Al-Jawāb as-Sahīh li-man baddala dīn al-Masīh - Ibn Taimiya - (6/414)

For that reason the Exalted said:

“Say, ‘Are you waiting for us for anything other than one of the two noble outcomes?’” [At-Tawbah: 52]

Meaning: either victory and triumph, or martyrdom and Paradise. Moreover, the very religion for which the martyrs fought will be granted ascendancy and prevail; thus their party enjoys happiness in both this world and the next. Whoever among them is killed becomes a martyr, and whoever survives emerges victorious and blessed. This is the utmost form of victory: since death is inevitable, dying in a way that secures felicity in this world and the Hereafter is the most perfect lot. By contrast, when a man and his faction perish, they attain none of their aims, in neither realm.

The martyrs from among the believers fought by their own choice and undertook the causes that led to their death—such as commanding right and forbidding wrong. They deliberately chose this death: some consciously sought martyrdom itself, while others pursued the deeds that would make them martyrs, fully aware that they would gain eternal happiness in the Hereafter, worldly joy through their faction’s victory, and a lasting reputation preserved in words of praise and supplication. As for those unbelievers who perish, they do so against their will, a destruction that offers no hope of happiness in the Hereafter. They and their faction attain nothing of worldly bliss; rather, they are trailed in this life by a curse, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be among the disgraced. Concerning them it was said:

وَلِهَذَا قَالَ تَعَالَى: {قُلْ هَلْ تَرَبَّصُونَ بِنَا إِلَّا إِحْدَى الْحُسْنَيَيْنِ} [التوبة: ٥٢] أَيْ إِمَّا النَّصْرُ وَالظَّفَرُ، وَإِمَّا الشَّهَادَةُ وَالْجَنَّةُ، ثُمَّ الدِّينُ الَّذِي قَاتَلَ عَلَيْهِ الشُّهَدَاءُ يَنْتَصِرُ وَيَظْهَرُ، فَيَكُونُ لِطَائِفَتِهِ السَّعَادَةُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ، مَنْ قُتِلَ مِنْهُمْ كَانَ شَهِيدًا، وَمَنْ عَاشَ مِنْهُمْ كَانَ مَنْصُورًا سَعِيدًا، وَهَذَا غَايَةُ مَا يَكُونُ مِنَ النَّصْرِ، إِذْ كَانَ الْمَوْتُ لَا بُدَّ مِنْهُ فَالْمَوْتُ عَلَى الْوَجْهِ الَّذِي يَحْصُلُ بِهِ سَعَادَةُ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ أَكْمَلُ بِخِلَافِ مَنْ يَهْلِكُ هُوَ وَطَائِفَتُهُ فَلَا يَفُوزُ لَا هُوَ وَلَا هُمْ بِمَطْلُوبِهِمْ لَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ. وَالشُّهَدَاءُ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ قَاتَلُوا بِاخْتِيَارِهِمْ، وَفَعَلُوا الْأَسْبَابَ الَّتِي بِهَا قُتِلُوا، كَالْأَمْرِ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْيِ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ، فَهُمُ اخْتَارُوا هَذَا الْمَوْتَ إِمَّا أَنَّهُمْ قَصَدُوا الشَّهَادَةَ، وَإِمَّا أَنَّهُمْ قَصَدُوا مَا بِهِ يَصِيرُونَ شُهَدَاءَ عَالِمِينَ بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ السَّعَادَةَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ، وَفِي الدُّنْيَا بِانْتِصَارِ طَائِفَتِهِمْ، وَبِبَقَاءِ لِسَانِ الصِّدْقِ لَهُمْ ثَنَاءً وَدُعَاءً بِخِلَافِ مَنْ هَلَكَ مِنَ الْكُفَّارِ فَإِنَّهُمْ هَلَكُوا بِغَيْرِ اخْتِيَارِهِمْ هَلَاكًا لَا يَرْجُونَ مَعَهُ سَعَادَةَ الْآخِرَةِ، وَلَمْ يَحْصُلْ لَهُمْ وَلَا لِطَائِفَتِهِمْ شَيْءٌ مِنْ سَعَادَةِ الدُّنْيَا بَلِ أُتْبِعُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ هُمْ مِنَ الْمَقْبُوحِينَ، وَقِيلَ فِيهِمْ: