Martyr

A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloquial usage, the term can also refer to any person who suffers a significant consequence in protest or support of a cause.

In the martyrdom narrative of the remembering community, this refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of an individual by an oppressor. Accordingly, the status of the 'martyr' can be considered a posthumous title as a reward for those who are considered worthy of the concept of martyrdom by the living, regardless of any attempts by the deceased to control how they will be remembered in advance. Insofar, the martyr is a relational figure of a society's boundary work that is produced by collective memory. Originally applied only to those who suffered for their religious beliefs, the term has come to be used in connection with people killed for a political cause.

Most martyrs are considered holy or are respected by their followers, becoming symbols of exceptional leadership and heroism in the face of difficult circumstances. Martyrs play significant roles in religions. Similarly, martyrs have had notable effects in secular life, including such figures as Socrates, among other political and cultural examples.

Meaning

In its original meaning, the word martyr, meaning ''witness'', was used in the secular sphere as well as in the New Testament of the Bible. The process of bearing witness was not intended to lead to the death of the witness, although it is known from ancient writers (e.g., Josephus) and from the New Testament that witnesses often died for their testimonies.

During the early Christian centuries, the term acquired the extended meaning of believers who are called to witness for their religious belief, and on account of this witness, endure suffering or death. The term, in this later sense, entered the English language as a loanword. The death of a martyr or the value attributed to it is called ''martyrdom''.

The early Christians who first began to use the term ''martyr'' in its new sense saw Jesus as the first and greatest martyr, on account of his crucifixion. The early Christians appear to have seen Jesus as the archetypal martyr.A. J. Wallace and R. D. Rusk, ''Moral Transformation: The Original Christian Paradigm of Salvation'' (New Zealand: Bridgehead, 2011), pp. 217–229.

The word ''martyr'' is used in English to describe a wide variety of people. However, the following table presents a general outline of common features present in stereotypical martyrdoms.

Martyrdom in the Middle East

In contemporary Middle Eastern cultures, the term for 'martyr’ (Arabic ''shahid'') has more uses than the English word ‘martyr’.

While the term can be narrowly used for a person who is killed because of their religion, it is more generally used to mean a person who died a violent death. Thus it can arguably mean a general ‘victim’.

A person is a martyr if they were killed because of their identity, because of natural disasters like earthquakes, or while performing relief or health care work. For example, İbrahim Bilgen was killed by Israel in the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid. Because he died as a humantiarian activist, he is called a martyr by Al-Jazeera.

Martyrdom is also tied with nationalism, because a martyr can be a person who died in the context of national struggle. For example, in Beirut, Martyrs' Square is a public square that's dedicated to Lebanese nationalists who were executed by the Ottomans.

In Palestine, the word ‘martyr’ is traditionally used to mean a person killed by Israeli forces, regardless of religion. For example, Shireen Abu Akleh was a Palestinian Christian journalist who was killed by Israeli forces, and Arabic media calls her a ‘martyr’. This reflects a communal belief that every Palestinian death is part of a resistance against Israeli occupation. Children are likewise called martyrs, such as the late children of journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh who were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

The label of martyrdom is used as a form of memoralizing the dead within some narrative, such as how the victims of the 2020 Beirut explosion were called ‘martyrs of corruption’ as a form of protest against the government.

The wide usage of ‘martyr’ is not restricted to Arabic. Armenian culture likewise uses the term for the victims of the Armenian genocide, who are called ''Holy Martyrs''. April 24 is Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, and also called "Armenian Martyrs Day".

Religious meanings

Eastern religions

Chinese culture

Martyrdom was extensively promoted by the Tongmenghui and the Kuomintang party in modern China. Revolutionaries who died fighting against the Qing dynasty in the Xinhai Revolution and throughout the Republic of China period, furthering the cause of the revolution, were recognized as martyrs.

Hinduism

Despite the promotion of '' ahimsa'' (non-violence) within Sanatana Dharma, and there being no concept of martyrdom, there is the belief of righteous duty ('' dharma''), where violence is used as a last resort to resolution after all other means have failed. Examples of this are found in the Mahabharata. Upon completion of their exile, the Pandavas were refused the return of their portion of the kingdom by their cousin Duruyodhana; and following which all means of peace talks by Krishna, Vidura and Sanjaya failed. During the great war which commenced, even Arjuna was brought down with doubts, e.g., attachment, sorrow, fear. This is where Krishna instructs Arjuna how to carry out his duty as a righteous warrior and fight.

