وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَىٰٓ أَحَدٍۢ مِّنْهُم مَّاتَ أَبَدًۭا وَلَا تَقُمْ عَلَىٰ قَبْرِهِۦٓ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَمَاتُوا۟ وَهُمْ فَٰسِقُونَ
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.
Introduction
This is āyah 84 of Sūrat At-Tawba (The Repentance), the 113th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 10. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 113 of 114
- Surah
- At-Tawba (9)
(And never (O Muhammad) pray for one of them who dieth, nor stand by his grave...) [9:84]. Isma'il ibn 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Wa'iz informed us through dictation> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Nasr> Yusuf ibn 'Asim al-Razi> al-'Abbas ibn al-Walid al-Narsi> Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qattan> 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Umar> Nafi'> Ibn 'Umar who said: �When 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy died, his son went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: 'Give me your gown to use as a shroud for my father, perform the prayer of the dead on him and seek forgiveness for him'. The Prophet gave him his gown and then said: 'Inform me [when you are ready to bury him] so that I may perform the prayer of the dead on him'. When he was informed and He was about to perform the prayer, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab pulled him and said: 'Did Allah not forbid praying on the hypocrites?' The Prophet said: 'I have been given the choice to seek forgiveness for them or not to seek it', and so he performed the prayer of the dead on him. Then this verse was revealed (And never (O Muhammad) pray for one of them who dieth, nor stand by his grave) upon which he stopped praying on them�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Musaddid and by Muslim from Abu Qudamah 'Ubayd Allah ibn Sa'id, and both Musaddid and 'Ubayd Allah ibn Sa'id related it from Yahya ibn Sa'id. Isma'il ibn Ibrahim al-Nasrabadhi informed us> Abu Bakr ibn Malik al-Qati'i> 'Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal> Ahmad ibn Hanbal> Ya'qub>> ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa'd> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> al-Zuhri> 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Utbah ibn Mas'ud> Ibn 'Abbas who said: �I heard 'Umar ibn al-Khattab saying: 'When 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy died, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was called to pray on him. When he stood up in front of the body to perform the prayer, I moved around until I stood close to his chest and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, will you pray on the enemy of Allah 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy who said such-and-such on such a day and such-and-such on such a day', and he counted all the things he had said, all while the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, kept smiling.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
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