A Study of Purgatory Life and Hearing of the Dead from the Perspective of the Maturidis and Salafis

Purgatory life and the hearing of the dead are important and controversial doctrinal issues among the Maturidi and Salafi scholars. In this article, we examine this subject using their theological sources. The Maturidis consider the life of the saints in Purgatory elemental, and legitimize the intervention of the righteous in the existence by the permission of God. They emphasize the awareness of the Messenger of God (S) about the situation of the community in Purgatory, and acknowledge the request for help from the dead and their hearing and connection with the people of the world. However, by refuting the elemental life of the Messenger of God (S) and the righteous, the Salafis consider their physical life to be limited to the time of the questioning of the angels, and the presentation of the deeds of the community to the Prophet (S) and others by angels. Salafi theologians, by rejecting the request from the Prophet (S) in Purgatory, consider the occurrence of miracles by the righteous as a divine act; however, they believe that asking for help from the dead righteous in unusual deeds is polytheism. Ibn Taymiyyah, believing in the hearing of the dead and their connection with the pilgrims, considers asking for help from them as a polytheistic act. But most Salafis have denied the hearing of the dead and their connection with the people of the world.