What is the ruling on praying for the absent?

The questioner : May Allah reward you and forgive you, O esteemed Shaykh: My question is about the prayer for the absent. Is it prescribed, especially since he was already prayed for in his country? Yes, the prayer for the absent?

The Shaykh : Yes, for the absent.

The questioner : May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : The correct view regarding the prayer for the absent is that it is not a recommended practice (sunnah), except for one who has not been prayed for. For example, if a man died in the sea, drowned, and no one prayed for him, then we pray for him at that time. However, if he has been prayed for in any place, he is not prayed for as an absent person. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not pray for the absent except for one man who had not been prayed for, and that was the Negus. If the prayer for the absent had been prescribed, Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), would have been the first to establish it for the Ummah. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) likewise; it is not reported from them that they prayed for the absent. When commanders died, when caliphs died, when princes died, they did not pray for them. This is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), and he was guided to the truth. However, if the one in authority orders it, it becomes obedience. That is, the prayer for the absent becomes obedience, because it is part of obeying the one in authority, whom we are commanded to obey. Allah the Exalted said: And it has reached us that when the one in authority ordered the prayer for Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him), some people lagged behind and did not pray. This is due to their ignorance, because we pray for the absent by the order of the one in authority as obedience to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), based on His saying: If someone says, "I see it as a religious innovation (bid'ah)," do we agree if the one in authority orders a religious innovation? We say: No, it is not a religious innovation, because this is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the scholars. Matters of jurisprudential disagreement are not called religious innovations. If we called it a religious innovation, then all jurists would be innovators, because each one would say to the other, if he differs from his opinion, "You are an innovator." No scholar has said this. Therefore, we say that the independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) of these brothers is out of place. Yes, in any case, the correct view is that the prayer for the absent is not a recommended practice, but if the one in authority orders it, it is obedience to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) because He ordered it.