(154) “Do not say of those who are killed in the way of Allah, ‘They are dead.’ Rather, they are alive, but you are unaware.”
When Allah Most High mentioned the command to seek help through patience in all matters (1), He gave an example of something for which patience is needed: jihad in His cause. This is the greatest physical act of obedience and the most arduous for souls, both because it is inherently difficult and because it may lead to being killed and losing one’s life. Life, together with all it entails, is the very reason people desire this world. Thus, everything they do is an effort to preserve it and ward off whatever threatens it.
It is well known that a rational person gives up something beloved only for that which is more beloved and greater. Allah Most High therefore informs us that one who is killed in His cause, having fought so that Allah’s word would be supreme and His religion would prevail—not for any other purpose—has not lost the life he loves. Rather, he has attained a life greater and more perfect than you suppose or imagine.
Thus, the martyrs are “alive with their Lord, receiving provision, rejoicing in what Allah has granted them of His bounty and delighting in the good news concerning those left behind who have not yet joined them: no fear will be upon them, nor will they grieve. They rejoice in a blessing and bounty from Allah, and in the fact that Allah does not allow the believers’ reward to be lost.”
What life could be greater than this—a life encompassing nearness to Allah Most High; enjoyment of His physical provision in delicious food and drink; spiritual provision consisting of joy and rejoicing (2); and the disappearance of all fear and grief? This is a life in the intermediate realm more perfect than worldly life. Indeed, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stated that the souls of the martyrs are within green birds (3) that visit the rivers of Paradise, eat its fruits, and take shelter in lamps suspended from the Throne.
This verse contains the strongest encouragement to engage in jihad in Allah’s cause and to remain patient in doing so. If Allah’s servants truly perceived the reward awaiting those killed in His cause, no one would hold back from it. Yet the lack of complete and certain knowledge is what weakens resolve, deepens the sleeper’s slumber, and causes immense rewards and spoils to be forfeited. Why should it not be so, when Allah Most High “has purchased from the believers their lives and their wealth in exchange for Paradise? They fight in the way of Allah, killing and being killed.”
By Allah, if a person possessed a thousand lives and gave them up one after another in Allah’s cause, even that would be insignificant beside this tremendous reward. This is why, after witnessing Allah’s reward and the excellence of His recompense, the martyrs wish only to be returned to this world so that they might be killed in His cause time after time.