What is the answer to those who say that in suicide operations, the fighter is the one who kills himself and not the enemies, so he is considered a suicide and not a martyr?

The questioner : A word regarding the question from my brother in Allah... Some mentioned that these operations are suicide operations where the fighter is the one who kills himself and not the enemies... In this case, he is considered a suicide and not a martyr. What is the answer to this question?

The Shaykh : I think the answer has already been given.

The questioner : Does the fighter become a martyr or a suicide, on the basis that he is the one who kills himself and not the enemies?

The Shaykh : But his killing of himself differs in means. Today, the means of killing oneself differs from before. Now, let us return to the story of the man about whom the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: when he was charging at the army before him in the hundreds. Is this not considered a suicide according to the style of fighting in that era? Would it be criticized Islamically? No, let it be as it is. As you said, no, in this case I say no, in this case as well. Why? Because, as I said, no, because you know for certain that his intention was to inflict terror upon the polytheists in order to sell his soul for the face of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And we have many incidents in the Sunnah, among them: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went out on a military expedition, and they passed by a tent. A man inside the tent heard a movement, lifted the curtain, and asked: Who are these? They told him: This is Muhammad and his companion. Where are they going? To strive in the path of Allah. He untied the camel's rope, mounted it, and went out with the Messenger (peace be upon him) to fight." Here, something very strange happened; this man asked the Messenger (peace be upon him): And what is after this? He said: . And what is after that? He said: . He said: If it is like this, he had some food in his hand, threw it on the ground, and charged at the polytheists. He kept killing among them until he was killed . In the language of that era, this is considered a suicide indeed, because he gave up his life, but in the path of inflicting terror upon the polytheists. Now the means have changed; therefore, we said that the issue is only lacking a Muslim ruler who organizes affairs and places matters in their proper positions, because he would be aware of the strategy of the battlefield and so on. But this is not considered a forbidden suicide at all, because he killed himself by a means that differs from the other means, but not in vain. The suicide who is considered a suicide, as came in the hadith, will be in the Fire and will be tortured with the same means by which he slaughtered himself, the one who destroyed himself out of weariness of life. But a man who wants to fight the polytheists and inflict terror upon them, a terror that the first man who used to duel with the sword or spear or lances or the like could not do, then this is exactly like that, except that first, the intention is righteous, and second, the jihad that was permitted to be done under the condition we mentioned earlier. Please proceed.

The questioner : May Allah bless you, Shaykh... Our brother Abu 'Ammar, meaning, as is the custom of the lying enemy Jews, they seek to appeal to world opinion regarding the fact that it is an image of people killing children and women. From this perspective, it is most likely that they are killing their soldiers, as we heard in the news, those who wear civilian clothes, for example. So this is most likely, so this is from the perspective of this retaliation. But the killing of women intentionally, they intend... the killing of children, this is...

The Shaykh : ... others, please proceed.