Is the one who enters prison because of his activity in calling to Allah, and then dies in prison under the weight of torture, considered a martyr?

The Shaykh : Number twelve: Is the one who enters prison because of his activity in calling to Allah or something similar, and then dies in prison under the weight of torture, considered a martyr, or is the martyr only the one who dies for the belief in the oneness of Allah, and not for other aspects of the Islamic religion?
Answer: The one who dies in prison because of his activity in calling to Allah—Exalted is He—without doubt dies the best of deaths, and dies in the path of Allah—Exalted is He. However, no mention has come of such a person being among the martyrs. The scholars divide the martyrs into two categories:
The martyr of the battlefield, which is the original meaning of martyr. The martyr of the battlefield is the martyr, and it is for him that the rulings of martyrs were established when the term is used without qualification.
Then there is another category: The wise Lawgiver attached this category to the first category in terms of virtue, not in terms of the legal rulings that He established for the first category of martyrs, namely the martyrs of the battlefield. For example, the Messenger—may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him—said: ; . Likewise, the one who dies from a stomach ailment, specifically cholera, dies a martyr. There are many hadiths that I collected in "Rulings on Funerals," in which the Messenger—peace be upon him—designated all of them as martyrs. Among them, for example, is the woman who dies because of her fetus, and the man or woman who dies from consumption. The wise Lawgiver made all of these martyrs. However, these people are not treated as martyrs of the battlefield. The martyr of the battlefield is not washed, not shrouded, and is buried in the clothes in which he died. As for these whom the Lawgiver attached to the martyrs of the battlefield, their rulings are the rulings of all righteous and wicked Muslims: they are washed, shrouded, and buried as all Muslims are buried. But they have this virtue. These are martyrs by ruling, whereas in reality, the martyr is the one who dies on the battlefield. If a man goes out for jihad in the path of Allah and his camel throws him and his neck is broken and he dies, we say: he died in the path of Allah, because he went out in the path of Allah. But he is not considered a martyr of the battlefield, so he is not washed or shrouded; no, rather he is treated as the dead of the Muslims.
Likewise, this man who was imprisoned in the path of his calling to Allah died in the path of Allah; because if a man goes out to earn a living to support himself and his parents, he is in the path of Allah. So how can the one who dies imprisoned because of his calling not be in the path of Allah? But we do not find in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—let alone in the Book of Allah, anything that attaches this type to the other types we mentioned, which the Messenger—peace be upon him—named as martyrs.
Perhaps the wisdom in restricting the scope of martyrdom, while the Lawgiver expanded it somewhat, is that the word retains its value and sanctity in Islam, and the matter does not become so that it becomes commonplace; so that this word is applied to any person, even to disbelievers. "Joul Jamal" is not far from your memory, and this man is a martyr!! And how many martyrs are there like him! Recently, I heard that some obituaries were announced stating that so-and-so died a martyr because he died in the pursuit of knowledge. Then Allah knows best; we do not know what knowledge he was studying, and it was simply applied to him that he died a martyr. This expansion in applying the term martyrdom, first of all, contradicts the limits of the Shari'ah. It is not permissible for us to throw this word around and apply it to any person, even if he died in the path of Allah. I told you: the man who mounted his horse and set out for jihad in the path of Allah, and fell and died; he died in the path of Allah, but it was not applied to him that he is a martyr. Likewise, the one who died in prison, it was not applied to him that he is a martyr. Likewise, the one who died in the pursuit of knowledge, it was not applied to him that he is a martyr. But the one who dies in the pursuit of knowledge, intending thereby the pleasure of Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He—and being sincere to Allah—Exalted is He—is in the path of Allah. But we must know that the path of Allah is very broad, whereas martyrdom is limited by the boundaries set by the wise Lawgiver, either in the Book or in the Sunnah and the authentic Sunnah.
From the previous answer, we know the full question, which is his saying: "Or is the martyr only the one who dies for the belief in the oneness of Allah, and not for other aspects of the Islamic religion?"
Of course, you have understood the answer; whether he died in the calling in the path of the belief in the oneness of Allah, imprisoned, or in the path of the general calling to Islam, this and that is not a martyr. But the important thing is that the martyr is the one to whom the wise Lawgiver applied the name of martyrdom. However, there is a very big difference between the one who calls to the oneness of Allah and is imprisoned and dies imprisoned, and our example for that is the most famous of examples: the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him. Here we take a lesson from the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, who was imprisoned in the path of the pure calling to the oneness of Allah, and was imprisoned because he was explaining to the masses the calling of "There is no god but Allah" with truth; so he detailed for them the oneness of lordship, the oneness of worship, and the oneness of attributes. So in the path of explaining the oneness of worship and the oneness of attributes, he died imprisoned because of the injustice of the scholars of his time who opposed his calling. Was the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him—described as a martyr, he who is among the most beloved of people to him and he is the most beloved of people to them? Did they say about him: that he is a martyr? If there is a prisoner who deserves to be described with martyrdom, it is the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah have mercy on him. But we know that he died in the path of Allah, and that is sufficient for us. And perhaps a person who died in the path of Allah is with Allah—Exalted is He—and this is a point—also—that the masses of people who do not study religious knowledge, and are content with understanding Islam in a general way and calling to this Islam in a general way, must know, while the details are far from them in every way. So here, in fact, we must also mention on this occasion: perhaps a person who died in the path of Allah, for whom we do not find a way in the Shari'ah to call him a martyr, is better with Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He—than a person for whom we find in the Shari'ah that he is described as a martyr.
So the comparison of rank with Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He—is not merely by whether he deserved the name of martyr or not, but rather the comparison is in terms of the total of deeds with which this person comes, whether he died in the path of Allah or died a martyr with Allah—Blessed and Exalted is He. So whoever has a greater total of deeds with Allah is higher in rank with Him in Paradise than the other, even if the Lawgiver applied the name of martyr to him.
This is also a reminder, and the reminder benefits the believers.

The questioner : If it is said that he is in the path of Allah, is the description of martyr not applied to him even if he was not in a battle?

The Shaykh : Our research returns to this: if you find a text, say it, and if not, do not say it. Did you find one? I did not find one.

The questioner: Nor I.

The Shaykh : Okay, so the question returns and the answer returns.