Tafseer of The Repentance · At-Tawba · 9:84
And do not pray [the funeral prayer, O Muhammad], over any of them who has died - ever - or stand at his grave. Indeed, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died while they were defiantly disobedient.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The word concerning the explanation of His statement: وَلا تُصَلِّ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ مَاتَ أَبَدًا وَلا تَقُمْ عَلَى قَبْرِهِ إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ (9:84) (And never pray over any one of them who dies, nor stand at his grave; indeed, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died while they were corrupt transgressors (fāsiqūn)) (9:84).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: And never, O Muḥammad, pray over any one of these hypocrites (munāfiqūn) who dies, those who stayed behind from marching out with you = (nor stand at his grave), He says: and do not take upon yourself the charge of his burial and his interment.
This derives from the statement of one who says: "So-and-so took charge of the affair of so-and-so," when he settles his affair for him.
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= (indeed, they disbelieved in Allah), He says: indeed, they denied the oneness of Allah and the messengership of His Messenger = and they died while they were outside of Islam, cut off from the command and the prohibition of Allah.
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It has been mentioned that this verse was sent down when the Prophet ﷺ prayed over ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy.
* Mention of who said that:
17050 – Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā, Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ, and Suwwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, they said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh, he said: Nāfiʿ informed me, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: The son of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl came to the Messenger of Allah when his father had died, and he said: Give me your shirt so that I may shroud him in it, and pray over him and ask forgiveness for him. = Then he gave him his shirt = and when you have finished, inform me. When he wanted to pray over him, ʿUmar [pulled] him [back] and said: Has Allah not forbidden you to pray over the hypocrites? He said: Rather, He has given me the choice and said: اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ (Ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them). He said: and he prayed over him. He said: Then Allah, blessed and exalted, sent down: (And never pray over any one of them who dies, nor stand at his grave). He said: Thereupon he refrained from praying over them.
17051 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: When ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl died, his son ʿAbd Allāh came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him whether he would give him his shirt to shroud his father in it, and he gave it to him. Then he asked him to pray over him. Then ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — may Allah be pleased with him — stood up and seized the garment of the Prophet ﷺ, and said: O son of Salūl! Will you pray over him, while Allah has forbidden you to pray over him? Then the Prophet ﷺ said: My Lord has only given me the choice, for He said: اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِنْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً فَلَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ (Ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them; even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will never forgive them), and I shall ask more than seventy times. Then he said: He is a hypocrite! But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed over him. Thereupon Allah sent down: (And never pray over any one of them who dies, nor stand at his grave).
17052 – Suwwār ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿAnbarī related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Mujālid, he said: ʿĀmir related to me, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh: that the chief of the hypocrites at Medina died and he made a testamentary bequest that the Prophet ﷺ should pray over him and that he should be shrouded in his shirt. So he shrouded him in his shirt and prayed over him and stood at his grave. Thereupon Allah, blessed and exalted, sent down: (And never pray over any one of them who dies, nor stand at his grave).
17053 – Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to me, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Raqāshī, on the authority of Anas: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ wanted to pray over ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, but Jibrīl — peace be upon him — seized his garment and said: (And never pray over any one of them who dies, nor stand at his grave).
17054 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Jābir, he said: The Prophet ﷺ came to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy when he had already been placed in his grave-pit. Then he took him out, laid him on his knees, clothed him in his shirt, and spat some of his saliva upon him — and Allah knows best.
17055 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtba ibn Masʿūd, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, he said: I heard ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — may Allah be pleased with him — say: When ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl died, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was called to pray over him. He stood up and went to him. When he stood over him, intending to pray, I turned until I stood directly in front of his chest, and I said: O Messenger of Allah, will you pray over the enemy of Allah, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, who on such-and-such a day said this-and-that!! — and I enumerated his days. And the Messenger of Allah — peace be upon him — smiled, until, when I had pressed him too much, he said: Hold back from me, O ʿUmar, for I have been given the choice and I have chosen. It was said to me: اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِنْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً فَلَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ (Ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them; even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will never forgive them). And if I knew that, were I to ask more than seventy times, he would be forgiven, then I would ask more! He said: Then he prayed over him, and he walked with him, and he stood at his grave until he had finished with it. He said: Then I marveled at myself and my boldness toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — and Allah and His Messenger know best. And by Allah, it was only a short while until these two verses were sent down: (And never pray over any one of them who dies). After that, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ never again prayed over a hypocrite, nor did he stand at his grave, until Allah took him to Himself.
17056 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatāda, he said: When ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy died, his son ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and asked him for his shirt, and he gave it to him, and he shrouded his father in it.
17057 – Al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: al-Layth related to me, he said: ʿUqayl related to me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, he said: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUtba informed me, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, he said: When ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy died = and he mentioned the like of the narration of Ibn Ḥumayd, on the authority of Salama.
17058 – Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: (And never pray over any one of them who dies, nor stand at his grave), the verse, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, while he was ill, sent a message to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he should come to him. ʿUmar forbade him that. Then the Prophet of Allah ﷺ came to him, and when he entered upon him, the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: The love of the Jews has destroyed you! He said: Then he said: O Prophet of Allah, I did not send for you so that you would rebuke me, but I sent for you so that you would ask forgiveness for me! And he asked him for his shirt to be shrouded in it, and he gave it to him. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked forgiveness for him. He died and was shrouded in the shirt of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he blew into his skin and lowered him into his grave. Thereupon Allah, blessed and exalted, sent down: (And never pray over any one of them who dies), the verse. He said: We were told that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was addressed concerning this, and he said: And what does my shirt avail him against Allah = or: my Lord = and he prayed over him = and indeed, I hope that through him a thousand of his people will accept Islam.
17059 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, while he was ill, sent a message to the Prophet ﷺ. When he entered upon him, the Prophet ﷺ said to him: The love of the Jews has destroyed you! He said: O Messenger of Allah, I only sent for you so that you would ask forgiveness for me, and I did not send for you so that you would rebuke me! Then ʿAbd Allāh asked him to give him his shirt to be shrouded in it, and he gave it to him, and he prayed over him, and he stood at his grave. Thereupon Allah, the Exalted whose praise is mentioned, sent down: (And never pray over any one of them who dies, nor stand at his grave).
