Do Souls of the Dead Return Back to this World? part II

Barzakh forbids any Return
Allah and His Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) have clearly defined to us journey of the soul after death and the abode of both, the disbelieving souls and the righteous souls. This period between the death and the Hereafter is known as 'Barzakh'. Linguistically, 'Barzakh' means a veil, barrier or partition between two things.
Ibn Abbas (radhiallahu anhu) defines Barzakh as a Hijab (a partition of veil). Al-Qurtubi, in his exposition states: 'The Barzakh is a barrier between two things. It is the stage between this world and the other world - from the time of death until the time Resurrection. Thus, whoever dies enters the Barzakh"
[See al-Qurtubi's Tafseer, vol.12, p.150] Once the soul enters the realm of Barzakh, there is no return for it back into the world as is clearly known from the Qur'aan and the Ahaadeeth of Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam).
Allah says regarding the evil soul: "…when death comes to one of them (who joins partners with Allah), he says: "O My Lord! Send me back to life. In order that I may do good deeds in the things that I neglected. By no means! It is but a word he says. And before him is a Barzakh until the day they are raised up." [Soorah al-Mu'minoon (23): 99-100]
This verse reveals the condition of the disbeliever upon death; when he faces the realities of the Hereafter, he wishes to return back to the world and mend his mistakes, in order to avert the punishment. But he is plainly refused and confined in the grave and punished for his sinful actions because he has entered the Barzakh. It is impossible for him to escape the strong Guardian Angels of Allah and return back to this world.
The abode of the righteous soul is Paradise, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) said: "The soul of a believer is a bird eating from the trees of Paradise until Allah restores it to its body on the Day of Resurrection." [An-Nasa'ee, Ibn Majah and others. Authenticated by Shaikh al-Albanee Sharh al-Aqeedah at-Tahaawiyyah (p. 455, footnote: 1)]
It is unlikely that the righteous soul, who is surrounded by the bounties of Allah, would leave the blessings of Allah and come to the world.
Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) said: "No servant who has good in store for him with Allah and dies ever wants to return to the Earth - even if he were to have the whole world and everything that is in it - except for the martyr. That is due to what he sees in the nobility of martyrdom. Verily, he would like to return back to the Earth, in order to be martyred another time." [(Saheeh) Saheeh Sunan at-Tirmidhee (1341)]
But as the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) informed, even the martyr is refused the permission to return, he (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) said: "The souls of the martyrs live in the bodies of green birds who have their nests in chandeliers hung from the throne of the Almighty. They eat the fruits of Paradise wherever they like and then nestle in these chandeliers. Once, their Lord cast a glance at them and said: "Do you want anything?" They said: "What more can we desire? We eat the fruit of Paradise wherever we like." Their Lord asked them the same question thrice. When they saw that they would be continued to be asked and not left (without answering the question), they said: "O Lord, we wish that You may return our souls to our bodies so that we may be slain in Your cause once again. When He (Allah) saw that they had no need, they were left (to their joy in Heaven)." [Saheeh Muslim (4651)]

These and many other proofs from the Qur'aan and the Sunnah deny the concept of the soul's return, and thus there remains no doubt that souls of the dead do not return back to the world.

Observed Phenomenon
If spirits do not return back to this world, then what is the explanation for the Observed Phenomenon, like the physical appearance of the dead, speaking of the souls through medium, and leaving messages for the living using Ouija boards? And how do these spirits answer every question correctly about the life and character of the dead?

Appearing of the Spirits: The alleged appearing of the spirits is an ancient claim. Many a time, it is fabrication simply through deception, trickery, and psychological influence. In other cases, it is done through the use of Jinn. Deception is an old and well-known trick that the Jinn use to mislead mankind; they play with the minds of humans in order to ruin their religion and cause them to commit Shirk. A clear understanding of the topic should help the Muslims not to be deceived by the spiritualists.
The spiritualists, who claim to have contacts with the spirits of the dead from an Islamic point of view, are in fact un-religious and liars. They make contacts with the Jinn through evil incantations and demonic rituals and perform extraordinary feats with ease through them. Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) said: "Many of those people (the so called spiritualists) write the Words of Allah in blood or other impure substances. They write or make other statements that are pleasing to Shaytaan." [See Majmoo al-Fatawa, v.19, p.35]

The Jinn (sing. Jinni): The Jinn are a living creation of Allah, created from smokeless flame of fire. They share the material world with the humans. Though they are invisible to us, they eat and drink with us, and also have the ability to inhabit the human body and influence our thoughts. They are stronger than humans and can take different forms and shapes. Amongst them are Muslims and Kafirs; the Kafir Jinn help their counterpart among the humans in evil acts.

