The Arabic word is used frequently in the Quran in to mean "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); the association with Martyrdom acquires wider usage in the hadith.[6][7] The first martyr for Islam was a woman. The term's usage is also borrowed by non-Muslim communities where persianate Islamic empires held cultural influence, such as amongst Hindus and Sikhs in India. One of the most famous is Shaheed Bhagat Singh, a revolutionary executed by the British in Lahore in 1931. The movie 23rd March 1931: Shaheed is about Bhagat Singh, and the 1948 Bolywood film Shaheed was also made about the movement.
Like the English-language word martyr, in the 20th century, the word shaheed came to have both religious and non-religious connotations, and has often been used to describe those who died for non-religious ideological causes.[8][9]
The word is controversially sometimes used as a posthumous title for those who are considered to have accepted or even consciously sought out their own death in order to bear witness to their beliefs.[9]
History
In Arabic, the word shahid means "witness". Its development closely parallels that of the Greek word martys (μάρτυς, lit.'witness'; also "martyr" in the New Testament), the origin of the term martyr.[10][11][12][13]
In the course of the eighteenth century, there were several wars of independence within the colonial territories of the Muslim World. Many of the soldiers who died during these conflicts were given the title shaheed upon their burial.[14]
A woman is considered "shahida" (شَهِيدَةšahīdah) if she dies during the fulfillment of a religious commandment. A woman can also be considered a martyr if she dies during childbirth.[15] There are examples of women fighting in war such as Nusaybah bint Ka'ab. The first martyr (male or female) in Islam was Sumayyah bint Khayyat, who was executed for her conversion to Islam. After stabbing her abdomen, Abu Jahl, an anti-Muslim leader of the Quraysh, asked her to renounce her Muslim faith, to which she replied by spitting at him and calling him lower than an insect she'd crush under her feet. She died after Abu Jahl physically tortured her by stabbing her while she was tied to the ground.[16] Though her name is not common in the modern Muslim dialogue, ancient Islamic literature makes note of the events at the end of her life.[17]
Italics indicates attacks resulting in more than 40 deaths ‡ indicates attacks resulting in more than 100 deaths Underline indicates the deadliest terrorist attack/s to date
In South Asia, Hindus adopted the word "shaheed" as a synonym to the Sanskrit word "hutātmā" (हुतात्मा in Devanagari and হুতাত্মা in Bengali; हुत् and হুত্ hut = sacrificing, आत्मा and আত্মা ātmā = soul, thus hutātmā = sacrificing soul / martyr), to denote Hindu martyrs.[citation needed]
Martyrdom (called shahadat in Punjabi) is a fundamental concept in Sikhism and represents an important institution of the faith. Sikhs believe in Ibaadat se Shahadat (from love to martyrdom). Some famous Sikh martyrs include:[41]
The term was borrowed from the Islamic culture in Punjab when Sikhism was founded, and before the start of the British Raj it referred to the Sikh people who met death at the hands of oppressors.[42] Another related term is shahid-ganj, which means a "place of martyrdom".[42][45]
The most discussed shahid in Sikhism have been two of their Gurus, namely Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur for defying Islamic rulers and refusing to convert to Islam.[44] Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and asked to convert to Islam.[46][47] He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE.[46][48] Historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear whether Guru Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture.[46][49] His martyrdom, that is becoming a shahid, is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism.[46][50]
Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom resulted from refusing to convert and for resisting the forced conversions of Hindus in Kashmir to Islam because he believed in freedom of conscience and human rights.[51] He was publicly beheaded in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperorAurangzeb in Delhi.[52][53]Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi marks the shahid-ganj, or place of execution of the Guru.[54]
The Sikh have other major pilgrimage sites, such as the shahid-ganj in Sirhind, where two sons of Guru Gobind Singh were bricked alive[55] by the Mughal Army in retaliation of their father's resistance. In Muktsar, near a lake is a shahid-ganj dedicated to forty men who died defending Guru Gobind Singh.[45]
There are at least five different kinds of martyrs according to Hadith.
