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Is the life of Barzakh for a martyr different from that of an ordinary deceased person?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The souls of believers are blessed in the Barzakh (interim period between death and resurrection), but the souls of martyrs have a special merit. They are in the crops of green birds, roaming Paradise and nesting in lamps suspended from the ceiling of the Throne of the Most Merciful. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about the verse: "And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision." He informed that their souls are inside green birds, eating from the fruits of Paradise and drinking from its rivers, and they wish to return to the world to be killed in the cause of Allah once again. The martyr has six special merits with Allah, among them: the forgiveness of his sins, seeing his abode in Paradise, salvation from the torment of the grave and the terror of the Day of Judgment, being married to the houri (wide-eyed virgins), and his intercession for seventy of his relatives. As for the soul of the believer, it becomes a bird that clings to a tree in Paradise until Allah returns it to its body on the Day of Resurrection.

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

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