PRAYING FOR A DEAD NON-MUSLIM?

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم

اللھم صل علی محمد و ال محمد

Few words on depression

Whenever a non-Muslim celebrity passes away (basically Bollywood actor/actress), we Pakistanis continue discussing whether we should pray for him or not. Many Pakistanis are prone to write Rest In Peace with a picture of a particular recently-dead Bollywood superstar. They get criticized by religious Muslims who believe that praying for a dead non-Muslim is forbidden as per Q. 9:113. By the end of April, Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor died. Recently, Sushant Singh committed suicide by handing himself to a ceiling fan. Unfortunately, I have seen many Pakistani Muslims refusing to write Rest In Peace with the actors' names (some claiming that Khan was an atheist) and others even going to the lengths of mocking Singh for committing suicide or inventing conspiracy theories regarding his demise even though it has been established than he was suffering through depression.

What is depression. This is the definition of depression by the American Psychiatric Association I have taken from their website.

Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act.

Symptoms of depression include:

• Feeling sad all the time
• Lack of pleasure in activities you previously enjoyed
• Weight loss/gain with change in your appetite
• Sleeping either too much or very little
• Your easily lose energy or get fatigued
• Becoming either hyperactive about useless physical activities or becoming slow [like a person starts pacing needlessly or speaking slowly]
• Believing yourself to be worthless and getting affected by inferiority complex
• Loss of concentration and trouble thinking
• Suicidal thoughts

Depression is not something to made fun of, buddies. From Robert Williams to Sushant Singh, depression has caused the world to lose many innocent lives. Here is what Vox needs you to always remember:

For the public at large, it's a dark reminder that depression and suicide are shockingly common.

One must know that all depression people don't contemplate suicide. But it's a fact that most people who commit suicide are victims of depression at the time of their death. American Association of Suicidology wrote in 2012 CE that two-thirds of Americans who commit suicide were depressed. Thus, depression was found to be the most robust predictor of suicidality among Black and Latino adolescents. Therefore, it doesn't seem humane to me to insult a depressed actor/actress who dies by committing suicide. It is a reminder to us all that someone close to us can also be going through depression and can think about ending his/her own life.

Ghamidi on salvation for non-Muslims

Now, back to the original question, can we pray for a dead non-Muslim? I watched a short clip posted on Facebook starring Ghamidi - a renowned modernist and liberal Islamic scholar of Islam who gained quite a reputation (and had to flee the country due to death threats) for being an open critic of our Blasphemy Law - who presented arguments in favor of praying for a dead non-Muslim. Basically, he stated that there was nothing wrong in praying for a dead non-Muslim and Q. 9:113 didn't mention any prohibition about it. His words were:

قرآن مجید میں ایک خاص موقعہ اور مرحلہ پر آ کر، جب عذاب کا فیصلہ ہو گیا ہے، تب اس سے روکا ہے۔

In the glorious Quran, at a certain stage and occasion, when the decision of (sending down God's) wrath has been made, then it (i.e. prayer for non-Muslims) is prohibited.

He further says that all non-Muslims are our brethren, if not in faith then in humanity, and we should always pray for the hidayah (guidance) and maghfirah (salvation) for a non-Muslim. If a non-Muslim dies without converting to Islam, we should pray to God to save him from hel-fire if he had any udhr (excuse) for not converting. According to Ghamidi, we can beseech God to accept a non-Muslim's valid excuse for dying a non-Muslim. But, Ghamidi continues, when God informs that a certain non-Muslim had become a defiant unbeliever worthy of His adhab (torment) then we shouldn't pray for him because prayer can only be made for a person who has a chance for salvation. In the end, Ghamidi sarcastically remarks: "Now I don't receive any information from God", implying that Muslims of the 21st century cannot declare that a certain non-Muslim isn't worthy of our prayers. I interpret Ghamidi's words like this: We can assume that all non-Muslims of the 21st century have an excuse for not converting to Islam and the excuse is that Islam hasn't been presented to them in a proper manner; thus, these non-Muslims can attain salvation if they commit good deeds in this world so there's no harm in praying for their maghfirah.

Can non-Muslims go to jannah?

