Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:154

(And do not say) is conjoined to (And seek help), etc., and is intended to clarify that there is no calamity in that which is commanded, and that the martyrdom which patience may lead to is an eternal life.

(To those who are killed in the way of Allah), that is, in His obedience and for the exaltation of His word, and they are the martyrs. The "lam" (in "li-man") is for causation, not for notification, because they did not notify the martyrs of their statement: (Dead), meaning they are dead.

(Nay, they are alive) That is, rather, they are alive. The clause is conjoined to "Do not say" as a rejection of it; it is not a conjunction of a noun to a noun such that it would be within the scope of the "saying," which would make the meaning "Say: they are alive." Although that is also correct, the intended meaning is to establish their life, not to command them to say that they are alive.

(But you do not perceive) Meaning: You do not sense nor grasp what their state is through the senses, because these are among the conditions of the Barzakh (the barrier/isthmus between death and resurrection), which cannot be witnessed and for which there is no path to knowledge except through revelation.

There is disagreement regarding this life. Many of the Salaf (predecessors) held that it is a real life of both spirit and body, but we do not perceive it in this existence. They argue based on the context of His saying, the Exalted: (With their Lord, provided for), and that spiritual life alone, without the body, is not specific to them, and thus they would have no distinction over others.

Others held that it is spiritual, and that the fact that they are provided for does not contradict this. It is narrated from al-Hasan that the martyrs are alive with Allah, the Exalted; their provisions are presented to their spirits, and joy and delight reach them, just as the Fire is presented to the spirits of the family of Pharaoh morning and evening, and pain reaches them. Thus, the arrival of this joy to the spirit is the provision. The distinction is not merely in the life, but in what is added to it of their exclusive proximity to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and increased joy and dignity.

Al-Balkhi held that they are absolutely devoid of actual life, and he interpreted the nominal sentence—which denotes continuity encompassing all times from the moment of death to infinity—as being non-literal. He said: The meaning of "Nay, they are alive" is that they will be brought to life on the Day of Resurrection and be rewarded with the best of rewards. The verse is in the same vein as: (Indeed, the righteous will be in bliss, and indeed, the wicked will be in Hellfire). The benefit of such a declaration is to refute the polytheists, who said: "The companions of Muhammad are killing themselves and leaving this world for nothing, wasting their lives." It is as if it were said: The matter is not as you claim; rather, they will be brought to life and rewarded.

Some maintained the life is metaphorical, referring to the beautiful mention and glorious praise they attained. As narrated from Ali—may Allah ennoble his face—"The hoarders of wealth have perished, while the scholars remain as long as time remains; their physical bodies are lost, but their effects exist in hearts."

It is narrated from al-Asamm that the intent of "death" and "life" is misguidance and guidance. That is: Do not say they are dead in religion, astray from the straight path; rather, they are alive through obedience, fulfilling its burdens.

It is not hidden that these opinions, except for the first two, are extremely weak, indeed they are the height of falsehood. The popular view is the preference for the first opinion, which is attributed to Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Mujahid, al-Hasan, Amr ibn Ubayd, Wasil ibn Ata, al-Jubba'i, al-Rummani, and a group of commentators. However, they differed as to what is meant by "the body."

It is said: It is this very body whose structure was demolished by killing; and it is not difficult for Allah, the Exalted, to cause a life to dwell in it which is the cause of sensation and perception, even if we see it as decayed remains cast upon the earth that neither moves nor shows any signs of life. For it has come in the Hadith that the believer has his grave widened for him the length of his sight, and it is said to him, "Sleep like the sleep of a bride," even though we do not witness this, for the Barzakh is a different Barzakh, isolated from our minds and the perception of our faculties.

It is also said: It is a different body in the form of a bird, in which the spirit attaches. They used as evidence what Abd al-Razzaq narrated from Abdullah ibn Ka'b ibn Malik, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "The spirits of the martyrs are in the forms of green birds, suspended in the lanterns of Paradise until Allah returns them on the Day of Resurrection." This does not contradict what Malik, Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi (who graded it authentic), al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah narrated from Ka'b ibn Malik: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: The spirits of the martyrs are in the bellies of green birds, which feed from the fruits of Paradise or its trees," nor what Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Ibn Mas'ud as a marfu' (raised) hadith: "The spirits of the martyrs are with Allah in the crops of green birds, which roam in the rivers of Paradise wherever they wish, then seek shelter in lanterns beneath the Throne." For their being in the bellies or in the crops is compatible with their being in those forms, for the beholder sees only the latter.

