Who Is Superior: the Martyr or One Who Died a Year After Him?

Question

One man is martyred. Another man (who performs the prayer) dies a year later. This second man will enter Paradise before the martyr. Is this hadith authentic?

Answer

Whatever righteous deeds the martyr performed, his chain of deeds was closed and ended with his martyrdom — even though it ended in martyrdom, which is a most exalted thing. But the man who, for a whole year after that, performed righteous deeds (prayer and so on) — it is evident that what he stored up over a whole year is not something trifling that can be disregarded.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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