Aisha reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, "When a person is placed in his grave, if he is a believer, his deeds, prayer and fasting, surround him."He continued, "The angel comes to him from the direction of his prayer, but it turns him away. He comes from the direction of his fasting, but it turns him away. Then the angel calls out to him, 'Sit up.' So he sits up, and the angel asks him, 'What do you say about this man?' meaning the Prophet ﷺ."The believer asks, "Who do you mean?"The angel says, "Muhammad."He replies, "I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."The angel asks, "How do you know? Did you meet him, that you bear witness he is the Messenger of Allah?"He answers, "Upon this I lived, upon this I died, and upon this I will be resurrected."The Prophet ﷺ continued, "But if he is a wicked person or a disbeliever, the angel comes to him with nothing to turn him away. The angel makes him sit up and says, 'Sit up. What do you say about this man?'"He asks, "Which man?"The angel says, "Muhammad."He replies, "By Allah, I do not know. I heard people saying something, so I said it too."The angel says to him, "Upon this you lived, upon this you died, and upon this you will be resurrected."The Prophet ﷺ said, "Then a beast is set upon him in his grave, carrying a whip whose tip is a burning ember the size of a camel's water-bucket. It strikes him as long as Allah wills. The beast is deaf, unable to hear his cries, so it shows him no mercy."
حدثنا حجين بن المثنى قال حدثنا عبد العزيز يعني ابن أبي سلمة الماجشون عن محمد يعني ابن المنكدر قال
عن النبي ﷺ قالت قال إذا دخل الإنسان قبره فإن كان مؤمنا أحف به عمله الصلاة والصيام قال فيأتيه الملك من نحو الصلاة فترده ومن نحو الصيام فيرده قال فيناديه اجلس قال فيجلس فيقول له ماذا تقول في هذا الرجل يعني النبي ﷺ قال من قال محمد قال أنا أشهد أنه رسول الله ﷺ قال يقول وما يدريك أدركته أشهد أنه رسول الله قال يقول على ذلك عشت وعليه مت وعليه تبعث قال وإن كان فاجرا أو كافرا قال جاء الملك وليس بينه وبينه شيء يرده قال فأجلسه قال يقول اجلس ماذا تقول في هذا الرجل قال أي رجل قال محمد قال يقول والله ما أدري سمعت الناس يقولون شيئا فقلته قال فيقول له الملك على ذلك عشت وعليه مت وعليه تبعث قال وتسلط عليه دابة في قبره معها سوط تمرته جمرة مثل غرب البعير تضربه ما شاء الله صماء لا تسمع صوته فترحمه
No references are available.
Its isnad is sahih. Tabarani related it in Al-Kabir 24/86 number 230 and 24/105 number 280, and Haythami attributed it to both of them 3/151, saying, "The narrators of Ahmad are the narrators of the sahih."