A Return to the Beginning: On Whether Every Person Killed in a Fitnah Is Called a Martyr? It Mentions the Necessity of Purification and Education.

The Shaykh : The question was about those who are persecuted in Egypt, for example, and killed, and who confront the Egyptian army or police, or so on. Are these people martyrs? We answered that they are not martyrs. Why? Because, first, they did not fall as casualties on the battlefield. By battlefield, I mean the place where the Muslim army, under the leadership of a ruler who has received the pledge of allegiance from the Muslims in general, declares jihad against a group of disbelievers and polytheists in the path of Allah. Then, martyrs or casualties from among the Muslims fall in this battle. These are the martyrs who fall when they fight against the regular army or the regular police, whether in Egypt or elsewhere. These people are not martyrs. It is sufficient for them, and Allah knows best about them, to be said to have been killed in the path of Allah. There is a very big difference between saying they were killed in the path of Allah and saying they were killed as martyrs in the battle in the path of Allah. Why? I mentioned to you just now that martyrdom is divided into two types: real and legal. If we say that these people died in the path of Allah, meaning legal martyrdom, we have included them with those whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) specified as martyrs, such as the one who is killed by a collapsing building, or drowns, or defends his wealth or his self. It is sufficient for them to be described as having died in the path of Allah. As for me, I do not believe that. I say it is sufficient for them regarding their goal and their intention. Otherwise, look now at how many and how many casualties fall because of these revolutions that take place under the name of rising against the ruler who rules by other than what Allah has revealed. Yes, this ruler rules by other than what Allah has revealed, just as Quraysh did. By what were they ruling? By what Allah has revealed?! They were people of shirk (associating partners with Allah) and misguidance, to the extent that they were not even from the People of the Book. And yet, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was patient with them and patient with their harm until the command came to him to migrate, to the end of what we mentioned just now. Now, Muslims live in many, or rather most, or we may say all, of the lands of Islam under a rule that does not rule by what Allah has revealed. Can the reform of this rule or this ruler be achieved by rising against it and killing innocent souls? They have not even applied the apparent meaning of the previous verse, let alone the hidden meaning that I explained to you just now in His saying: Is this meaning clear? If Allah wills. Very good.