The Messenger of Allah ﷺ visited the nephew of Jabir al-Ansari during his illness, and the family began weeping over him. Jabir said to them, "Do not trouble the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Leave them. Let them weep as long as he is alive, but when death comes, let them be silent."One of them said, "We never thought your death would come upon your bed. We had hoped you would be killed in the cause of Allah alongside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, "Is martyrdom only in being killed in the cause of Allah? If so, the martyrs of my nation would indeed be few. Death by stabbing is martyrdom, the plague is martyrdom, dying from a stomach illness is martyrdom, a woman who dies in childbirth is a martyr, death by fire is martyrdom, drowning is martyrdom, being crushed under a collapsed structure is martyrdom, and pleurisy is martyrdom."
أن رسول الله ﷺ عاد ابن أخي جابر الأنصاري فجعل أهله يبكون عليه فقال لهم جبر: لا تؤذوا رسول الله ﷺ فقال رسول الله ﷺ: دعهن فليبكين ما دام حيا فإذا وجب فليسكتن فقال بعضهم: ما كنا نرى أن يكون موتك على فراشك حتى تقتل في سبيل الله مع رسول الله ﷺ. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: أو ما الشهادة إلا في القتل في سبيل الله؟ إن شهداء أمتي إذن لقليل إن الطعن والطاعون شهادة، والبطن شهادة، والنفساء بجمع شهادة، والحرق شهادة، والغرق شهادة والهدم شهادة، وذات الجنب شهادة.
Tabarani reported it in Al-Kabir (5/65) through several routes from Jareer (that is, Ibn Abdul-Hameed), from Abdul-Malik bin Umayr, from Rabee Ansari, and mentioned it. Ibn Abu Asim also reported it in Al-Ahad wal-Mathani (2191) through the route of Jareer bin Abdul-Hameed, with the same chain, but restricting it to the portion about weeping.Munziri said in Targheeb wal-Tarheeb (2184), Its narrators are ones relied upon in Sahih (Bukhari and Muslim). Haythami followed him in Majma al-Zawaid (5/300), saying, Its men are the men of Sahih.I say, its chain is hasan, because of the discussion surrounding Abdul-Malik bin Umayr. Although he is among the narrators of Sahih (Bukhari and Muslim), there is disagreement about him, but his hadiths are hasan. Daraqutni mentioned in his Ilal (13/414) the disagreement concerning him, but this does not affect the hadith being graded hasan.