Development of modern understanding of martyrdom

            First martyrdom concept is created in the frame of Judaism, whose disciples, historically speaking, suffer general persecution. Development of tradition begins, according to legend, with individual examples, in order to become collective Jewish ideal during Antiochene’s persecution and the Maccabean rebellion in the 2nd century BC. Approximately 5.700.000(1) Jews, Nazi victims in the Second World War, in modern Jewish literature, are marked as martyrs because they were killed for a single reason – for being Jews.
            Christian history points to the first martyrs – St. Stephen and St. James – and the most important martyrs as apostles were St. Peter and Paul, and they both died in Rome. Although sporadic persecutions were happening in the first two centuries AD, so martyrdom wasn’t so often, martyrs were extremely respected among Christians.
            Islamic term for martyr is shahid (in Arabian, it means witness), and it’s identical to Judaist-Christian’s concept of martyrdom. The concept of heroic martyrdom is terminologically marked as istishad.
            As we previously mentioned, full meaning of “martyr in death” is not mentioned in Quran, but in Hadith, where martyr stands, among all heaven guests, closest to the throne of God. Many details related to martyr’s status and profane procedures are subject of debates among dogmas. Generally, all comply that two groups of believers enter shahid ranks: those killed in jihad and those who died unjustly. First martyr in Islam was an old woman Sumayyah bint Khabbab, the first Muslim woman who died by the hands of Mecca polytheist. Famous person, praised as martyr archetype among Shiites, Husayn ibn Ali, was killed by second Umayyad caliph’s forces, Yazid I at Karbala (Iraq).
            Destinies of mentioned martyr archetypes, in all three religions, signify real sense of old martyrdom concept. Religion as creator of social character during territorial conquest, and acquiring national identities, violent proselytism, and battle for domain, represented a crucial factor of inner unity of specific society and, consequently, its survival. Inter-confessional incompatibilities often caused mutual individual or mass persecutions. The idea of martyr, the prize and honor for those who preferred death rather than their religion, was born as a consequence of frequent persecutions.

Dr. Violeta Matovic

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