Dought & clear, - Is it permissible to pray for forgiveness for all theMuslims even though we know that some of them will be punished?.

I am asking about some du'aa's, such as "O Allah, forgive the Muslims,
men and women" and "O Allah, forgive us all." Is it permissible to say
such du'aa's when the fulfilment thereof is contrary to the will of
Allah? How can we respond to the one whodoubts such du'aa's when they
are said at the times when du'aa's are answered?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
There is nothing wrong with praying for forgiveness for the Muslims,
men and women, in general terms. There is evidence to the effect that
it is permissible, such as the following:
1.
The verse in which Allah,may He be exalted, says (interpretation of
the meaning):
"So know (O MuhammadSAW) that La ilaha ill-Allah (none has the right
to be worshipped but Allah), and ask forgiveness for your sin, and
also for (the sin of) believing men and believing women"
[Muhammad 47:19].
It was narrated from 'Aasim al-Ahwal that 'Abdullah ibn Sarjis said: I
saw the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and I ate
bread and meat withhim – or he said:thareed. He (the narrator) said: I
said to him: Did the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) pray for forgiveness for you? He said: Yes, and for you. Then he
recited this verse:"and ask forgiveness for your sin, and also for
(the sin of) believing men and believing women" [Muhammad 47:19].
Narrated by Muslim, 2346.
There are several opinions concerning the tasfeer of the phrase "and
ask forgiveness for your sin". One of these opinions is that this
shows that it is obligatory to pay for forgiveness for all the
Muslims.
Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
It was said that this is addressed to him (the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him)), but is meant for the ummah. According to
this opinion, this verse obliges the individual to pray for
forgiveness for all of the Muslims.
Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 16/242
It was narrated that Ibn Jurayj said: I said to 'Ata':Should I pray
for forgiveness for the believing men and women? He said: Yes. The
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was commanded to do
that, so that is obligatory on all the people. Allah said to His
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him):"and ask
forgiveness for your sin, and also for (the sin of) believing men and
believing women" [Muhammad 47:19]. I said: Do you say that
supplication in the obligatory prayer? He said: No. I said: With whom
do you start, withyourself or with the believers? He said: With
myself, as Allah says:"and ask forgiveness for your sin, and also for
(the sin of) believing men and believing women" [Muhammad 47:19].
2.
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) offered the funeral prayer
and said: "O Allah,forgive our living and our dead, our young ones and
our old ones, our males and our females, those of us whoare present
and those who are absent. O Allah, whomever You keep alive, keep him
alive with faith and whomever you cause to die, cause him to die in
Islam. Do not deprive us of the reward and do not cause us to go
astrayafter this."
Narrated by at-Tirmidhi, 1024; Abu Dawood, 3201; an-Nasaa'i, 1986.
Ibn 'Allaan as-Siddeeqi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"O Allah, forgive our living and our dead" means all of our living
ones and dead ones, all the Muslims.
Daleel al-Faaliheen li Turuq Riyadh as-Saaliheen, 6/240
3.
This is the action of the angels (peace be upon them), as Allah says
concerning them (interpretation of the meaning):
"and the angels glorify the praises of their Lord, and ask for
forgiveness for those on the earth"
[ash-Shoora 42:5].
4.
It is the action of the Prophets, the Sahaabah, the Taabi'een and all
thescholars of the earlier and later times.
(a)
Nooh (peace be upon him) said (interpretationof the meaning):"My Lord!
Forgive me, and my parents, and him who enters my home as a believer,
and all the believing men and women" [Nooh 71:28].
(b)
Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) said (interpretation of the
meaning):"Our Lord! Forgive me and my parents, and (all) the believers
on the Day when the reckoning will be established" [Ibraaheem 14:41].
(c)
It is what 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) did:
'Abd ar-Razzaaq narrated inal-Musannaf(3/111) that Ibn Jurayj said:
'Ata' told me that he heard 'Ubayd ibn 'Umayr narrate from 'Umar ibn
al-Khattaab concerning Qunoot that he used to say: "O Allah, forgive
the believing men and women and the Muslim men and women, reconcile
between their hearts and set their affairs straight between them…"
Narrated by al-Bayhaqi inas-Sunan al-Kubra(2/210); he said: (It is)
saheeh mawsool.
Tuhfat al-Muhtaaj ila adillat al-Minhaaj, 1/410
(d)
It was the last instructions of Ibn 'Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him):
InFadl as-Salaah 'ala an-Nabiyby Ismaa'eel al-Qaadi (p. 63) it says in
a report that was classedas saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani:
It was narrated from Ibn 'Abbaas that he said: Do not send blessings
upon anyone except upon the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him); however, one should offer supplication(du'aa') for
forgiveness for the Muslims, male and female.
(e)
It is what is said by all the believers, as Allah tells us about them
in the verse (interpretationof the meaning):
"And those who came after them say: 'Our Lord! Forgive us and our
brethren who have preceded us in Faith, and put not in our hearts any
hatred against those who have believed. Our Lord! You are indeed full
of kindness, Most Merciful'"
[al-Hashr 59:10].
