The Methodology of the People of the Sunnah Regarding Testifying to Martyrdom
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you with good. Here is a question for the Honorable Shaykh: Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. What is the ruling on some people saying about certain thinkers, “So-and-so is a martyr of Islam”? And what is the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community in ruling on martyrdom for any person? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
This is stated by the scholars of creed in the books of creed. They say it is not permissible to testify for anyone that he is in Paradise or in the Fire, except for those to whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified that he is among the people of Paradise or that he is a martyr. As for one to whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not testify that he is in Paradise, it is not permissible to be certain that he is among the people of Paradise. What is known?
But we hope for the good for the doers of good, and we fear for the doers of evil, and we do not testify for anyone that he is in Paradise or in the Fire, except for those to whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified. If you say, “So-and-so is the martyr,” you have spoken about Allah without knowledge; you do not know. But you hope for him that he is a Muslim, and that he was killed in jihad, or killed unjustly, or struck by a sudden injury and died, then martyrdom is hoped for him. But to be certain and say, “So-and-so is the martyr,” or “The martyr is so-and-so,” or “A martyr of Islam,” this is speaking about Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) without knowledge. And who knows? There was a man with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in jihad, and he was brave; he did not leave a stray or a coming of the polytheists without pursuing and killing them. So the people said, “No one has done as much today as so-and-so has done.” Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say that he is in the Fire? The Companions were greatly affected by this, and a man pledged to follow this man to see what his end would be at death. So he went, following him, following him, following him, until the man was injured in his body and panicked over it, then he forced himself to his sword and killed himself. So the man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “I testify that you are the Messenger of Allah.”
This is among the signs of prophethood, from the unseen that Allah revealed to him. So it is not fitting for anyone to testify for anyone that he is in Paradise or in the Fire, except for those to whom the Messenger of Allah testified. But we fear for the doer of evil and hope for the doers of good. This is the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community.
May Allah reward you with good. Here is a question for the Honorable Shaykh: Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. What is the ruling on some people saying about certain thinkers, “So-and-so is a martyr of Islam”? And what is the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community in ruling on martyrdom for any person? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
This is stated by the scholars of creed in the books of creed. They say it is not permissible to testify for anyone that he is in Paradise or in the Fire, except for those to whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified that he is among the people of Paradise or that he is a martyr. As for one to whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not testify that he is in Paradise, it is not permissible to be certain that he is among the people of Paradise. What is known?
But we hope for the good for the doers of good, and we fear for the doers of evil, and we do not testify for anyone that he is in Paradise or in the Fire, except for those to whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified. If you say, “So-and-so is the martyr,” you have spoken about Allah without knowledge; you do not know. But you hope for him that he is a Muslim, and that he was killed in jihad, or killed unjustly, or struck by a sudden injury and died, then martyrdom is hoped for him. But to be certain and say, “So-and-so is the martyr,” or “The martyr is so-and-so,” or “A martyr of Islam,” this is speaking about Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) without knowledge. And who knows? There was a man with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in jihad, and he was brave; he did not leave a stray or a coming of the polytheists without pursuing and killing them. So the people said, “No one has done as much today as so-and-so has done.” Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say that he is in the Fire? The Companions were greatly affected by this, and a man pledged to follow this man to see what his end would be at death. So he went, following him, following him, following him, until the man was injured in his body and panicked over it, then he forced himself to his sword and killed himself. So the man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “I testify that you are the Messenger of Allah.”
This is among the signs of prophethood, from the unseen that Allah revealed to him. So it is not fitting for anyone to testify for anyone that he is in Paradise or in the Fire, except for those to whom the Messenger of Allah testified. But we fear for the doer of evil and hope for the doers of good. This is the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community.
Source
الحكم بالشهادة للمعين — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.