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Are the civilians killed in Gaza considered martyrs of battle, and does the same ruling apply to them even if some of them are not religiously observant?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Whoever dies among Muslims due to fighting belligerent disbelievers is considered a martyr and attains the reward of martyrdom, even if they were not religiously observant. This is evidenced by Allah's forgiveness of the martyr's sins, except for debt. The ruling of martyrdom applies to men and women, and to the righteous and the wicked. A martyr is defined, in Islamic law, as one killed by people of war and rebellion, or highwaymen, or one found in battle with a wound, or from whose eyes, ears, or abdomen blood flowed, or who bears traces of burning, or was trampled by an enemy's animal, or whose animal bolted and killed him, or was stabbed and thrown into water or fire, or thrown from a wall, or had a wall dropped on him, or had fire thrown at him, or water sent to him resulting in burning or drowning, or burned in a ship due to the enemy's throwing fire.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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