Sikhism

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:
* Guru Arjan, the fifth leader of Sikhism. Guru ji was brutally tortured for almost 5 days before he attained shaheedi, or martyrdom.
* Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth guru of Sikhism, martyred on 11 November 1675. He is also known as ''Dharam Di Chadar'' (i.e. "the shield of Religion"), suggesting that to save Hinduism, the guru gave his life.
* Bhai Dayala is one of the Sikhs who was martyred at Chandni Chowk at Delhi in November 1675 due to his refusal to accept Islam.
* Bhai Mati Das is considered by some one of the greatest martyrs in Sikh history, martyred at Chandni Chowk at Delhi in November 1675 to save Hindu Brahmins.
* Bhai Sati Das is also considered by some one of the greatest martyrs in Sikh history, martyred along with Guru Teg Bahadur at Chandni Chowk at Delhi in November 1675 to save kashmiri pandits.
* Sahibzada Ajit Singh, Sahibzada Jujhar Singh, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh – the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh guru.
* Bhai Mani Singh, who came from a family of over 20 different martyrs

Abrahamic religions

Judaism

Martyrdom in Judaism is one of the main examples of ''Kiddush Hashem'', meaning "sanctification of God's name" through public dedication to Jewish practice. Religious martyrdom is considered one of the more significant contributions of Hellenistic Judaism to Western Civilization. 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees recount numerous martyrdoms suffered by Jews resisting Hellenizing (adoption of Greek ideas or customs of a Hellenistic civilization) by their Seleucid overlords, being executed for such crimes as observing the Sabbath, circumcising their boys or refusing to eat pork or meat sacrificed to foreign gods. However, the notion of martyrdom in the Jewish and Christian traditions differ considerably.

Christianity

In Christianity, a martyr, in accordance with the meaning of the original Greek ''martys'' in the New Testament, is one who brings a testimony, usually written or verbal. In particular, the testimony is that of the Christian Gospel, or more generally, the Word of God. A Christian witness is a biblical witness whether or not death follows.

The concept of Jesus as a martyr has recently received greater attention. Analyses of the Gospel passion narratives have led many scholars to conclude that they are martyrdom accounts in terms of genre and style. Several scholars have also concluded that Paul the Apostle understood Jesus' death as a martyrdom. In light of such conclusions, some have argued that the Christians of the first few centuries would have interpreted the crucifixion of Jesus as a martyrdom.

In the context of church history, from the time of the persecution of early Christians in the Roman Empire and Nero, it developed that a martyr was one who was killed for maintaining a religious belief, ''knowing'' that this will almost certainly result in imminent death (though without intentionally seeking death). This definition of ''martyr'' is not specifically restricted to the Christian faith. Christianity recognizes certain Old Testament Jewish figures, like Abel and the Maccabees, as holy, and the New Testament mentions the imprisonment and beheading of John the Baptist, Jesus's possible cousin and his prophet and forerunner. The first Christian witness, after the establishment of the Christian faith (at Pentecost), to be killed for his testimony was Saint Stephen (whose name means "crown"), and those who suffer martyrdom are said to have been "crowned". From the time of Constantine, Christianity was decriminalized, and then, under Theodosius I, became the state religion, which greatly diminished persecution (although not for non-Nicene Christians). As some wondered how then they could most closely follow Christ there was a development of ''desert spirituality'', desert monks, self-mortification, ascetics, (Paul the Hermit, St. Anthony), following Christ by separation from the world. This was a kind of ''white martyrdom'', dying to oneself every day, as opposed to a ''red martyrdom'', the giving of one's life in a violent death.

In Christianity, death in sectarian persecution can be viewed as martyrdom. There were martyrs recognized on both sides of the schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England after 1534. Two hundred and eighty-eight Christians were martyred for their faith by public burning between 1553 and 1558 by the Roman Catholic Queen Mary I in England leading to the reversion to the Church of England under Queen Elizabeth I in 1559. "From hundreds to thousands" of Waldensians were martyred in the Massacre of Mérindol in 1545. Three hundred Roman Catholics were said to have been martyred by the Church authorities in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Even more modern day accounts of martyrdom for Christ exist, depicted in books such as ''Jesus Freaks,'' though the numbers are disputed. The claim that 100,000 Christians are killed for their faith annually is greatly exaggerated according to the BBC
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