The short answer
Barzakh in Islam is the word the Quran uses in Al-Mu'minun 23:100 for a barrier that lies behind the dead until the day they are raised. Al-Tabari's commentary, Jami' al-bayan, glosses it as the barrier that stops their return. Sahih al-Bukhari 1379 says the deceased is shown their place morning and evening before resurrection.
What does barzakh mean?
This page covers the barzakh meaning given in the Quran and its commentary, what the authentic hadith describe after burial, and the limits of what these sources say. In Al-Mu'minun 23:99 to 100, a person at death asks to be sent back to do good:
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَآءَ أَحَدَهُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ٱرْجِعُونِ لَعَلِّىٓ أَعْمَلُ صَـٰلِحًا فِيمَا تَرَكْتُ ۚ كَلَّآ ۚ إِنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قَآئِلُهَا ۖ وَمِن وَرَآئِهِم بَرْزَخٌ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ
The verse refuses that request. Verse 100 uses the word بَرْزَخٌ for the barrier behind them, The translation reads "behind them is a barrier until the day when they are raised."
Al-Tabari, in his commentary Jami' al-bayan on verse 100, glosses the barzakh as a barrier between the dead and their return, meaning until the day they are raised from their graves, which he identifies as the Day of Resurrection 4. This is his explanation of the word, not a description of what happens within it.
The verse and the commentary do not describe the state of the dead in that interval. For what the hadith add, see the next section.
| Question | Starting reference |
|---|---|
| Where does the Quran mention the barzakh after death? | Al-Mu'minun 23:99 to 100 |
| How is its meaning explained? | A barrier preventing return, in the commentary of al-Tabari on 23:100 |
| Is the deceased shown their place before resurrection? | Sahih al-Bukhari 1379 |
| Is there questioning in the grave? | Sahih al-Bukhari 1338, with its answers |
What do the hadith say happens after burial?
Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said that when a person dies, his place is shown to him morning and evening. If he is of the people of Paradise, he is shown his place in Paradise; if he is of the people of the Fire, he is shown his place in the Fire. Then he is told: this is your place until Allah resurrects you on the Day of Resurrection. This is Sahih al-Bukhari 1379, sahih by inclusion in that collection; no other grading was checked.
1AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 1379
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet said that when a person is laid in his grave and his companions leave, he hears the sound of their sandals. Two angels come to him, make him sit, and ask what he used to say about this man, Muhammad. The believer answers that he is Allah's slave and His Messenger, and is told to look at his place in the Fire, which Allah has replaced with a place in Paradise. The unbeliever or hypocrite says he does not know, and that he said what the people said. This is Sahih al-Bukhari 1338, sahih by inclusion in that collection; no other grading was checked.
2AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 1338
The report does not name the two angels, and this page does not add names. Its later part, which describes the unbeliever's end in more detail, is not reproduced here.
How long does barzakh last, and how does time pass in it?
The endpoint given in the sources is the day of resurrection. Al-Mu'minun 23:100 says the barrier lasts until the day the dead are raised, and Sahih al-Bukhari 1379 has the words, in our translation, "until Allah resurrects you on the Day of Resurrection."
No source here says how time passes in barzakh. The morning-and-evening wording in Sahih al-Bukhari 1379 is reported as it stands. This page gives no conversion between earthly hours and the deceased's experience of time, and no date for resurrection, which these passages do not supply.
What do the sources say about the grave's punishment and questioning?
Al-Tahawi's creed, al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah, a classical creed text, in the passage that follows its belief in the angels, affirms (our translation): "We believe in the punishment of the grave for whoever is fit for it. We believe in the questioning by Munkar and Nakir in the grave about his Lord, his religion and his Prophet, as the reports from the Messenger of Allah and from the Companions state." 5 The creed names these as matters of belief for the people they apply to. It does not describe that punishment, and this page does not describe it.
The creed's statement is not a timetable of the interval, and this page does not treat it as one. The questioning in Sahih al-Bukhari 1338 is covered in the section above.
Is there a prayer for protection from the grave?
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet taught that when a person says the tashahhud in prayer, he should seek refuge with Allah from four things. They are the punishment of Hell, the punishment of the grave, the trial of life and death, and the evil of the trial of al-Masih al-Dajjal. This is Sahih Muslim 588a, sahih by inclusion in that collection; no other grading was checked.
