An episode worthy of attention by brother Engineer Hussam Abdul Aziz. It was uploaded with modifications made with his permission.
Peace be upon you. Those who pray for the deceased non-believers on social media today fall into three categories:
To understand the meaning of mercy and its conditions, we must consider two important guidelines:
We must know that Allah has general mercy in this world, which includes both the believer and the non-believer, and it is the mercy of sustenance, food, healing, and warding off calamities. Allah says: {And if We give man a taste of mercy from Us, then We withdraw it from him, indeed, he is despairing and ungrateful}.
And when Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, asked for sustenance for the believers only, the divine response came: {But whoever disbelieves, I will enjoy him for a little; then I will compel him to the punishment of the Fire. And wretched is the destination}. So, providing the disbeliever with sustenance in this world is a kind of worldly general mercy.
As for the Hereafter, mercy is "specific" and includes only the believers.
There is a difference of opinion among scholars regarding the ruling on praying for mercy for a non-believer while he is "alive":
And it is narrated that 'Uqbah ibn Amir Al-Juhani responded to the greeting of a man he thought was a Muslim by saying, "And upon you be the mercy of Allah and His blessings," but when he found out that he was a Christian, he followed him and said, "The mercy of Allah and His blessings are upon the believers, but may Allah prolong your life, increase your wealth, and multiply your children." This shows the precision of the faith of the Companions.
The current point of contention is the "deceased," and here we emphasize that the one being punished in the Hereafter is not called "merciful." Mercy in the Hereafter is Paradise, which is forbidden to non-believers.
In the Quran, we always find that punishment is opposed to mercy, and there is no middle ground:
Mercy requires exiting the Fire, and the non-believer is eternal therein, so how can one pray for mercy for him?
Some claim that mercy means alleviating punishment. The Quranic response is clear: {And those who disbelieve in the signs of Allah and the meeting with Him - those despair of My mercy, and those - they will have a painful punishment}.
Al-Tabari says: "They despair of My mercy in the Hereafter because of what they have seen of the punishment prepared for them." If there were alleviation called mercy, Allah would not have said that they "despair."
Therefore, saying "May Allah have mercy on him" to a deceased non-believer is bad manners with Allah and an assault in supplication; because you are asking for something Allah has informed us He will withhold. And Al-Qadi 'Iyad has reported the consensus that the deeds of non-believers do not benefit them, nor are they rewarded with bliss nor alleviation of punishment.
Forgiveness is a prerequisite for mercy. Allah says: {Would that you had asked forgiveness of Allah for you would have been shown mercy}. And since Allah has stated that He does not forgive shirk: {Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating others with Him}, consequently, there is no mercy for those who die as polytheists.
Similarly, Allah has made following the Prophet (peace be upon him) a condition for obtaining mercy: {I will record it for those who fear Allah... those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet}. So how can people ask for mercy for someone who has disbelieved in the Prophet?
The exegetes (Al-Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, Al-Tabari, Al-Baghawi) agreed that mercy in the verses of the Hereafter means Paradise.
Faith is more precious than kinship.
What we see today in attempts to permit praying for the deceased is a result of an "internal defeat" and an attempt to appease people at the expense of Allah's religion. Knowledge is taken from trustworthy scholars who adhere to the fundamentals, not from those who follow odd opinions or distort transmission to match the whims of the age.
Compromise in doctrine begins with praying for the deceased, then claiming they enter Paradise, then calling them "martyrs." So beware of your doctrine, and adhere to what the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Companions were upon.
Fatwas and knowledge are taken from the Rabbani scholars, and there are matters to beware of in the person from whom you take your fatwas:
Negligence in matters of creed does not stop at praying for mercy for the deceased disbelievers, but it is a series of concessions:
If the creed were strong in the hearts, we would not have reached this absurdity. Disbelief is not a simple matter, but it is attributing partners to Allah the Almighty, and it is the sin about which He said, Exalted is He: "The heavens almost rupture therefrom and the earth splits asunder and the mountains crumble to dust."
O Muslim, do not be a "cute" at the expense of your religion. There is no disputed matter in what the decisive Quran, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the Salaf have settled. The Prophet, peace be upon him, was the most compassionate and best in character, yet he did not show mercy to his uncle who supported and protected him when he died a disbeliever. Rather, Allah forbade the believers from that explicitly: "It is not for the Prophet and those who believe to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire."
Follow the way of the believers, and do not be deceived by the strange statements that come from here and there to please people or to appease reality. Pleasing Allah is more worthy and more deserving.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
"Or have they taken besides Him allies who have legislated for them of the religion what Allah has not permitted? And if not for a decisive word, it would have been concluded between them, and indeed, for the wrongdoers is a painful punishment."