Istishhad
Encyclopedia
Istishhad means the act of or the seeking of martyr
dom in Islam
. In recent years the term has been said to "emphasize... heroism in the act of sacrifice" rather than "victimization," and has "developed... into a military and political strategy," often called "martyrdom operations". Istishhad attacks are often, but not necessarily, suicide bombings operations. One of the first forms of modern Istishhad was crossing through minefields to detonate buried landmines and clear a safe battlefield path for following soldiers.
during the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988. Mohammed Hossein Fahmideh
, a 13-year-old boy who fought in the war, is said to be the first Muslim to have participated in such an attack in contemporary history. He strapped rocket-propelled grenades to his chest and blew himself up under an Iraqi tank in November 1980. Ayatollah Khomeini declared Fahmideh a national hero and inspiration for further volunteers for martyrdom. Other Iranian basij
volunteers ran through minefields to detonate buried landmines and clear a safe battlefield path for following soldiers.
Shia usually refer to the martyrdom of Hussain ibn Ali and his companions and family members in the battle of Karbala
as role models and inspiration for martyrdom as a glorious and noble death.
When the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
first carried out suicide attacks - involved strapping the body of the mission carrier with explosives - in the Israeli-inhabited towns of Afula and Khidara in the spring of 1994, it "described these operations as `amaliyat istishhadiya (martyrdom operations)" rather than the more secular a'maliyat fida'iyah (self-sacrifice operations). The term 'amaliyat istishhadiya has caught on and "today, istishhad is the most frequently used term to refer to acts of sacrifice in the Palestinian resistance and is used by Islamic, secular, and Marxist groups alike."
According to one non-Muslim scholar, Noah Feldman
: "The vocabulary of martyrdom and sacrifice, the formal videotaped preconfession of faith, the technological tinkering to increase deadliness — all are now instantly recognizable to every Muslim." Feldman sees a worrying trend in the steady expansion of the targets of Istishhad since its debut in early 1982 when successful bombing of barracks
and embassy buildings
drove Americans from Lebanon.
militants, although non-Muslim groups have engaged in suicide attacks, such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
. Islamist
militants prefer the term to "suicide attack", as suicide is forbidden under traditional Islamic law. While most combat involves a chance of death, a "martyrdom operation" implies a deliberate act leading to death as part of the attack.
Jihad
, often called "holy war
" by non-Muslims, is a religious obligation of all Muslims, when the Islamic community is endangered, or Muslims are subjected to oppression and subjugation. Militant groups that carry out "martyrdom operations" believe that such operations fulfill this obligation of jihad
against the "oppressor". According to conservative Iranian cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, "when protecting Islam and the Muslim community
depends on martyrdom operations, it not only is allowed, but even is an obligation as many of the Shi'ah great scholars and Maraje', including Ayatullah Safi Golpayegani and Ayatullah Fazel Lankarani, have clearly announced in their fatwas." Many Islamic clergy, such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi
, consider martyrdom operations in Palestinian territories and other areas occupied by non-Muslims heroic and an act of resistance.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
of Iran showered martyrdom operations during the Iran–Iraq War and those against Israel
with accolades. Indeed, Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi
, the second Secretary General of Hezbollah and student of Khomeini, invented a supplication that became popular among the Hezbollah youths and fighters.
Osama bin Laden
called the attack on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon
a "martyrdom operation." Palestinians primarily speak of a "martyrdom operation" as opposed to "suicide bombing." The Iraq
i administration referred to suicide attacks on invading troops during the 2003 Iraq war
in these terms also, and, in particular, their promise to retake the Baghdad airport.
A rationale for why Istishhad of non-combatants is not against religious law is that the civilians caught in the crossfire "were destined to die". The Saudi exile Muhammad al-Massari explains that any civilian killed in an attack on the enemy "won't suffer [but instead]… becomes a martyr himself." During the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah
"apologized" for an attack on Nazareth that killed two Israeli Arab children—but said the two children should be considered "martyrs."
clerics, Ayatollah al-Udhma Yousof al-Sanei also decreed a fatwa
against suicide bombing however, declaring it as a "terrorist act":
Some Sunni scholars' opinion rejects suicide. However, some top authorities do support suicide attacks on perceived enemies of Islam. Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, religious affairs minister of Pakistan
, the world's second largest Muslim majority country, has made public statements in favor of it.
