as a migrant to Allah and His Messenger, and then death overtakes him, his reward has become incumbent upon Allah.” As for us, we do not concern ourselves with his case.

A Martyr and One Wrongfully Slain Are Not Washed …

His statement, “A martyr and one wrongfully slain are not washed.”

The word “no” is a negative particle, and negation may indicate either that something is disliked or that it is prohibited. For this reason, our scholars differed: is washing a martyr prohibited or merely disliked?

Some of them held that it is disliked, while others held that it is prohibited.

The correct view is that it is prohibited, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “commanded that those killed at Uhud be buried in their blood, and he did not wash them” (1). Moreover, washing the deceased is obligatory, and an obligation is not abandoned merely to avoid something disliked; it can only be abandoned for something prohibited.

By “martyr,” he means here the martyr of the battlefield: one who fought so that Allah’s word would be supreme.

As for one who fights out of patriotism, nationalism, or partisan zeal, he is not a martyr even if he is killed. But whoever fights to defend his Islamic homeland because it is an Islamic homeland has fought to protect the religion; in this respect, he is fighting in the cause of Allah. Therefore, we must make clear to our brothers in the army that they prepare for battle not to defend their homeland simply because it is their homeland, but because it is an Islamic homeland. They fight to protect Islam, so that if death comes to them, they will be martyrs. For the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about a man who fights to display courage, another who fights out of zeal, and another who fights to be seen: which of these is in the cause of Allah? He said: