The Ruling on Declaring a Disbeliever to Be in the Fire After His Death

Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, I heard that it is not permissible to declare a disbeliever to be in the Fire after his death, such that if one of the disbelievers dies in this time, it is not permissible to say, "So-and-so is one of the people of the Fire."

Answer:
As for the one who dies upon disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah), we treat him as we treat disbelievers and Muslims: we do not pray over him, we do not wash him, and we do not bury him in the graves of Muslims. We treat him according to the ruling for disbelievers; he does not inherit, and his Muslim relative does not inherit from him because he is a disbeliever who died a disbeliever. We treat him according to the ruling for disbelievers. As for Paradise and the Fire, that is in the hand of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). We do not know what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, perhaps he repented before he died. We do not know and we do not know, but we do not know about him. We are not obligated to know; we are obligated regarding what is apparent to us, which is his disbelief. So we treat him accordingly, and we do not seek forgiveness for him, nor do we make du'a' (supplication) for him. We treat him accordingly. As for the matter of Paradise and the Fire, that is for Allah, the One who knows (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.