Other clerics have supported attacks mainly in connection with Palestine. Sunni Iraqi cleric Sheikh Ahmad Al-Qubeisi has proclaimed that "those who commit martyrdom [i.e. suicide] operations who are, by Allah, the greatest martyrs in Islamic history..." Amongst others the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, the former President of Al-Azhar University
, Ahmad Omar Hashem and Cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris of Gaza have all urged on suicide operations by Muslims. Sayed Mohammed Musawi, head of the World Islamic League in London, condemned the London bombings
, but insisted
There have been conflicting reports about the stand of Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy
, the top Egyptian cleric of Al-Azhar University, and the mufti
of Egypt, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Al Tayyeb. Shortly after 9/11 Sheikh Tantawy issued a statement opposing suicide attacks. However, a translation from Al Azhar website quotes him as supporting suicide attacks on Jews in Israel as part of the Palestinian struggle "to strike horror into the hearts of the enemies of Islam." Then in mid-2003 he was quoted again as saying "groups which carried out suicide bombings were the enemies of Islam."
According to Professor Charles A. Kimball, chair of the Department of Religion at Wake Forest University
in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
, "There is only one verse in the Qur'an that contains a phrase related to suicide", Verse 4:29 of the Qur'an
. It reads
Some commentators believe that the phrase "do not kill yourselves" is better translated "do not kill each other", and some translations (e.g. Shakir) reflect that view. (A note on the Qur'an's unique textual density is perhaps in order here: It is not uncommon for a single Qur'anic Arabic phrase to embrace two or more complementary meanings at the same time, and this may be the case with 4:29.)
Mainstream Islamic groups such as the European Council for Fatwa and Research use the Quran'ic verse Al-Anam 6:151
unambiguously forbid suicide.
A contrary view is presented by Faisal Bodi who has written in The Guardian
,
Nevertheless, Islamist militant organisations (including Al-Qaeda
, Hamas
and Islamic Jihad) continue to argue that suicide operations are justified according to Islamic law, despite Islam's strict prohibition of suicide and murder. Irshad Manji
, in a conversation with one leader of Islamic Jihad noted their ideology.
Since the four suicide bombings in London, there have been many scholastic refutations of suicide bombings from Sunni Muslims. Ihsanic Intelligence, a London-based Islamic think-tank, published their two-year study into suicide bombings in the name of Islam, titled The Hijacked Caravan, which concluded that,
The Oxford-based Malaysian jurist, Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti
, issued his landmark fatwa on suicide bombing and targeting innocent civilians, titled 'Defending the Transgressed, by Censuring the Reckless against the Killing of Civilians', where he states suicide bombing in its most widespread form, is forbidden:
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
dom in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. In recent years the term has been said to "emphasize... heroism in the act of sacrifice" rather than "victimization," and has "developed... into a military and political strategy," often called "martyrdom operations". Istishhad attacks are often, but not necessarily, suicide bombings operations. One of the first forms of modern Istishhad was crossing through minefields to detonate buried landmines and clear a safe battlefield path for following soldiers.
History
The origins of modern Istishhadi attacks lie among the Shia in IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
during the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988. Mohammed Hossein Fahmideh
Mohammed Hossein Fahmideh
Hossein Fahmide, is considered a hero in Iran and an icon of the Iran-Iraq war...
, a 13-year-old boy who fought in the war, is said to be the first Muslim to have participated in such an attack in contemporary history. He strapped rocket-propelled grenades to his chest and blew himself up under an Iraqi tank in November 1980. Ayatollah Khomeini declared Fahmideh a national hero and inspiration for further volunteers for martyrdom. Other Iranian basij
Basij
The Basij is a paramilitary volunteer militia established in 1979 by order of the Islamic Revolution's leader Ayatollah Khomeini. The force consists of young Iranians who have volunteered, often in exchange for official benefits...
volunteers ran through minefields to detonate buried landmines and clear a safe battlefield path for following soldiers.
Shia usually refer to the martyrdom of Hussain ibn Ali and his companions and family members in the battle of Karbala
Battle of Karbala
The Battle of Karbala took place on Muharram 10, in the year 61 of the Islamic calendar in Karbala, in present day Iraq. On one side of the highly uneven battle were a small group of supporters and relatives of Muhammad's grandson Husain ibn Ali, and on the other was a large military detachment...
as role models and inspiration for martyrdom as a glorious and noble death.
When the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
first carried out suicide attacks - involved strapping the body of the mission carrier with explosives - in the Israeli-inhabited towns of Afula and Khidara in the spring of 1994, it "described these operations as `amaliyat istishhadiya (martyrdom operations)" rather than the more secular a'maliyat fida'iyah (self-sacrifice operations). The term 'amaliyat istishhadiya has caught on and "today, istishhad is the most frequently used term to refer to acts of sacrifice in the Palestinian resistance and is used by Islamic, secular, and Marxist groups alike."
According to one non-Muslim scholar, Noah Feldman
Noah Feldman
Noah Feldman is an American author and professor of law at Harvard Law School.-Education and career:Feldman grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, where he attended the Maimonides School....
