Is it permissible to supplicate for mercy for a deceased person who did not pray, but died after spending his last days in remembrance of Allah, and is what the students of knowledge did – refraining from supplicating for mercy for him or reciting the Quran for him, and consuming the food of the deceased's family – correct?

Scholars differ on the ruling concerning invoking mercy upon one who abandons prayer. Those who deem such a person a disbeliever forbid invoking mercy or praying over them. Those who do not consider them a disbeliever permit it. Repentance at the end of life may or may not be accepted, and no judgment can be made regarding it. Consolation is permissible even if the deceased or the consoler is a disbeliever, but sitting down to eat at the deceased's family's house is disliked and contrary to the Sunnah. Refusing to recite the Qur'an over the deceased is correct, as it is an innovation (bid'ah). It is not permissible to eat from food prepared for those who recite over the deceased if the hosts do not offer it wholeheartedly.