Quran Universe
9:84

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

Wala tusalli AAala ahadin minhum mata abadan wala taqum AAala qabrihi innahum kafaroo biAllahi warasoolihi wamatoo wahum fasiqoona

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.

Word by word
  1. وَلَاAnd not
  2. تُصَلِّyou pray
  3. عَلَىٰٓfor
  4. أَحَدٖany
  5. مِّنۡهُمof them
  6. مَّاتَwho dies
  7. أَبَدٗاever
  8. وَلَاand not
  9. تَقُمۡyou stand
  10. عَلَىٰby
  11. قَبۡرِهِۦٓۖhis grave
  12. إِنَّهُمۡIndeed,they
  13. كَفَرُواْdisbelieved
  14. بِٱللَّهِin Allah
  15. وَرَسُولِهِۦand His Messenger
  16. وَمَاتُواْand died
  17. وَهُمۡwhile they were
  18. فَٰسِقُونَdefiantly disobedient
At-Tawbah · 9:84Madinah

The Prophet ﷺ stood at a funeral, and Allah answered.

The funeral of Abdullah bin Ubayy

What happened
the sonasks for the shirt, the prayer
the Prophet ﷺgives both
Umar"he is a hypocrite"
then
the versesettles it
Two things true at once
his mercyeven for an opponent
Allah's judgmentHe knows who died how

When Abdullah bin Ubayy, the chief of the hypocrites, died, his son asked the Prophet ﷺ for his shirt as a shroud and to pray over him. The Prophet ﷺ gave both. Umar objected, then said he was amazed at his own daring. Soon after, this verse came.

You may know someone whose life seemed full of opposition to faith, and now they are gone. The verse shows the Prophet's ﷺ mercy went very far, and that final judgment belongs to Allah alone. Your part is your own state when your time comes.

I need to decide where others ended up.

Judgment is Allah's; my concern is how I will die.

Try this

Ask Allah today, in your own words, to let you die in a state He loves.

Related9:80
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And never (O Muhammad ﷺ) 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 (84)

The Prohibition of Prayer for the Funeral of Hypocrites

Allah commands His Messenger ﷺ 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 ﷺ 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 ﷺ and asked him to give him his shirt to shroud his father in, and the Messenger ﷺ did that. He also asked that the Prophet ﷺ offer his father's funeral prayer, and Allah's Messenger ﷺ 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 ﷺ said,

إِنَّمَا خَيَّرَنِي اللهُ فَقَالَ:

(I have been given the choice, for Allah says:

اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لَا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِن تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً فَلَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ

(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.)[9:80]

وَسَأَزِيدُهُ عَلَى السَّبْعِينَ

(Verily, I will ask [for forgiveness for him] more than seventy times).' 'Umar said, 'He is a hypocrite!' So Allah's Messenger ﷺ offered the funeral prayer and on that Allah revealed this Verse,

وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَىٰ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُم مَّاتَ أَبَدًا وَلَا تَقُمْ عَلَىٰ قَبْرِهِ

(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 ﷺ 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 ﷺ, while Allah and His Messenger ﷺ have better knowledge. By Allah, soon afterwards, these two Ayat were revealed,

وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَىٰ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُم مَّاتَ أَبَدًا

(And never (O Muhammad ﷺ) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies.)

Ever since this revelation came, the Prophet ﷺ 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.