If a person has relatives who have passed away while praying, fasting, and paying zakah, but he used to call upon other than Allah, is it permissible to offer condolences for him?
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Question:
If a person has relatives and a will, and he was praying, fasting, and paying zakah, but he used to call upon other than Allah, is it permissible to offer condolences for him? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If he calls upon other than Allah, then he is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) committing major shirk (associating partners with Allah), because supplication is the greatest of the types of worship. So whoever calls upon other than Allah has worshipped other than Allah, and thereby he becomes a mushrik committing major shirk, may Allah protect us from that. Even if he prayed, even if he fasted, and even if he paid the zakah, these deeds do not benefit him with major shirk.
The saying of Allah the Exalted:[Az-Zumar 39:65] And Allah the Exalted said: [Al-An'am 6:88] So obedience and deeds do not benefit alongside disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah), because the deeds of the disbeliever are rejected by them. Allah the Exalted said: And indeed, [Al-Furqan 25:23] And the one who calls upon other than Allah, such as seeking aid from the dead, slaughtering for shrines, making vows to them, and other things that are happening in many countries, unfortunately, this is major shirk, and deeds do not benefit alongside it. There is no power and no strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Magnificent. It is not permissible to send blessings upon this deceased person or to seek forgiveness for him, because he is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah). And Allah the Exalted says: [At-Tawbah 9:113] And whoever dies upon shirk, he is among the people of the Fire, so it is not permissible to seek forgiveness for him. May Allah reward you with good.
If a person has relatives and a will, and he was praying, fasting, and paying zakah, but he used to call upon other than Allah, is it permissible to offer condolences for him? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If he calls upon other than Allah, then he is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) committing major shirk (associating partners with Allah), because supplication is the greatest of the types of worship. So whoever calls upon other than Allah has worshipped other than Allah, and thereby he becomes a mushrik committing major shirk, may Allah protect us from that. Even if he prayed, even if he fasted, and even if he paid the zakah, these deeds do not benefit him with major shirk.
The saying of Allah the Exalted:
And it was already revealed to you and to those before you that if you should associate [anything] with Allah, your work would surely become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers."
وَلَقَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ وَإِلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكَ لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَBut if they had associated others with Allah, then worthless for them would be whatever they were doing.
وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَwhat they have done of deeds and make them as dust dispersed.
إِلَىٰ مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَّنثُورًاIt is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire.
مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَن يَسْتَغْفِرُوا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُوا أُولِي قُرْبَىٰ مِن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، إذا كان لأحد أقرباء وتوفي وهو يصلي ويصوم ويزكي لكنه يدعو غير الله فهل هذا يجوز الترحم عليه؟ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.