Malfuzat – Volume II — Page 97
97 mation of Allah the Exalted, the station of martyrdom (shahadat) is not limited to this alone. I must express with regret that the Pathans of the frontier region are also foolishly obsessed with attacking British officials and in turn, they only disgrace Islam with their madness. They believe that if they kill a non-believer or someone belonging to another religion, they will be deemed as fighting in the cause of Islam, and so if they are killed, they shall be martyrs. I am also disap- pointed in the wretched clergy who incite these mad Pathans. They do not tell them that if a person kills someone unjustly, they are not fighting in the cause of Islam, rather they are tyrants; if they are killed in such fighting, they are not mar- tyrs, rather they die the illegitimate death of suicide, because Allah the Exalted states: 1 ِ التَّهْلُكَة بِاَيْدِيْكُمْ اِلَى تُلْقُوْا لَا And cast not yourselves into ruin with your own hands. Such people throw themselves into the hands of death themselves and thereby create disorder. I firmly believe that they are deserving of a severe punishment. In short, the common people have understood martyrdom in the limited sense that I have just mentioned, and confine the station of a Martyr to the aforementioned. However, in my view, the deeper reality of a Martyr, irrespective of whether or not their body is physically cut down or not, is something quite different. It is a state that relates to the heart. Bear in mind that one who sits at the rank of the Truthful enjoys nearness to the Prophet and is second in line after him; a Martyr bears resemblance in nature to the Truthful. Now a Prophet possesses all of these excellences; in other words, a Prophet is from among the Truthful, he is also from among the Martyrs and from among the Righteous as well. However, the sta- tion of the Truthful is distinct from that of a Martyr. There is no need to engage in a debate on whether the Truthful are also Martyrs or not. At both of these two ranks, the station of excellence that a person attains, which in every respect is deemed to be extraordinary and miraculous, is different in level and degree. Therefore, Allah the Exalted bestows upon a Martyr the strength which enables them to perform excellent deeds and morals in the most complete and purest sense, without any forced effort. No fear or expectation spurs these good deeds, rather, they become a part of their very nature and disposition. The nature of such a one need not strain themselves to do good. For example, if a beggar were to ap- 1 al-Baqarah , 2:196