What is the ruling on seeking forgiveness for a Muslim who died after having fallen into shirk (associating partners with Allah)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
This is a questioner from outside this country. He says: Among our fathers and grandfathers, some fell into the exaltation of the people of graves and engaged in acts of shirk (associating partners with Allah), and some of them died upon that. So, is it permissible for us to seek forgiveness for them?
The Shaykh:
No. For the one who died calling upon other than Allah, you do not seek forgiveness for him.[At-Tawbah 9:113] So you say that he died upon shirk (associating partners with Allah). As long as he died upon shirk (associating partners with Allah), leave him alone; do not seek forgiveness for him. Yes.
The questioner:
And likewise, he says, may Allah preserve you, he also says: In our country, there are people who fell into acts of shirk (associating partners with Allah), such as calling upon the people of graves and going to diviners and sorcerers. Then they stopped doing that without seeking forgiveness or repenting, and they did not call upon anyone but Allah until they died. So, do we seek forgiveness for them?
The Shaykh:
For Allah. As long as they stopped doing that and left shirk (associating partners with Allah) and left going to the sorcerers and diviners, and they stopped doing that and worshipped Allah the Exalted, and they performed the prayer and the zakah (the obligatory alms), the pillars of Islam, and they died upon that, then they are Muslims. Yes.
This is a questioner from outside this country. He says: Among our fathers and grandfathers, some fell into the exaltation of the people of graves and engaged in acts of shirk (associating partners with Allah), and some of them died upon that. So, is it permissible for us to seek forgiveness for them?
The Shaykh:
No. For the one who died calling upon other than Allah, you do not seek forgiveness for him.
It 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 الْجَحِيمِThe questioner:
And likewise, he says, may Allah preserve you, he also says: In our country, there are people who fell into acts of shirk (associating partners with Allah), such as calling upon the people of graves and going to diviners and sorcerers. Then they stopped doing that without seeking forgiveness or repenting, and they did not call upon anyone but Allah until they died. So, do we seek forgiveness for them?
The Shaykh:
For Allah. As long as they stopped doing that and left shirk (associating partners with Allah) and left going to the sorcerers and diviners, and they stopped doing that and worshipped Allah the Exalted, and they performed the prayer and the zakah (the obligatory alms), the pillars of Islam, and they died upon that, then they are Muslims. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم الاستغفار لمن مات من المسلمين وقد وقع في الشرك؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.