A questioner asks can we communicate with a deceased loved one. This is a very common question that is asked a lot.

In the 27th chapter of the Quran in the 88th verse, it says: “you cannot make the dead hear.” So some have seen this as evidence that the dead cannot hear us. However, this isn’t a legitimate understanding of this verse because within the context of this verse it indicates that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) cannot make people hear the message who do not want to hear the message.

The dead person cannot hear physically like those of us alive can. So the question then is, is it possible for the soul to hear? Maybe hear is not the right word so we can ask is this consciousness still aware of what is going on in the world? Is our speech to the dead translated in some form that the dead could be aware of? We simply don’t know that.

It is mentioned that when we send salawat on the Prophet (PBUH), Allah restores life to him so that he can return the greeting. But this means he would be constantly restored to life because Muslims send salawat to him constantly.

This question is unanswerable so the best that we can do is good deeds on behalf of our deceased loved ones and ask Allah to bless them as a result of these good deeds.

Dr. Shabir Aly discusses this question in details.