If The
Shuhada's Are Not Dead, Where Are Their Arwah? Martyrdom A
Bliss
13 May 2010
By Al-Ikhwah Al-Mujahidun
Shaheed in the jihad arena has a noble
position in Islam. Al-Qur’an and al-Sunnah have
mentioned many of its virtues. The Sahabahs
and the salaf ulama's had raced to obtain it.
Martyrdom Is A Bliss
Al-Qur’an mentioned that martyrdom is a delightful
gift from Allah for those who want It. This gift sends
its owners towards perfection in life, fortune and
happiness. Allah says:
“All who obey Allah and the Messenger are in
the company of those on whom is the Grace of Allah,-
of the Prophets (who teach), the Siddiiqiin (sincere
lovers of Truth), the Martyrs, and the Righteous (who
do good): And excellent are those as companions.”
(QS. Al Nisaa: 69)
The meaning of Shuhada’ in the above verse,
as mentioned by Sheikh Abdurrahman al-Sa’di, is the
people who are going to war fie sabilillah
for the sake of raising high the kalimah of
Allah, and then they get killed.
Then, in the end of the verse, Allah mentioned that
they are the best of companions in paradise for those
who are always obedient to Allah and His Rasul.
The Shuhada’s Do Not Lose The
Pleasures Of The World
“And never think of those who have been killed
in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive
with their Lord, receiving rizq (provision), rejoicing
in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty,
and they receive good tidings about those [to be
martyred] after them who have not yet joined them –
that there will be no fear concerning them, nor will
they grieve.” (QS. Ali Imran: 169-170)
Sheikh al-Sa’di rahimahullah mentioned in his
tafseer that there are virtues and honours of
the Shuhada’s in this sublime verse, as well as
bounties and gifts that Allah gives to them . . . .
"Then, concerning the reward for the people who are
conducting jihad fie sabilillah, in fighting
against the enemies of Islam for the sake of raising
high the kalimatullah and then die in it,
they are not like what many think, i.e. they are dead
and losing the pleasures of the world and its
comforts. Whereas, these are the things that make many
people worry, the cowards are afraid to fight and they
do not yearn for martyrdom. But, they (the martyrs)
are acquiring pleasures even greater (more) than what
are competed by the people who are racing to achieve
them. They live with their Lord in the Abode of Glory.
There, they are getting rizq from various
delights in which the exact nature could never be
known except by the people to whom Allah have given.
Allah completes the gifts of delight to them by
combining the bodily delights in the form of rizq,
with the the spiritual delights in the form of
happiness for the bounties granted to them. Until,
their pleasures and happiness are utterly perfected."
Regarding this subject, Dr. Abdullah Azzam narrated
his experience, “...and indeed, we have witnessed
some of the clear evidences, clearly showing that the
Shuhada’s are alive.” Umar Hanif related to me
(Abdullah Azzam), he said, “I have uncovered with
my own hands twelve graves of the Shuhada’s. I have
found that not even one Shuhada’ has the state of the
jasad changed; and I noticed that some of them even
have their beards growing and fingernails longs in the
grave.”
And a story about Dr. Babrak who are shaheed
in Urgun and he was brought to Phabi (camp of the
Muhajirian Afghan in Peshawar). When his children
had a look at his jasad after school and
stood by his head, he (Dr. Babrak) wept and his tears
were flowing on his face.
The Blood Of The Shuhada’s Has
The Aroma Of Musk
The Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam said,
“By Him in Whose Hands my soul is! Whoever is
wounded in Allah's Cause....and Allah knows well who
gets wounded in His Cause....will come on the Day of
Resurrection with his wound having the colour of blood
but the scent of musk.” (HR. Bukhari)
Dr. Abdullah Azzam conveyed, “Subhanallah! Indeed,
we have witnessed it on most of the people who have
died shaheed. The smell of their blood are like the
aroma of musk. And indeed, in my pocket is a piece of
letter – on it are drops of blood belongings to Abdul
Wahid (Al Shaheed, insha Allah)- it has been 2 months,
but the scent is very fragrant like that of musk.”
(Special Gifts For The Mujahids, the
work of Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Azzam)
Where Are The Arwah
Of The Shuhada’s?
After knowing the virtues of dying shaheed
and the superiority of the Shuhada’s, that
they are essentially not dead and are not losing the
pleasures. Hence, we are asking, “where are their
arwah (spirits) actually?”
The arwah (plural of ruh – ed) of
the Shuhada’s are placed in the the highest
paradise i.e. Firdaus. This is based on the
hadith of Rasullullah sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam
who said to Ummu Haritsah binti Nu’man – her son got
killed in the battle of Badar – when she asked him
(about the fate of her son): “Where is he?”
The Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam said:
"Verily, he is in the high paradise of Firdaus."
(HR. Al Bukhari)
In the Saheeh Muslim, from Mashruq rahimahullah,
said: "We asked Abdullah about this verse (QS. Ali
Imran: 169)"
He answered, "it so happens that we asked (the
Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) about this issue,
thus he answered:
“Verily, the arwah of the Shuhada’s are in the
insides of green birds having lanterns suspended from
the Throne, roaming freely in Paradise where they
please, then taking shelter in those lanterns. So
their Lord cast a glance at them (1) and said: ‘Do you wish for anything?’
They said: ‘What shall we wish for
when we roam freely in Paradise where we please?’ And thus did He do to them three times.
When they say that they would not be spared from being
asked [again], they said: 'O Lord, we
would like for You to put back our souls into our
bodies so that we might fight for Your sake once
again.' And when He saw that they
were not in need of anything they were let be.”
(HR. Muslim)
Imam al-Darimi in his sunan narrated from
Mashruq, he said: “we have asked Abdullah about
the arwah of the Shuhada’s. If not because of
Abdullah, no one would have told us. He (Abdullah)
said:
"The arwah of the Shuhada’s are with
Allah on Judgement Day inside the belly of green
birds. They have lanterns suspended from the ‘Asrh.
They fly in Paradise to where ever they want. Then,
they return to those lanterns, and their Lord honored
them by saying: 'Do you wish for anything?'
They asnwered: 'No, except for us to be
returned to the world until we are killed (die
shaheed) for the
umpteenth time.'”
Imam an-Nawawi in Sharh Saheeh Muslim wrote, “. .
. when they know that they can ask, they ask so that
their souls would be returned to their jasads, to
conduct jihad again or to provide their souls for the
cause of Allah Ta’ala and enjoy the bliss (of dying)
in Allah's path.”Walahu A’lam
The Shuhada’s
ask to be returned to the world, whereas they are
already in paradise, to feel the blissfulness of dying
in Allah's cause as Shuhada’s.
Rasulullah sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam had
known the blissfulness gained by the Shuhada’.
For that reason, he expressed his desires to die in
Allah's cause in his hadith:
“By the One in Whose Hand is my life, I love that
I should be killed in the way of Allah; then I should
be brought back to life and be killed again in His
way.” (HR. Al Bukhari)
Indeed, death in the way of Allah is not as
frightening as people have imagined. They are a lot of
hadiths which relate that the Shuhada’s do
not feel the pain when finding martyrdom, except like
that of a pinch.
It was said by Rasulullah saallallahu ‘alaihi
wasallam, “the people who die shaheed do not
feel (the pain of) the slaying except like when one
amongst you are feeling (the pain of) a pinch.”
(HR. Ahmad, At Tirmidzi, An Nasa’i – hadith hasan)
Are we still afraid to conduct jihad fie
sabilillah and find martyrdom in the way of
Allah?
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