The Ruling on declaring a Particular Person to be a Martyr and the Ruling on One Who dies from Drowning while He is Drunk

Question:

I have read a Hadith of Abu Hurairah, the honorable Companion, may Allah be pleased with him, from the noble Messenger in which he said:
Whom do you consider to be the martyrs among you?»

They said: "O Messenger of Allah! Whoever is killed in the way of Allah is a martyr."

He replied:
"Then the martyrs of my community are only a few. They said: "Then who, O Messenger of Allah?" He said:
"Whoever is killed in the way of Allah is a martyr, and whoever dies in the way of Allah is a martyr, and whoever dies of plague is a martyr, and whoever dies of some gastric illness is a martyr, and whoever is drowned is a martyr.

So will a person who drowned while he was drunk recorded as a martyr, bearing in mind that, according to the text of the Hadith, a person drowned is considered a martyr. We request Your Eminence to advise us.

Answer:

Before answering this question, I would like to point out that in these times the word Shaheed (martyr) has become cheap to many people, so much so that they even declare those who cannot be described as martyrs to be so; this is forbidden, for it is not permissible for one person to ascribe martyrdom to another, unless it was confirmed by the Prophet.

The testimony of the Prophet as to a person's martyrdom may be divided into two categories: The first is when he describes a particular person as being a martyr as in the authentic Hadith in which the Prophet ascended Mount Uhud with Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman. While they were on the mountain it shook, so the Prophet said:
"Stand firm, Uhud, for upon you are a Prophet, a Siddiq,and two martyrs.

So anyone whose martyrdom was specifically attested to by the Prophet, we affirm his status as a martyr, believing the testimony of the Messenger of Allah and in obedience to him in that.

The second category of those whose martyrdom was testified to by the Prophet are those to whom he referred in general terms, as in the Hadith pointed out by the questioner, in which he said that whoever was killed in the way of Allah is a martyr, and whoever dies in the way of Allah is a martyr, and whoever dies of plague is a martyr, and whoever dies of some gastric illness is a martyr, and whoever is drowned is a martyr, and others whose martyrdom is confirmed in the Hadith in general terms. Regarding this category, it is not permissible to apply it to a particular individual. We can only say: Whoever is described thus is a martyr; but we do not refer in particular to any person as a martyr, because the general description of a martyr is different from the attribution of martyrdom to a specific person. Al-Bukhari has explained this in his Sahih saying: "Chapter: It Should not be said of a Person: Shaheed." He cited as proof of this, the saying of the Prophet:
"Allah knows best who is the Mujahid in His cause.» And his words:

"And Allah knows best who is injured in His cause.

Narrated under this heading was the long, well known Hadith which tells the story of the man who was with the Prophet in a battle and he was brave, forging ahead, leaving no detached enemy fighter without pursuing him and killing him with his sword. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, extolled him in front of the Prophet. Then Al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) related the Hadith in which the Prophet said:
"A person performs the deeds which to the people appear to be the deeds befitting the dweller of Paradise, but he is in fact one of the people of Hell.

This evidence cited by Al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) in his explanation is a clear proof, for his words:
"Allah knows best who is the Mujahid in His cause.

This proves that appearances may be deceptive and that the judgements of the Hereafter will be based upon the truth, not upon appearances. The story of this man related by Al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) under this heading appears very clear, for the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, praised him according to what was apparent from his deeds, but the Prophet said to them:
He is one of the people of the Fire. »

So one of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, followed him and remained close to him. And the final action of that man was that he killed himself with his sword. Therefore, we do not judge the status of people in the Hereafter, according to appearances, we only mention the narrations in general terms and Allah knows best whether this (ruling) may be applied to this man so described (as drowning) or not. The author of Al-Fath has mentioned that 'Umar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, addressed the people saying: "You say that in your battles, so- and-so was martyred, and so-and-so died as a martyr, and it might be that he was thrown from his mount. So do not say this! Instead, say as the Messenger of Allah did:
"Whoever died in Allah's cause or was killed is a martyr.

This is what he said as is in Al-Fath and it is a Hasan Hadith. Based upon this, we testify to what was affirmed by the narration: If it was concerning a specific person, we testify to the martyrdom of that person mentioned by the Prophet. If it was in general terms, we testify to the generality of it, but we do not apply it to a specific person, because the judgement of the Hereafter is based upon truth, not upon appearances. We ask Allah, the Most High to strengthen us with firm words and to improve our hearts and our deeds.

Based upon this, in reply to the question, if a person drowns due to drunkenness is he a martyr, we say: We do not affirm for this drowned person that he is a martyr, whether he drank alcohol, became inebriated and then drowned due to his drunkenness, or he did not drink it.

As we have mentioned drunkenness, it is incumbent to know that drinking alcohol is one of the major sins and that it is an obligation upon every rational Muslim to abstain from it, as he was ordered by his Lord, the Almighty, the Majestic. Whoever drinks it until he becomes inebriated, will be flogged for the first offence and again for the second offence and again for the third offence. If he does it a fourth time, there are those among the scholars who say that he should be killed, based upon a Hadith to that effect. Others say that he should not be killed, because the Hadith is abrogated. There are others who differentiate (according to circumstances), like Shaikhul-Islam Ibn Taimiyah, who said: "He should be killed if he has been flogged three or four times and he does not cease." Shaikhul- Islam said people should be killed if they will not refrain from drinking unless they are killed. That means that if drinking becomes common among the people and they will not stop it, even after punishment, they should be killed.