Is he who is killed by the bullets of criminals and gangs while going to the mosque or work, or while guarding his neighborhood, considered a martyr, and is he washed?

Legally, a martyr (shahid) is one who is killed by belligerents, rebels, or highway robbers, or one who is unjustly killed by a Muslim and no blood money (diyah) is mandated for his death. And whoever is killed while defending himself, his property, or Muslims, or Dhimmis, by any weapon, is a martyr. His ruling is that he should not be washed, but prayed over and buried with his blood and clothes.

This is the martyr of this world. There is also the martyr of the Hereafter, which includes everyone other than those killed by disbelievers in war. Such a person is washed, shrouded, and prayed over, just like other Muslims, such as one killed unjustly, or by retaliation (qisas), or one who died from an abdominal disease (mabtun), and other martyrs, and one who abandons prayer, and the fighter (muharib) – if they are killed, they are washed and prayed over.

Therefore, whoever among Muslims is killed unjustly in clashes, we consider him a martyr with Allah Almighty in the Hereafter. However, in worldly rulings, he is washed, shrouded, and prayed over, just like other deceased Muslims.