The Martyr
Martyrs (shuhadaa) are of three types; the shaheed of the Akhirah but not by the rules of the world; the shaheed of the world only and the shaheed of the world and Akhirah. As for the shaheed of the Akhirah only and not of this world, they are mentioned in the ahadith. In some narrations they are seven, in some eight, in some nine and in some eleven. The authentic (position) as what came in Muslim is that they are five who are: (al-mat’un) who is the one who dies in the plague i.e. the famous pestilence, the (mabtun) who is the one with diarrhoea, the drowned person who dies because of water, the one who dies of (al-hadm) i.e. the collapsed building, and the one who dies in the way of raising the word of Allah outside the battlefield. Muslim narrated from Abu Hurayra (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
بينما رجل يمشي بطريق وجد غصن شوك على الطريق فأخّره فشكر الله له وقال: الشهداء خمسة: المطعون والمبطون والغرق وصاحب الهدم والشهيد في سبيل الله عز وجلّ
“A man walking along the road found a thorn-branch in the road and removed it. Allah was grateful to him and forgave him. He (saw) said: The martyrs (shuhadaa) are five: (al-mat’un), (al-mabtun), the drowned one, the one who died in a collapsed (building) and the shaheed in the way of Allah ‘azza wa jalla.”
Muslim narrated from Abu Hurairah (ra) who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
ما تَعُدّون الشهيد فيكم؟ قالوا: يا رسول الله من قُتل في سبيل الله فهو شهيد. قال: إن شهداء أمّتي إذاً لقليل. قالوا: فمن هم يا رسول الله؟ قال: من قُتل في سبيل الله فهو شهيد، ومن مات في سبيل الله فهو شهيد، ومن مات في الطاعون فهو شهيد، ومن مات في البطن فهو شهيد. قال ابن مقسم: اشهد على أبيك في هذا الحديث أنه قال والغريق شهيد
“Whom do you consider a shaheed among you? They said: O Messenger of Allah, the one killed in the way of Allah is a shaheed. He said: Then the shuhadaa among my Ummah would be few. They said: Then who are they, O Messenger of Allah? He said: The one killed in the way of Allah is a shaheed, the one who dies in the way of Allah is a shaheed, the one killed in pestilence is a shaheed, the one killed due to the stomach is a shaheed (ibn Muqsim said: I testify that upon your father in this hadith that he said) and the drowned person is a shaheed.”
The meaning of these shuhadaa is that there is for them in the Akhirah the reward of the shuhadaa; as for this world, they are washed and prayed over. When the word “shaheed” is said in connection with reward and the hadith about that, it is correct to generalize it to these (persons). However, if the word “shaheed” is used in an unrestricted manner without any connotation, then it is not taken to denote these (persons) but rather to denote only those killed in the way of Allah.
As for the shaheed of the world not the Akhirah, he is the one who takes the rules of the shaheed of the world in so far as he is not washed nor prayed over but rather buried in his clothes. However he does not take in the Akhirah the reward of the shaheed who fought to raise the word of Allah the highest. This is the one who fights in other than the way of Allah such as fighting for fame or booty alone or while retreating. This is because the ahadith specified the shaheed’s reward for the shaheed who fights in the way of Allah (swt), and the one fighting advancing not retreating. Muslim narrated from Abu Musa al-Ash’ari
أن رجلاً أتى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: يا رسول الله، الرجل يقاتِل للمغنَم، والرجل يقاتِل ليُذكَر، والرجل يقاتِل ليُرى مكانه، فمَن في سبيل الله؟ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: من قاتل لتكون كلمة الله أعلى فهو في سبيل الله
“That a man came to the Prophet (saw) and said: O Messenger of Allah, the man who fights for booty, the man who fights to be mentioned and the man who fights so that his rank is seen. Which one is in the way of Allah? The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: ‘The one who fights so that the word of Allah be highest is the one in the way of Allah.”
