Martyr’s sins forgiven except debt

📖Sahih Muslim 1886
Abdullah ibn Amr reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The martyr is forgiven for every sin except debt.”

The Prophet ﷺ said “every sin” to show the immense honor and forgiveness Allah grants to a martyr. But this hadith must be read in the light of the Qur’an and other teachings of Islam. His words “all sins” do not give a license to commit crimes or cancel out what Allah has already forbidden with clear punishments.

In Islam, there is a difference between:

• Lesser and personal sins (like neglecting worship or mistakes of weakness): These can be forgiven by Allah through martyrdom.
• Major sins that the Qur’an declared unforgivable without repentance (like shirk), or crimes with fixed punishments (hudud) such as murder, rape, and adultery: These are not wiped away simply by martyrdom, because the Qur’an itself has set their rulings.

So when the Prophet ﷺ said “every sin,” it means the personal sins of a believer that can be forgiven by Allah’s mercy, not those crimes that involve violating the rights of others or what Allah has declared as boundaries of justice.

Related articles: Hadith on Settling Debts for the Deceased

Quranic Context:

📖Quran 4:48
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills.
→ This shows not every sin is automatically forgiven. Shirk is never wiped out without repentance.

📖Quran 4:93
Whoever kills a believer intentionally—his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and prepared for him a great punishment.
→ A warning that murder is not something forgiven by martyrdom, since Allah has set its ruling.

📖Quran 5:45
And We ordained for them in it: a life for a life… but if anyone remits retaliation by way of charity, it will be an expiation for him.
→ Rights of people remain until forgiven or compensated.

📖Quran 39:53
Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”
→ Allah can forgive any sin with repentance, but this forgiveness comes under His command and justice.

The hadith emphasizes the honor of martyrs and Allah’s mercy on them. But it must be understood with the Qur’an: “every sin” refers to lesser and personal sins, not to shirk or the major crimes that Allah has already placed punishments for. Martyrdom does not cancel justice; it is a special forgiveness for the believer’s shortcomings that were between him and Allah.