“We asked ‘Abdullah [ibn Mas‘ud] about this verse: ‘Do not think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision.’ He said, ‘Indeed, we asked about that, and he said …’” Then he cited it.

The wording is that of Muslim, while the additional wording is that of al-Tirmidhi, who said: “A good, authentic hadith.”

I say: It is a report attributed to the Prophet in the form of one attributed to the Companion. Although the Prophet is not explicitly mentioned in it, it unquestionably carries the ruling of a report attributed to the Prophet, for two reasons. First, his statement, “We asked about that, and he said,” can refer only to the Prophet, since he was their point of reference for clarifying whatever was unclear or obscure to them. Second, the account in the hadith of the martyrs’ rank with Allah, His addressing them and their reply, and their request that He return their souls to their bodies—all this cannot be said on the basis of personal opinion.

For this reason, al-Nawawi said in his Commentary on Muslim: “This hadith is attributed to the Prophet because of his words, ‘Indeed, we asked about that, and he said’—meaning, the Prophet.”

A third point is that part of it has been transmitted as a report attributed to the Prophet in the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), recorded by Ahmad (1/266) and authenticated by al-Hakim (2/297–298), with al-Dhahabi concurring. I discussed it in Takhrij al-Tahawiyyah (p. 393) and al-Mishkat (3853).

It seems that, for the reasons we have mentioned, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) felt warranted in explicitly attributing it to the Prophet. He cited it in Majmu‘ al-Fatawa (4/224–225), from Muslim’s narration, with the wording: