This excerpt is taken from the book "Fazail al-Jihad" by Sheikh Abi Abdul Saboor Abdul Ghafoor Damni.
عن مسروق قال سألنا عبد الله (وهو ابن مسعود) عن هذه الآية ولا تحسبن الذين قتلوا فى سبيل الله أمواتا بل أحياء عند ربهم يرزقون قال أما إنا قد سألنا عن ذلك فقال: ”أرواحهم فى جوف طير خضر لها قناديل معلقة بالعرش تسرح من الجنة حيث شاءت ثم تأوى إلى تلك القناديل فاظلع إليهم ربهم إطلاعة فقال: هل تشتهون شيئا قالوا أى شيء نشتهي ونحن نسرح من الجنة حيث شئنا ففعل بهم ثلاث مرات فلما رأوا أنهم لن يتركوا من أن يسألوا قالوا يا رب نريد أن ترد أرواحنا فى أجسادنا حتى نقتل فى سبيلك مرة أخرى فلما رأى أن ليس لهم حاجة تركوا.
It is narrated from Masrooq that he said: We asked Abdullah bin Mas'ood (may Allah be pleased with him) about the interpretation of this verse: "Those who are killed in the way of Allah, do not consider them dead; rather, they are alive, receiving provision from their Lord." Ibn Mas'ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We have asked about this, and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: 'The souls of the martyrs are in the bodies of green birds. These souls have lamps hanging with the Throne. They graze wherever they wish in Paradise and then return to their lamps. Once their Lord looked at them and asked: "Do you desire anything?" They said: "What would we desire? We eat and roam wherever we wish in Paradise." Allah asked them three times, and when they saw that they would not be released without answering (i.e., Allah kept asking), they said: "O our Lord! We desire that You return us to our bodies so that we may be martyred again in Your path." When the Lord saw that they had no other desire, He released them."'
Reference: (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim) (Narrated by Muslim, Book of Leadership, Chapter on the souls of the martyrs being in Paradise and that they are alive and provided for by their Lord, Number: 1887)
Derived Benefits
➊ These martyrs are admitted to Paradise before the Day of Judgment.
➋ In the life of Barzakh, martyrs receive a second body which takes the form of green birds.
➌ After the Day of Judgment, they will tour Paradise with a human body like other inhabitants of Paradise.
➍ The souls of martyrs cannot return to this world again, nor do they receive worldly life again.
Benefit:
When the souls of the martyrs of Uhud cannot return to this world, then honestly tell me, who are those saints and elders and where do they come from who, after death, can come back to this world and cause benefit or harm to people? May those grave-worshippers be struck on their minds who hold such beliefs about the companions of the graves.
➎ The Divine Throne is above Paradise.
➏ The virtue of martyrs: From the mentioned Hadith, the virtue of martyrs is also known, and that is that the Lord of the Worlds spoke to them directly.