Muslim narrated from Abu Musa:
سئل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن الرجل يقاتِل شجاعة، ويقاتِل حميّة، ويقاتِل رِياء، أي ذلك في سبيل الله؟ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: من قاتل لتكون كلمة الله هي العليا فهو في سبيل الله
“The Messenger of Allah (saw) was asked about the man who fights (to show his) courage, the one who fights out of anger, and the one who fights to show off (hypocritically). The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: The one who fights so that the word of Allah is highest is in the way of Allah.”
The Messenger made a condition of the shaheed being forgiven his sins that he fights advancing not retreating. Muslim narrated from Abdullah bin Abi Qatadah from Qatadah that he heard it being narrated from the Messenger of Allah
وسلم أنه قام فيهم فذكر لهم أن الجهاد في سبيل الله والإيمان بالله أفضل الأعمال. فقام رجل فقال: يا رسول الله أرأيتَ إن قُتلت في سبيل الله تُكفَّر عني خطاياي؟ فقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: نعم، إن قُتلتَ في سبيل الله وأنت صابر محتَسِب مُقبِِل غير مدبِر. ثم قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: كيف قلت؟ قال: أرأيتَ إن قُتلت في سبيل الله تُكفَّر عني خطاياي؟ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: نعم، إن قُتلتَ في سبيل الله وأنت صابر محتَسِب مُقبِِل غير مدبِر. إلاّ الديْن، فإنّ جبريل عليه السلام قال لي ذلك
“That he stood among them and reminded them that jihad in the way of Allah and decisive belief in Allah is the best deeds. So a man stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah, do you see that if I fought in the way of Allah that all my errors would be forgiven? The Messenger of Allah (saw) said to him: Yes, if you fought in the way of Allah and you are patient, hopeful, advancing and not retreating. Then the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: What did you say? He said: Do you see that if I fought in the way of Allah that all my sins would be forgiven? The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: Yes, if you are patient, hopeful, advancing and not retreating except for debts as Jibril (AS) told me that.”
The understanding of this is that the retreating fighter’s sins are not forgiven nor does he have the reward of the shaheed. As for the one fighting for fame, the Messenger (saw) clarified that he would be punished and (yet) called him shaheed. Muslim narrated from Sulayman bin Yasar who said: People dispersed about Abu Hurairah (ra) and the (nathil) نائل of the people of Sham said to him: O Sheikh related to us a hadith you heard from the Messenger of Allah (saw). He said: Yes, I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) saying:
سمعتُ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: إن أول الناس يُقضى يوم القيامة عليه رجل استشهد فأُتي به فعرّفه نعمه فعرفها. قال: فما عملتَ فيها؟ قال: قاتلُ فيك حتى استُشهدت. قال: كذبتَ، ولكنك قاتلتَ لأن يقال جريء، فقد قيل. ثم أُمر به فسُحب على وجهه حتى أُلقي في النار
“Verily the first person(s) to be judged on the Day of Judgement is a man who was killed as a shaheed. He is brought to Him (Allah) and He informs him of the bounties (of Allah) and he acknowledges them. He (swt) says: What did you do with them? He answers: I fought for you until I was killed as a shaheed. He says: You lied. Rather you fought so that it be said ‘(he is) brave’ and it has been said. Then He commands regarding him and he is dragged upon his face until he is thrown into the Fire”
Till the end of the hadith. This indicates that the one killed for fame, even if he takes the rules of the shaheed in this world, will not gain the reward of the shaheed on the Day of Judgement but would be punished.
As for the shaheed of the world and the Akhirah, he is the one who fights the disbelievers to raise the word of Allah and was killed in the battle (field) between Muslims and disbelievers, whether the fighting was in the land of war or the Islamic land. The Supreme (swt) said:
ولا تحسبَنّ الذين قُتلوا في سبيل الله أمواتاً بل أحياء عند ربهم يُرزقون
“Do not think that those killed in the way of Allah are dead. Rather they are alive and receiving sustenance before their Lord” [Translation of the meaning of the Qur'an 3:169].
