Allah says in Soorah
al-Baqarah,
“And say not of those who
have been killed in the Way
of Allah, ‘they are dead.’
Nay, they are living, but
you are unaware of it.”[1]
The Sufis claim that their
Shaikhs too die in the path
of Allah, and are therefore
Martyrs. Based upon this
verse, they claim that death
does not overcome the
Shaikh, and they continue to
benefit others in death just
as they used to benefit in
their lifetime. It is
mentioned in Imdadus Sulook,
p.27, story no. 3, “Once, a
person of Kashf went to the
mazaar (tomb) of Hazrat Haji
Sahib (Dhaamin) to recite
al-Fatihah there. After
reciting al-Fatihah he said,
“Brother! Who is this
esteemed man? He seems to be
a very jolly person. When I
began to recite al-Fatihah,
he said to me, “Go and
read al-Fatihah for a dead
man. You have come here to
recite al-Fatihah on the
living. What is this
matter?” Thereafter, I
was informed by people that
the person in the grave was
a shaheed (martyr).”[2](click to view the scanned
image of the quote)
In this verse of Soorah
al-Baqarah, Allah refers to
the martyrs, who die whilst
defending the religion, as
living. The Messenger of
Allah (sallallahu alaihi
wa-sallam) explained the
life of martyrs after death.
Narrated Abdullah: “It has
been narrated on the
authority of Masruq, who
said: “We asked Abdullah
about the Qur’aanic verse:
“Think not of those who are
slain in Allah’s way as
dead. Nay, they are alive,
finding their sustenance in
the presence of their
Lord....”[3]
He said: “We asked the
meaning of the verse (from
Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam)), who
said:
“The souls of the martyrs
live in the bodies of green
birds who have their nests
in chandeliers hung from the
Throne of the Almighty. They
eat the fruits of Paradise,
wherever they like, and then
nestle in these chandeliers.
Once, their Lord cast a
glance at them and said: “Do
you want anything?” They
said: “What more can we
desire? We eat the fruit of
Paradise wherever we like.”
Their Lord asked them the
same question thrice. When
they saw that they would
continue to be asked and not
left (without answering the
question), they said: “O
Lord, we wish that You may
return our souls to our
bodies, so that we may be
slain in Your cause once
again. When He (Allah) saw
that they had no need, they
were left (to their joy in
heaven).”[4]
In light of this Hadeeth, we
clearly understand that the
conditions under which the
Martyrs live after death is
different from their worldly
life. Their life after death
is the life of Barzakh,
which severs all connections
with the worldly life.
Therefore, the Sharee’ah has
prescribed that…
1. The property of the
martyr be divided among his
inheritors.
2. The wives of the martyr
should mourn their husbands
for the period of four
months and ten days.[5]
3. After the Iddah period,
the wives of the martyr are
free to marry again.[6]
Hence, the martyrs are alive
with respect to the
Hereafter
but with respect to this
world they are dead, and all
actions that are carried out
for the dead are carried out
for the Martyrs (with a few
exceptions).
Accordingly, this verse of
Soorah al-Baqarah is a proof
of the great position of
martyrdom, but in no way
supports the Sufi view that
the pious live a worldly
life even after death.
[2]
Imdaadus-Sulook, (Urdu)
p.27, story no.3. This
book in now available in
English (and named
Irshaadul-Mulook) and
the reference of the
above story is
Irshaadul-Mulook (Eng.
Trans.) Page. 19,
Episode .1.
[4]
Saheeh Muslim no: 4651.
Also see Sunan
at-Tirmidhee no: 1631,
Sunan Ibn Majah and
Bayhaqee (in Kitab al-Ba’th
wan-Nushur).
[5]
Narrated Umm Atiya that
Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) said:
“A woman must not
observe mourning for one
who has died more than
three nights, except for
the four months and ten
days in the case of a
husband, and she must
not wear a dyed garment
except one of the type
made of dyed yarn, or
apply collyrium, or
touch perfume except for
a little costus or Azfar
when she has been
purified after her
courses.”
[Saheeh al-Bukharee and
Saheeh Muslim - The
wording being Muslim’s]
[6]
Narrated Umm Salamah:
“When Abu Salamah died,
I went to the Messenger
of Allah (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) and
said: “O Messenger of
Allah (sallallahu alaihi
wa-sallam)! Abu Salamah
has died. He told me to
recite: “O Allah!
Forgive me and him (Abu
Salamah) and give me a
better substitute than
he.” So I said (this),
and Allah gave me in
exchange Muhammad (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam), who
is better for me than
him (Abu Salamah).”
[Saheeh Muslim (Eng.
Trans.) no: 2002, and
Abu Dawoood (Eng.
Trans.) no: 3109] Abu
Salamah was a martyr who
died of injuries, he
sustained during the
battle of Uhud.
After the martyrdom of
Jaafar Ibn Taiyyar, Aboo
Bakr married his wife
Asmaa bint Umais.
Muhammed Ibn Aboo Bakr
was born of this
wedlock. See Meezan al-Etidaal.
