An Examination on the Subject of Hearing of the Dead from Deobandi’s Viewpoint

Although since the early Islam there have constantly been disagreement about the subject of the dead’s capability of hearing, the majority of scholars of different Islamic sects have admitted that the dead are capable of hearing, many Hanafis being among them as well; whereas some others have rejected the idea. To substantiate their claim, those with opposite stance rely on some verses of the Quran and a tradition narrated by Aisha; while the advocates of the idea rely on traditions such as the Hadith of Ghulaib Badr and the Hadith of Ghar Na’al and so on. Among the Deobandis, most of their scholars have maintained that the dead are capable of hearing, although each person’s range of capability might be different from the others. Some others Deobandis, having adopted an opposite stance, rejected the dead’s capability of hearing; thus were reprimanded for that by Deobandi scholars, inasmuch as they have been cast out of the Deobandi circle and have been called Wahhabis.