This shaheed is the one upon whose rights came in the Shari’ah rules. He is specified as the one killed in the war with disbelievers; similarly the one who was wounded in the battlefield then died of the wound he received in the battlefield is also considered like the one killed in the battlefield. As for other than these, they are not considered shaheed. Accordingly the one killed in fighting with rebels (bughat) is not considered shaheed nor the one wounded in the battlefield then recovered from the wound then died because of it. The shaheed who has specific rules, and the one about whom Allah stated that he is alive, is specified to the one killed in the battlefield with the disbelievers to raise the word of Allah and the one injured in the battlefield then died due to this wound.
The rule of this mentioned shaheed is that he is neither washed nor shrouded in burial shrouds; rather he is buried in his blood and clothes because the shaheed is resurrected on the Day of Judgement with the smell of his blood like the sweetest-smelling musk. As for not washing the shaheed, this is due to what Al-Bukhari narrated from Jabir who said:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يجمع بين الرجلين من قتلى أُحد في الثوب الواحد ثم يقول: أيّهُم أكثر أخذاً للقرآن؟ فإذا أشير إليه إلى أحدهما قدّمه في اللحد، وأمر بدفنهم في دمائهم ولم يُغسلوا ولم يُصلّ عليهم
“The Messenger of Allah (saw) would collect two men of those killed in Uhud in one cloth, and then he would say: Which one of them knew more of the Qur’an? If one of the two was indicated to him, he brought him forward in the grave-niche (lihd) and said: I am a witness over these. He commanded their burial with their blood and did not pray over them nor wash them.”
And Ahmad (narrated) that the Prophet (saw) said about those killed in Uhud:
لا تغسلوهم فإنّ كل جرح أو كل دم يفوح مسكاً يوم القيامة. ولم يُصلّ عليهم
“Do not wash them because each wound or (each drop of) blood will diffuse musk on the Day of Judgement and he did not pray over them.”
It is narrated that the Prophet (saw) said about those killed in Uhud:
زمّلوهم بدمائهم ولا تغسلوهم فإنه ما من جرح يُجرح في سبيل الله إلاّ وهو يأتي يوم القيامة وأوداجه تشخب دماً اللون لون دم والريح ريح مسك
“Cover them in their blood and do not wash them as there is no wound wounded in the way of Allah save that it will come on the Day of Judgement with its jugular vein flowing blood whose colour is the colour of blood and the odour is the odour of musk.”
It has been narrated from Anas
أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم لم يُصلّ على قتلى أُحد ولم يغسلهم
“That the Prophet (saw) did not pray over those killed in Uhud or pray over them.”
Just as he did not wash those killed in Uhud, he did not wash the shuhadaa of Badr; similarly he did not wash the shuhadaa of Khandaq and Khayber. So it became clear that the shaheed is not washed. Similarly the shaheed is not enshrouded as the dead person is shrouded; rather he is shrouded in the clothes that he has due to the Messenger of Allah (saw)’s statement about those killed in Uhud:
زمّلوهم بدمائهم وكلومهم
“Cover them in their wounds and blood” (narrated by Ahmad).
And also due to what ibn Abbas (ra) narrated
أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أمر بقتلى أُحد أن يُنزع عنهم الحديد والجلود وأن يُدفنوا في ثيابهم بدمائهم
“That the Messenger of Allah (saw) commanded about those killed in Uhud that the iron and skins be removed from them and that they be buried with their blood and clothes” (narrated by Abu Dawud).
As for the prayer over the shaheed, it is allowed to pray over them and it is allowed not to pray over them. As for the permissibility of prayer over them, this is due to the narrations which came that the Messenger (saw) prayed over those killed in Uhud after their burial and prayed over Hamza and a man killed in the battlefield. In Al-Bukhari it is narrated from Uqbah bin ‘Amir
أنه صلى الله عليه وسلم صلّى على قتلى أُحُد بعد ثماني سنين صلاته على ميت كالمودِّع للأحياء والأموات
“He (saw) prayed over those killed in Uhud after eight years, the prayer over the dead was like a farewell to those alive and those dead.”