: "The vocabulary of martyrdom and sacrifice, the formal videotaped preconfession of faith, the technological tinkering to increase deadliness — all are now instantly recognizable to every Muslim." Feldman sees a worrying trend in the steady expansion of the targets of Istishhad since its debut in early 1982 when successful bombing of barracks
1983 Beirut barracks bombing
The Beirut Barracks Bombing occurred during the Lebanese Civil War, when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon—killing 299 American and French servicemen...
and embassy buildings
1983 United States Embassy bombing
The 1983 U.S. embassy bombing was a suicide bombing against the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon on April 18, 1983 that killed over 60 people, mostly embassy staff members and United States Marines and sailors. It was the deadliest attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission up to that time, and is...
drove Americans from Lebanon.
First the targets were American soldiers, then mostly IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
is, including women and children. From LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and Israel, the technique of suicide bombing moved to IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, where the targets have included mosques and shrines, and the intended victims have mostly been Shiite IraqisIraqi peopleThe Iraqi people or Mesopotamian people are natives or inhabitants of the country of Iraq, known since antiquity as Mesopotamia , with a large diaspora throughout the Arab World, Europe, the Americas, and...
. The newest testing ground is AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, where both the perpetrators and the targets are orthodox Sunni Muslims. Not long ago, a bombing in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand ProvinceHelmand ProvinceHelmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation....
, killed Muslims, including women, who were applying to go on pilgrimageHajjThe Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
to MeccaMeccaMecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
. Overall, the trend is definitively in the direction of Muslim-on-Muslim violence. By a conservative accounting, more than three times as many Iraqis have been killed by suicide bombings in the last 3 years as have Israelis in the last 10. Suicide bombing has become the archetype of Muslim violence — not just to frightened Westerners but also to Muslims themselves.
Martyrdom operation
Militant groups term attack on military or civilian targets in which the attacker is expected to die, most frequently by detonation of a bomb, as "martyrdom operations". The term is usually used by MuslimIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
militants, although non-Muslim groups have engaged in suicide attacks, such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
. Islamist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
militants prefer the term to "suicide attack", as suicide is forbidden under traditional Islamic law. While most combat involves a chance of death, a "martyrdom operation" implies a deliberate act leading to death as part of the attack.
Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
, often called "holy war
Religious war
A religious war; Latin: bellum sacrum; is a war caused by, or justified by, religious differences. It can involve one state with an established religion against another state with a different religion or a different sect within the same religion, or a religiously motivated group attempting to...
" by non-Muslims, is a religious obligation of all Muslims, when the Islamic community is endangered, or Muslims are subjected to oppression and subjugation. Militant groups that carry out "martyrdom operations" believe that such operations fulfill this obligation of jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
against the "oppressor". According to conservative Iranian cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, "when protecting Islam and the Muslim community
Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
depends on martyrdom operations, it not only is allowed, but even is an obligation as many of the Shi'ah great scholars and Maraje', including Ayatullah Safi Golpayegani and Ayatullah Fazel Lankarani, have clearly announced in their fatwas." Many Islamic clergy, such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Yusuf al-Qaradawi is a controversial Egyptian Islamic theologian. He is best known for his programme, ash-Shariah wal-Hayat , broadcast on Al Jazeera, which has an estimated audience of 60 million worldwide...
, consider martyrdom operations in Palestinian territories and other areas occupied by non-Muslims heroic and an act of resistance.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran...
of Iran showered martyrdom operations during the Iran–Iraq War and those against Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
with accolades. Indeed, Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi
Abbas al-Musawi
Abbas al-Musawi was an influential Shia cleric and co-founder and Secretary General of Hezbollah. He was killed by Israeli forces in 1992.Al-Musawi was born in the village of al-Nabi Shayth in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon....
, the second Secretary General of Hezbollah and student of Khomeini, invented a supplication that became popular among the Hezbollah youths and fighters.
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
called the attack on the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
and the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
a "martyrdom operation." Palestinians primarily speak of a "martyrdom operation" as opposed to "suicide bombing." The Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i administration referred to suicide attacks on invading troops during the 2003 Iraq war
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
in these terms also, and, in particular, their promise to retake the Baghdad airport.
A rationale for why Istishhad of non-combatants is not against religious law is that the civilians caught in the crossfire "were destined to die". The Saudi exile Muhammad al-Massari explains that any civilian killed in an attack on the enemy "won't suffer [but instead]… becomes a martyr himself." During the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah
Hassan Nasrallah
Hasan Nasrallah, became the third Secretary General of the Lebanese political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah after Israel assassinated the previous leader, Abbas al-Musawi, in 1992. Hezbollah in its entirety is considered a terrorist organization by The United States, the Netherlands,...
"apologized" for an attack on Nazareth that killed two Israeli Arab children—but said the two children should be considered "martyrs."
