Short answer
We hope so. The Prophet ﷺ named those who die of plague, of a stomach illness, by drowning and under a collapsed building among the martyrs. They are martyrs in reward in the hereafter, but in this world they are washed, shrouded and prayed over like any other Muslim.
Those the hadith call martyrs, such as the drowned, the victim of plague or stomach disease, the one crushed under rubble, and others the scholars added like a woman dying in childbirth or someone who dies in a fire, are martyrs of the hereafter (shahid hukmi). Their bodies are washed, shrouded and prayed over in the normal way.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
When someone dies suddenly, by drowning, in a crash, in a fire or after a painful illness, the family often asks whether they are a shahid. There is real comfort here. The Prophet ﷺ widened the meaning of martyrdom far beyond the battlefield, out of Allah's mercy.
Who the hadith name. In al-Bukhari: the one who dies of plague, the one who dies of a disease of the belly, the one who drowns, the one crushed under a falling building, and the one killed in Allah's cause. In Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ said that if martyrs were only those killed in battle, the martyrs of his ummah would be few. Other reports, discussed by the scholars, add a woman who dies in pregnancy or childbirth, someone who dies in a fire, and someone killed defending his family or property.
Two kinds of martyr. Scholars of all four schools distinguish:
- The martyr of this world and the next: killed in battle, who is not washed; see the martyr's funeral.
- The martyr of the hereafter only: those in the list above. They receive a martyr's reward, insha'Allah, but are washed, shrouded and prayed over like everyone else.
We cannot declare that a specific person is a martyr for certain, since only Allah knows the heart and the end. But we can hope strongly and say so to the family. If a body was badly injured, see washing a body that is burned or incomplete. And keep making dua for them; the reward of a martyr does not mean they need our prayers less.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:154
وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ لِمَن يُقْتَلُ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ أَمْوَٰتٌۢ ۚ بَلْ أَحْيَآءٌۭ وَلَٰكِن لَّا تَشْعُرُونَ ﴿١٥٤﴾
And do not say about those who are killed in the way of Allah, "They are dead." Rather, they are alive, but you perceive [it] not.
Allah honours those who die in His way.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2829
Sahih... الشهداء خمسة المطعون والمبطون والغرق وصاحب الهدم ...
"The martyrs are five: the one who dies of plague, the one who dies of a belly illness, the one who drowns, the one crushed under a collapse, and the martyr in Allah's cause."
Martyrdom in reward covers these deaths.
Sahih Muslim 1915
Sahih... إن شهداء أمتي إذا لقليل ...
"Then the martyrs of my ummah would be few."
The Prophet ﷺ said this when told that only those killed in battle are martyrs, then named others, including the one who dies of a belly illness.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Salah, Bab al-Shahid. The martyr of the hereafter is washed and prayed over; lists of those counted as martyrs.
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Salah, Bab al-Shahid. Only the legal shahid is left unwashed.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.