Praying for humanity

Published by s.b.f on 30 December, 2008 - 17:04

Islam wants Muslims to have a humanity-orientation. It is very unfortunate that Muslims have made the use of the word "Ummah" exclusive for themselves. Thus, one observes Muslims regularly talking about or referring to the Ummah, meaning only the Muslims. However, the Qur'an also uses "ummah" for the humanity. "Mankind (an-Nas) was one single nation (ummah) ..." [2/al-Baqarah/213] Due to such exclusive use of the word, many Muslims don't seem to be in tune with the humanity.

one such atheist cited the following verses from the Qur'an to make the point that praying for non-Muslims is prohibited by the Qur'an.

...

"Nor do thou ever pray for any of them that dies, nor stand at his grave; for they rejected Allah and His Messenger, and died in a state of perverse rebellion. [9/at-Tauba/84]

"It is not fitting, for the Prophet and those who believe, that they should pray for forgiveness for Pagans, even though they be of kin, after it is clear to them that they are companions of the Fire. [9/at-Tauba/113]

He posed the following question: "If it was NOT fitting for the Prophet himself to invoke (Allah) for forgiveness of pagans, by what 'due diligence' and reliance on nothing but 'facts' did Dr. Farooq conclude CAIR's call for prayer included non-Muslims, while it was still an 'Islamic' prayer?"

Submitted by s.b.f on 30 December, 2008 - 17:13

Islam certainly allows its adherents to pray for their non-Muslim relatives and friends who are still living. However, this is not the case for dead relatives and friends if we are certain that they died in disbelief. In case we are not sure about the faith they died in, we can make a general supplication for those who died in Islam and hence they will be included in our supplication.

Answering your questions,Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

“We are certainly allowed to make du`a’ for our non-Muslim relatives and friends who are living; we can pray for them for their health, wellbeing and guidance. But the most important prayer that we can do for them is to pray for their guidance to the path of Islam; we must do so on a continuous basis. Our prayer for guidance for them should be complemented by our earnest efforts to persuade them to embrace Islam through wisdom and beautiful preaching. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “If a single person were to be guided to the right way through your efforts that would be better for you than owning the whole world as a treasure!”

As for our non-Muslim relatives or friends who have died, we are not allowed to pray for them if we know for a certain fact that they have died in disbelief:

Allah says, “It is not fitting for the Prophet and the believers to pray for the forgiveness of the polytheists, even though they may be near kin (to them) after it has become clear them that they are the people of Hell.” (At-Tawbah: 113)

Since, according to Islam, every person is responsible for the choice he has made in life, and he has chosen the path of disbelief, we are not to pray for his forgiveness. If, however, we are not sure what kind of faith they died in, then we are allowed to offer the following general prayer which includes all believers. If they had died in faith they would certainly be included in it; let Allah be the judge:

Allahumma ighfir li al-mu’minia wa al-mu’minat, al-ahya’ minhum wa al-amwat: (O Allah, forgive all believers, males and females, those who are living and those who have died).

We may also pray in the manner of Prophet `Isa (Jesus—peace be upon him), who prayed to Allah concerning the Christians who associated him in the worship of Allah:

“If you punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, You are the August, the Wise.” (Al-Ma’idah: 118)

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Submitted by s.b.f on 30 December, 2008 - 17:16

Okay. Iv just gone and posted random bits from random websites. But I used to pray for non muslims as well as muslims without knowing whether it was right or wrong.

It seems like we can only pray for their guidance for Islam.
When everyone prays, what are the most important things you pray for? Actually, are we allowed to even talk about them?

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Submitted by You on 30 December, 2008 - 17:18

From your quote:

“We are certainly allowed to make du`a’ for our non-Muslim relatives and friends who are living; we can pray for them for their health, wellbeing and guidance. But the most important prayer that we can do for them is to pray for their guidance to the path of Islam; we must do so on a continuous basis.

That suggests that you can pray for more, but praying for guidance is the best of prayers...

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by MuslimBro on 31 December, 2008 - 00:58

Abdullah ibn Abbas (ra) reported the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam (Peace and Blessings be upon him) said, "O Allah, strengthen Islam with Abu Jahl bin Hisham, or with Umar bin al-Khattab". In the morning, Sayyidina 'Umar (ra) went to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam (Peace and Blessings be upon him) and accepted Islam; then prayed openly in the mosque. [Ahmad and Tirmidhi]

Submitted by TPOS on 24 December, 2010 - 20:41

This

MuslimBro wrote:
Abdullah ibn Abbas (ra) reported the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam (Peace and Blessings be upon him) said, "O Allah, strengthen Islam with Abu Jahl bin Hisham, or with Umar bin al-Khattab". In the morning, Sayyidina 'Umar (ra) went to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam (Peace and Blessings be upon him) and accepted Islam; then prayed openly in the mosque. [Ahmad and Tirmidhi]

contradicts this
s.b.f wrote:

"...it is obligatory to pray for the guidance of non-Muslims except for those who specifically show
enmity to Islam and the Muslims, waging war against the religion of Islam and the
Muslims. Against such a person it’s permissible to supplicate..."


doesn't it?
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"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Submitted by Dawud on 27 December, 2010 - 22:53

Salaam

All people are of the Ummah of the Final Prophet SAW. It's just that some are Muslim and some are not.

Before asking if you can pray for humanity, consider this. Who provides for humanity? Who gives the non-Muslims their Rizq, their health, their joys, their successes and all other benefits?

Allah SWT blesses these people anyway, so why would it be wrong to ask Him SWT to bless them?

Also, praying for their guidance is praying for them to get involved with a good social project, and spiritual upliftment. I think anything you could pray for someone is in someway related to their spiritual 'mood' and/or social well being.

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Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.

Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes

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