Allah's Apostle said, "Five are regarded as martyrs: They are those who die because of plague, abdominal disease, drowning or a falling building etc., and the martyrs in Allah's cause.
In modern political usage, various Palestinian groups consider all Palestinians killed in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to be martyrs for the cause, whether they be civilians or fighters.[57] Militant groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad consider martyrdom as the highest form of sacrifice for the Palestinian cause.[58][59][additional citation(s) needed]
Arab Christians used the word Shaheed, which also means witness, before Islam, as it literally means those who saw Christ, and was originally used for the early Christians who saw Jesus with their own eyes and were later killed for their faith. The word is still used by Christians in Arab-speaking countries, including the names of churches. Examples are the Forty Martyrs Cathedral (Arabic: كنيسة الأربعين شهيد) in Aleppo, Syria and the "Saint George the Martyr Cathedral" (Arabic: كنيسة القدّيس الشهيد مار جرجس)[60] in Damascus.[citation needed]
The word usually retains a similar or broader meaning,[4] but has been recently adopted in Modern Hebrew and Israeli English (Hebrew: שהיד, romanized: Shahid, a loanword from Palestinian Arabic) with a different meaning. According to Haaretz the word "Shahid" has become "synonymous" with "terrorist" among Hebrew speakers in Israel.[5]
The Muslim General Ma Fuxiang stated on how Chinese Muslims were willing to die to accomplish tasks assigned to them.[64]Imams sponsored by the Kuomintang called for Muslims to go on Jihad to become martyrs in battle, where Muslims believe they will go automatically to heaven. Becoming a shaheed in the Jihad for the country was encouraged by the Kuomintang, which was called "glorious death for the state" and a hadith promoting nationalism was spread.[65] A song written by Xue Wenbo at the Muslim Chengda school, which was controlled by the Kuomintang, called for martyrdom in battle for China against Japan.[66] The Muslim General Bai Chongxi himself was a member of a Dare to Die corps in the Xinhai revolution.[67]
In the Baháʼí Faith, martyrs are those who sacrifice their lives serving humanity in the name of God.[68] However, Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, discouraged the literal meaning of sacrificing one's life. Instead, he explained that martyrdom is devoting oneself to service to humanity.[68]
A shahid is considered one whose place in Paradise is promised according to these verses in the Quran:
Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord; They rejoice in the bounty provided by Allah. And with regard to those left behind, who have not yet joined them (in their bliss), the (Martyrs) glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor have they (cause to) grieve.
Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur’an: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.
The Quranic passage that follows is the source of the concept of Muslim martyrs being promised Paradise:
Those who leave their homes in the cause of Allah, and are then slain or die,- On them will Allah bestow verily a goodly Provision: Truly Allah is He Who bestows the best provision. Verily He will admit them to a place with which they shall be well pleased: for Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing.
The importance of faith is highlighted in the following hadith:
It has been narrated on the authority of Anas b. Malik that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Who seeks martyrdom with sincerity shall get its reward, though he may not achieve it.
It is thus not the outcome that determines the placement in Heaven but rather the intention.
Nonetheless, Paradise for a shahid is a popular concept in the Islamic tradition according to Hadith, and the attainment of this title is honorific.
Muhammad is reported to have said these words about martyrdom:
By Him in Whose Hands my life is! I would love to be martyred in Allah's Cause and then get resurrected and then get martyred, and then get resurrected again and then get martyred and then get resurrected again and then get martyred.
The Prophet said, "Nobody who enters Paradise likes to go back to the world even if he got everything on the Earth, except a Mujahid who wishes to return to the world so that he may be martyred ten times because of the dignity he receives (from Allah).
Several hadith also indicate the nature of a shahid's life in Paradise. Shahids attain the highest level of Paradise, the Paradise of al-Firdous.
Haritha was martyred on the day (of the battle) of Badr, and he was a young boy then. His mother came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! You know how dear Haritha is to me. If he is in Paradise, I shall remain patient, and hope for reward from Allah, but if it is not so, then you shall see what I do?" He said, "May Allah be merciful to you! Have you lost your senses? Do you think there is only one Paradise? There are many Paradises and your son is in the (most superior) Paradise of Al-Firdaus.
