For the kid's sake, I'd send the invite. So he grows up knowing his presence is still wanted and valued by his friends. But I wouldn't expect his parents to let him attend.

Extend kindness, and it's up to others whether they want to accept it.

Send the invite, and don't stress it. They can decline easily enough.

I'd still invite the child as if you didn't know their religion.

Go ahead and invite him, but he probably won’t come

Send an invite. Its not up to you to censor things on their behalf

You do the right thing. Let them do what they think is the right thing.

Do you have the mom or dad's info? I would text them and ask. I have a few work friends who are JWs and they always appreciate a question vs. guessing.

I work with a woman that is JW and while she wouldn't celebrate her own birthday, I think she's come to a work lunch where we had cake for someone's birthday. I think she saw it as just a nice social thing vs a "ritualistic celebration of a birthday".

That said, we didn't sing happy birthday or make a big deal about it, where as at a kids birthday you'd do that probably.

I'd just invite them as a courtesy and if they decline they decline.

Not the kid’s fault. Send the invite, even if you doubt they’ll attend.

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If it is going to the parents, then send the "invite". The parents then have the heads-up to have a talk with their kid if needed. Don't explicitly invite them, but give them enough information to decide in case they are willing to attend. If you sure they are JW, then you can send something like:

"Hi [Parent's Name], I wanted to let you know that we are having a gathering for [Your Child's Name]'s birthday on [Date] from [Time] at [Address]. [Your Child's Name] wants [Classmate's Name] to know they are a valued friend, and I wanted to make you aware of the plans."

If it is going to the kid in a way that is visible to all -- like handing out physical invitations -- then it would be thoughtful to avoid singling them out in a way visible to others. Perhaps give a "I appreciate you as a friend"/"thinking of you"/"friendship" card. I would want to be culturally sensitive and I think giving the invite to the kid would be like intentionally offering an observant Muslim to share your ham sandwich -- an insensitive act. And giving an invitation actually pushes the kid further into the cult by reinforcing the 'othering'. This would also require a conversation with your kid that their classmate's family has customs and won't be able to come to the birthday party. Teach them that everyone has different traditions and that it's important to be a kind friend to everyone, regardless of their beliefs.

If you want to give an invitation for future playdate, don't associate the playdate with the birthday. So I would not invite them to a playdate at the same time as inviting others to the birthday -- give the playdate invitation to the JW parents (note: parents) a few weeks before or after.

JW often do not want their children to associate with non-JW ("worldly") children, and some JW will pressure their kids to proselytize. So even a playdate may not be okay from their perspective, or you may not want to expose your kids to that.

If they are okay with associating, then perhaps a very neutral place like staying after school on the school playground with both sets of parents present. The JW may be afraid of being shunned for associating with non-JW, so I suspect plausible deniability is a positive.

An exception to associating could be a school project. So your kid could offer to do an school project with them for extra credit. This would be if your kid is wanting to ramp up the friendship, going beyond just a birthday invitation to the class.

Anyway, I think the question is better asked over in r/exjw to see what would be both proper etiquette and least harmful.

JW do not celebrate birthdays (for anyone not understanding- the original comment was "why wouldn't you invite them?" Which is now deleted).

Personally I wouldn't. I know you're trying to be inclusive but it might be yet another slap in the kid's face that they don't get to participate yet again. If you want to include the kid in some way, a private play date might be a better idea.

Edit: not sure why I got downvoted. All JW kids I knew growing up repeatedly got upset because they saw other kids as rubbing it in, at every holiday. They didn't understand why their religion had to be different in this regard, especially at that age.

Explicitly and directly invite the child. Infront of the parents, in public if possible.

Make them deny their child a life in front of others.