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A word for "martyr" with Arabic origins. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shahid (Arabic: شهيد, romanized: Shahīd [ʃahiːd], fem. شهيدة [ʃahiːdah], pl. شُهَدَاء [ʃuhadaː]), often spelled with other variations such as "shaheed", is an Arabic word for martyr that has been adopted as a loanword in a wide variety of languages and cultures.[4]
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.[5][6] 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 shahid came to have both religious and non-religious connotations, and has often been used to describe those who died for non-religious ideological causes.[7][8]
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.[8]
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.[9][10][11][12]
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 shahid upon their burial.[13]
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.[15] Militant groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad consider martyrdom as the highest form of sacrifice for the Palestinian cause.[16][17][additional citation(s) needed]
Arab Christians used the word Shahid, 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)[18] in Damascus.[citation needed]
A woman is considered "shahida" (Arabic: شَهِيدَة šahīdah) if she dies during the fulfillment of a religious commandment. A woman can also be considered a martyr if she dies during childbirth.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21]
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.[22]
The concept of martyrdom exists in Judaism, but uses words with different etymology. In Judaism, martyrdom is one of the main examples of Jews performing kiddush Hashem, a Hebrew term which means "sanctification of the Name".[23]
Bosnians who died during the Bosnian War and the Bosnian genocide are considered martyrs by many due to them being killed for being Muslim.[citation needed]
The Hussainiwala National Martyrs Memorial (Hindi: हुसैनीवाला राष्ट्रीय शहीदी स्मारक, romanized: Husaineevaala Raashtreey Shaheedee Smaarak) is a monument to 3 Indian freedom fighters at Hussainiwala village, near Firozpur in Punjab, India.[24] The monument marks the location on the banks of the Sutlej river where Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru were cremated on 23 March 1931, after they were hanged in the Lahore Central Jail.[25] The BSF has showcased the pistol with which Bhagat Singh killed British officer Saunders.[26] The memorial was built in 1968.[27] It is 1km from the India–Pakistan border, on the Indian side. After the Partition of India, the cremation spot became a part of Pakistan, but on 17 January 1961, it was returned to India.[28] Part of remains of a railway line that previously connected Firozpur with Lahore is also preserved here.[29]
Every year, on 23 March, the Shaheedi Mela is observed at the memorial and a daily flag lowering ceremony at Hussainiwala-Ganda Singh Wala border, similar to the Wagah-Attari border ceremony is also held here jointly by the Indian and Pakistan Armed Forces.[30][31]
The Shaheed Minar is in Maidan in Kolkata in West Bengal in India. It was originally built 200 years ago, in memory of Major-general Sir David Ochterlony, commander of the British East India Company, to commemorate both his defense of Delhi against the Marathas in 1804 and the victory of the East India Company’s armed forces over the Gurkhas in the Anglo-Nepalese War.[32] On 9 August 1969, it was rededicated to the memory of the martyrs of the Indian freedom movement and renamed the "Shaheed Minar", which means "Martyrs' Monument" in both Bengali and Hindi.
The Shaheed Minar (Bengali: শহীদ মিনার, romanized: Shohid Minar, lit. 'The Martyr Tower') is a national monument in Dhaka, Bangladesh, established to commemorate those killed during the Bengali Language Movement demonstrations of 1952 in then East Pakistan.[33][34] On 21 and 22 February 1952, students from Dhaka University and Dhaka Medical College and political activists, were killed when the Pakistani police force opened fire on Bengali protesters who were demanding official status for their native language, Bengali.[35] The massacre occurred near Dhaka Medical College and Ramna Park.[36][37]
The Shaheed Minar Complex at the University of Rajshahi in Bangladesh has many murals and the Shaheed Minar (Martyrs' monument). A mural near the Golden Jubilee Tower depicts the struggle of men and women. The obelisk of martyred professor Shamsuzzoha has a mural depicting him. The Bangabandhu Hall, Sher-e-Bangla Hall and Syed Ameer Ali Hall have murals of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, AK Fazlul Haque and Syed Ameer Ali respectively. The campus also had the Shaheed Minar, Mass-Graveyard monument and the Shabash Bangladesh. The sculptures are the martyred intellectual memorial monument near the central library, Sfulingo in the Shaheed Samsuzzoha Hall premises, and martyred professor Habibur Rahman's sculpture on Shaheed Habibur Rahman Hall's entrance.[38][39]
In Pakistan, the term Shahid is mainly used for martyrs of the Armed Forces, or civilians killed in terror attacks.[citation needed] The Pakistan Armed Forces' ideologies are largely motivated by Islamic teachings of sacrificing ones self in the name of God (Allah), and protecting innocents.[citation needed]
Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan and leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), was assassinated in a terrorist attack on 27 December 2007.[1][40][41] Benazir and 23 other people were killed by a gunshots and a suicide bomber.[2]
Following this, many schools and universities were named in honour of her martyrdom:
The Pakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto), abbreviated PPP-SB, was one of three breakaway factions of the Pakistan Peoples Party.[42][43] The party was headed by Ghinwa Bhutto, the widow of Murtaza Bhutto.[44][45] Ghinwa was a refugee from the Lebanese Civil War.[46]
The 2024 ceremony to commemorate Qasem Soleimani was bombed by ISIS, an anti-Shia Sunni extremist group.
In Turkish the word is Şehi̇d (Romanized: Shahidh).[47]
The first suicide bomber was possibly a Russian revolutionary in 1881.[48]
"Shahidka" is a Chechen word for female Islamist suicide bombers.[citation needed]
The Muslim General Ma Fuxiang stated on how Chinese Muslims were willing to die to accomplish tasks assigned to them.[49] 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 shahid 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.[50] 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.[51] The Muslim General Bai Chongxi himself was a member of a Dare to Die corps in the Xinhai revolution.[52]
Some activists have referred to victims of the Uyghur genocide in China as martyrs.[citation needed]
In the Baháʼí Faith, martyrs are those who sacrifice their lives serving humanity in the name of God.[53] 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.[53]
In South Asia, Hindus adopted the word "shahid" 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:[54]
The word shahid (Punjabi: ਸ਼ਹੀਦ) is also found in Sikhism, a religion founded by Guru Nanak in the northwest part of the Indian subcontinent (now Pakistan and India). It means a martyr.[55][56][57]
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.[55] Another related term is shahid-ganj, which means a "place of martyrdom".[55][58]
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.[57] Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and asked to convert to Islam.[59][60] He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE.[59][61] Historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear whether Guru Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture.[59][62] His martyrdom, that is becoming a shahid, is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism.[59][63]
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.[64] He was publicly beheaded in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi.[65][66] Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi marks the shahid-ganj, or place of execution of the Guru.[67]
The Sikh have other major pilgrimage sites, such as the shahid-ganj in Sirhind, where two sons of Guru Gobind Singh were bricked alive[68] 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.[58]
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