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Bismillaah, wal-hamdulilaah, was-salaatu was-salaamu 'alaa rasoolillaah,

As Salaamu 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barakatuh

Benefit: The Ruling on One Who


Died and He Did Not Pray

In the Name of Allaah, Ar-Rahmaan, Ar-Raheem...

[Q]: A brother from an MSA (Muslim Student's Association) in Ma’an, Jordan asks in his question: What is the
ruling on one who died and did not pray [during his lifetime], though his parents are Muslim? And, how should
he be treated with respect to the washing [of his body], shrouding, and prayer over him, burial, supplication,
and asking for mercy upon him?

[A]: Any responsible adult, who dies [knowing the Islamic ruling concerning prayer] and did not pray, is a disbeliever.
He is not washed or prayed over, nor is he buried in the Muslim cemetery. His [Muslim] relatives do not inherit from
him. Rather, his wealth is for the Muslim’s state treasury, according to the strongest opinion amongst the scholars.
[This is] based on the authentic hadeeth [in which the] Prophet [sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] stated: “Between a man
and shirk [associating partners with Allaah] and kufr [disbelief] there stands his abandonment of the prayer.” This was
reported by Imaam Muslim in his Saheeh. The Prophet [sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] also stated: “The vow [religious
commitment] that is between us and them [the hypocrites] is the prayer. He that abandons it has committed disbelief.”
This was reported by Ahmad and the compilers of the sunan with an authentic chain from the hadeeth of Buraydaah
radiyallaahu ‘anhu.

And, ‘Abdullaah ibn Shaqeeq al-‘Uqaylee, the noble follower, may Allaah’s mercy be upon him, stated: “The
companions of the Prophet [sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam] did not consider abandonment on anything as disbelief,
except [the abandonment of] the prayer.” And, the ahaadeeth and reports with this connotation are many.

This is regarding the one who abandoned [prayer] due to laziness and who did not deny it as being obligatory. And, for
the one who doesn’t accept it as being compulsory, then he is a disbeliever (also), who apostated from Islaam,
according to all of the people of knowledge.

We beseech Allaah to set aright the affairs of the Muslims and to [lead them to] pursue the straight path, for He is the
All-Hearing Responder. Published in the Arabic magazine, issue #187 in the month of Sha’baan, 1413 Hijr
(Majmoo' al-Fataawa of Shaykh BinBaaz)

Original Arabic: http://www.binbaz. org.sa/book/ m010.pdf - See page #250Translated by Fatimah


Daragharbi

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