His other question says: If a person who did not pray dies, while he testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, do his heirs inherit from him after his death, if they are righteous?

The questioner : His other question says: If a person who did not pray dies, while he testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, do his heirs inherit from him after his death, if they are righteous? Is their inheritance lawful? Is it permissible to pray over him? Should they follow his funeral procession? Please inform us. May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : If a person who does not pray dies, he has died a disbeliever, with a disbelief that takes him out of the religion. There is no difference between him and one who worships an idol, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Jabir, which Muslim narrated: So this person is a disbeliever, even if he says: "I testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," because his action has falsified this testimony. The hypocrites say: "There is no god but Allah," and they say to the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him): "We testify that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah," and yet Allah the Exalted has falsified them in this, because they did not submit to the command of Allah and His Messenger, and they were not at peace with it.
Therefore, if a person dies while not praying, it is forbidden to wash him, shroud him, pray over him, or bury him in the graves of the Muslims. It is also forbidden to supplicate for him with mercy and forgiveness, because he is among the people of the Fire. It is not permissible for anyone to supplicate for forgiveness and mercy for one who died upon disbelief. Likewise, it is not lawful for any of his Muslim relatives to inherit from him, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim, which Usamah ibn Zayd narrated: So what do we do with him? We carry him outside the town, dig a hole for him, and throw him in it without washing, shrouding, or prayer. This is a serious issue, because it may happen that some people do not pray, and their families know that he does not pray and that he died without praying, and they did not know from him that he believed in Allah and repented. Yet they wash him, shroud him, and bring him to the Muslims to pray over him. This is forbidden for them; it is not permissible for them, because by doing so they have betrayed the believers. If the believers had known that he did not pray, they would not have prayed over him. These people presented him to the believers to pray over him. So I advise our Muslim brothers to be alert to this serious issue. I also call upon those who are negligent in prayer to fear Allah the Exalted in themselves and to pray, so that they may be among the Muslims. For the covenant between us and the polytheists is prayer; so whoever abandons it is a disbeliever, as came in the hadith from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): Yes.

The questioner : This is a question from the listener Yahya Abd al-Qadir, of Yemeni nationality.