What is the ruling on using the word "shahid" for one who is killed in Afghanistan as a mujahid?

The questioner : There is also another question, O honorable Shaykh: What is the ruling on using the word "shahid" for one who is killed in Afghanistan as a mujahid?

The Shaykh : I do not see it as permissible except with the qualification: "in what we think, in what we estimate," as it came in the hadith in "Sahih Muslim": . So we think that this man died on the battlefield of war and jihad in the path of Allah, so we think that he died as a martyr, but we do not claim for Allah, nor do we judge or assert for Allah that so-and-so died as a martyr; meaning that he is in Paradise.
The Shaykh : I like, in this regard, a hadith that we cannot authenticate according to our hadith methodology; because in its chain or isnad is Abdullah ibn Lahi'ah, and he is poor in memory and is not relied upon. He narrated it from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with his chain: . We say that the defect in this hadith is "Ibn Lahi'ah," but not every hadith narrated by a weak narrator has a weak meaning. How many, how many weak hadiths in structure have a correct meaning. So if the evidence establishes the correctness of its meaning, we affirm its meaning and we do not affirm its structure; meaning: we do not attribute it to the Messenger (peace be upon him); because it has not been authenticated for us according to the Shari'ah method by which Shari'ah hadiths are established for us, which are the chains of narration. And as Abdullah ibn Mubarak said: "The isnad is part of the religion, and were it not for the isnad, whoever wished would say whatever he wished."
The Shaykh : Who can deny this meaning? I am not saying the hadith.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Who can deny this meaning? No one can; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has come from him in "the two Sahihs" with a valid chain. He said (peace be upon him): , as it appears to people. And there is no doubt that jihad in the path of Allah is among the best deeds of the people of Paradise. And the reason for the coming of this authentic hadith is a known story, the summary of which is that a man in one of the battles fought a severe fight, until the companions of the Messenger, the brave heroes, were amazed by the intensity of his fighting. And that led them to mention it to the Messenger (peace be upon him). So his answer was very terrifying: . They returned to him a second time and mentioned his bravery and jihad to him; he said: . Like this three times, in every time he said: . In the third time the narrator said: until we almost doubted his statement (peace be upon him). A man stood up and said: I am with him. So he took to following him, and wherever he charged, he charged with him; until he saw that his wounds had multiplied upon him and he could not bear them, so he put the sword on his belly and leaned on it until it came out of his back and he died. So he hurried to the man, the man hurried to the Messenger and said: O Messenger of Allah, so-and-so whom we told you: such and such, and you said: , he did such and such and killed himself. He said: .

The questioner: Allah is the Greatest!

The Shaykh : This was not seen; this vision that that Companion saw, he was seen as a corpse among the dead and among the disbelievers.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So it was said of him: martyr. So then, and we all know that martyrdom requires what is required in all righteous deeds. And here I take this opportunity to direct a short word to our Muslim mujahid brothers in those lands, reminding them of His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): . The scholars said, and especially among them the scholars of tafsir: this verse indicates that the righteous deed requires two conditions; the first: that it be upon the Sunnah; because it will not be righteous unless it is upon the Sunnah.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : The second condition: that it be pure for the Face of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And if one of the conditions is lacking, the deed is not righteous. If the deed is in accordance with the Sunnah but the intention is not pure for the Face of Allah, it is invalid. And conversely; if the deed is pure for the Face of Allah but it is contrary to the Sunnah; it is not a righteous deed. This is explicit in his saying (peace be upon him): ; meaning: it is rejected upon its doer. For this reason he said (peace and blessings be upon him): . So I hope from the mujahideen that they purify their intentions in their going out for this jihad in the path of Allah, not so that it is said: so-and-so is a mujahid, and so-and-so's name came in the group of mujahideen, or any other intention of the other intentions that nullify his deed, as it came in "Sahih al-Bukhari" from the hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man said: O Messenger of Allah, the man from us who fights with bravery; is he in the path of Allah? He said: . He said: The man from us who fights with zeal; is he in the path of Allah? He said: . A third and a fourth, I do not know how many, each one asks a question, he said: . They said: So who is in the path of Allah? He said (peace and blessings be upon him): .
The Shaykh : This is advice that I direct, and perhaps it will be the conclusion of this session. Do you have another question?

The questioner : There is a question, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : There is a question, O Shaykh, important a little, simple.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.