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Shahada: Difference between revisions
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'''Shahada''' is used to denote martyrdom and Shahid (Arabic: “witness”) is equivalent to the concept of martyr. | '''Shahada''' is used to denote martyrdom and Shahid (Arabic: “witness”) is equivalent to the concept of martyr. In [[Hadith]] literature it is stated that martyrs stand nearest the throne of God in heaven. | ||
While details of the status accorded by martyrdom (e.g., whether or not a martyr is exempt from certain rituals of burial) have been debated, it is generally agreed that the rank of shahid comprises two groups of the faithful: those killed in [[jihad]], or holy war, and those killed unjustly. The term is used informally to venerate anyone who dies in a pitiable manner (e.g., in childbirth; in a strange land). Among the Shiʿite branch, the martyr par excellence is [[Hussain ibn Ali|Hussain ibn ʿAli]] (c.629–680), whose death at the hands of the [[Umayyad]] ruler, [[Yazid]], is commemorated every year during the first 10 days of the month of [[Muharram]]. | While details of the status accorded by martyrdom (e.g., whether or not a martyr is exempt from certain rituals of burial) have been debated, it is generally agreed that the rank of shahid comprises two groups of the faithful: those killed in [[jihad]], or holy war, and those killed unjustly. The term is used informally to venerate anyone who dies in a pitiable manner (e.g., in childbirth; in a strange land). Among the Shiʿite branch, the martyr par excellence is [[Hussain ibn Ali|Hussain ibn ʿAli]] (c.629–680), whose death at the hands of the [[Umayyad]] ruler, [[Yazid]], is commemorated every year during the first 10 days of the month of [[Muharram]]. | ||
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Ayoub (1978) has pointed out that even in the earliest portion of the Quran , that is, in those revelations that came even before the duty of Jihad was made incumbent on Muslims, there is a divine confirmation of the ideal of martyrdom, namely, Quran 85:3–8, which many commentators say refers to the famous Christian martyrs of Najran. But regardless of the actual identities of the persons and events being alluded to, the reference to martyrdom is unambiguous. | Ayoub (1978) has pointed out that even in the earliest portion of the Quran , that is, in those revelations that came even before the duty of Jihad was made incumbent on Muslims, there is a divine confirmation of the ideal of martyrdom, namely, Quran 85:3–8, which many commentators say refers to the famous Christian martyrs of Najran. But regardless of the actual identities of the persons and events being alluded to, the reference to martyrdom is unambiguous. | ||
The most important verse dealing with martyrdom is one in which the word shuhadaʿ (witnesses) is interpreted by many exegetes to mean “martyrs.” Quran 4:69 says “Whosoever obeys God, and the Messenger—they are with those whom God has blessed. Prophets, just men, martyrs [shuhadaʿ], the righteous; good companions they!” (A. J. Arberry's translation). Arberry (d. 1969), faithful to the exegetical tradition, unhesitatingly uses “martyrs” to translate shuhadaʿ, whereas other translators, such as Yusuf ʿAli (d. 1953), more cautiously use the English word “witnesses” instead. This verse is the locus classicus for later exegetical and theological discussions about the hierarchy of the inhabitants of Paradise. About the rank of “witness” (shahid), Yusuf ʿAli offers the following comment: “[These] are the noble army of Witnesses, who testify to the truth. The testimony may be by martyrdom, as in the case of the [[Imam]]s [[Hasan]] and [[Hussain ibn Ali|Hussain]]. Or it may be by the tongue of the true Preacher or the pen of the devoted scholar, or the life of a man devoted to service.” Thus shahadah, while translated as “martyrdom” in some contexts, strictly encompasses much more than | The most important verse dealing with martyrdom is one in which the word shuhadaʿ (witnesses) is interpreted by many exegetes to mean “martyrs.” Quran 4:69 says “Whosoever obeys God, and the Messenger—they are with those whom God has blessed. Prophets, just men, martyrs [shuhadaʿ], the righteous; good companions they!” (A. J. Arberry's translation). Arberry (d. 1969), faithful to the exegetical tradition, unhesitatingly uses “martyrs” to translate shuhadaʿ, whereas other translators, such as Yusuf ʿAli (d. 1953), more cautiously use the English word “witnesses” instead. This verse is the locus classicus for later exegetical and theological discussions about the hierarchy of the inhabitants of Paradise. About the rank of “witness” (shahid), Yusuf ʿAli offers the following comment: “[These] are the noble army of Witnesses, who testify to the truth. The testimony may be by martyrdom, as in the case of the [[Imam]]s [[Hasan]] and [[Hussain ibn Ali|Hussain]]. Or it may be by the tongue of the true Preacher or the pen of the devoted scholar, or the life of a man devoted to service.” Thus shahadah, while translated as “martyrdom” in some contexts, strictly encompasses much more than sacrificing life in the path of God ( fi sabil Allah); indeed it is also the word for the act of confessing adherence to Islam by uttering, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” Nonetheless, shahadah as martyrdom is regarded as highly praiseworthy. | ||
