Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 9548

Sayyiduna Ubadah bin al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: We went to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Rawahah (may Allah be pleased with him) to visit him, and he fell unconscious. We said: "May Allah Almighty have mercy on you. We had hoped that you would die in a state other than this; we had hoped for martyrdom for you." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came in while we were talking about this. He said: "What do you count as martyrdom?" The people remained silent. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) stirred and said: "Why do you not answer the Messenger of Allah?" Then he himself answered the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), saying: "We count being killed as martyrdom." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "In that case the martyrs of my ummah would be few. In being killed there is martyrdom, in plague there is martyrdom, in disease of the belly there is martyrdom, in drowning there is martyrdom, and women in childbirth whose child becomes the cause of their death, (their death) is martyrdom."
Al-Tabarani recorded it. Ahmad recorded something similar, and the narrators of both are thiqat (trustworthy).