Tafsir of Al Imran 3:143

"And you had certainly wished for death..."

This is addressed to those who did not witness Badr and were wishing to attend a battle alongside the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) so they might attain the honor of martyrdom that the martyrs of Badr had attained. They were the ones who insisted that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) go out to meet the polytheists, while his opinion was to remain in Medina. It means: You wished for death before you witnessed it and knew its intensity and the difficulty of enduring it.

"...before you met it, and now you have seen it while you are looking on."

Meaning: You saw it with your own eyes, witnessing it when those of your brothers and relatives were killed before you, and you were on the verge of being killed yourselves.

This is a rebuke to them for their wishing for death, for the cause they created by insisting the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) go out, and then for their subsequent flight from him and their lack of steadfastness beside him.

If you ask: How is it permissible to wish for martyrdom when wishing for it implies wishing for the disbeliever to overcome the Muslim?

I say: The one who wishes for martyrdom intends only to attain the honor of the martyrs. Their mind does not go toward that implication. It is like one who drinks the medicine of a Christian physician, intending only to obtain the hoped-for cure; it does not cross their mind that this involves benefiting an enemy of Allah or promoting his trade.

Abdullah ibn Rawahah (may Allah be pleased with him) said when he set out for Mu'tah and was told, "May Allah return you [safely]":

But I ask the Most Merciful for forgiveness, And a strike with a sword that leaves a gushing wound, spraying foam, Or a thrust by the hand of a thirsty man, equipped With a spear that pierces the entrails and the liver, So that when they pass by my grave, they will say: "May Allah guide you, O warrior, for you have indeed been guided."