Narrator:Abu Qatāda
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ، حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْمَقْبُرِيِّ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَهُ يُحَدِّثُ، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُ قَامَ فِيهِمْ فَذَكَرَ لَهُمْ أَنَّ الْجِهَادَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَالإِيمَانَ بِاللَّهِ أَفْضَلُ الأَعْمَالِ فَقَامَ رَجُلٌ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ قُتِلْتُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَيُكَفِّرُ عَنِّي خَطَايَاىَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " نَعَمْ إِنْ
قُتِلْتَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَأَنْتَ صَابِرٌ مُحْتَسِبٌ مُقْبِلٌ غَيْرُ مُدْبِرٍ " . ثُمَّ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " كَيْفَ قُلْتَ " . قُلْتُ أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ قُتِلْتُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَيُكَفِّرُ عَنِّي خَطَايَاىَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " نَعَمْ وَأَنْتَ صَابِرٌ مُحْتَسِبٌ مُقْبِلٌ غَيْرُ مُدْبِرٍ إِلاَّ الدَّيْنَ فَإِنَّ جِبْرِيلَ قَالَ لِي ذَلِكَ "
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Abi Qatadah:
That he heard is father, narating a Hadith, which he heard from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in which he stood among them, mentioning to them that Jihad in the cause of Allah and faith in Allah were the most virtuous of deeds. Then a man stood and said: "O Messenger of Allah! If I were killed in the cause of Allah, would my sins forgiven ?" So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Yes, If you are killed in Allah's cause, and you are patient, seeking the reward, advancing, not fleeing." Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "What was it that you said?" So he replied: "If I were killed in the cause of Allah, would my sins be removed (forgiven)?" So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Yes, If you are patient, seeking the reward, advancing, not fleeing - except debt. For Jibril said that to me."
[Abu 'Eisa said:] There are narrations on this topic from Anas, Muhammad bin Jahsh, And Abu Hurairah. This Hadith is Hasan Sahih.
Some of them reported this Hadith from Sa'eed Al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurairah, from the Prophet (ﷺ) similar to this. Yahya bin Sa'eed Al-Ansari and more than one narrator reported this from Sa'eed Al-Maqburi from 'Abdullah bin Abi Qatadah, from his fahter, from the Prophet (ﷺ). This is more correct than the narration of Sa'eed Al-Maqburi from Abu Hurairah.
Reported by At-Tirmidhi (No. 1712), Muslim (No. 1885a), An-Nasa’i (No. 3157) and Ahmad (No. 21539).