Punishment of the Grave is an Judeo-Islamic concept whereby in the time between death and resurrection on the Day of Judgement. In Islam the souls of the unrighteous are punished by two angels in the grave, while the righteous find the grave "peaceful and blessed". The punishment of the grave is not mentioned in the Quran, but in hadiths such as those compiled by Ibn Hanbal and appears as early as the 9th century, still present among the majority of Sunnis and Shias. A similar concept can be found in Jewish mythology, there the wicked are punished by angels of destruction, in an intermediary state between the Resurrection of the dead and the individual death.
Islam
The Quran itself gives only brief references about the period between death and the resurrection. However it mentions that certain individuals such as martyrs are alive and not dead in and also indicates, that some are already in hell in. The term Barzakh indicates that the deceased and the living are entirely separated and can not interact with each other. Otherwise the Barzakh refers to the whole period between the Day of Resurrection and death and is used synonymously for "grave". Despite the brief mentionings of the Quran, Islamic tradition discusses elaborately, almost in graphic detail, as to what exactly happens before, during, and after death. After the burial each person is interrogated in the grave by two angels, called Munkar and Nakir, appointed by God to question the dead in order to test their faith. The righteous believers answer correctly and live in peace and comfort while the sinners and disbelievers fail and punishments ensue. In the life of Barzakh, the souls of the sinners and disbelievers are kept and punished in a place called Sijjin which is said to be located at the lowest level of the earth. The books containing the full records of their deeds are also kept here. On the other hand, the souls of the righteous believers are kept in a place called Illiyin. Their books of deeds are also kept here. According to some account, Illiyin is located in the heaven. There is belief that the fire which represents the own bad deeds can already be seen during the Punishment of the Grave, and that the spiritual pain caused by this can lead to purification of the soul.
Judaism
offer many traditions about punishing angels, chastising the dead. In Jewishmythology, the souls of the wicked are punished in the hereafter by Dumah and three subordinative angels of destruction. Only on Sabbath they are released from their sufferings.