And from Abu Dawud from Malik al-Ghiffari
أنه صلّى الله عليه وسلم صلّى على قتلى أحد عشرة عشرة في كل عشرة حمزة حتى صلّى عليه سبعين صلاة
“He (saw) prayed over those killed in Uhud in groups of ten with Hamza in each ten until he prayed seventy times over him.”
Abu Dawud narrated from Abu Salim from a man of the Prophet (saw)’s Sahabah who said:
أغرنا على حي من جهينة فطلب رجل من المسلمين رجلاً منهم فضربه فأخطأه وأصاب نفسه، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: أخوكم يا معشر المسلمين، فابتدره الناس فوجدوه قد مات فلفّه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بثيابه ودمائه وصلى عليه ودفنه. فقالوا يا رسول الله أشهيد هو؟ قال: نعم، وأنا له شهيد
“We attacked by surprise a tribe from Juhainah. A man of the Muslims sought a man of them to strike him, but he missed and struck himself. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: Your brother, O community of Muslims so the people hastened and found him dead. The Messenger of Allah (saw) covered him in his clothes and blood, prayed over him and buried him. They said: Is he a shaheed? He said: Yes, and I am a witness for him.”
These are three established ahadith, and they are explicit in indicating that the shaheed is prayed over.
As for the permission not to pray over the shaheed, this is because there came other ahadith that the Messenger (saw) did not pray over the shaheed. Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi narrated from Anas
أن النبي صلّى الله عليه وسلم لم يصل على قتلى أحد ولم يغسلهم
“That the Prophet (saw) did not pray over those killed in Uhud or wash them.”
And Ahmad narrated from Anas
أن شهداء أحد لم يغسلوا ودفنوا بدمائهم ولم يصلّ عليهم
“The shuhadaa of Uhud were not washed. They were buried in their clothes and not prayed over.”
Al-Bukhari narrated from Jabir bin Abdullah (ra) who said:
كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يجمع بين الرجلين من قتلى أحد في ثوب وأحد ثم يقول أيهم أكثر أخذاً للقرآن؟ فإذا أشير له إلى أحدهما قدمه في اللحد وقال: أنا شهيد على هؤلاء يوم القيامة، وأمر بدفنهم في دمائهم ولم يغسلوا ولم يصل عليهم
“The Prophet (saw) would combine between two men of those killed in Uhud then say: Which one of them memorized more of the Qur’an? When one of the two was indicated to him, he would bring him forward in the grave-niche and he said: I am the witness over these on the Day of Judgement, commanded their burial in their blood and did not wash them or pray over them.”
These ahadith are established and of explicit indication that the shaheed is not prayed over. Ash-Shafi’ responded to the hadith of ibn Abbas (ra) and what came of its meaning regarding praying over those killed in Uhud before their burial “that the information came as if it were specific ones in the face of mutawatirah that the Messenger did not pray over those killed in Uhud.” All these ahadith are established whether those narrated that the Messenger (saw) prayed over the shuhadaa or those narrated that he didn’t pray over them. There is no way to reject any of them due to their authenticity, and because they are of those used as proofs in narration and meaning. There is no way to outweigh one over the other as it is remote that the Sahabah forgot the occurrence of prayer over those shuhadaa, just as it is also remote to leave (waq’i) on the opposite of what is established about him (saw) of praying over the dead. So how can one be outweighed over the other? Nor should one say that the prayer in the ahadith which established the prayer over the shaheed is the du’a so that his saying “prayed” means made du’a. One cannot say this since the Shari’ah realities precede the linguistic (realities) as long as there is no connotation. Here there is no connotation so it is inevitable that the meaning of prayer is the Shari’ah prayer over the dead. Nor should one say that the ahadith of praying over the dead abrogates the ahadith of not praying over them since one of them, which is the prayer over those killed in Uhud after eight years is prayed to later than all the ahadith since it came in the narration of ibn Hibban
ثم دخل بيته ولم يخرج حتى قبضه الله
“Then he entered his house and did not go out until Allah caused him to die.”
