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Following are excerpts from addresses by several Egyptian clerics on the subject of the love of death and of martyrdom. The programs aired on Al-Rahma TV and Al-Nas TV on January 2, 8, and 11, 2009.
Al-Rahma TV, January 2, 2009
Egyptian cleric Hazem Shuman: Why do we hate death? We do not avoid or fear death. We avoid and fear only the Hellfire.
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Do you want to enter Paradise? Of course you do. We all do. You will never enter Paradise until you die. Do you love the Prophet Muhammad? You love him very much. Me too. You will never get to see him or hug him until you die.
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The reason for the 1967 defeat, for the 1948 calamity, for the loss of all our lands, for the fall of Baghdad, for the occupation, for Darfur, for the problems in South Sudan, for the colonialism that lasted throughout the 20th century is our hatred of death. Sheik Amin and I reached the TV station together, and without arranging this in advance, we decided to come here to fight the hatred of death. We must love death, just like the companions of the Prophets.
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Dying means meeting Allah, so why do we fear death and martyrdom? We watch the martyrs in Gaza... We are not saddened by their deaths, because they are martyrs. We are sad only about the humiliating way they were killed, and about the humiliating circumstances in which we live. We do not hate martyrdom.
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Sheik Nizar Rayan, may he rest in peace, who was killed in Gaza along with his wives and his nine children, preferred to remain in his home, even though he knew it would be bombed. I talked to Sheik Amin on our way here, and he said something nice. He said: If he had left his home, could he be sure he would live? The man is under siege, living in distress, in pain, in hunger, and in thirst, with his wives and children in anxiety. All of a sudden, the background changes, and they find themselves in Paradise. They are reborn, together, in a different kind of beauty and happiness. Can you imagine this? The aim of his program... Sheik Amin and I have come to wage Jihad against... It’s like in medicine. A sick man might have 1,000 problems in his body –in his hands, chest, heart, lungs, stomach, legs, and joints – but all these problems were caused by a single virus. The virus that afflicts our nation is the hatred of death, people.
The thing that most astounded and amazed the enemies of Islam, when they faced the armies of Islam... This was discussed extensively in the Hadith: We have met people who love death as much as we love life.
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The martyr gains martyrdom for the sake of Allah. He is absolved with the first drop of blood. There are five liters of blood in the body. If someone’s heart is cut open – will those five liters flow out immediately? No. With the first drop of blood, you are absolved, and surely with the next drops, there will be other blessings. With every drop of blood that drains from your body for the sake of Islam and God, you get blessings, the firs of which is that you don’t owe anything anymore - all your debts and bills are covered.
The martyr... Tonight, we want to look at death in a different light. When we look at a martyr, we see him lying on the ground, his blood flowing, but the martyr sees things differently. He feels like a released prisoner. How does a prisoner feel toward his prison after his release? It’s the place he hates most. How does a fetus feel after leaving his mother’s womb towards that dark tiny room – the womb? Is it conceivable that he would want to go back to that suffocating place? That is how someone who has left this world feels. I hope that Allah will take us from this world as martyrs.
He is absolved with the first drop of blood, and sees his seat in Paradise. When he dies, it’s not that the Grim Reaper appears by his head. His death is like a movie, in which he sees images of Paradise. He sits and watches these images, and his soul ascends to Allah. When Abraham died, the angels gave him sweet basil to smell, and his soul departed. A man smells a beautiful flower – a flower from Allah, not from this world – and he meets God. How can we possibly fear death? This fear of death must stop.
Al-Rahma TV, January 2, 2009
Egyptian cleric Sheik Ayman Sayda: Allah absolves the martyr with the first drop of his blood.
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You do not feel the blows of the sword on your body, or the bombs, or the missiles from airplanes. Not at all. Allah turns the sword blows and the bombs into angel kisses on the body of the martyr. The angels kiss you, man. Imagine an angel kissing you on the forehead, and if it is a little boy, the angels take him straight to Paradise. What do we live for? We should be crying over us, the living. We congratulate the relatives of whoever died for the sake of Allah. We congratulate these [martyrs] themselves.
