بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Alhamdulillah,
The saying about the souls of the shuhada being inside green birds in paradise taking provision from their Lord is well known amongst the Muslim Ummah, but is the hadith Authentic and if so, who authenticated it.
The issue here being, that there are actually two ahadith that almost mimic one another but speak about two different types of believers.
The shuhada in Islam are looked upon as they greatest achievers, the merits of the shuhada have been proclaimed in The Qur’an and Sunnah clearly, all of them except the green bird hadith.
Both of these ahadith, which I will mention below, speak about believer souls; “residing inside green birds”. However, one hadith is general and mentions every believer, which makes every Muslim excited and leaves them hoping for that reward, while the other specifically refers to the Shuhada.
THE SOUL OF A BELIEVER
Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said,
«نَسَمَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ طَائِرٌ يَعْلُقُ فِي شَجَرِ الْجَنَّـةِ حَتَّى يَرْجِعَهُ اللهُ إِلى جَسَدِهِ يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُه»
“The soul of the BELIEVER becomes a bird that feeds on the trees of Paradise, until Allah sends him back to his body when He resurrects him.”
This Hadith states that the souls of the believers are in the shape of a bird in Paradise.
“As for the souls of martyrs, they are inside green birds, like the stars to the rest of the believing souls. We ask Allah the Most Generous that He makes us firm on the faith.”
~ Tafseer Ibn Kathir
Side Note:
This Hadith has a unique, authentic chain of narration that includes three of the Four Imams. Imam Ahmad narrated this Hadith from Muhammad bin Idris Ash-Shafi`ie who narrated it from Malik bin Anas Al-Asbuhi, from Az-Zuhri, from `Abdur-Rahman bin Ka`b bin Malik that his father said the above. This gives us 8 Narrators that lead to rasulAllah saws.
We know that Allah has prepared foe his true slaves gardens of delight which no eye has seen, nor are our own limited imaginations able to comprehend the majesty and beauty that Allah creates.
Without a doubt the status of the shuhada and the awliya of Allah carries the greatest merrits and rewards, and as such a hadith like this is not hard to comprehend, nor is it something outside of the might of Allah, and Allah is the One whose help we seek. Verily Allah is the most Merciful and his rewards can not be enumerated.
We ask Allah for a good end, may Allah allow us all to be resurected with the shuhada, the awliya, the saliheen and the anbiya of this ummah.
والله تعالى أعلم
وصلى اللهم وسلم وبارك على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه والتابعين
أخوك أبو ناصر
Zinaid Abu Naser 