My father was committed to the Tijani adhkar; should I seek forgiveness for him and pray for mercy upon him now that he has died?

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Question:
This questioner says: My father was committed to the Tijani adhkar in the zawiyahs, and he is now suffering from memory loss. Should I seek forgiveness for him and pray for mercy upon him when he dies?

Answer:
If he was upon shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah the Exalted, do not pray for mercy upon him and do not supplicate for him, because he is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah).

⁽¹¹³⁾ 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. ⁽¹¹⁴⁾ And the request of forgiveness of Abraham for his father was only because of a promise he had made to him. But when it became apparent to Abraham that his father was an enemy to Allah, he disassociated himself from him. Indeed was Abraham compassionate and patient.

مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَن يَسْتَغْفِرُوا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُوا أُولِي قُرْبَىٰ مِن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ وَمَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لِأَبِيهِ

[At-Tawbah 9:113-114]

except for the promise he had made to him. When it became clear to him that he was an enemy of Allah, he disavowed him. Indeed, Ibrahim was one who was constantly turning to Allah and forbearing.

إلا عن موعده وعدها إياه، فلما تبين له أنه عدو لله تبرأ منه إن إبراهيم لأواه حليم

Al-Mustadrak lil-Hakim 25:416

If he had shirk with Allah and it continued with him until he lost his memory and became unaware, then leave him to his own state.

Source قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، أبي ملتزم بالأوراد التيجانية فهل أستغفر له و أترحم عليه إذ مات؟ الشيخ صالح بن فوزان الفوزان — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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