Surah 9

Surah 9:84

"Never pray over anyone of them who has died, nor stand over his grave. Surely they disbelieved in God and His messenger, and died while they were wicked."
The Prohibition of Prayer for the Funeral of Hypocrites Verses 9:84
Show Full Scripture Context (9:84) — 1 Verse
Verse 84

وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَىٰٓ أَحَدٖ مِّنۡهُم مَّاتَ أَبَدٗا وَلَا تَقُمۡ عَلَىٰ قَبۡرِهِۦٓۖ إِنَّهُمۡ كَفَرُواْ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَمَاتُواْ وَهُمۡ فَٰسِقُونَ

Never pray over anyone of them who has died, nor stand over his grave. Surely they disbelieved in God and His messenger, and died while they were wicked.

Quoted Scripture
"84. And never (O Muhammad) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave. Certainly they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and died while they were Fasiqun."

Allah commands His Messenger to disown the hypocrites, to abstain from praying the funeral prayer when any of them dies, from standing next to his grave to seek Allah's forgiveness for him, or to invoke Allah for his benefit. This is because hypocrites disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died as such. This ruling applies to all those who are known to be hypocrites, even though it was revealed about the specific case of 'Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, the chief hypocrite. Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn Umar said, "When 'Abdullah bin Ubayy died, his son, 'Abdullah bin 'Abdullah, came to the Messenger of Allah and asked him to give him his shirt to shroud his father in, and the Messenger did that. He also asked that the Prophet offer his father's funeral prayer, and Allah's Messenger stood up to offer the funeral prayer. Umar took hold of the Prophet's robe and said, 'O Allah's Messenger! Are you going to offer his funeral prayer even though your Lord has forbidden you to do so?' Allah's Messenger said,
"I have been given the choice, for Allah says:
{Whether you ask forgiveness for them (hypocrites), or do not ask for forgiveness for them. Even though you ask for their forgiveness seventy times, Allah will not forgive them.}

Verily, I will ask [for forgiveness for him] more than seventy times."
'Umar said, 'He is a hypocrite!' So Allah's Messenger offered the funeral prayer and on that Allah revealed this Verse,
{And never (O Muhammad) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave.}

Umar bin Al-Khattab narrated a similar narration. In this narration, Umar said, "The Prophet offered his funeral prayer, walked with the funeral procession and stood on his grave until he was buried. I was amazed at my daring to talk like this to the Messenger of Allah, while Allah and His Messenger have better knowledge. By Allah, soon afterwards, these two Ayat were revealed,
{And never (O Muhammad) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies.}

Ever since this revelation came, the Prophet never offered the funeral prayer for any hypocrite nor stood on his grave until Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored, brought death to him." At-Tirmidhi collected this Hadith in his Tafsir (section of his Sunan) and said, "Hasan Sahih." Al-Bukhari also recorded it.

— from Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Vol. 4, Page 490-491)

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.