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There are black-eyed virgins ready for you. The martyr gets at least two of the virgins of Paradise, and they embrace the martyr. Imagine a black-eyed virgin embracing the martyr. While people carry the body to be buried, a black-eyed virgin is embracing him. We’re talking black-eyed virgins, man! All you guys who are looking for the women and girls of this world... True, a righteous woman is a good thing, but the martyr gets something even more valuable – a black-eyed virgin. Do you know what a black-eyed virgin is? When she laughs, she overshadows the light of the sun and the moon. She has beautiful laughter. Sometimes you hear or see girls or women with beautiful laughter. Imagine – when the black-eyed virgin laughs, she overshadows the light of the sun and the moon. Who wants to get married? Who wants black-eyed virgins?
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A black-eyed virgin, man. When she smiles, she overshadows the light of the sun and the moon. If she were to spit into a raging salty sea, like the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, or the Red Sea, the raging salty seas would turn into sweet water – just from her spit.
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Immediately after that, the martyr is spared the torments of the grave. The grave... The grave... Even if there were no other torments, the grave would be enough. The grave... May God spare me and you. The martyr is spared these torments. Sorrow and pain is the lot of those who live.
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Then, he is married off to 72 virgins of Paradise. Allah Akbar – 72 virgins of Paradise. I have already described them to you. They greet him with singing, with beautiful words, such as: Oh friend of Allah, I have never seen anyone as perfect and handsome as you. I wish women would learn from the virgins of Paradise.
Al-Nas TV, January 11, 2009
Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi: When I wake up in the morning, I check on the number of martyrs to know how much happiness there is in heaven and on earth. I do not wake up to see how many of us have been killed. No, I wake up to see how many bridegrooms have been wedded in the heavens, how many brides have been wedded in the heavens. I do not wake up in the morning to see how many children have been killed. I wake up to see how many children will vouch for their relatives. I wake up in the morning to see how many children will remain children forever. I wake up in the morning to see how many children will carry jugs of water to the sink of the Messenger of Allah. The blood of the martyrs shines light upon everything between heaven and earth. I want to know the number of martyrs and the number of wounded, in order to know how many liters of the blood of believers has been spilled, how many liters of the blood of believers have been spilled on the land of Gaza, increasing its purity, cleanliness, and honor.
Al-Nas TV, January 8, 2009
Egyptian cleric Sheik Salam Abd Al-Qawi: Hating the enemies of Allah is very important. We must teach our children, our youngsters, our brothers, and all the Muslims to hate the accursed Zionist Jews. Why not? They teach their children to hate us. Our hatred of the Jews is based upon our faith. The Koran tells us to hate them, not to love them.
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We must teach our children to obey Allah, to obey the Prophet Muhammad, and to hate the Jews, the Zionists, and what the Zionists are planning. We must raise them on the Koranic verses that call to fight and wage Jihad for the sake of Allah. We want to raise our children to love Jihad for the sake of Allah. We must teach our children that death for the sake of Allah is our most lofty goal.
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We want to make our children love Jihad for the sake of Allah, to teach them what sacrifice is, what it means to love Jihad for the sake of Allah. We too, as fathers, must learn this. The peak of my happiness as a father is to raise a martyr, and to sacrifice him in the battleground of Jihad for the sake of Allah. The peak of my happiness would be to do what the Prophet’s companions did. Every mother should raise her son, and nurse him – together with her milk – with the love of Jihad for the sake of Allah, with the love of Paradise.
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What kind of honor, glory, and status can a mother wish for her son which is better than Paradise? Is there anything better than this? Is there anything better than Paradise? Is there anything better than martyrdom for the sake of Allah? That is why we want to change the culture of our children’s education. Education should not be through love, spoiling, and pampering. True, these are nice things – I’m not saying you should slaughter your sons or tie them up. These are nice things, but it is even nicer to teach our children to hate the enemies.
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