Who is a “martyr of the homeland”

Question

If some Muslim was killed in the war of independence, will [the term] “martyr in the Shari‘a sense” apply to him or not? And can he be one to whom the mentioned verse applies: [ar]وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ لِمَن يُقْتَلُ[/ar] “And do not say of those who are killed…” (the verse) (Surah al-Baqara, 2:154) — or not? Zayd says that this fight was not between kufr and Islam but was for freeing the country, therefore he cannot be called a martyr in the Shari‘a sense, and the mentioned verse can by no means apply to him.

Answer

If that war was fought under the rulings of Islam — [with the aim] that, by ending the dominion of the English, Islam be raised high — then those killed in it are martyrs in the Shari‘a sense. Non-martyrs should not be joined with martyrs. Since that respected ‘alim is not a martyr, why should it be said that he has joined the “martyrs of the homeland”?

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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