The death of Abdullah ibn Ubayy and the Prophet's prayer over him

The head of the hypocrites, Abdullah ibn Ubayy, died after the Prophet's return from Tabuk in 9 AH ¹.

The Prophet asked forgiveness for him and prayed over him, although Umar ibn al-Khattab had tried to stop him from doing so. Afterwards the Qur'an came down in agreement with Umar, forbidding prayer over such people and standing at their graves ¹.

Ibn Ishaq narrates from al-Zuhri, from Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah, from Ibn Abbas, from Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him), that when Abdullah ibn Ubayy died, the Prophet was called to pray over him. He stood up to do so. When he stood before the body ready to pray, Umar moved until he stood in front of his chest and said: "O Messenger of God, will you pray over the enemy of God, Abdullah ibn Ubayy, who said such-and-such on such-and-such a day?" He began to count his days. The Prophet was smiling. When Umar had said much, the Prophet said: "Umar, step back from me. I was given a choice and I chose. I was told that it makes no difference whether you ask forgiveness for them or not. If I knew that by going beyond seventy God would forgive him, I would go beyond it" ². Then the Prophet prayed over him, walked with the funeral and stood at the grave until the burial was complete ³. Shortly afterwards, the verses verse 84 of al-Tawba and verse 80 came down, and the Prophet never prayed over a hypocrite after that until God took him ³.

• The report comes from Ibn Ishaq with a continuous chain to Ibn Abbas ².
• It is read alongside Abu Bakr's leading of the prayers during the Prophet's illness. Both revolve around prayer and what it implies for the congregation ³.