What to Recite on Hearing of the Death of a Non-Muslim

Question

If a Muslim, on hearing the news of the death of a non-Muslim or on seeing the deceased, recites: [ar]إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ[/ar] “Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return” (Surah al-Baqara, 2:156) — is this correct or not? Or should some other words (kalima) be recited?

Answer

Whether one receives news of the death of anyone at all, or any deceased person at all comes before one — Muslim or non-Muslim — on seeing him one should remember one’s own death, and the best words for this are: [ar]إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ[/ar] “Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return” (Surah al-Baqara, 2:156).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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