One should not say that because the lateness of the hadith alone is not sufficient indication of abrogation; rather there must be another connotation from which abrogation is understood. Here no connotation is present so there is no abrogation in it. So all the narrations remain recognized and are taken to mean that not praying over the shaheed is allowed. It is not narrated that the Messenger (saw) prayed over those killed in Badr, Khandaq or Khayber. They are also taken to mean that if one prays over the shaheed there is nothing (wrong) in that and people are not prevented from praying over them. The shaheed is named shaheed (witness) as Paradise is witnessed for him by the explicit text of the Qur’an. Allah the Supreme said:
إن الله اشترى من المؤمنين أنفسهم وأموالهم بأن لهم الجنة يقاتلون في سبيل الله فيَقتُلون ويُقتَلون
“Verily Allah purchased from the believers there souls and wealth in return for paradise. They fight in the way of Allah, killing and being killed” [Translation of the meaning of the Qur'an 9:111].
Muslim narrated from Jabir who said:
قال رجل: أين أنا يا رسول الله إن قُتلت؟ قال في الجنة فألقى تمرات كن في يده ثم قاتل حتى قُتِل
“A man said: Where am I, O Messenger of Allah, if I am killed? He said: In Paradise. So he threw the dates that were in his hands and fought until he was killed and in the hadith of Suwaid. A man said to the Prophet (saw) on the day of Uhud.”
It is narrated from Anas bin Malik (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) went with his Sahabah until they preceded the polytheists to Badr. The polytheists came and the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
قال رجل للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يوم أُحد وعن أنس بن مالك أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم انطلق وأصحابه حتى سبقوا المشركين إلى بدر وجاء المشركون فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: لا يقدمن أحد منكم إلى شيء حتى أكون أنا دونه فدنا المشركون فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: قوموا إلى جنة عرضها السموات والأرض. قال يقول عمير بن الحمام الأنصاري يا رسول الله جنة عرضها السموات والأرض؟ قال: نعم. قال: بخ بخ. فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: ما يحملك على قولك بخ بخ. قال: لا والله يا رسول الله إلاّ رجاءة أن أكون من أهلها. قال فإنك من أهلها. فأخرج تمرات من قرنه فجعل يأكل منهن ثم قال: لئن أنا حييت حتى آكل تمراتي هذه إنها لحياة طويلة فرمى بما كان معه من التمر ثم قاتلهم حتى قُتِل
“Let none of you precede to anything without my being. The polytheists came close so the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: Stand forth to a Paradise whose breadth is that of the heavens and the earth. He said: ‘Umayr bin al-Hammam al-Ansari said: O Messenger of Allah, a Paradise whose breadth is that of the heavens of the earth? He said: (Bakh! Bakh!). So the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: What carried you to your statement, (Bakh! Bakh!). He said: Nothing, by Allah, except the hope that I be one of its people. He said: Verily you are one of its people. He removed dates from his (qaran) and began eating from them. Then he said: If I were to live until I ate these dates, it would then be a long life! He threw the dates that had then fought them until he was killed” (narrated by Muslim).
So Allah (swt) and the Messenger of Allah (saw) have witnessed the Paradise for the shaheed. As for the life of the shaheed, it is established by the explicit text of the Qur’an. The Supreme said:
ولا تَحسَبنَّ الذين قُتلوا في سبيل الله أمواتاً بل أحياءٌ عند ربهم يُرزَقون فَرِحين بما آتاهم الله من فضله ويستبشرون بالذين لم يَلحقوا بهم مِن خلفهم أن لا خوف عليهم ولا هم يحزنون، يستبشرون بنعمة من الله وفضل وأن الله لا يضيع أجر المؤمنين
“Do not think that those killed in the way of Allah are dead, rather (they are) alive with sustenance before their Lord. Pleased with what Allah gave them of His favours and with good tidings for those behind them who have not met them, that there is no fear for them nor do they grieve. They have glad tidings of blessings from Allah and His favour, and verily Allah does not cause the reward of the believers to be lost” [Translation of the meaning of the Qur'an 3:169].
