"Surely Allah has bought from the believers their person and their property - theirs in return is the Garden. They fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain. It is a promise binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Quran. And who is more faithful to his promise than Allah? Rejoice, therefore, in your bargain which you have made. That is the mighty achievement. Those who turn to Allah, who serve Him, who praise Him, who fast, who bow down, who prostrate themselves, who enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil, and who keep to the limits prescribed by Allah" (9:111-112).

At the end, the passage above mentions the qualities to be possessed and displayed by those who strive in Allah's way. This throws much light on the concept of who is a mujahid and shaheed (martyr).

Unfortunately, it is popularly believed that a soldier of a Muslim country's armed forces is what is meant by a mujahid, and if he is killed in action he becomes a shaheed. This verse negates such ideas. No one can be a mujahid unless he leads a life in which he shows these qualities (of turning to God, serving Him, etc.). To be a shaheed is to die, or be killed, while leading a life of struggle for the cause of Islam, a life in which these qualities were constantly displayed.

suicide bombers do NOT go to heaven
what a debate-?!!
Astagfirullah!!

This is horrific and it's the twisted Wahhabi like mentality that justifies such dar al harb and dar al islam ideologies....

When you get a chnace please read 'no God, but God' by Reza Aslan.

Assalaamu alaykum

The Quran was revealed for all of mankind:

The Qur'an was revealed as a guide for all of mankind:
"God! there is no God but He, - the Living, the Self - Subsisting, Eternal. It is He Who sent down to you in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; As a guide to mankind, and He sent down the Criterion (of judgement between right and wrong). (Qur'an 3:2-3)

We all know that suicide is haram and that murder is haram. Yet none of us knows who will go to Jannah and who will go to Jahannum, for Allah swt is the best of Judges.

Wa salaam!

I seriously fail to see how the words of the Qur'an and RasulAllah given below (agree upon by consensus to be authentic) can allow ANYONE to think that suicide bombings, which not only kills innocent men, women, children, the infirm, and Muslims, but mutilates their bodies in inhabited cities, can be considered "martyrdom," for any reason. So the idea of martyrdom and the rules laid down for it do still exist and are universal.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's and the Prophet's (saw) words on martyrs... and these hold for all time:

"Allah has made reward fall according to his intention. What do you consider dying a martyr to be?" They said, "Death in the way of Allah."

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "There are seven kinds of rnartyr other than those killed in the way of Allah. Someone who is killed by the plague is a martyr, someone who drowns is a martyr, someone who dies of pleurisy is a martyr, someone who dies of a disease of the belly is a martyr, someone who dies by fire is a martyr, someone who dies under a falling building is a martyr and a woman who dies in childbirth is a martyr."

Notice that someone who dies of a fire is a martyr? This means suicide bomber's victims are martyrs.

How do we know that suicide bombers aren't also martyrs?

Because of the following:

"Whoever commits suicide with the help of a certain object, is going to be tortured with it in the Hereafter."

"whoever killed himself with a weapon, will go to Hell holding this weapon in his hand and will keep on striking at his belly for eternity."

"And do not kill yourselves, Allah is Most Merciful to you. As for anyone who does that out of enmity and wrongdoing,We will roast him in a Fire. That is an easy matter for Allah." (Qur?an : 4. 29-30)

"As for anyone who kills a mumin deliberately, his repayment is Hell, remaining in it timelessly, for ever. Allah is angry with him and has cursed him,and has prepared for him a terrible punishment." (Qur?an : 4. 92)

I read once that 3/4 of the victims are Muslim.



Yahya related from Malik from Nafi from Ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw the corpse of a woman who had been slain in one of the raids, and he disapproved of it and *forbade* the killing of women and children.


Abu Bakr advised Yazid, ?You will find a people who claim tohave totally given themselves to Allah. Leave them to what they claim to have given themselves... strike with the sword.? ?I advise you ten things: Do not kill women or children or an aged, infirm person. Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. Do not destroy an inhabited place..."

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz wrote to one of his governors, ?It has been passed down to us that when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent out a raiding party, he would say to them, ?Make your raids in the name of Allah in the way of Allah. Do not mutilate and do not kill children.? Say the same to your armies and raidingparties, Allah willing. Peace be upon you.? (Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik: 21.3.9-11)

I agree, only God knows who is a martyr and who's not, but He also told us that someone who is will enter Jannah with a free ticket. Absolutely no person can say who is or isn't going to Jannah (that would be pure arrogance), but Muslims can say, according to the Qur'an, which actions Allah swt told us would lead to paradise or hellfire. And I agree no one knows the reasons for someone's actions, or what is in that person's heart, except that person and Allah swt. But the Qur'an tells us that a person will go to heaven if that person is murdered while conducting an honest jihad and following all the rules of it while having a heart with pure intentions.

So ya, only Allah swt can make these decisions, and Allah swt (for those who believe that Nabi Muhammad is a Prophet) stated through him that suicide is a straight ticket to hellfire (unless of course God chooses to save that soul from it, because He can do whatever He wants).

Wahhabis aren't the only ones who speak against bid'a. All sincere Muslims do, and Sufis do quite a bit, contrary to the myths people propagate. Wahhabis do have unique and extreme definitions of it, though. From my studies, and the studies of the scholars I follow, there is good bid'a and there is bad bid'a, and Prophet Muhammad outlined which is which. Wahhabis make just about everything bad bid'a and seem to have no problem telling people that they're going to hell, which is arrogance and extremism, which the Prophet warned us about (Hadith -- "I warn you of extremism in the Religion for indeed those that came before you were destroyed due to their extremism in the religion").

