What is your opinion on the broadening of the use of the term "shahid" (martyr)?
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The questioner : What is the meaning of "shahid" or "to be martyred" in the path of Allah?
The Shaykh : The shahid in Islam, my dear brothers, has two states: either his martyrdom is real, or his martyrdom is legal (judicial) and not real.
There are two types of martyrdom. The first type is the Muslim who is killed in battle while fighting in the path of Allah; this is a real shahid. This has known rulings in Islam: he is not washed, not shrouded, and is buried in his clothes stained with noble blood, and he is buried in the place where he fell. These are specific rulings for the shahid in battle.
Then there is legal martyrdom, and none of these rulings related to martyrdom or the real shahid apply to it. This type of martyrdom, which is legal martyrdom, is naturally taken from what the wise Lawgiver has ruled: that whoever possesses such a characteristic is a shahid. For example, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: These are some examples of what is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he applied the name "shahid" to them. However, the scholars are unanimous that this application does not grant him the virtue of the real shahid who died in battle. Rather, it is a matter of approximation in virtue, meaning that those to whom the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) applied the title, or each one of them, is a shahid who has a virtue that other people who do not die in one of these states do not equal.
Your tongues, So, the one who writes articles or prints treatises in refuting the disbelievers and polytheists, this is a type of jihad without a doubt. The one who assists these people with his wealth is also a type of jihad in the path of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. But he is not called a shahid by the Shari'ah if he dies in this state, because martyrdom is a legal ruling that is not permissible to apply to everyone who strives in the path of Allah in any type of jihad. Rather, it is standing with the text.
We give you an example of a man whom women rarely bore in terms of jihad in the general sense, namely Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. It is sufficient for you that he died in prison, imprisoned unjustly and oppressively, because he was resolute in the truth and no one could make him hesitate in the matter of Allah. So show us any book from the books of the Muslim scholars who write biographies of this man and explain that he was a nation alone, where they described him as "Ibn Taymiyyah the Shahid," "the Shahid Ibn Taymiyyah."
The truth, and I say the truth, is that this word has become today so degraded that we laugh at some people. A man kills another unjustly, oppressively, and tyrannically, and then another comes and kills the killer. And when this killer, who has become a victim and received his due in this world, is carried on the bier and on people's heads, you hear people saying, "The shahid, the beloved of Allah." So martyrdom has become a common word. In Syria, the story of a man in the war with the Jews became widespread, named George Jamil. You may have heard his name. This man was a Christian, and among the people, even Muslims, due to their ignorance, misguidance, and distance from Islam, he became "the Shahid George Jamil." They even named a school after him and put up a large sign: "The School of the Shahid George Jamil."
What justified this extreme deviation in applying this name, even to a disbeliever? We have been lax in using this word until we included any meaning under it, meaning its status in Islam. This is not permissible Islamically. We must stand as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:229]
So, we, especially in speech, do not apply the title or name of "shahid" except to what came in the Sunnah as a shahid, no matter how great his work is, as we gave you an example of this great man, namely Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, who died while a prisoner. We do not say he is a shahid. And if we want to apply this word to some of the heroes who performed well in the service of Islam and fighting the enemies of Islam, we would say "the Shahid Ibn Taymiyyah." But far be it from us to exalt people with words for which we have not been given permission in the Shari'ah of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to use. In that is a lesson for those who take heed and a reminder for those who remember.
The Shaykh : The shahid in Islam, my dear brothers, has two states: either his martyrdom is real, or his martyrdom is legal (judicial) and not real.
There are two types of martyrdom. The first type is the Muslim who is killed in battle while fighting in the path of Allah; this is a real shahid. This has known rulings in Islam: he is not washed, not shrouded, and is buried in his clothes stained with noble blood, and he is buried in the place where he fell. These are specific rulings for the shahid in battle.
Then there is legal martyrdom, and none of these rulings related to martyrdom or the real shahid apply to it. This type of martyrdom, which is legal martyrdom, is naturally taken from what the wise Lawgiver has ruled: that whoever possesses such a characteristic is a shahid. For example, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Whoever dies defending his wealth is a shahid, and whoever dies defending his blood is a shahid, and whoever dies defending his land is a shahid.
من مات دون ماله فهو شهيد ومن مات دون دمه فهو شهيد ومن مات دون أرضه فهو شهيدWhoever is killed by his stomach is a shahid.
من قتله بطنه فهو شهيدWhoever is killed by drowning or collapse is a shahid.
من قتل بالغرق أو الهدم فهو شهيدWhoever is killed by the disease of tuberculosis is a shahid.
من قتل بداء السل فهو شهيدThe pregnant woman who dies in childbirth is a shahidah.
المرأة الجمعاء تموت في نفاسها فهي شهيدةYour tongues,
Strive against the polytheists with your persons, your wealth, and your tongues.
جاهدوا المشركين بأنفسكم وأموالكم وألسنتكمWe give you an example of a man whom women rarely bore in terms of jihad in the general sense, namely Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. It is sufficient for you that he died in prison, imprisoned unjustly and oppressively, because he was resolute in the truth and no one could make him hesitate in the matter of Allah. So show us any book from the books of the Muslim scholars who write biographies of this man and explain that he was a nation alone, where they described him as "Ibn Taymiyyah the Shahid," "the Shahid Ibn Taymiyyah."
The truth, and I say the truth, is that this word has become today so degraded that we laugh at some people. A man kills another unjustly, oppressively, and tyrannically, and then another comes and kills the killer. And when this killer, who has become a victim and received his due in this world, is carried on the bier and on people's heads, you hear people saying, "The shahid, the beloved of Allah." So martyrdom has become a common word. In Syria, the story of a man in the war with the Jews became widespread, named George Jamil. You may have heard his name. This man was a Christian, and among the people, even Muslims, due to their ignorance, misguidance, and distance from Islam, he became "the Shahid George Jamil." They even named a school after him and put up a large sign: "The School of the Shahid George Jamil."
What justified this extreme deviation in applying this name, even to a disbeliever? We have been lax in using this word until we included any meaning under it, meaning its status in Islam. This is not permissible Islamically. We must stand as Allah the Exalted said:
These are the limits of Allah, so do not transgress them. And whoever transgresses the limits of Allah - it is those who are the wrongdoers.
وتلك حدود الله فلا تعتدوها ومن يتعد حدود الله فأولئك هم الظالمونSo, we, especially in speech, do not apply the title or name of "shahid" except to what came in the Sunnah as a shahid, no matter how great his work is, as we gave you an example of this great man, namely Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, who died while a prisoner. We do not say he is a shahid. And if we want to apply this word to some of the heroes who performed well in the service of Islam and fighting the enemies of Islam, we would say "the Shahid Ibn Taymiyyah." But far be it from us to exalt people with words for which we have not been given permission in the Shari'ah of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to use. In that is a lesson for those who take heed and a reminder for those who remember.