There are many passages which indicate an authentic appreciation for and inchoate theory of martyrdom: “Say not of those who die in the path of God that they are dead. Nay rather they live” (2:154); “Count not those who were slain in God's way as dead, but rather living with their Lord, by Him provided, rejoicing in the bounty God has given them, and joyful in those who remain behind and have not joined them, because no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow, joyful in blessing and bounty from God, and that God leaves not to waste the wage of the believers”. <ref>3:169–171; see also 9:20–22, 47:4, 61:11, and 3:157–158.</ref> These few verses illustrate that even though the word “martyr” may not be found explicitly in the Quran and martyrdom is represented through circumlocutions, nonetheless the virtue is emphatically and dramatically taught in the verses of the Holy Book. The Islamic ideal of martyrdom can be considered the logical adjunct to the overall Quranic view of death as illusory. This view is perhaps nowhere more succinctly represented in the Quran than at 62:6–7: “Say: ‘You of Jewry, if you assert that you are the friends of God, apart from other men, then do you long for death, if you speak truly.’ ” | |||
The doctrine of the Hereafter (al-akhirah) caused Muhammad much trouble with his early audiences, who stubbornly refused to accept the idea of life beyond the grave. In Islam, death is paradoxical—as in the famous statement of the [[Prophet]]: “Die before you die”—and that paradox supplies the energy for the strong belief in the spiritual station of martyrs. Islam thus deemed as “vainglory” the pre-Islamic Arab literary and cultural motif of fakhr (honor or pride in prowess on the field of tribal warfare) and replaced it with a glorification of the pious dedication to the struggle for the promotion of the Word of God. In the hadith collection of the ninth-century Persian compiler Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj we find the following statement by the prophet Muhammad: “Whosoever partakes of the battle from desire of glory or in order to show his courage, is no martyr; a martyr is only he who fights in order that Allah’s Word may be prevalent” (Wensinck, p. 95). Even though it remains to be seen whether or not the pre-Islamic phenomenon does not have a more positive relationship with the Islamic ideal of martyrdom, the change in ethos indicated here between the period of [https://www.britannica.com/topic/jahiliyah Jahiliyah] and the Islamic era is quite analogous to the change Christianity wrought in the pagan world. <ref>Lane Fox, 1989, p. 336.</ref> | The doctrine of the Hereafter (al-akhirah) caused Muhammad much trouble with his early audiences, who stubbornly refused to accept the idea of life beyond the grave. In Islam, death is paradoxical—as in the famous statement of the [[Prophet]]: “Die before you die”—and that paradox supplies the energy for the strong belief in the spiritual station of martyrs. Islam thus deemed as “vainglory” the pre-Islamic Arab literary and cultural motif of fakhr (honor or pride in prowess on the field of tribal warfare) and replaced it with a glorification of the pious dedication to the struggle for the promotion of the Word of God. In the hadith collection of the ninth-century Persian compiler Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj we find the following statement by the prophet Muhammad: “Whosoever partakes of the battle from desire of glory or in order to show his courage, is no martyr; a martyr is only he who fights in order that Allah’s Word may be prevalent” (Wensinck, p. 95). Even though it remains to be seen whether or not the pre-Islamic phenomenon does not have a more positive relationship with the Islamic ideal of martyrdom, the change in ethos indicated here between the period of [https://www.britannica.com/topic/jahiliyah Jahiliyah] and the Islamic era is quite analogous to the change Christianity wrought in the pagan world. <ref>Lane Fox, 1989, p. 336.</ref> | ||
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The martyrs are seven, apart from death in Allah’s way. He that dies as a victim of an epidemic is a martyr; he that dies by being drowned is a martyr; he that dies from pleurisy is a martyr; he that dies from diarrhea is a martyr; he that dies by fire is a martyr; he that dies by being struck by a wall falling into ruins is a martyr; the woman who dies in childbed is a martyr. | The martyrs are seven, apart from death in Allah’s way. He that dies as a victim of an epidemic is a martyr; he that dies by being drowned is a martyr; he that dies from pleurisy is a martyr; he that dies from diarrhea is a martyr; he that dies by fire is a martyr; he that dies by being struck by a wall falling into ruins is a martyr; the woman who dies in childbed is a martyr. | ||
Such scriptural raw material would eventually produce doctrine like the following statement from the preeminent Sunni | Such scriptural raw material would eventually produce doctrine like the following statement from the preeminent Sunni theolog ian, [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gazali-i-biography Muhammad Abu Hamid al-Ghazali] (d. 1111): | ||
Everyone who gives himself wholly to God [tajarrada illahi] in the war against his own desires [sg. nafs], is a martyr when he meets death going forward without turning back. So, the holy warrior is he who makes war against his own desires, as it has been explained by the apostle of God. And the “greater war” is the war against one's own desires, as the Companions said: We have returned from the lesser war unto the greater one, meaning thereby the war against their own desires. <ref>Wensinck, p. 95.</ref> | Everyone who gives himself wholly to God [tajarrada illahi] in the war against his own desires [sg. nafs], is a martyr when he meets death going forward without turning back. So, the holy warrior is he who makes war against his own desires, as it has been explained by the apostle of God. And the “greater war” is the war against one's own desires, as the Companions said: We have returned from the lesser war unto the greater one, meaning thereby the war against their own desires. <ref>Wensinck, p. 95.</ref> | ||