This question has been bothering Muslims since centuries. What happens to non-Muslims when they die? If you want a detailed analysis of this question, you should read this article written by Jonathan Andrew Cleveland Brown. I will try to answer this question in the light of a hadith that can be located in Musnad Ahmad b. Hanbal and has been graded sahih by Nasiruddin Albani. For references of this report's authenticity, you can visit this link. The actual hadith goes like this:

أَرْبَعَةٌ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ : رَجُلٌ أَصَمُّ لَا يَسْمَعُ شَيْئًا، وَرَجُلٌ أَحْمَقُ ، وَرَجُلٌ هَرَمٌ ، وَرَجُلٌ مَاتَ فِي فَتْرَةٍ ، فَأَمَّا الْأَصَمُّ فَيَقُولُ: رَبِّ، لَقَدْ جَاءَ الْإِسْلَامُ وَمَا أَسْمَعُ شَيْئًا، وَأَمَّا الْأَحْمَقُ فَيَقُولُ: رَبِّ ، لَقَدْ جَاءَ الْإِسْلَامُ وَالصِّبْيَانُ يَحْذِفُونِي بِالْبَعْرِ، وَأَمَّا الْهَرَمُ فَيَقُولُ: رَبِّ، لَقَدْ جَاءَ الْإِسْلَامُ وَمَا أَعْقِلُ شَيْئًا، وَأَمَّا الَّذِي مَاتَ فِي الْفَتْرَةِ فَيَقُولُ: رَبِّ، مَا أَتَانِي لَكَ رَسُولٌ ، فَيَأْخُذُ مَوَاثِيقَهُمْ لَيُطِيعُنَّهُ ، فَيُرْسِلُ إِلَيْهِمْ أَنْ ادْخُلُوا النَّارَ، قَالَ: فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ، لَوْ دَخَلُوهَا لَكَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا 

Four (will be examined) on the Day of Resurrection: a deaf guy who couldn't hear, an mentally challenged guy, an old guy and a guy who dies in fitrah (a period in which there is no prophet). So the deaf will say: "Lord, Islam arrived but I couldn't hear anything." The mentally challenged person will say: "Lord, Islam arrived and children used to throw feces at me." Old person will say: "Lord, Islam arrived but I couldn't understand anything." The person who died in fitrah wil say: "Lord, no messenger of yours came to me." So God will make them swear His obedience. Then He will send an angel to them who will put them in hell. By Him in whose hands is the soul of Muhammad! If they entered it, it will become cold and safe for them.

This hadith shows that God will not punish a person who had a valid excuse for remaining in the state of disbelief. Here one can argue how could God out these people in hell if they had a valid excuse? Well, I don't think this hadith actually states that God will necessarily put people belonging to these four categories in hell-fire. It shows that there is a possibility for these people to go to hell. Some scholars have interpreted it by saying that God will put them in a text first; if these people succeed in their examination, they will attain salvation, but if they failed, even then the hell-fire will not hurt them. So, this hadith proves that salvation for non-Muslims is quite possible. Check the importance of the conditional term lau (لو) which Muhammad has used.

In this online lecture, you can see a teacher explaining the difference between the two conditional words idha and lau. We use idha for conditions that might be fulfilled and lau express conditional ideas that are contrary to fact. So, lau indicates towards the impossibility or difficulty of something to happen. Hence, we can argue that Prophet believes it's quite impossible for people belonging to the above-mentioned four categories to be sent to hell-fire because most of them are supposed to pass God's examination. You can further learn about Arabic conditional words here. For counter-to-fact or impossible-to-happen conditions, we usually use lau for if and kana/kanat for then. In the hadith I have mentioned, Muhammad uses the very same grammatical principle. Check out this link for Arabic if-then (lau-kana) rule.

I believe...

I was in the 7th grade probably when our social studies teacher was asked by some student: Do all non-Muslims go to hell, even those who do good things for people? The female teacher replied affirmatively without hesitation and then explained: "God non-Muslims are rewarded for their good works in this world." I have always found myself doubtful about this kind of responses from our elders and clerics. Why would a just God reward a non-Muslim in the world? Alright, what about a non-Muslim who doesn't get rewarded by God in this world? What about a non-Muslim who has never hurt anyone but people harm him? What if a non-Muslim isn't rewarded for his good deeds in this world? Would he receive some compensation on the Yaum al-Qayamah? How can God put someone in eternal damnation just because he wasn't a Muslim?

You introduce a person to Islam to present him with evidence. He becomes convinced that Islam is the religion from God. But he stills refuses to become a Muslim and remains on the path of batil. This is the actual definition of a kafir. A kafir is a person who knows that Islam is the truth but still resists it. So, the kuffar who refused to believe in Muhammad actually knew that he was an apostle. Muhammad had convinced them of the genuineness of his mission but they still disbelieved in him. This is exactly what God says in Quran:

Indeed, those who disbelieved and averted (people) from the path of God and opposed the Messenger after guidance had become clear to them - never will they harm God at all, and He will render worthless their deeds.

(Q. 47:32)

So, non-Muslims of the 21st century aren't introduced to Islam properly and they are genuinely confused about the truth of our religion. Therefore, they have a valid excuse before God. God will not punish them because He hasn't provided them with a nabi or a rasul. So, I believe that non-Muslims can still attain salvation with good deeds. If non-Muslims can go to jannah, praying for the maghfirah of a dead non-Muslim cannot be haram. May God bless us all!