Activism & Civil Rights FAQs & Fatwas Islamic Law

Calling Someone a “Martyr”

Adapted from an article by Dr. Ahmad al-Raysūnī on the topic from his website.

Often times we refer to so-and-so as a “shahīd” or martyr when referring to Muslims who have died while standing up for truth and justice. We might say al-Shahīd (the martyr) Malcolm X or al-Shahīd Hasan al-Banna. When some people hear such statements they take offense saying that we should not describe people as such because only God knows who is and is not a martyr.

There are some scholars who hold this opinion and they have two major evidences for doing so.

  1. In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī there is a chapter entitled, “One should not say that someone is a martyr.” In this chapter he relates a statement of the Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) wherein he said, “God knows best who fights in His way and who speaks in His way [meaning in His cause].”
  2. In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim there is a a ḥadīth (record of the words, approval, or action of the Prophet) that says that after the battle of Khaybar the Muslims were passing by some of the Companions (may God be pleased with them) that were killed and saying: “So-and-so is a martyr (shahīd), and so-and-so is a martyr.” Then they passed by one person and said this, and the Prophet ﷺ said, “No he’s not. Verily, I saw him in Hell wearing a cloak that he took from the booty.”

Before responding to these evidences it is important to say that the actual status of someone in the Hereafter is the knowledge of God alone. He is the only one who knows who will be in Paradise, who will be in Hell, who will be forgiven, who will be punished, and so on. Upon this point there is no disagreement. However, that does not mean that we cannot call someone a martyr. Actually, such an action is in agreement with the Qur’an and the Sunna (tradition of the Prophet) because of the following evidences.

  1. In the above mentioned hadith from Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, the Prophetﷺ remained silent when several of the Companions (ra) called others martyrs and only spoke up in relation to one of them. It is well-known in Uṣūl al-Fiqh that the silent approval of the Prophet ﷺ is valid evidence in Islamic law.
  2. There is another hadith in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī where Jābir ibn ʿAbdullah (ra) comes to the Prophet ﷺ and mentions to him that his father was martyred in the battle of Uḥud. In this case the Prophet ﷺ was again silent which is evidence that it is not prohibited to call someone a martyr.
  3. It is widespread in the statements of the Companions and those who came after them that they would refer to those who died in battle as martyrs. There are several examples of this in Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah in reference to Sumayya (ra), the mother of ʿAmmār, who is commonly referred to as “the first martyr in Islam.” In regards to this Ibn Ḥajar said, “The Salaf would refer to those who died in Badr and Uḥud as martyrs.” ((Fatḥ al-Bārī 6:90.)) This is not a general statement but refers to specific individuals since those who died in these battles are well-known and documented.
  4. It is well-known in the books of Islamic law that martyrs have specific laws in relation to their burial rites. This is because under certain conditions we assume that someone is a martyr based on outward evidences while acknowledging that the truth of their status is only known by God.

This is all in relation to the outward ruling of people in this life while absolute knowledge is the domain of God alone. Therefore, the evidences cited by those that prohibit calling anyone a martyr without divine revelation are related to believing with certainty that someone is a martyr. When Ibn Ḥajar commented on the chapter title of al-Bukhārī in his book he said, “[…] meaning they should not say that so-and-so is a martyr while thinking that that is certainly the case, unless it was revealed that they were.” ((Fatḥ al-Bārī 6:90)) At the same time having a good opinion about our brothers and sisters while leaving their internal secrets to God is a core principle in Islam. That is why the Prophet ﷺ advised the Muslims that they should bear witness that someone who regularly prays in the mosque is a true believer. Obviously, the knowledge of whether he is a true believer or not is only God’s domain, but we are still encouraged to appraise the situation according to what is apparent to us.

And God knows best.


About the author

Jamaal Diwan

Jamaal Diwan was born and raised in Southern California and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Third World Studies and a minor in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego . He accepted Islam in 2003 and has been married to his wife, Muslema Purmul, since 2004. He has served with the Muslim Student Association (MSA), MSA West, and Muslim American Society (MAS) at varying capacities. He remains an active MAS member and is a scholarship student with the Islamic American University. Jamaal is a graduate of the Faculty of Shariah at al-Azhar University in Cairo and has done some graduate work in Islamic Studies from the Western academic perspective. He recently finished serving as the Resident Scholar at the Islamic Center of Irvine (ICOI).

5 Comments

  • Jazakallah khair for this very informative post! This was actually a topic that I have wondered a lot about because many people in my community have the tendency to call people a shaheed.

  • Salam Alaikum,

    Thank you for the article, but what seems problematic to me is an environment, found often in our communities, in which the term “shahid” is used quite loosely – to the point that it loses its religious dimension and becomes a form of political praise. It may seem satisfying to call individuals like Hassan al-Banna and Malcolm X as “shaheed,” but there are also some people in the world who would call bin Laden, Awlaki, Qaddafi, or a suicide bomber who targets innocent individuals “shuhadaa” – how are we to respond to that? Though we can debate about the legitimacy of their actions, it is always true that final determination of someone’s state in the hereafter is God’s alone. And these same people may say that Banna and Malcolm X were definitely NOT shaheed because of some aspect of Banna or Malcolm’s ideology that doesn’t align their religious or political views.

    It is definitely good to keep a good opinion of one’s brothers and sisters and speak of them in the best of ways, knowing well that God knows the truth about each individual and makes the final say. But when a shaikh or Islamic leader refers to someone as a “shaheed,” those nuances often are not passed on to the congregation. What the congregation hears is “X is a shaheed, and thus he’s in unquestionably heaven,” and that’s very problematic. Shouldn’t our shuyukh and Islamic leaders be far more responsible when using the term “shaheed” to historical figures?

    JazakAllah khair

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