I read a very strange story in a newspaper recently about a Romanian woman who said that she was contacted by her deceased grandmother through her mobile phone. She said that her grandmother had sent her a photograph showing herself with a python wrapped around her neck.

Alarmed, the woman, Gina Mihai, 34, sought out a soothsayer to explain the phenomenon.

The soothsayer told her that the deceased old lady had sent her the photograph from the hereafter. He explained that the python signifies that she was being tortured in the other world because of the sins she had committed in her life.

Poor Gina blamed herself for her grandmother’s predicament as she had not visited her grave for a long time, as Romanians traditionally do, to place offerings of food and sweets.

This story brought home to me that there are people in this world – other than us Muslims – who believe in the idea of the “Torment of the Grave,” the idea that sends shivers down the spines of millions of Muslims, and which is exploited by many “satellite TV preachers” to frighten people in order to assert control over them.

As I always say, if we read the Holy Quran closely, we would discover that this idea is anathema to the Holy Scriptures and is at odds with the teachings of God. There is no mention of the “Torment of the Grave” in the Quran; the concept is wholly based on fake “quotations” ascribed to the Prophet.

From beginning to end, the Quran is based on a number of beliefs, among which is the belief of resurrection on the Day of Reckoning. On that day, man is judged according to the good and bad deeds he did during his life. And he is then rewarded or punished accordingly.

Have we ever asked ourselves how a man could be punished and tormented before the Day of Judgment? Would not that be tantamount to slandering the Almighty, and accusing Him of injustice? What other verdicts could be passed on a judge who punishes people severely even before he cross-examines them to discover whether they were guilty or innocent?

The concept of the “Torment of the Grave” demolishes that of the Day of Judgment – the basis of the Muslim creed – from its very foundations.

The most important point is that this concept lacks any basis in the Holy Quran. It is only supported by a number of vague and dubious “quotes,” which, if not overtly false, then are certainly misinterpreted.

Let us ask those who promote this false concept this question: if the deceased are judged in their graves, why insist on only highlighting the torments and not the blessings they meet once interred?

Yet I must admit that until recently I was among those who never gave this issue a second thought as to whether it is true or untrue. This was until I paid a visit to Jordan about ten years ago. In an Amman bookstore, I found the book “Facts about the Torment of the Grave,” written by one Jawad Musa Mohammed Afaneh. I confess that I read the book voraciously, and did not put it down until I had finished it. Thanks to Afaneh’s book, I liberated my mind completely from the myth that is totally alien to the Holy Quran and the very foundations of the Muslim faith.

There is no doubt that the question of the “Torment of the Grave” is one of the most popular subjects raised by many mosques and TV preachers. What saddens me is the fact that the issue is also gradually taking over the minds of younger proselytizers. I once watched on the Iqra’ religious TV channel one of these proselytizers go down into a grave, camera in hand, in order to investigate the “Torment of the Grave.”

Not content with describing the torment the deceased allegedly have to go through after death, many preachers embellish the concept with myths that are suitable as screenplays for horror movies, such as the emergence of a “bald and enormous serpent,” “pits of fire,” and so on.

The attractiveness of the idea to these preachers lies in the fact that it is a simple way to frighten their listeners and adherents religiously. If your followers are filled with fear, it becomes much easier for you to become their leader.

Those who reject the entire concept of the “Torment of the Grave” meanwhile base their position on one basic principle: that God – as is stated clearly in the Quran – will resurrect all people on the Day of Judgment, and only then will He judge them. This being the case, there can be no punishment before that day.

This principle (that of judgment first, after which comes punishment or reward) lies at the heart of the Muslim faith. God is, after all, fair to all His creatures.

I used to believe that this basic contractual principle was the driving force behind the criticism directed at controversial Egyptian TV presenter Ibrahim Issa if only because it is the essence of the entire question. Yet that did not happen. Instead, most critics focused on an old, oft-repeated idea, that the “Torment of the Grave is mentioned clearly in the Quran and the quotes of the Prophet,” and that to dispute that is tantamount to blasphemy. Why? In order to deny others the freedom to think for themselves, and to stifle dissent.

I believe that the problem lies with our culture and intellectual approach. Our culture is until now one based on oral transmission; we teach and raise our children to receive information and memorise it, instead of encouraging them to think for themselves.

Another characteristic of our (Muslim) culture is that of ancestor veneration – so excessive that it sometimes approaches sanctification – which is often extended to the scientific and intellectual achievements of those early scholars. This is especially the case with those who championed “the quotes of the Prophet,” or what many of us call “the Sunnah.” Thus, it became acceptable to transmit whatever “quotes” they deem correct and to denounce any attempt to subject those “quotes” to logical scrutiny.

That is why we see swords drawn against anyone who tries to use logic in criticizing the legacy of the past.

Some Muslim Sheiks have gone as far as saying – with no hint of wisdom or expertise – that the Sunnah is equivalent to the Quran, and that the quotes of the Prophet are equivalent to the word of God. Their intention was to stifle the freedom to think and interpret, ignoring the fact that many of those quotes are bogus and fabrications.

This was because those who fabricated quotes to serve their purposes simply could not touch the Quran. That was why the Ummayads, in their wars against Imam Ali and even against those who reneged on him, used the “quotes” weapon in attacking the Khawarij. They also accused them of blasphemy simply because they denied the existence of the “Torment of the Grave” – which was classified by religious Sheiks at the time as a metaphysical “fact” that must be believed without question.

It was thus that quotes referring to the “Torment of the Grave” originated and made their way down the ages, quotes that contravene the Quran and the principles of Islam not to mention violating one of God’s qualities, that of fairness and justness. How could God punish or torment men before trying them?

Also, why do our Sheikhs only speak profusely about the “Torment of the Grave,” and not comfort their followers who believe them with talk about the “blessings of the grave?”

Why would the Almighty precipitately punish people in this world before the Day of Judgment by doing so immediately they are interred?

Is this the view you hold of God, the Almighty?

You can allow this view to take hold within your minds. I, however, am satisfied with what God said in the Quran (Al-A’araf, verse 156), “My punishment—I inflict it upon whomever I will, but My mercy encompasses all things. I will specify it for those who act righteously and practice regular charity, and those who believe in Our signs.”

Thus has our faith been compromised by “quotes” that fall foul of the Quran and the basic principles of our faith. And if you dare to question those quotes, you are accused of denying the Sunnah (way) of the Prophet.

Awake, O Muslims, and take care, for your faith, is on the verge of collapse.