Will a Muslim who is killed wrongfully or treacherously or as a result of his house collapsing on him be a martyr?

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

Every Muslim who is killed wrongfully will have the reward of
the martyr in the Hereafter, but in terms of this world, he is to be washed
and the funeral prayer offered for him, and he is not to be dealt with in
the same manner as one who was killed in battle.

It says in al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah (29/174):

The fuqaha’ are of the view that wrongdoing or injustice mean
that the one who is killed in such ways is deemed a martyr, but not in the
same sense as the martyr who is killed in battle with the kuffaar. Kinds of
unlawful killing include one who is killed by thieves, criminals or bandits;
one who is killed defending himself or his wealth or his life or his
religion or his family or the Muslims or ahl al-dhimmah (non-Muslims living
under Muslim rule); or one who is killed trying to prevent injustice; or one
who dies in prison who has been imprisoned unlawfully.

They differed as to whether he is regarded as a martyr in
this world and in the Hereafter, or as a martyr in the Hereafter only.

The majority of fuqaha’ were of the view that the one who is
killed unlawfully is to be regarded as a martyr in the Hereafter only. He
comes under the same ruling as the martyr in battle with the kuffaar in the
Hereafter with regard to reward, but he does not come under the same ruling
in this world, so he is to be washed (ghusl, after death) and the funeral
prayer is to be offered for him. End quote.

In order to attain the reward of the martyrs it is not
essential for the one who is killed to have been in a confrontation with
those aggressors. If they kill him unawares, then he will be deserving of
the reward of the martyrs, in sha Allaah.

Among the evidence for that is the fact that ‘Umar ibn
al-Khattaab was stabbed by Abu Lu’lu’ah al-Majoosi when he was leading the
Muslims in Fajr prayer, and ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan was killed by those who had
rebelled against him unlawfully, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allaah be upon him) described them as martyrs.

It was narrated that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased
with him) said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allaah be upon him)
climbed up Uhud, accompanied by Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthmaan, and the
mountain shook with them. He struck it with his foot and said: “Stand firm,
O Uhud, for there is no one on you but a Prophet or a Siddeeq or two
martyrs.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3483).

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said: By “Prophet” he was referring to himself, “Siddeeq” was
Abu Bakr and the “two martyrs” were ‘Umar and ‘Uthmaan, both of whom (may
Allaah be pleased with them) were slain as martyrs. ‘Umar was killed when he
was leading the Muslims in Fajr prayer, and he was killed in the mihraab.
‘Uthmaan was killed in his house. May Allaah be pleased with them both and
join us and the righteous Muslims with them in the abode of eternal bliss.
End quote.

Sharh Riyadh al-Saaliheen,
4/129, 130

Secondly:

With regard to our brothers in Gaza whose houses collapsed on
them, we hope that they will be martyrs for two reasons:

1.They were slain unlawfully

2.The Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allaah be upon him) said: “the one who is crushed beneath a falling
wall is a martyr.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2674) and Muslim (1914).

We would not be exaggerating if we add a third reason, which
is that they were killed by the kuffaar on the battlefield, so they will be
martyrs in this world and in the Hereafter, because all of Gaza was a
battlefield.

Prof. ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Gharmaan ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may
Allaah preserve him) said:

The view of the majority of Hanafis and Hanbalis, the correct
view according to the Maalikis and the view of the Shaafa’is is that the one
who is slain in war but not on the battlefield is a martyr in the general
sense, regardless of the way in which he was killed, whether he was unaware
or sleeping, whether he was engaged in fighting or not.

What seems to me to be the case — and Allaah knows best —
is that the view of the majority is correct, because there is no clear
evidence that the killing should be in battle. End quote.

Ahkaam al-Shaheed fi’l-Fiqh al-Islami,
103-106

We ask Allaah to accept them as martyrs and to defeat the
Jewish aggressors and enable us to prevail over them so that we might rule
over them in accordance with His justice.

And Allaah knows best.