In the Friday sermons you ask us to pray for the non-Ahmadis, so why can’t we say funeral prayers for the non-Ahmadis? What? In the Friday sermons you ask… Yes, I said I asked you to pray for the non-Ahmadis as well. Yes, so why can’t we say funeral prayers for them? Ah, that is different. That is, in fact, I’ll tell you what. The funeral prayer and the prayer, ordinary prayer, are two different things. Because the funeral prayer is called a part of a type of worship. It’s included, it’s called Salat.
So the Holy Qur’an does not prohibit you from saying ordinary prayers for non-Muslims or even the people who hold differences within your own class. But the Holy Qur’an makes a distinction in saying your prayer behind others or saying Salat of those who do not belong to you. The Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, for instance, himself refused to say another prayer of such Muslims who had believed in him, who accepted all his claims, yet they had some faults like they were bad in their financial dealings.
There were some who borrowed money from others and wouldn’t return. So there are positive traditions definitely relating this case that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, refused to say the funeral prayer of those people. So that was within Islam. So if the non-Ahmadi Muslims refuse to believe in the person who was sent or who was raised by Allah himself as Imam Mahdi or Messiah, this is a much bigger crime than just borrowing money and not returning. Isn’t that?
So the Sunnah, the tradition of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, establishes this. That you can refuse to say the funeral prayer of even your brothers for certain reasons. But as such, the whole community cannot refuse to say the funeral prayer of a single person. There are two different things and you will not understand it. Or narrowly you shouldn’t be able to understand because these are the terminologies of Muslim jurisprudence. Anyway, I will try to explain.
According to Muslim jurisprudence, there are certain acts which are binding on each individual. Like saying prayer, ordinary prayer, not janaza prayer. So if you are a Muslim, you can’t do without saying regular prayer. You won’t be any longer a real Muslim. But there are certain acts which are called farz-e-kifaya. Which means, although they are binding on the body of Muslims as such, but not binding on each Muslim. So even if a few Muslims say the prayer of a deceased, janaza prayer of a deceased, that obligation would be fulfilled. They would have discharged their obligation as a body of Muslims.
But if none among them says the janaza prayer of a deceased brother, then the entire body would be held responsible for not acting according to the dictates of Allah. So this is what is called farz-e-kifaya. Janaza falls into that category. So if we do not say the janaza prayer of some non-Ahmadi Muslim, and the other Muslims following that sect, for instance, say the janaza prayer of those Muslims, as representatives of Muslim body, they have done the act and all the Muslims are absorbed of this responsibility. But if none says, in that case, in certain instances we are permitted to say the janaza.
For instance, once a case was referred to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III, my predecessor, about the body of a Muslim found in a crash in some Scandinavian country. An air crash took place. A body of a Muslim was found. And there was no other Muslim, except the Ahmadiyya community, available for saying the prayer. When they referred to Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III, the case of that Muslim, the reply was, that whoever belongs to the Ummah of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa S.A.W. has this fundamental right that when he dies, his janaza prayer would be performed.
So in case no other Muslim is available, then Ahmadis would say the janaza prayer and an exception would be made. So this is what I mean by farz-e-kifaya. And we are prohibited because they have committed the crime of refusing to believe in the Imam appointed by Allah. It’s a very big crime. Because they don’t believe in him, well, it’s Allah who is to decide whether they are right or we are right. But in principle, if they had deviated from the path to that extent, we have a right to refuse to say their prayer.
