Is funeral prayer (Salat al-Janazah) performed for rebels (Khawarij)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Fighting Rebellious Groups
Primary text
The scholars of our school make no distinction between the Khawarij and others concerning the performance of funeral prayer over them, which is the madhhab of Al-Shafi'i and the Ashab al-Ra'y (Hanafi school). They argue that if the rebels have no organized fighting force (fi'ah), the prayer is performed over them. If they do have a fighting force, the prayer is omitted, akin to disbelievers, because their killing is permissible in that state. The evidence for praying for them is the Prophet's saying: 'Pray over whoever says: There is no deity but Allah.' Furthermore, since they are Muslims and their status does not reach that of martyrdom, they must be washed and prayed over, just as if they lacked a fighting force.
Supporting text
The apparent view of Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) is that the funeral prayer is *not* performed over the Khawarij. He stated that the people of innovation (Ahl al-Bid'ah) should not be visited if sick, nor should prayers be performed over them if they die. He cited the example of the Prophet (peace be upon him) not praying over a specific martyr because he was fighting in an area predominantly inhabited by Christians. Malik stipulated that the funeral prayer is not performed for the Ibadis, Qadariyyah, and other people of speculative opinions (Ahl al-Ahwa'), nor are their sick visited or their funerals followed. The justification for omitting the prayer is that since they declare Muslims to be disbelievers and do not pray over them, they are treated as disbelievers, or because they apostatized from the religion, resembling apostates (murtaddin).