3AuthenticSahih Muslim 588a
Sahih Muslim 588a
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ جَهَنَّمَ وَمِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ وَمِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيحِ الدَّجَّالِ
Allahumma inni aʿudhu bika min ʿadhabi jahannam, wa min ʿadhabi al-qabr...
O Allah, I seek refuge with You from the punishment of Hell, and from the punishment of the grave...
The report names four matters. It gives no count of how many times to say the supplication. For the words around it in prayer, see Tashahhud and Attahiyat. Questions about applying prayer rulings to your own circumstances belong with a scholar you trust.
Barzakh was a word I heard at funerals and never looked up. Learning that it is the time between death and the Day of Judgement, and what the sources say about it, made it less frightening and more clear.
Try it: three questions
Pick an answer; each one explains itself.
1In Al-Mu'minun 23:100, what is the barzakh described as?
Answer: A barrier until the day they are raised. The verse says the barrier lasts until the day they are raised. It gives no date.
2Does Sahih al-Bukhari 1338 name the two angels?
Answer: No, the report leaves them unnamed. The wording leaves them unnamed. Munkar and Nakir are not in this report. Source 2
3In Sahih Muslim 588a, when is the supplication for protection from the grave sought?
Answer: When one says the tashahhud in prayer. The report says when he says the tashahhud. It gives no count. Source 3
Questions people ask
Is barzakh the same as the Day of Judgement?
No. In Al-Mu'minun 23:100 the barrier lasts until the day the dead are raised, so the verse gives the day of resurrection as its endpoint. Sahih al-Bukhari 1379 describes the deceased being shown their place before that day.
Can these reports tell me what my relative is experiencing?
Not from these sources. They describe the interval in general terms and do not describe any named person's present state, and this page does not try to. If this has become part of your grief, talk to a scholar you trust.
Do souls or husband and wife meet in barzakh?
The passages cited on this page do not describe such meetings, and this page makes no claim about them. Any claim about reunion in barzakh would need its own sources, and these passages do not promise one for any family.
Sources
Every claim on this page comes from one of these. Gradings are reported with the scholar's name; we do not grade hadith ourselves.
- 1
Ibn 'Umar narrates that the deceased is shown his place morning and evening: the people of Paradise their place in Paradise, the people of the Fire their place in the Fire; he is told that this is his place until Allah resurrects him on the Day of Resurrection.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1379 Book 23, Hadith 131
Authentic: in Sahih al-Bukhari
- 2
Anas reported that the Prophet said that when a person is laid in his grave and his companions leave, two angels make him sit and ask what he used to say about this man, Muhammad. The believer answers that he is Allah's slave and His Messenger, and is told to look at his place in the Fire, which Allah has replaced with a place in Paradise. The unbeliever or hypocrite says he does not know, and that he said what the people said.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1338 Book 23, Hadith 93
Authentic: in Sahih al-Bukhari
- 3
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet said: when any of you says the tashahhud he should seek refuge with Allah from four things, from four things, the first two being the punishment of Hell and the punishment of the grave.
Sahih Muslim 588a Book 5, Hadith 162
Authentic: in Sahih Muslim
- 4
Al-Tabari, on Al-Mu'minun 23:100, glosses the barzakh as a barrier between the dead and return, meaning until the day they are raised from their graves, identified as the Day of Resurrection, and says the barzakh, the barrier and the respite are close in meaning.
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 310 AH), Jami' al-Bayan 'an Ta'wil Ay al-Qur'an (Tafsir al-Tabari), Dar al-Fikr edition, Beirut, as shown on ablibrary.net (book 3193; page 68 is the library's numbering, not the print page) Read on 26 October 2026. The volume number is not printed on the page read: to be confirmed. Record: scholarly-tabari-barzakh-23-100.
- 5
Al-Tahawi's creed, in its passage on the angels and the barzakh: belief in the punishment of the grave for whoever is fit for it, and in the questioning by Munkar and Nakir in the grave about his Lord, his religion and his Prophet.
Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahawi, al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah, matn Read on Arabic Wikisource on 26 October 2026; the translation is ours. The printed page and item number are to be confirmed in al-Albani's edition. Record: scholarly-tahawi-grave-barzakh.
- Q
Quran Arabic and English for Al-Mu'minun 23:99 to 100 and the word barzakh in 23:100.
Tanzil Project Uthmani text, CC BY 3.0. English: adapted from Marmaduke Pickthall's translation (1930), modernised and checked against modern translations.
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