Seeking Forgiveness for a Polytheist
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The second question of Fatwa No. ( 18456 )
Q 2: Is it permissible for me in Islam to seek forgiveness for my father and mother, who have passed away, and who used to visit the cemetery on certain days, cooking food and chicken and eating it there with their relatives, believing that this food was charity for the deceased, and seeking blessing from the wali (close friend of Allah) for whom a dome was built in the cemetery? In addition to this, they believed that the shaykhs (scholars or teachers) of the Sufiyyah (the Sufis) were among the awliya (close friends of Allah),
and perhaps they went to the fortune-tellers and believed their superstitions. My father and mother believed that this was Islam; because throughout their lives, they had not heard from anyone that this was not permissible. They did this out of ignorance and heedlessness, not out of defiance. What is the ruling in Islam regarding this matter? And what is the ruling in Islam regarding one who associated partners with Allah out of ignorance and heedlessness, not knowing that it was shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah, and died upon his shirk? Will he be eternally in the Fire? And is it permissible to seek forgiveness for him?
A 2: If your parents, in their visits to these graves, called upon the deceased for aid and invoked them other than Allah, and believed the fortune-tellers, and died upon that, then it is not permissible to seek forgiveness for them; due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[At-Tawbah 9:113] As for their eating food in the cemetery and going to the fortune-tellers without believing them, these actions are considered sins, and they do not prevent seeking forgiveness for them. And whoever dies while invoking other than Allah has died upon shirk, and is treated as a polytheist. And if he was ignorant, his case is left to Allah, but we judge him based on what appears from his actions of shirk.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q 2: Is it permissible for me in Islam to seek forgiveness for my father and mother, who have passed away, and who used to visit the cemetery on certain days, cooking food and chicken and eating it there with their relatives, believing that this food was charity for the deceased, and seeking blessing from the wali (close friend of Allah) for whom a dome was built in the cemetery? In addition to this, they believed that the shaykhs (scholars or teachers) of the Sufiyyah (the Sufis) were among the awliya (close friends of Allah),
and perhaps they went to the fortune-tellers and believed their superstitions. My father and mother believed that this was Islam; because throughout their lives, they had not heard from anyone that this was not permissible. They did this out of ignorance and heedlessness, not out of defiance. What is the ruling in Islam regarding this matter? And what is the ruling in Islam regarding one who associated partners with Allah out of ignorance and heedlessness, not knowing that it was shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah, and died upon his shirk? Will he be eternally in the Fire? And is it permissible to seek forgiveness for him?
A 2: If your parents, in their visits to these graves, called upon the deceased for aid and invoked them other than Allah, and believed the fortune-tellers, and died upon that, then it is not permissible to seek forgiveness for them; due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
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 أَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرُوا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُوا أُولِي قُرْبَى مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِAnd success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.