sister,
I recently came across this passage in Martin Lings' 'Muhammad: His life based on the earliest sources' that may be of interest to your question. On page 151, Lings is describing the muslims victory in the Battle of Badr. He says:
As soon as it became clear that the eight hundred or more Meccan troops still at large had been routed beyond possibility of rallying, the Prophet sent 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah to take the good tidings of victory to the people of Upper Medina, that is, the more southerly part of the city, and he sent Zayd to the people of Lower Madine. He himself remained with the army at Badr; and that night went and stood by the pit into which the bodies of the enemies of Islam had been thrown. "O men of the pit," he said, "kinsmen of your Prophet, ill was the kinship ye showed him. Liar ye called me, when other took me in; against me ye fought, when other helped me to victory. Have yet found it to be true, what your Lord promised you? I have found it to be true, what my Lord promised me." Some of Companions overheard him and wondered at his speaking to dead bodies.
"your hearing of what I say is not better than theirs," he said, 'But they cannot answer me."
The author cites Ibn Ishaq 454.
I wondered myself if this meant the dead have a consciousness but cannot communicate with the living.
Any clarification would be greatly appreciated :Crescent:
