For example, I?ve heard that a snake will bite a person from one Salaat time to the next for commonly missing that Salaat. I?ve also heard that a person will burn in Hellfire for 500 years for missing a Salaat. (Please provide these 2 Ahadith in your response). So now, does a person get one or the other punishment or both? Please explain this in detail in your response, as it’s quite confusing.
If the person was being punished in the grave to cleanse him of his sins, then he will inshallah not be punished for that sin in the Hereafter. However, punishment in the grave is generally given as a portion of the punishment to be received in the Hereafter and serves as a taste of what is to come, thus people will be punished both in the grave and in Jahannum for the same sin.
Regarding those two Ahadith: The one on being punished from one salah to another for missing out that salah, well this is a portion of a long, oft-quoted hadith which many Muhadditheen have mentioned to be Fabricated. It is however possible that this meaning is borne out by other narrations, however we are unaware of them. We are unaware of any hadith where express mention is made of the fact that a person shall remain in Jahannum for 500 years, for each salah missed. Yes, the Quran as well as many ahadith bear out he fact that once a person enters Jahannum, he will remain therein for an extremly long period of time, with some narrations mentioned thousands and others mentioning millions of years.
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai