we asked ʿAbd Allāh [ibn Masʿūd] about this verse: * "And do not think of those who have been killed in the way of Allāh as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision" *? He said: As for us, we did ask about that, and he said: ... and he mentioned it. The context is for Muslim, and the addition is for al-Tirmidhī, who said: "A ḥadīth that is ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ." I said: It is elevated in form but appears as if it is stopped, for the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) is not explicitly mentioned in it, but it is certainly considered elevated for two reasons: first, his saying: "We asked about that, and he said:" cannot be attributed to anyone other than the Messenger (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), as he was their reference for clarifying what was unclear or obscure to them. The second reason is that what is in the ḥadīth regarding the virtue of the martyrs with Allāh, and His addressing them and their response and request for their souls to be returned to their bodies, all of this cannot be said based on opinion. Therefore, al-Nawawī said in "Sharḥ Muslim": "This ḥadīth is elevated due to his saying: 'We did ask about that, and he said,' meaning the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam)." And a third reason: a portion of it has been narrated as elevated from the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) in Aḥmad (1/266) and authenticated by al-Ḥākim (2/297-298) and agreed upon by al-Dhahabī, and I have discussed it in "Takhrīj al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah" (p. 393) and "al-Mishkāt" (3853). It seems that due to what we mentioned, Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh have mercy on him, permitted stating it as elevated to the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), as he included it in "Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá" (4/224-225) from the narration of Muslim with the wording: