The ruling on one who dies upon shirk (associating partners with Allah) while not knowing that it is shirk
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Q: What is the ruling on one who dies upon shirk (associating partners with Allah) while not knowing that it is from shirk?
A: One who dies upon shirk (associating partners with Allah) is in great danger, due to the saying of Allah, the Exalted: [Al-An'am: 88]. And He, the Exalted, said: [At-Tawbah: 17]. And He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Furqan: 23]. And He, the Exalted, said: [An-Nisa: 48].
This is their threat and their end, like that of the other disbelievers who commit major shirk (associating partners with Allah). Their ruling in this world is that they are not washed, no funeral prayer is performed for them, and they are not buried in the graves of Muslims. However, if one of them did not receive the call—meaning the Qur'an and the Sunnah—then his affair is left to Allah, the Exalted, on the Day of Resurrection, like the other people of the period of ignorance. The stronger opinion among the scholars regarding their ruling is that they will be tested on the Day of Resurrection; whoever responds will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys will enter the Fire.
The scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) elaborated on this in the end of his book "Fi Tariq al-Hijratayn," where he said: "(The eighth school of thought) is that they will be tested in the plains of the Resurrection, and a messenger will be sent to them there, as well as to everyone who did not receive the call; so whoever obeys the messenger will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys him will be put into the Fire. According to this, some of them will be in Paradise and some in the Fire, and by this, the unity of all the evidence is achieved."
As for if one of them has ignorance regarding the shirk (associating partners with Allah) in which he fell, then his affair is left to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, and the ruling is based on the apparent reality. So if his apparent state is shirk (associating partners with Allah), his ruling is the ruling of the polytheists, and his affair is left to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, who knows everything, Glorified and Exalted is He.
A: One who dies upon shirk (associating partners with Allah) is in great danger, due to the saying of Allah, the Exalted:
But if they had associated others with Allah, then worthless for them would be whatever they were doing.
وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَIt is not for the polytheists to maintain the mosques of Allah [while] witnessing against themselves with disbelief. [For] those, their deeds have become worthless, and in the Fire they will abide eternally.
مَا كَانَ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ أَنْ يَعْمُرُوا مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ شَاهِدِينَ عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ بِالْكُفْرِ أُولَئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ وَفِي النَّارِ هُمْ خَالِدُونَAnd We will regard what they have done of deeds and make them as dust dispersed.
وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَى مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًاIndeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُThis is their threat and their end, like that of the other disbelievers who commit major shirk (associating partners with Allah). Their ruling in this world is that they are not washed, no funeral prayer is performed for them, and they are not buried in the graves of Muslims. However, if one of them did not receive the call—meaning the Qur'an and the Sunnah—then his affair is left to Allah, the Exalted, on the Day of Resurrection, like the other people of the period of ignorance. The stronger opinion among the scholars regarding their ruling is that they will be tested on the Day of Resurrection; whoever responds will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys will enter the Fire.
The scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) elaborated on this in the end of his book "Fi Tariq al-Hijratayn," where he said: "(The eighth school of thought) is that they will be tested in the plains of the Resurrection, and a messenger will be sent to them there, as well as to everyone who did not receive the call; so whoever obeys the messenger will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys him will be put into the Fire. According to this, some of them will be in Paradise and some in the Fire, and by this, the unity of all the evidence is achieved."
As for if one of them has ignorance regarding the shirk (associating partners with Allah) in which he fell, then his affair is left to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, and the ruling is based on the apparent reality. So if his apparent state is shirk (associating partners with Allah), his ruling is the ruling of the polytheists, and his affair is left to Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, who knows everything, Glorified and Exalted is He.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.