Her Christian mother is very ill and is unconscious; can she call her to Islam?
Question

                I am a Christian on a way to convert to Islam. Before officially doing so I wanted to inquire more about it. In a mean time my mother who is a Christian was diagnosed with a cancer. She is in a bad state and doctors gave up on her. I wish she accepts Islam before death so I can pray for her now and after she dies. My question is whether a person in such state - delirious, in and out, unaware, unconscious, can become Muslim if she manages to pronounce Shehada. She has no proper knowledge of Islam whatsoever. Does pronaunciation of Shehada make one a Muslim even if they are unaware of what it means and what Islam is about? If she does not manage to pronounce Shehada and dies as Christian what are my options - can I (when I convert) pray for her to enter paradise? Can a Christian in such situation ever enter paradise and how? Can a person nowadays say they were never properly invited to Islam and be excused on a day of judgement for dying as disbeliever? How can my mother enter paradise? She was an exceptional woman, wife, and mother! Please help!
Praise be to Allah.
	Firstly:

	We are very happy to learn that you are on your way to 
	embracing Islam, for there is nothing dearer to us than to see all people 
	guided to the religion of Islam.

	The religion of Islam is the religion of the Prophets and 
	Messengers, the true religion, the straight path, the clear light, that 
	leads to the Paradise of the Most Gracious.

	It is the religion of justice, mercy, goodness, 
	righteousness, kindness, compassion, harmony, patience, modesty, honesty, 
	tolerance and courage.

	It is the religion that honours women greatly. It honours a 
	woman as a mother who must be respected, obeyed and treated kindly, and it 
	regards pleasing the mother as part of pleasing Allah, may He be exalted. It 
	states that Paradise lies at a mother’s feet, i.e., that the closest path to 
	Paradise is by honouring one’s mother. It forbids disobeying and angering 
	one’s mother, even if it is merely by saying the mildest word of reproach. 
	It deems the rights of the mother to be greater than the rights of the 
	father, and emphasises that she is to be taken care of when she is old and 
	weak. All of that is stated in many texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

	By His grace and mercy, Allah causes Islam to erase whatever 
	came before it of sins and acts of disobedience. If a disbeliever becomes 
	Muslim, Allah forgives him all the sins that he committed during the time of 
	disbelief, and he becomes free of sins. For more information on the beauties 
	of this great religion, please see the following fatwas: 
	219, 70042, 46505 and
	128862.

	All you have to do now in order to enter this great religion 
	is to utter the twin testimony of faith (the Shahaadatayn), according to 
	what you are able to do. You do not have to do pronounce the Arabic letters 
	perfectly, and we will write the Shahaadatayn for you in English letters. 
	When you have uttered it, then hasten to do ghusl (full ablution), purify 
	yourself and offer the obligatory prayer that is currently due.

	For more information, please see the following fatwas:
	13569, 20267,
	20815 and 13340.

	We ask Allah to help you, make things easy for you, bless you 
	with Islam and make you steadfast therein. We are prepared to explain to you 
	anything that may be unclear to you and to offer any help we can.

	Secondly:

	You have to call your mother to Islam and continue doing so, 
	even if she is sick and not fully conscious. If she responds to you and 
	utters the Shahaadatayn, knowing that this makes her a Muslim, then that 
	will benefit her before Allah, may He be exalted, and it will make her one 
	of the people of Islam, even if she dies immediately after that, before 
	offering any act of worship.

	The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him said to 
	his paternal uncle Abu Taalib: “O Uncle, say Laa ilaaha ill-Allah (there is 
	no god but Allah), a word on the basis of which I will make a plea for you 
	before Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.” Agreed upon.

	But if she dies in her current state of disbelief after 
	hearing of Islam – Allah forbid – then nothing can benefit her after that, 
	no supplication or charity and the like, because Allah, may He be exalted, 
	says (interpretation of the meaning):

	“Verily, 
	Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but 
	He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets 
	up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin”

	[an-Nisa’ 4:48]

	“It is not 
	(proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah’s Forgiveness 
	for the Mushrikoon (polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the 
	Oneness of Allah) even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to 
	them that they are the dwellers of the Fire (because they died in a state of 
	disbelief)”

	[at-Tawbah 9:113].

	It was narrated that Ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with 
	him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) 
	said: “Whoever dies associating anything with Allah will enter Hell.” Agreed 
	upon.

	See also fatwa no. 43164

	Thirdly:

	With regard to anyone whom the call of Islam reaches in a 
	sound manner, proof has been established against him. But if a person dies 
	without the call having reached him, or with it having reached him in an 
	unsound manner, then the matter is to be decided by Allah, for He knows best 
	about His creation; your Lord will never wrong anyone, and Allah has full 
	knowledge of His slaves. It is proven from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger 
	of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), that he said: “By the 
	One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no one of this nation – Jewish or 
	Christian – hears of me, then dies without believing in the message with 
	which I was sent, but he will be one of the inhabitants of the Fire.” 
	Narrated by Muslim.

	See fatwa no. 1244

	And Allah knows best.