The Meaning of the Saying of Allah the Exalted: "And do not offer prayer over any one of them who dies, forever, and do not stand at his grave. Indeed, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died while they were open sinners."

The Shaykh : We move from this verse to another verse, which is the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) , To whom does the pronoun refer, my brother?

The questioner : To the hypocrites.

The Shaykh : To the hypocrites. May Allah bless you. Rest. The address is to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and we explained last night that an address directed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), if there is no evidence that it is specific to him, is general for him and for the community that is, of the hypocrites forever, do not offer prayer over them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to offer prayer over the dead of the hypocrites initially because he treated the hypocrites as he treated the Muslims. Therefore, he did not kill them, even though he knew some of them by name. He did not kill them until he was given permission to kill them, and then he said, "No," because the hypocrite is one of the best people in terms of his demeanor in speech. You find him greeting the Muslim, welcoming him, honoring him, and respecting him, while he wishes to bite him with his fangs. But he is eloquent. If this person is feigning Islam, is it fitting that we kill him? No. Why? Because only Allah (Mighty and Majestic) knows what is in the hearts. And whoever shows us good, we hold him to it, as long as evidence does not establish the contrary. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to offer prayer over the dead of the hypocrites, and then Allah prohibited it, saying and He confirmed this prohibition with the word "forever" , It was the custom of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that when a dead person was buried, he would stand over him and say O Allah, keep us firm with the firm word in this worldly life and in the Hereafter, O Lord of the worlds.
He would stand over him and say So here he said Why? The reason is given: They are those who have gone out from the obedience of Allah. So they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger in their hearts, and they died while they were open sinners in their deeds. They did not obey Allah. They died upon open sinfulness, may Allah protect us from it. The open sinfulness of disbelief.