Praise be to Allah.
Do dead people hear us?
What is mentioned in the question, that the dead do not hear anything which the living say is true and is correct. Allah says (interpretation of the meanings):
“but you cannot make hear those who are in graves. ” [Fatir 35:22]
“So verily, you (O Muhammad) cannot make the dead to hear.” [Ar-Rum 30:52]
Is there torment and punishment in the grave?
The belief of Ahl As-Sunnah wal-Jama`ah is that there is torment and punishment in the grave and life in Al-barzakh (the interval between death and the Day of Resurrection), and there is blessing and pleasure, according to the status of the deceased.
The evidence for that is the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
“The Fire, they are exposed to it, morning and afternoon. And on the Day when the Hour will be established (it will be said to the angels): ‘Cause Pharaoh’s people to enter the severest torment!’”[Ghafir 40:46]
Allah states here that the people of Pharaoh are exposed to torment morning and afternoon even though they are dead. From this verse, the scholars affirmed that the torment of the grave is real.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“This verse is the main basis of the belief of Ahl As-Sunnah in the torment of Al-barzakh , as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“The Fire, they are exposed to it, morning and afternoon” [Ghaafir 40:46].” (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 4/82)
