On Martyrdom
Added Feb 22, 2004 (2nd Muharram)The word "shahid" (martyr) means "witness", in the sense of one who
is a witness to the Truth of God as manifested in the Qur'an, in
history, in the world, and within one's own self. It describes a type
of person who has clearly understood the deep distinction between truth
and falsehood and who, by the example of his life and the manner of his
death becomes a criterion (furqan), a standard of judgement between
right and wrong. By fulfilling the principles of The Criterion (that
is, the Holy Qur'an) in his life, he becomes an example of principle
put into practice, of ideology transformed into reality. Both his life
and his death witness to the Truth of the Qur'an as both are a
reflection of the principles found therein. "Surely my prayer and my
sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the
worlds." (Qur'an 6:162)
The heart of the word is in the act of witnessing. Yet a man cannot be
a witness to Truth unless he has recognized, understood, and made it a
part of himself, of his personality and of his very being. So hand in
hand with the concept of shahid there is the unavoidable implication
that one has achieved a "consciousness" (taqwa) of God and of what he
has commanded. This consciousness then leads to an awareness of
existing conditions in the world and the will, the perserverance, the
patience, and the knowledge to transform these conditions and bring
them into a balanced confluence with Truth.
It is a movement from inner realization of Truth to the outer
fulfillment of it. Without the first, there cannot be the second. A
person cannot be an accurate witness to a process or event of which he
has no understanding. The deeper the understanding, the greater the
value of the Witness becomes. And the greater the value of a thing, the
more keenly its loss is felt. Yet the paradox is that it is precisely
those who have the greatest worth (in the sense of knowledge, correct
understanding, and correct practice) who are the most acutely aware of
their responsibility as Muslims...and these are the ones who carry out
their submission even to death.
There are few men in history who had a greater right to live, a greater
worth than Imam Husain (a.s.) yet it was he who made the sacrifice and
fulfilled the duty of witnessing to the truth in a time when the truth
was being distorted and twisted by a regime (the Umayaads) who wore
Islam as a mask (using it only as a means to power and wealth) and used
the Qur'an as a wrapping to conceal their inner corruption.
The lesson taught by the martyrs of history is one of vital importance
to the ummah of today. The actions of a shahid are a microcosm of the
principles found in the Qur'an. It is the martyrs who bring these
values into focus and who, through their blood, revitalize a stagnant
and fearful ummah. This is why the Qur'an bestows upon the martyr such
a high and noble standing within Islam and before God. They have lost
their lives, their physical bodies but have given fresh impetus to the
Truth of Islam and have themselves become a standard and ideal for
future generations.
- Irshaad Hussain
Related
articles:
New Year's Day - Mourning the Imam
Martyrdom (Looking in the direction of God)
Learn from Ali how to fight
"Learn from Ali how to fight
without your ego participating.
God's lion did nothing
that didn't originate
from his deep center.
Once in battle he got the best of a certain knight and quickly drew his
sword.
The man, helpless on the ground, spat
in Ali's face,
Ali dropped his sword,
relaxed, and helped the man to his feet.
"Why have you spared me?
How has lightning contracted back
into its cloud? Speak, my prince,
so that my soul can begin to stir
in me like an embryo."
Ali was quiet and then finally answered, "I am God's Lion, not the lion
of passion....
I have no longing
except for the One.
When a wind of personal reaction comes,
I do not go along with it.
There are many winds full of anger,
and lust and greed. They move the rubbish around,
but the solid mountain of our true nature stays where it's always been.
There's nothing now
except the divine qualities.
Come through the opening into me.
Your impudence was better than any reverence,
because in this moment I am you and you are me.
I give you this opened heart as God gives gifts:
the poison of your spit has become
the honey of friendship."
(Rumi)
Husayn is fallen
"O breeze of morning, take to Ali these words....
Say: Husayn is fallen. Rise, then, go and see:
To Kerbala from Najaf, where you lie,
His body in a hundred places pierced by the lance, the dagger, the sword.
O’Ali! See who was once the light of your eyes,
Now the enemy around him like eyelashes around the eye;
And here you lie, in pleasant repose with Adam and Noah, at rest,
While Husayn has as his resting place the burning sands of Karbala!
Although you were made stranger to yourself by the stroke of the sword,
Around you were both stranger and kin, with refreshments and sweets;
While the body of your Husayn is rent the whole length with wounds.
And would you know the number of those wounds? They are as many as the stars!
Wherever you turned your gaze, there stood a friend to see,
While Husayn’s eye falls only on the enemy.
Ali, when you gave your life, your family was there beside,
But there on a desert plain far from daughter or sister Husayn dies.
For you the faithful spirit, Gabriel, brought a shroud from heaven,
But Husayn fell there on the earth without ablution, without shroud!
Ali, since Husayn in the last hour took your head on his lap to lie,
As kindness in return, then, lay his head on your lap till he dies.”
(from “Divan-i-Ansari”, translated by L. Clarke)