When the spiritualist contacts a Jinni, the Jinni takes advantage of his ability to acquire different forms and adopts the appearance of the dead and pretends to be the returned souls. This is one of the ways by which the Shaytaan attempts to deceive humans and lead them astray. For example, on the Day of the Battle of Badr, a devil came to the polytheist of Quraysh in the shape of Suraqah bin Malik.
This incident is also related in the Qur'aan in Soorah al-Anfal (8): 48: "(Remember) when the Shaytaan (evil Jinn are called Shaytaan meaning 'devils') made their (evil) deeds seem fair to them and said: 'No one of mankind can overcome you this Day (of the battle of Badr) and verily, I am your neighbor (for each and every help).' But when the two forces came in sight of each other, he ran away and said: 'Verily, I have nothing to do with you. Verily! I see what you see not. Verily, I fear Allah for Allah is severe in punishment."

Another incident is related in Saheeh al-Bukharee; a Jinni came to Abu Hurayrah (radhiallahu anhu) several times, when he was in charge of the alms in Ramadan. Abu Hurayrah (radhiallahu anhu) narrates: "Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) ordered me to keep Sadaqah (al-Fitr) of Ramadan. A man came and started taking handfuls of the foodstuff (of the Sadaqah, stealthily). I took hold of him and said: "By Allah, I will take you to Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam)." He said: "I am needy and have many dependents, and I am in great need." I released him, and in the morning Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) asked me: "What did your prisoner do yesterday?" I said: "O Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam)! The person complained of being needy and of having many dependents, so, I pitied him and let him go." Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) said: "Indeed, he told you a lie and he will come again." Then the visitor came again and the same episode repeated twice, after which Allah's Messenger asked: "O Abu Hurayrah! … Do you know whom you were talking to, these three nights?" Abu Hurayrah said: "No!" He (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) said: "It was Shaytaan." [Saheeh al-Bukharee 3/ 505]

Similarly, the Shaytaan makes use of this extraordinary ability of taking the appearance of the dead people, and performs supernatural feats at graves and tombs. People witness these unusual events and increase in the veneration of the dead. Eventually, these unusual events cause people to have faith and hope in the powers of the dead and they call upon the engraved to fulfill their needs instead of Allah and thus commit Shirk...and this is exactly what the Shaytaan (Kafir Jinn) intends.

Shaikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) said: "To take the graves as idols is the first step towards polytheism; it is why some visitors to graves hear the voices near the graves, see certain visions before them, witness strange forces in operation which are taken for a miracle of some righteous deceased people whereas sometimes they are the Jinn and the Shaytaan. For instance, they observe a grave being cleft and the deceased comes out of it, talks with people and embraces them. Such a thing you will witness near the graves of the Divine Apostles and other people, whereas in reality it is Shaytaan. Indeed, the Shaytaan assumes the form of a human being and says: 'I am so and so Prophet.' 'I am so and so Shaikh'; and he tells a lie… The ignorant person believes that the one who came out of the grave, who caressed him or conversed with him, was the inmate of the grave, or was a righteous person or a Divine person. In contrast to it, a perfect believer knows without any shadow of doubt that he is Shaytaan." [Kitab al-Wasilah (English Translation) pp. 42]
The Qareen: Every human has been assigned a Jinni to be his constant companion. He is called 'Qareen' and he encourages evil desires.
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) once told his companions: "Everyone of you has been assigned a companion from the Jinn." They asked: "Even you, O Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam)!" He replied: "Even me, except that Allah has helped me against him and he has submitted. Now he only tells me to do good." [Saheeh Muslim]

It is this Qareen, who is responsible for knowing the character and deeds of the dead. For example, during séances (apparently) a Jinni often pretends to contact the dead and allows them to speak to the living. In fact, the Jinn had contacted the Qareen of the dead. The Qareen, who was a constant companion of the dead person and knew his entire life history, will be able to mimic the voice of the deceased and answer any questions accurately (about the dead person's life), thus fooling those present into believing that they are in the presence of spirits.

In Conclusion, souls of the dead cannot and do not come back to earth, they cannot appear to or converse with the living inhabitants of the Earth. Causing people to believe in the return of the souls is one of the means adopted by Shaytaan to misguide mankind. By pretending to be returned souls of the dead along with the performance of extraordinary feats, they deceive people into believing in the powers of the dead. This has become a religious science of its own having no basis in the Qur'aan or the Sunnah. Ultimately, it leads to the worship of the souls of the dead and in reality worship of the Shaytaan himself. [See Majmoo al-Fatawa v.1/p.359-61]