Can I make dua for a non-Muslim relative or friend?

Yes — you may supplicate for a living non-Muslim's guidance, health, and worldly wellbeing. When Tufayl ibn 'Amr came saying the tribe of Daws had refused the call and asked the Prophet (ﷺ) to invoke against them, he instead raised his hands and prayed, "O Allah, guide Daws and bring them" (Sahih al-Bukhari 2937; Sahih Muslim 2524). Allah likewise permits kindness and justice toward those who do not fight the believers over religion (Quran 60:8). What is not permitted is to ask Allah to forgive a person's disbelief or admit him to Paradise upon it — and most clearly, to seek forgiveness for one who has died upon disbelief: "It is not for the Prophet and those who have believed to ask forgiveness for the polytheists, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire" (Quran 9:113). Even Ibrahim's asking forgiveness for his father was only because of a promise he had made, and he disowned him once it became clear he was an enemy of Allah (Quran 9:114). So while they live, pray abundantly that Allah opens their hearts to Islam — and if you ask forgiveness for a living person, it is understood as asking that Allah guide him and then forgive him — but do not ask forgiveness for them after they have died upon other than Islam.

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