Oh Asmâ! Your husband Ja’far
came to me with [Archangels] Jabrâ’îl and Mikâ’îl just a moment
ago. They greeted me. I answered their greeting. He said, “I
fought with disbelievers in the Battle of Mûta for a few days. I got
wounded on seventy-three points all over my body. I held the flag
with my right hand. Then my right arm was cutoff. I held the flag
with my left hand, then my left arm was cut off. Allâhu ta’âlâ gave
me two wings istead of my two arms: I fly with Jabrâ’il and
Mikâ’il. I fly out from Paradise whenever I wish. And I go in and
eat its fruits whenever I wish.” ’ Upon this, Asmâ’ said, ‘May
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s favours do good to Ja’far! But I am afraid people
will not believe it when they hear it. Oh Rasûl-Allâh! Would you
tell them on the minbar! They will believe you.’ Rasûlullâh (sall-
Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam) honoured the masjid and
ascended the minbar. After praising and glorifying Allâhu ta’âlâ,
he said, ‘Ja’far ibn Abî Tâlib came to me with Jabra’îl and
Mikâ’îl. Allâhu ta’âlâ has granted him two wings. He greeted me.’
Then he repeated what he had told Asmâ’ about her husband.”
– 156 –