It is said: It is a different body in the image of their bodies in this world, such that if a person were to see one of them, he would say, "I saw so-and-so." Some of the Imamiyyah held this view, and they argued based on what Abu Ja'far narrated, with an isnad to Yunus ibn Zabyan, who said: "I was sitting with Abu Abdullah, and he said: 'What do the people say about the spirits of the believers?' I said: 'They say they are in the crops of green birds in lanterns beneath the Throne.' Abu Abdullah said: 'Exalted is Allah! The believer is more honorable to Allah than to have his spirit placed in the crop of a green bird. When Allah takes the soul of the believer, He places his spirit in a frame like his frame in the world, so they eat and drink. When a newcomer arrives, they recognize him by that form which he had in the world.'" The direction of the argument is that if the intent of "believers" is the martyrs, it is clear; and if the intent is all those who believed, then the state of the martyrs is known from it a fortiori.

In my view, life in the Barzakh is established for everyone who dies, whether a martyr or otherwise. And although spirits are substances existing by themselves, distinct from the body that is felt, there is no impediment to their attachment to a barzakhi body different from this dense body. This is not the reincarnation (tanasukh) held by the people of error; for that would only be the case if they did not return to their original bodies, whereas the return occurs in the dwelling of Paradise. Indeed, even if we were to say they do not return to their original bodies and insisted upon a return to a body similar to that which was in the world—comprising the essential, original, speech-capable parts or otherwise—that would still not entail reincarnation, because the advocates of reincarnation said it in a way that denied the Resurrection and the Hereafter, establishing the eternity of the world of generation and corruption.

The spirits of the martyrs have this attachment established for them in a way that distinguishes them from others—either in the very nature of the attachment, or in the life itself (based on the view that life is a "graded" concept rather than a "uniform" one), or in the very entity to which they are attached, along with the joy, pleasure, and grace befitting them.

That which the heart leans towards is that those bodies have a complete formal resemblance to these bodies, while the materials are different and the parts are distinct; for there is a difference between the two realms, and the distance between the two Barzakhs is vast. It is possible to interpret the "bird" hadiths as a simile for these tender, soft bodies—in their speed of movement and their going wherever they wish—to green birds; and "form" (surah) is interpreted as "attribute" (sifah), just as it was interpreted in the hadith, "Allah created Adam in the image (surah) of the Most Merciful." Abu Abdullah's rejection—may Allah be pleased with him—of what preceded is interpreted as rejecting what the commoners understand from the apparent wording. For the sake of further clarification befitting the commoners of his time, he shifted to an expression from which no taint of absurdity could be perceived, as is perceived from the apparent meaning of the hadith. Some scholars even interpreted "in" (fi) as "on" ('ala), which is either feigned ignorance or actual ignorance—that the smallness or narrowness of the container, if it existed, would not harm the spirit nor contradict its bliss—or the assumption that that form has a spirit other than the martyr's spirit, and thus two spirits could not occupy it; but the matter is otherwise than they think.

If you wish, you may say that the spirit itself manifests in a form, for spirits are of the utmost subtlety and possess the power of incarnation, as is indicated by the appearance of the Trustworthy Spirit (Gabriel)—peace be upon him—in the form of Dihyah al-Kalbi—may Allah be pleased with him.

As for the opinion regarding the life of this decayed body, despite the destruction of its structure, the dispersal of its parts, and the departure of its form—although this is not far from the power of Him who begins creation then repeats it—there is no great need for it, nor is there any added virtue or significant grace in it. Rather, there is nothing in it but causing the weak among the believers to fall into doubts and delusions, and obligating them without need to believe in something that its proponents consider the folly of dreams. What is narrated about the witnessing of some martyrs who were killed hundreds of years ago, and that to this day their wounds bleed if the bandages are removed, is among the things narrated by Hayyan ibn Bayan, and it is nothing but a myth and speech that bears witness against those who believe in it due to its sheer absurdity.

Furthermore, forbidding the believers from saying that the martyrs are dead is either to repel the suggestion of their equality with others in that Barzakh—and that is a specific characteristic for them, even if some of the favored servants of Allah, of whom this is said, share with them in the bliss, or perhaps even exceed them—or it is to protect them from uttering a word spoken by the enemies of religion and the hypocrites regarding those noble ones, intending by it that they were deprived of bliss and would never see it. The verse does not contain a prohibition against attributing death to them entirely, such that they never tasted it even for the blink of an eye; otherwise, the Exalted would have said: "And do not say, to those who are killed in the way of Allah: You have died." Since He turned away from that to what you see, it is known that they were distinguished, after they were killed, by a life befitting them, which prevents it from being said regarding them: "They are dead."

The Exalted turned away from "killed" (qutilu), which is used in Al Imran, to "are being killed" (yuqtalu), seeking exaggeration in the prohibition. The emphasis of the action in that Surah stands in the place of this shift here, as has been established by some of our contemporary noble scholars. The verse was revealed, as Ibn Mandah narrated from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with him—regarding the martyrs of Badr, and they were fourteen in number: eight from the Ansar and six from the Muhajirun—may Allah be pleased with them all.