CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The English word, martyr, derives from the Greek word for wit— ness, martys. This finds a semantic parallel in the Arabic term for martyr, shahid. 3°While shahid is a common qur’anic term, in the Qur’an it almost always means witness in the sense of one who ob serves or who attests and can furnish proof In post qur’anic religious literature the term is quite common as a designation for martyr; but it rarely corresponds to that specific meaning in the Qur’ari itself 3’ and is not attested as such in pre—Islamic literature.
Religion is the mother of war. Conflicts involving religion are among the most intractable of human disputes. Yet, until recently, wars motivated or influenced by religious ideologies have been confined to small well-defined theaters. Europe’s Thirty Years War, which ended in 1648, appears to be the only exception in the modern history of warfare.’ Indeed, in the last three millennia the world has seen much war but it has not seen a full-scale religious war of global proportions since the end of the Crusades. There is reason to believe that this state of affairs is about to change. The horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, as well as the Western military incursion in Afghanistan, the invasion and conquest of Iraq, and continuing Islamist guerilla attacks and terrorist violence against military and civilian targets in a variety of countries with significant Muslim populations makes one wonder whether the West 2 may indeed be plunging into a protracted religious war with the Islamic world.3 Whether or not this is true, it is clear that militant Islam presents profound and difficult challenges for Western political and legal systems.
Concomitantly, the Islamic world confronts its own significant challenges from both within and without. Muslims seem to be in great turmoil and despair, deeply troubled by the perceived marginalization and demonization of Islamic ideas and norms in Western discourse and by the Arab world’s glaring failure to achieve significant progress in scientific, technological, and political realms.4 There is also deep, widespread anger among Muslims over the subordination, humiliation, and physical subjugation of certain Muslim communities, especially the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza, known today as the Occupied Territories.5
Martyrdom is for losers. Yet, it is a powerful claim on strength at the same time. For the individual who seeks martyrdom, it is the