Funeral prayers for Kashmiri militant who died in Pakistan offered in Sopore

Funeral prayers in absentia were offered for a Kashmiri militant at his native Sopore village who died in Rawalpindi hospital in Pakistan due to kidney failure on Wednesday night.

Reports said that Ghulam Muhammad Parra alias Sher Khan, a resident of Hardshiva Sopore in North Kashmir was a Hizbul Mujahideen militant who had crossed the border in 1990 for arms training.

The said militant never returned back and settled in Pakistan. “He had developed Kidney problem and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Rawalpindi Pakistan. He breathed his last on Wednesday night. We offered funeral prayers in absentia here (Hardshiva Sopore) as we have no sources to bring his body back,” his son told.

It is not the first time that such prayers are being offered in absentia. This has become a ritual and is haram in Islam. Salat al-Janazah is required to be offered to the dead for forgiveness from Allah.  Though Prophet did it once for King of Abyssinia, however,  scholars such as the Hanafis and Maalikis said that this applied only to the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and it is not prescribed for anyone else to offer the funeral prayer in absentia. It is also said that in absentia funeral prayer may be offered, if the deceased had benefited the Muslims in some way, such as a scholar, a rich man from whose wealth the people benefited, and so on, however, but Abu Haneefah disallowed it.

It may be noted by one and all that Al-Khurshi (Maaliki) (2/142) said:- The fact that the Prophet offered the funeral prayer for the Negus, in absentia, is one of the things that applied only to him. A similar statement is also stated in Badaa’i al-Sanaa’i by al-Kasaani (Hanafi) (1/312).

So where is Kashmiriyat going from Sufism to Wahabism and then to god knows where. May Allah be merciful to all who are misinterpreting his teachings.