Question:
This questioner, M. ‘A. from Jordan, says: Virtuous Sheikh, does a believer experience pain at the time when the soul is extracted?
Answer:
Death has its agonies and its severity. Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, says: “And the agony of death will come in truth: ‘This is what you were trying to avoid.’“
And in the Hadith from the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family): “Indeed, death has agonies.”
The extraction—meaning the extraction of the soul from the body—is severe. However, it is eased for one person and intensified for another. Allah, Glory be to Him and Exalted is He, may make it severe upon the deceased for sins they committed, so that this severity serves as an expiation for them. Otherwise, there must inevitably be some severity, because the separation of the soul from this body, which it has been accustomed to throughout the duration of life, must certainly have the most profound impact. Nevertheless, people differ in its intensity and lightness.
May Allah grant us and you a good end.