Check out www.livingislam.org for the definition of bid'a that the early Muslims passed on to us. There are some very good actions that were said to be loved by Allah swt (according to the Qur'an and Sunnah) that Wahhabis now condemn.

Also the gates of ijtihad can only be opened by those who are qualified. Denying the major schools of law and condemning those who follow the words of devout scholars by falsely calling them 'idolators' is not ijtihad.

" Martyrs *of all time* are destined for heaven."

So who decides who is a Martyr? Who decides that someone is acting through deen or through dunya? Only God knows this. Sometimes the person in question does not even know. I don't think anyone today can tell another that you will go to heaven as a martyr if you do such and such.

"So this part of the Qur'an IS Universal. The problem is that the label of martyr is being placed upon people THAT ARE NOT shahids... that commit a sin so great that they are actually Islamically destined for hellfire, unless Allah swt chooses otherwise of course. Fi amanullah"

It maybe universal, but I don't know anyone qualified to make these decisions.

"Wahhabis do not follow orthodox jurisprudence and believe every Muslim with any amount of education can interpret Islam independently, so they are very open to misinterpretations of the Qur'an's violent verses."

I think I see how this can be so, but isn't it also wahhabis that speak out against bida, and not opening the gates of ijtihad?

Elle 79 I can understand your frustration, I also feel the same way,Terrorists have attacked again, and this time at the center of our world, New York City and Washington DC. It is a deplorable and horrendous act that can never be condoned by any God fearing people. Like many other attacks in the past, the terrorists are linked to groups that abuse the name and laws falsely attributed to Islam to commit crimes that are abhorred and strongly condemned by God in the Quran.
While all the known religions of the world call for love, peace, tolerance, freedom of belief and mutual understanding, many of the terrorists' acts are committed in this world by people who consider themselves religious.
They commit a gross sin, then say, "We found our parents doing this, and GOD has commanded us to do it." Say, "GOD never advocates sin. Are you saying about GOD what you do not know?"
Like all the other religions of God, Islam promotes peace, love and harmony among the people. Actually the word "Islam" in addition to meaning submission (to God), is also derived from the Arabic word Salaam (peace). The Muslims greet other people by saying Salaam (Peace be upon you) The religion of Islam , advocates freedom, peace and mutual agreement and admonishes aggression.

... sorry, I can't sleep, writing a lot... I think the problem is that too many Muslims are mixing political dunya with deen. The two overlap, but are not the same.

Overly politicized, power-hungry Muslims (mainly of the Wahhabi branch) adopted suicide bombings from Japanese kamikazes and the Tamil Tigers (mostly Hindu in Sri Lanka). It is used as a guerilla tactic and has no origins in Islam.

I think the disagreement is between Muslims who value this world over the next (and are therefore prone to commit suicide for a piece of land) and those who prefer to actually follow their religion. Wahhabis do not follow orthodox jurisprudence and believe every Muslim with any amount of education can interpret Islam independently, so they are very open to misinterpretations of the Qur'an's violent verses.

Also, I heard that those who perpetrated 9/11 were out the night before at strip bars, drinking. These are the "Muslims" that go to heaven? AstughifirAllah. A'oudu billahi mina shaytaan ar-Rajeem.

p.s. The parts of the Qur'an that are not universal in this regard are the parts that say to smite the necks of non-believers. All of these parts referred to specific battles that were waged for rightful humanitarian reasons. They also preface by saying only to fight those who fight you and to cease all hostilities asap. So Muslims aren't supposed to fight non-believers for all time... only those who clearly oppress us. And civilians are not considered oppressors. Saddam Hussein, however, is.

Martyrs *of all time* are destined for heaven. The issue is that anyone, whether that person claims to be Muslim or not, who intentionally takes an innocent life, is not a shahid (Muslim martyr). That person is a murderer, and through hadith and Sunnah is said to no longer be Muslim (except upon sincere lifelong repentance, of course).

Martyrs in the Qur'an were people who fought bravely... men who fought like men, with a code of honor, against clear tyranny, to defend their families and their freedom of religion. Female martyrs were murdered while speaking or acting against oppression. The shahids of the Qur'an did not harm civilians.

So this part of the Qur'an IS Universal. The problem is that the label of martyr is being placed upon people THAT ARE NOT shahids... that commit a sin so great that they are actually Islamically destined for hellfire, unless Allah swt chooses otherwise of course. Fi amanullah.

Islam condemns suicide as much as it condemns oppression and aggression against others. While the Muslims are commanded to stand for their rights and defend themselves, their properties and their freedom they are told to first resort to peace advocate tolerance and disregard the ignorant. The following verses from the Quran show how the Quran describes suicide, such an important issue in our life that was made the center of the conflict in the Middle East lately.
You shall spend in the cause of GOD; do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction. You shall be charitable; GOD loves the charitable.
O you who believe, do not consume each others' properties illicitly - only mutually acceptable transactions are permitted. You shall not kill yourselves. GOD is Merciful towards you.
Anyone who commits these transgressions, maliciously and deliberately, we will condemn him to Hell. This is easy for GOD to do.
As the verses quoted above show, God, no excuse given under any circumstances, condemns suicide in any form. The Quran does not promise Heaven (Paradise) to those who commit suicide but rather warn of condemnation to Hell. The promise of paradise or of virgin wives in Heaven for those suicide bombers and those who kill the innocent civilians has no basis in Islam and cannot be found anywhere in the Quran.