If it is the predominant opinion that the deceased did not pray, should the Muslim refrain from praying over him?
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The questioner : If it is the predominant opinion that the deceased did not pray, should the Muslim refrain from praying over him?
The Shaykh : One should not refrain from praying over him, even if it is his predominant opinion that the deceased did not pray, as long as he is not certain that he did not pray. However, if the predominant opinion is based on strong indicators, then if he wishes to make du'a for him, he should qualify it and say: "O Allah, if he was a believer, then forgive him and have mercy on him," and so on. Conditional du'a is established in the Book and the Sunnah. Indeed, Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said in the verse of li'an regarding a man's accusation of his wife with zina:[An-Nur 24:6-9] This is a conditional du'a. In the hadith of the three men: the leper, the bald one, and the blind one, when Allah, Mighty and Majestic, tested them, the story mentions that the angel came to the leper and the bald one, each in the form he had been in, and said to him, "I am a poor traveler asking you for something to sustain me on my journey." Each of them said, "There are many rights [owed], and I only inherited this wealth from father to father." The angel said to him, "If you are lying, may Allah turn you into what you were." This du'a is qualified by a condition. In the du'a of istikharah, the man says: "O Allah! If You know that this is better for me in my religion and my worldly life..." So if a deceased person is brought for prayer, and it is the predominant opinion that he did not pray, without certainty that he did not pray, then the person says: "O Allah, if this person was a believer, then forgive him and have mercy on him." Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned regarding his Shaykh, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, that he saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked him about difficult matters, including that funerals are brought for prayer, and a person doubts whether the deceased is an innovator who should not be prayed over, or one who holds fast to the Sunnah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him in the dream: "Adhere to the condition, O Ahmad." The condition is to say: "O Allah, if he was a believer upon the Sunnah, then forgive him and have mercy on him," and so on. However, if you know that he did not pray, then it is not permissible for you to pray over him, neither you nor anyone else, due to the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: [At-Tawbah 9:84] Thus, Allah, the Exalted, prohibited praying over these hypocrites who display Islam outwardly and conceal disbelief inwardly.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah bless you and your knowledge, and benefit the Muslims through you.
The Shaykh : One should not refrain from praying over him, even if it is his predominant opinion that the deceased did not pray, as long as he is not certain that he did not pray. However, if the predominant opinion is based on strong indicators, then if he wishes to make du'a for him, he should qualify it and say: "O Allah, if he was a believer, then forgive him and have mercy on him," and so on. Conditional du'a is established in the Book and the Sunnah. Indeed, Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said in the verse of li'an regarding a man's accusation of his wife with zina:
then the witness of one of them [shall be] four testimonies [swearing] by Allah that indeed, he is of the truthful. (7) And the fifth [oath will be] that the curse of Allah be upon him if he should be among the liars. (8) But it will prevent punishment from her if she gives four testimonies [swearing] by Allah that indeed, he is of the liars. (9) And the fifth [oath will be] that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he was of the truthful.
فَشَهَادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ * وَالْخَامِسَةُ أَنَّ لَعْنَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ * وَيَدْرَأُ عَنْهَا الْعَذَابَ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَرْبَعَ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ * وَالْخَامِسَةَ أَنَّ غَضَبَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَAnd do not pray [the funeral prayer, O Muhammad], over any of them who has died - ever - or stand at his grave
وَلا تُصَلِّ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ مَاتَ أَبَدًا وَلا تَقُمْ عَلَى قَبْرِهِThe questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, and may Allah bless you and your knowledge, and benefit the Muslims through you.