Salaam,
Question: If a person dies from cancer, is he conidered as a shaheed? And what are the other condition to be a shaheed?
Wasalaam
Answer
Walaikumussalam w w
Shaheed is a special term used for a person who is martyred in the path of Allah Ta’ala. The root word is either ‘shuhood’ which means to witness. And a shaheed witnesses with his own eyes the ikraam and honour which Allah has reserved for him in Jannah, right at the time of his death.
Or the root word is shahadah, which means ‘to testify’. The signs of shahadah are a testimony of his sacrifice for Allah’s Deen.
Such a shaheed will not be given ghusl and they should be buried with their blood and in the same clothes in which they were killed. According to shafi’ee madh’hab, their janazah Salah will be done either, according to hanafi research their janaza Salah will prayed.
People who die with chronic illnesses are also granted a rank of Shahadah. This maybe due to the sufferings they had gone through. However this rank of Shahadah is in terms of the Aakhirah, and not of this dunya. In this dunya they will be treated like any other mayyit.
There are over 60 types of such Shaheeds.
قَالَ الْعُلَمَاءُ الْمُرَادُ بِشَهَادَةِ هَؤُلَاءِ كُلِّهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَقْتُولِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَنَّهُمْ يَكُونُ لَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ ثَوَابُ الشُّهَدَاءِ وَأَمَّا فِي الدُّنْيَا فَيُغَسَّلُونَ وَيُصَلَّى عَلَيْهِمْ. (Sharh Muslim 13/63)