We do not say so-and-so is a martyr, but rather we say we hope that so-and-so died as a martyr.

The Shaykh : So, we hope that so-and-so died as a martyr if he died on the battlefield or died in one of the descriptions that came as evidence in the Sunnah that he is a martyr by ruling, as we mentioned earlier. As for being certain and definitive that the one who died on the battlefield is a martyr, this is not permissible, because this is part of the unseen, and no one knows the unseen except Allah. Furthermore, it is not permissible to apply the term martyrdom, even by ruling, to one for whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and those like him did not declare martyrdom.