Is it permissible for me to make a condition when I pray over a deceased person that I say:
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The questioner : The questioner asks: Is it permissible for me to make a condition when I pray over a deceased person, for example, that I say: "O Allah, if he was a believer, then forgive him," and so on in the supplication? Because I do not know if he is one of those who abandoned prayer or not, and as you know, one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever, and it is not permissible to pray over him or bury him in the Muslim cemeteries?
The Shaykh : This is a very important question from which we have benefited. The ruling the questioner mentioned is that one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever. The one who abandons prayer absolutely, who does not pray at night or by day, nor at home, nor in the mosque, nor on Friday, nor otherwise, is a disbeliever who has exited Islam. It is not permissible to marry him to a Muslim woman, nor is it permissible for him to act as a guardian for the marriage contracts of his daughters, because a disbeliever has no guardianship over a Muslim. And if he dies, it is not permissible for us to wash him, shroud him, pray over him, or bury him with the Muslims. Likewise, it is not permissible for us to supplicate to Allah for him with mercy or forgiveness, because he is a disbeliever, may Allah protect us from that. As for his question: Is it permissible for us to make a condition in the supplication for the deceased, saying: "O Allah, if he was a believer, then forgive him"? We say that this is not prescribed and is not a prescribed practice, because the original state of Muslims is that they are Muslims, and there is no need to make a condition. However, if you know a specific person and you doubt his Islam, such as if he is a caller to a major religious innovation that entails disbelief, calling to a major religious innovation that entails disbelief, and you doubt his disbelief, then it is permissible for you to make a condition and say: "O Allah, if he was a believer, then forgive him and have mercy on him." Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him), one of the students of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, mentioned regarding Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah that he saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a dream and asked him—meaning Ibn Taymiyyah asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—about difficult issues, among which was: "We are brought funerals of people and we do not know if they are Muslims or disbelievers." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Stick to the condition, O Ahmad". Who is Ahmad? Ibn Taymiyyah. "Stick to the condition" means say: "O Allah, if he was a believer, then forgive him and have mercy on him." But if someone were to ask: Is it permissible to take Islamic legal rulings from dreams and visions? It is not permissible. However, this fatwa that occurred, which Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in a dream, has a basis in the Shari'ah. For Allah the Exalted says in:[An-Nur 24:6] He says: [An-Nur 24:6-7] This is a conditional and unconditional supplication; it is conditional if he is among the liars. [An-Nur 24:8-9] This indicates that it is permissible to make supplication conditional. Likewise, it is permissible to make acts of worship conditional, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Lubaydah bint al-Zubayr: .
The Shaykh : This is a very important question from which we have benefited. The ruling the questioner mentioned is that one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever. The one who abandons prayer absolutely, who does not pray at night or by day, nor at home, nor in the mosque, nor on Friday, nor otherwise, is a disbeliever who has exited Islam. It is not permissible to marry him to a Muslim woman, nor is it permissible for him to act as a guardian for the marriage contracts of his daughters, because a disbeliever has no guardianship over a Muslim. And if he dies, it is not permissible for us to wash him, shroud him, pray over him, or bury him with the Muslims. Likewise, it is not permissible for us to supplicate to Allah for him with mercy or forgiveness, because he is a disbeliever, may Allah protect us from that. As for his question: Is it permissible for us to make a condition in the supplication for the deceased, saying: "O Allah, if he was a believer, then forgive him"? We say that this is not prescribed and is not a prescribed practice, because the original state of Muslims is that they are Muslims, and there is no need to make a condition. However, if you know a specific person and you doubt his Islam, such as if he is a caller to a major religious innovation that entails disbelief, calling to a major religious innovation that entails disbelief, and you doubt his disbelief, then it is permissible for you to make a condition and say: "O Allah, if he was a believer, then forgive him and have mercy on him." Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him), one of the students of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, mentioned regarding Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah that he saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a dream and asked him—meaning Ibn Taymiyyah asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—about difficult issues, among which was: "We are brought funerals of people and we do not know if they are Muslims or disbelievers." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Stick to the condition, O Ahmad". Who is Ahmad? Ibn Taymiyyah. "Stick to the condition" means say: "O Allah, if he was a believer, then forgive him and have mercy on him." But if someone were to ask: Is it permissible to take Islamic legal rulings from dreams and visions? It is not permissible. However, this fatwa that occurred, which Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in a dream, has a basis in the Shari'ah. For Allah the Exalted says in: