PA minister explains value of Shahada - Martyrdom death for Allah

PA Minister of Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash:‬ “After prophecy and righteousness there is no status Allah has exalted more than Shahada (Martyrdom)... ‘‘And think not of those who have been killed in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord.’ Allah forbade us to consider them [the Shahids (Martyrs)] (as dead or to speak of them as being dead… They went smiling to their deaths… The Shahid has merit with Allah, a merit that no one else has... No one - not even the righteous - yearns to return to this world after death. Only Shahids. Why? Because they see the great honor Allah has prepared for them. One of them aspired to return to this world in order to be killed again, in order to die as a Shahid yet again… Allah spoke with one of them (a Shahid), Jabir ibn Abdullah... After all he saw in Paradise, he wanted to return and be killed [again] in order to taste the pain of death a second time. Abdullah said to Him: ‘Lord, then tell those who follow us about what we have found.’ Allah Himself is conveying to us the message from the Shahids. The prophets convey Allah’s message and Allah conveys the message of the Shahids. What kindness! ‘The Shahid - his sins are forgiven with the first gush of his blood from his wound... The Shahid advocates on behalf of 70 members of his family, and saves them all from hell. The Shahid lives together with the prophets and the righteous ones.’ When they threatened Yasser Arafat, [he said] ‘You threaten me with death? I yearn to die! I come only to it; I seek only it.’ We will never reach the level of the prophets. We won’t. So let us reach the level of the Shahids. I say to you, brothers, as the Prophet [Muhammad] said: ‘He who honestly seeks Shahada, Allah will give him the status of the Shahids, even if he dies in his bed.’” [Official PA TV, Nov. 8, 2013] ”Brothers, Allah willing, only ‘one of the two best things’ (Quran) will happen to us – victory or Shahada (Martyrdom) – and what a great fate this is, what a great rank this is – victory or Shahada.” [Official PA TV, Dec. 20, 2013]