It is known from Hadeeths that the pen is lifted for the insane, and that neither his good deeds nor his sins are recorded for him. However, I heard that on the Day of Judgment, he will be from the people of A‘raaf who are mentioned in the Quran. Is this true?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds.  I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

According to a Hadeeth (narration) the pen is lifted for the insane. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that the pen is lifted for three people and that one of them is the insane until he regains his sanity. [Abu Daawood]

However, the lifted pen is the one that records his sins. There is no evidence indicating that the pen that records his righteous deeds is lifted.  On the contrary, the apparent indications of Sharee‘ah (Islamic legislation) texts imply that the pen writing the good deeds is present and is not lifted. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means):

•        {"Never will I allow to be lost the deed of [any] of  you, whether male or female}[Quran 3: 195]

•        {So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it}[Quran 99: 7]

 Moreover, scholars stated that a minor is rewarded for his deeds even though the pen is lifted for him as well.

Some people claim that the people of A‘raaf mentioned in Chapter Al-A‘raaf (Chapter 7 of the Quran) are the insane; however, we are not aware of any scholar who stated this view. Scholars have about ten opinions regarding the meaning of the people of A‘raaf. In order to know them, refer to the interpretation of Chapter Al-A‘raaf.

Allaah Knows best.