In the answer to question no. 104460there is a statement that this
du'aa' is permissible – in fact it is encouraged. This was stated by
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim. In the
same answer several da'eef marfoo' hadeeths on thistopic have been
quoted.
Secondly:
With regard to the opinion of those who object to this supplication on
the grounds that Allah, may He be exalted, has decreed that there will
not be forgiveness for allof the Muslims and that there is no doubt
that some of them will enter the Fire, this is an objection that is
not valid, because it is confusing the divine willand decree (qadr))
withthe laws prescribed by Allah (shar'). According to the divinely
prescribed laws, we are commanded – or encouraged– to pray for
forgiveness for all of the Muslims. That does not contradict that
which has nothing to do with us of what Allah, may He be exalted, has
decreed for some of the Muslims. One indication of that is found in
the fact that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
taught us du'aa's (supplications) toask for forgiveness and he
instructed the Muslims to recite them and say them. We know that it
will not be accepted from some of those who say it. What we have
mentioned above of evidence also confirms that those who say that this
du'aa' is notright are mistaken, and it confirms that praying for
forgiveness for all the Muslims, male and female, is something valid.
The earliest we have come across of those who objected to this du'aa'
was Abu'l-'Abbaas al-Qarraafi(d. 684), who regarded offering
supplication forthat as something haraam! He said inal-Furooq ma'a
Hawaashihi(4/463):
"The fifth category of haraam things that do not constitute kufr is
when the one who is offering supplication asks Allah for something
contrary to what aahaadreports state going to happen. Why I mention
"aahaad reports", as opposed to mutawaatir reports, is because asking
Allah for something not to happen in that case (i.e., when there are
mutawaatir reports that state it will happen) is akin to kufr, as
stated above. There follow some examples of that:
(i)
When he says "O Allah, forgive the Muslims all their sins," although
the saheeh hadeeths indicate that a group of the Muslims will
inevitably enter Hell and be brought forth from it,with or without
intercession. Their entering Hell will only bebecause of their sins.
If all of the Muslims were forgiven all of their sins, no one would
enter Hell.So this supplication implies rejection of those saheeh
hadeeths! So it (this du'aa') is an act of disobedience, but it is not
kufr (disbelief) because you are rejecting aahaad reports, and
labelling something an act of kufronly applies to denying something
that is well established in Islam or known from mutawaatirreports.
With regard to the angels praying for forgiveness for the believer by
saying"so forgive those who repent" [Ghaafir 40:7]and "and [they] ask
for forgiveness for those on the earth"[ash-Shoora 42:5], these words
are not general in meaning, and do not apply to all people. Even if we
were to assume that they are general in meaning, then we should
understand them as meaning that what they meant was that it was
exclusively for some people (and not for all).
Al-Furooq ma'a Hawaamishihi, 4/463-465
Abu'l-Qaasim ibn al-Shaat al-Maaliki (may Allah have mercy on him – d.
723 AH) refuted this argument by saying, as itsays inHaamish al-Furooq
al-Musamma Idraar ash-Shurooq(4/488):
What he said about these and similar du'aa'sconstituting sin is a
mereclaim. Why should it be that one should only offer supplication
for that which is possible to happen? I do not know of any proof or
evidencefor that.
Why is it not possible that Allah should enjoin people to ask for
forgiveness for the sins of every believer, even though He has decreed
that some of them will not be forgiven?
Moreover, what he said about these two verses –"so forgive those who
repent" [Ghaafir 40:7]and "and [they] ask for forgiveness for those on
the earth"[ash-Shoora 42:5]– not being generalin meaning is a grievous
mistake.
To sum up, the argumentof this man (al-Qarraafi) is far-fetched, his
claim has no proof and there is no need for it; he was confused and
mistaken.
End quote.
Shaykh 'Abd al-Kareem al-Khudayr (may Allah preserve him) was asked:
What do you think of theview that du'aa' against the kaafirs is a kind
of transgression because Allah knew that they would exist until the
Dayof Resurrection?
He replied:
The Muslim is required to adhere to the teachings of Islam. With
regard to the divine will and decree, it has nothing to do with him.
One may say: Why do you pray for all of the Muslims when Allah knows
that some of them will die whilst committing major sin? Yes, there are
some scholars who say that this is not allowed and that it is not
permissible to pray for all of the Muslims. There are some who
disallow praying for all of the Muslims because according to Allah's
knowledge, thereare some who will die whilst persisting in major sin,
and this supplication is contrary to the divine will and decree. So
based on that(flawed argument), you should not pray for yourself,
because you donot know how your life will end! And you shouldnot pray
for your child, because Allah knows best how he will be! Rather we
say: you are commanded to offer supplication, and this what Allah has
prescribed; as for the divine will and decree, itbelongs to Allah and
has nothing to do with you.
Sharh al-Muwatta', Kitaab al-Janaa'iz, Baab an-Nahy 'an al-Buka' 'alaal-Mayyit.
And Allah knows best.