SHAHEED - MARTYR IN ISLAM

Martyr's are alive

Allah Ta'ala states 'Wala Taquioo limay.......' meaning, those people who die in the path of Allah do not call them dead, because they are alive but you are not aware, and He also states 'Wala Tahsabannal Lazeena Qutiloo......ila Ajral Mu'mineen' meaning, those people who have died in the path of Allah, do not think of them as dead but they are alive at their Lord's place, they are given wealth and whatever Allah has given to them from His virtue they are happy, and those that they have left behind then there is good news for them and that is they have no fear nor are they worried and the Martyr's wish for Allah's gifts and virtue and that those who give with Imaan (their life) then Allah does not let that go to waste and there are many Hadiths explaining the virtues of the Martyrs.

Shaheed are exempt from bathing and shroud

Rule: The Shaheed are not to be given a bath nor is their blood to be washed nor do they have a shroud put on them. In fact they should be kept as they are and the Namaz of Janaza should be prayed and then covered. However, if the clothing that they are wearing is less than the Sunnat requirement then it should be added and made up to the Sunnat requirement but the trousers should not be taken off. If the Martyr is wearing extra to the normal clothing such as a scarf, shoes or a sword holder etc. then these should be taken off [Hidaya etc.].

Conditions for not giving the Shaheed a Bath

Rule: For the Shaheed not to be given a bath there are seven conditions which have to be met and if even one is missed then the bath should be given.

The Shaheed must be a Muslim

The Shaheed must be within their senses (not insane)

The Shaheed must be an adult

The Shaheed must be clean (pak) i.e. Bathing was not compulsory on them

The Shaheed must not have died due to punishment (executed due to Islamic law)

The Shaheed must have been killed by a weapon (sword, dagger, gun etc.)

The Shaheed must not have been killed by mistake

The Shaheed must not have gained any advantage from the world after becoming injured.

It is a great quality and excellence of Shaheed in this world that their blood is regarded as clean their body is regarded as clean and their clothing that they are wearing is regarded as a shroud, and as for the next world their quality and excellence leaves nothing to be desired.

Rule: If a thief, robber, warrior or a traitor kills someone then whether it be with a weapon or some other item they are regarded as Shaheed and they should not be bathed [Hidaya, Radd-ul-Mohtar etc.]. Gaining advantage from the world means after becoming injured the Shaheed eats something or drank something or slept or was treated for his injuries or stayed in the tent or one whole period of Namaz passed whilst the person was conscious (as long as the person has the power to pray Namaz) or the person got up from the injury ground and moved somewhere else or was taken by others away from the battlefield whether he reached his destination alive or died on the way or gave some instructions about a worldly action or bought something or sold something or talked about a lot of things then in all these situations the bath should be given as long as these happened after the battle and if they happened in between the battle and these things did not stop the killing then a bath is not to be given.

Rule: If a Muslim is killed by another Muslim deliberately without justice the deceased is regarded as a Shaheed and should not be given a bath.

Rule: If a person was killed whilst protecting their life or property or trying to help another Muslim then they are regarded as a Shaheed (meaning a bath should not be given) whether they have been kitted by a piece of metal, stone or stick [Alamgiri].

Rule: To take off all the clothes of a Shaheed and replace them with clean clothes is Makrooh [Radd-ul-Mohtar, Alamgiri].