Istishhad

Istishhad (istišhād) is the Arabic word for "martyrdom", "death of a martyr", or "heroic death". (from the root shahida "to witness"). Traditionally martyrdom has an exalted place in Islam, and certainly Shi'i Islam. It is widely believed among Muslims that the sins of believers who "die in the way of God" will be forgiven by Allah. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the term istishhad has been said to emphasize the "heroism" of sacrifice, rather than "victimization". It had been "developed...into a military and political strategy", often called "martyrdom operations", that contained "a central ideological pillar and organizational ideal" of waging "active jihad against the perceived enemies of Islam". Jihadist terror groups, in particular Al-Qaeda, have "employed innovative modes of action and raised suicide terrorism’s level of destruction and fatalities to previously unknown heights". One who martyrs themselves is given the honorific shaheed. Quranic verses 3:169-171 is said to indicate that the sins of believers who "die in the way of God" will be forgiven by Allah, and transported to paradise, without having to wait for Judgement Day like other believers. And reckon not those who are killed in Allah’s way as dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord; rejoicing in what Allah has given them out of His grace, and they rejoice for the sake of those who, (being left) behind them, have not yet joined them, that they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. They rejoice on account of favour from Allah and (His) grace, and that Allah will not waste the reward of believers. (Q.3:169-171) At least one scholar, Shi'i cleric Sa'id Akhtar Rizvi, writes that while normally when a human being dies, their afterlife "depends on one's faith and deeds", but that "the moment a believer is slain in the way of Allah, his eternal life begins". With a martyr there is no "uncertainty ... suspense. Allah immediately bestows on the martyr the joy, the everlasting bliss and an immortal life. ...