This life for the shuhadaa is unseen which we do not understand nor perceive as it is in the eternal abode. Although we do not understand this hidden life nor perceive it, nevertheless we believe in its existence but do not understand its reality. Our conviction in its existence is an inevitable matter as it is established by a definite Qur’anic text. The Supreme (swt) said:
ولا تقولوا لمن يُقتل في سبيل الله أموات بل أحياء ولكن لا تَشعرون
“Do not say of those killed in the way of Allah (are) ‘dead’... Rather they are alive but you do not know” [Translation of the meaning of the Qur'an 2:154].
The life of the shuhadaa is from the unseen (matters) in which iman is obliged. As for the virtue of the shuhadaa, it is a great virtue without an equivalent and he (saw) clarified it in numerous ahadith. Al-Bukhari narrated from Qatadah who said: I heard Anas bin Malik (ra) from the Prophet (saw) who said:
ما من أحد يدخل الجنة يحب أن يَرجع إلى الدنيا وله ما على الأرض من شيء إلاّ الشهيد يتمنى أن يَرجع إلى الدنيا فيُقتل عشر مرات لِما يرى من الكرامة
“No one who enters Paradise would like to return to the world to obtain all that is upon the world except the shuhadaa who would wish to return to the world to be killed ten times due to what he sees of the honour (karamah).”
And in Al-Bukhari:
وقال المغيرة بن شعبة: أخبَرَنا نبينا صلى الله عليه وسلم عن رسالة ربنا مَن قُتل منا صار إلى الجنة ). وقال عمر للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: (أليس قَتلانا في الجنة وقتلاهم في النار؟ قال: بلى
“Al-Mughira bin Shu’bah said that our Prophet (saw) informed us of the message of our Lord that whoever is killed among us goes to Paradise and Umar said to the Prophet (saw): ‘Are not our dead in Paradise and their dead in the Fire. He said: Yes.”
And from Abdullah bin ‘Amru bin al-‘Aas that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
يُغفر للشهيد كل ذنب إلاّ الديْن
“All the shaheed’s sins are forgiven except the debt” (narrated by Muslim).
He also narrated that the Prophet (saw) said:
القتل في سبيل الله يكفِّر كل شيء إلاّ الديْن
“The one killed in the way of Allah has all his sins wiped out except the debt.”
And Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated from Abu Hurairah (ra) from the Prophet (saw) who said:
تكفَّل الله لِمَن جاهد في سبيله لا يُخرجه من بيته إلاّ جهاد في سبيله وتصديق كلمته بأن يُدخله الجنة أو يُرجعه إلى مسكنه الذي خرج مع ما نال من أجر وغنيمة. والذي نفس محمد بيده ما من كَلِم يُكلَم في سبيل الله إلاّ جاء يوم القيامة كهيئته حين كَلِم، لونه لون دم وريحُه ريح مسك. والذي نفس محمد بيده لولا أن رجالاً من المؤمنين لا تطيب نفوسهم أن يتخلفوا عني ولا أجد ما أحملهم عليه ما تخلفتُ عن سريّة تغدو في سبيل الله. والذي نفس محمد بيده لوددتُ أن أُقتل في سبيل الله ثم أحيا ثم أُقتل ثم أحيا ثم أُقتل ثم أحيا ثم أُقتل
“Allah guarantees security for the one who dies jihad in His way, not leaving his house for any other reason except jihad in His way and believing in His words, that He will enter him into Paradise or return him to his abode from which he left together with what he achieved of reward or booty. By the One in whose hand lies the should of Muhammad, whoever is wounded in the way of Allah will not come on the Day of Judgement except in his form when he was wounded, his colour the colour of blood and his odour the odour of musk. By the one in whose hand lies the soul of Muhammad, were it not that there were men among the believers whose souls are not pleased to stay behind me (when I go) nor do I find that could carry them upon, I would not stay behind any expedition that goes out in the way of Allah in the morning. By the One in whose hand lies the soul of Muhammad, I would love to die in the way of Allah then I am resurrected then killed, then resurrected then killed, then resurrected then killed.”
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