The Prophet said, "Last night two men came to me (in a dream) and made me ascend a tree and then admitted me into a better and superior house, better of which I have never seen. One of them said, 'this house is the house of martyrs.'
While the Qur'an does not indicate much about martyrs' death and funeral, the hadith provides some information on this topic. For example, martyrs are to be buried two in one grave in their blood, without being washed or having a funeral prayer held for them. The following Hadith highlight this:
The Prophet collected every two martyrs of Uhud in one piece of cloth, then he would ask, "Which of them had (known) more of the Quran?" When one of them was pointed out for him, he would put that one first in the grave and say, "I will be a witness on these on the Day of Resurrection." He ordered them to be buried with their blood on their bodies and they were neither washed nor was a funeral prayer offered for them.
^Habib, Sandy (2017). "Dying for a Cause Other Than God: Exploring the Non-religious Meanings of Martyr and Shahīd". Australian Journal of Linguistics. 37 (3): 314–327. doi:10.1080/07268602.2017.1298395. S2CID171788891.
^Sasha Dehghani; Silvia Horsch (eds.). Martyrdom in the Modern Middle East(PDF). p. 7. Martyrdom belongs to the terms and concepts of religion in general, especially the monotheist religions and here in particular Christianity. The Greek term "martys", taken from the judicial sphere and used in the sense of "blood witness", was coined during the persecution of the Christians in the second century CE. In Islamic history – at least with regard to majority Sunni Islam – readiness to engage in combat became more essential than readiness to suffer due to the different historical situation and subsequent development, beginning with the emigration of the early Muslim community to Medina. For this reason the most influential shahīd (again a term denominating the witness in the judicial sphere) became the figure of the fallen fighter, even though anybody dying an untimely death, whether from natural disasters or epidemic diseases, as well as victims of violence, is also considered a martyr. Whereas in Sunni Islam a fully fledged martyr cult did not develop before the onset of modernity, the case is different with Shiite Islam, in which Ḥusayn's martyrdom is the pivotal theme.
^Ahmed Rafique (2012), "Shaheed Minar", in Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal (ed.), Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.), Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, archived from the original on 24 December 2021, retrieved 6 March 2016
^Kulathungam, Lyman (2012). Quest : Christ amidst the quest. Wipf. pp. 175–177. ISBN978-1-61097-515-5.
^Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (1999). The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Translated by Thackston, Wheeler M. Oxford University Press. p. 59. ISBN978-0-19-512718-8.
^Louis E. Fenech, Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition, Oxford University Press, pp. 118–121
^Pashaura Singh and Louis Fenech (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh studies. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 236–445. ISBN978-0-19-969930-8. This second martyrdom helped to make 'human rights and freedom of conscience' central to its identity." and "This is the reputed place where several Kashmiri pandits came seeking protection from Auranzeb's army.
^Seiple, Chris (2013). The Routledge handbooks of religion and security. New York: Routledge. p. 96. ISBN978-0-415-66744-9.
^Hatina, M. (2005). Theology and power in the Middle East: Palestinian martyrdom in a comparative perspective. Journal of Political Ideologies, 10(3), 241–267. doi:10.1080/13569310500244289
^Meir Litvak (2010) “Martyrdom is Life”: Jihad and Martyrdom in the Ideology of Hamas, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 33:8, 716-734, DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2010.494170
^Arabic: متري هاجي اثناسيو, 2005، اديرة وكنائس دمشق وريفها : (بحث ميداني توثيقي تاريخي اثري), pp. 57–58.
^Marvin Bash, Messages of the Chofetz Chaim: 100 Stories and Parables 2006 Page 91 "Section VII Sanctification of the Name: An Introduction It is written in the Torah, as one of the commandments", You shall be holy, for I am holy" (Lev. 19:2). According to this Biblical verse, the Jew is obligated to be holy... (See: Chofetz Chaim)
