Masruq says: We asked Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) about this verse: "Do not think of those who are killed in the way of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, being provided for." So Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We asked about this verse (from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The souls of the martyrs are in the bodies of green birds, inside lanterns hanging from the Throne, and they roam freely in Paradise wherever they wish, then return to their lanterns. Once, their Lord looked at them and said: Do you desire anything? They said: What more could we desire? We roam freely in Paradise wherever we wish. But their Lord, Glorified and Exalted, asked them three times. When they saw that they would not be left without making a request (i.e., their Lord kept asking), they said: O our Lord! We wish that our souls be returned to our bodies (i.e., our worldly bodies) so that we may be killed again in Your path. When their Lord saw that they had no other wish, He left them as they were.

Sayyiduna Abu Bakr bin Abdullah bin Qais narrates from his father that I heard my father saying in front of the enemy (i.e., in the battlefield) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Paradise is under the shade of swords. Upon hearing this, a poor man with worn-out clothes stood up and said, "O Abu Musa, did you (yourself) hear the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say this?" (Sayyiduna Abu Musa) said: Yes. The narrator says, upon hearing this, he went to his companions and said, "I bid you farewell," and broke the sheath of his sword, then took the sword and advanced towards the enemy, striking them with his sword until he was martyred.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Allah guarantees the one who goes out in His path, and does not go out except for jihad and believes in Allah and affirms His messengers. (Allah has said that) such a person is under My protection: either I will admit him to Paradise, or I will return him to his home with reward and spoils of war. By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), there is no wound inflicted in the path of Allah except that it will come on the Day of Resurrection in the same state as it was in the world—its color will be the color of blood, but its fragrance will be that of musk. By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), if it were not hard upon the Muslims, I would never stay behind any expedition that fights in the path of Allah. But I do not have enough means (of conveyance, etc.), nor do the Muslims have enough means (of conveyance, etc.), and if I were to go, it would be hard for some Muslims to remain behind. By Him in Whose hand is the life of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), I wish that I could fight in the path of Allah, then be killed, then fight again, then be killed, then fight again, then be killed.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: O Abu Sa'id! Whoever is pleased with Allah as his Lord, with Islam as his religion, and with Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as his Prophet, Paradise becomes obligatory for him. Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) was astonished and said, "O Messenger of Allah! Please say it again." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) repeated it and then said: There is another deed by which a servant will receive one hundred ranks in Paradise, and the distance between each rank is as great as the distance between the sky and the earth. Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) asked, "What is that deed?" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Striving in the path of Allah, striving in the path of Allah.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and asked, "Which person is the best?" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied, "The one who strives in the way of Allah with his wealth and his life." He asked, "Then who?" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied, "A believer who worships Allah in a mountain pass and keeps people safe from his harm."

Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Whoever dies without having fought in jihad or having intended to fight in jihad, dies on a branch of hypocrisy. Abdullah bin Saheem (the narrator of the hadith) says that Abdullah bin Mubarak said: We think that this hadith pertains to the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). (This is the opinion of Ibn Mubarak. Allama Albani has written that there is no evidence to restrict it to the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.)

Narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to visit Umm Haram bint Milhan, who was married to Sayyiduna Ubadah bin Samit (may Allah be pleased with him). (Because she was a mahram to the Prophet, i.e., his foster maternal aunt or the aunt of his father or grandfather.) She used to feed the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). One day, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went to her, and she fed him and began to look for lice in his head. During this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) fell asleep. Then he woke up smiling, so Umm Haram asked, "O Messenger of Allah! Why are you smiling?" He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Some people from my Ummah were shown to me, who were riding in the middle of the sea in the way of Allah, as kings ride on thrones or like kings on thrones." I said, "O Messenger of Allah! Pray to Allah that He makes me among them." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed, then he rested his head and slept again, and then woke up smiling. I asked, "Why are you smiling, O Messenger of Allah?" He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Some people from my Ummah were shown to me, who were going out for jihad," and he described as above. I said, "O Messenger of Allah! Pray to Allah that He makes me among those people." He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "You will be among the first group." Then Umm Haram bint Milhan (may Allah be pleased with her) set out by sea (to conquer the island of Cyprus) during the caliphate of Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) (which, after thirteen hundred years, the Sultan of Rome handed over to the English), and when she was about to disembark from the river, she fell from her mount and was martyred.

Sayedna Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) says that I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: Guarding for one day and night in the way of Allah is better than fasting and worshipping for a whole month, and if he dies during this, his deed will continue (i.e., its reward will not cease after death but will keep increasing; this is specific to this deed), and his provision will continue (which is given to martyrs), and he will be safe from the people of tribulation (i.e., from the trial of the angels in the grave, or the punishment of the grave, or the whisperings of Satan at the time of death).

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: To go out in the morning or evening in the path of Allah is better than the world and whatever is in it.

Sayyiduna Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I was sitting by the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when a man said: I do not care about any deed after becoming a Muslim, as long as I give water to the pilgrims. Another said: What do I care about any deed after Islam, as long as I maintain the Sacred Mosque. A third said: Jihad is better than these things. Sayyiduna ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) rebuked them and said: Do not raise your voices before the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of Jumu’ah, but after the Jumu’ah prayer I will ask the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the matter in which you have differed. Then Allah Almighty revealed this verse:“Do you consider the providing of water to the pilgrims and the maintenance of al-Masjid al-Haram as equal to the deeds of one who believes in Allah and the Last Day and strives in the way of Allah? ...”(al-Tawbah: 19) to the end of the verse.