Chapter: The Martyr

A martyr is one whom the idolaters kill, or who is found on the battlefield showing signs of injury, or who is slain unjustly by Muslims in circumstances where no blood-money is due. He is shrouded and the funeral prayer is offered for him, but he is not washed.

If the martyr was in a state of janābah (major ritual impurity), he is washed according to Abū Ḥanīfah, and the same applies to a minor. Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad, however, maintain that neither is washed. The martyr’s blood is not removed, his garments are not stripped off, though fur coverings, quilts, padding, and weapons are taken away.

Whoever is carried from the field still alive (murtath) is washed. Irtithāt means that he eats, drinks, receives medical treatment, remains conscious until the time of an obligatory prayer passes, or is transported from the battlefield alive.

Anyone executed under a prescribed legal punishment (ḥadd) or in lawful retaliation (qiṣāṣ) is washed and prayed over, whereas those killed among rebels or highway robbers are not prayed over.