Religious disagreement
In January 2006, one of Shia Islam's highest ranking marjaMarja
Marja , also known as a marja-i taqlid or marja dini , literally means "Source to Imitate/Follow" or "Religious Reference"...
clerics, Ayatollah al-Udhma Yousof al-Sanei also decreed a fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
against suicide bombing however, declaring it as a "terrorist act":
"Even those who kill people with suicide bombing, these shall meet the flames of hell."
Some Sunni scholars' opinion rejects suicide. However, some top authorities do support suicide attacks on perceived enemies of Islam. Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, religious affairs minister of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, the world's second largest Muslim majority country, has made public statements in favor of it.
Other clerics have supported attacks mainly in connection with Palestine. Sunni Iraqi cleric Sheikh Ahmad Al-Qubeisi has proclaimed that "those who commit martyrdom [i.e. suicide] operations who are, by Allah, the greatest martyrs in Islamic history..." Amongst others the Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, the former President of Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...
, Ahmad Omar Hashem and Cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris of Gaza have all urged on suicide operations by Muslims. Sayed Mohammed Musawi, head of the World Islamic League in London, condemned the London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
, but insisted
"there should be a clear distinction between the suicide bombing of those who are trying to defend themselves from occupiers, which is something different from those who kill civilians, which is a big crime."
There have been conflicting reports about the stand of Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy
Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy
Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy was an influential Islamic scholar in Egypt. From 1986 to 1996, he was the grand Mufti of Egypt...
, the top Egyptian cleric of Al-Azhar University, and the mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
of Egypt, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Al Tayyeb. Shortly after 9/11 Sheikh Tantawy issued a statement opposing suicide attacks. However, a translation from Al Azhar website quotes him as supporting suicide attacks on Jews in Israel as part of the Palestinian struggle "to strike horror into the hearts of the enemies of Islam." Then in mid-2003 he was quoted again as saying "groups which carried out suicide bombings were the enemies of Islam."
According to Professor Charles A. Kimball, chair of the Department of Religion at Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
, "There is only one verse in the Qur'an that contains a phrase related to suicide", Verse 4:29 of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. It reads
O you who believe! Do not consume your wealth in the wrong way-rather through trade mutually agreed to, and do not kill yourselves. Surely God is Merciful toward you.
Some commentators believe that the phrase "do not kill yourselves" is better translated "do not kill each other", and some translations (e.g. Shakir) reflect that view. (A note on the Qur'an's unique textual density is perhaps in order here: It is not uncommon for a single Qur'anic Arabic phrase to embrace two or more complementary meanings at the same time, and this may be the case with 4:29.)
Mainstream Islamic groups such as the European Council for Fatwa and Research use the Quran'ic verse Al-Anam 6:151
(And take not life, which Allah has made sacred, except by way of justice and law)as further reason to prohibit suicide. In addition, the hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
unambiguously forbid suicide.
A contrary view is presented by Faisal Bodi who has written in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
,
"in the Muslim world, then, we celebrate what we call the martyr-bombers. To us they are heroes defending the things we hold sacred. Polls in the Middle East show 75% of people in favour of martyr-bombings."
Nevertheless, Islamist militant organisations (including Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
, Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
and Islamic Jihad) continue to argue that suicide operations are justified according to Islamic law, despite Islam's strict prohibition of suicide and murder. Irshad Manji
Irshad Manji
Irshad Manji is a Canadian author, journalist and an advocate of "reform and progressive" interpretation of Islam. Manji is director of the Moral Courage Project at the Robert F...
, in a conversation with one leader of Islamic Jihad noted their ideology.
"What's the difference between suicide, which the Koran condemns, and martyrdom?" I asked. "Suicide," he replied, "is done out of despair. But remember: most of our martyrs today were very successful in their earthly lives." In short, there was a future to live for--and they detonated it anyway.
Since the four suicide bombings in London, there have been many scholastic refutations of suicide bombings from Sunni Muslims. Ihsanic Intelligence, a London-based Islamic think-tank, published their two-year study into suicide bombings in the name of Islam, titled The Hijacked Caravan, which concluded that,
"The technique of suicide bombing is anathema, antithetical and abhorrent to Sunni Islam. It is considered legally forbidden, constituting a reprehensible innovation in the Islamic tradition, morally an enormity of sin combining suicide and murder and theologically an act which has consequences of eternal damnation."
The Oxford-based Malaysian jurist, Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti
Afifi al-Akiti
Dato' Dr Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti BA , MA , MSt , DPhil , MSIEPM – also known as Shaykh Afifi – is Fellow in Islamic Studies at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and Islamic Centre Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford, and is a Fellow of Worcester...
, issued his landmark fatwa on suicide bombing and targeting innocent civilians, titled 'Defending the Transgressed, by Censuring the Reckless against the Killing of Civilians', where he states suicide bombing in its most widespread form, is forbidden:
'If the attack involves a bomb placed on the body or placed so close to the bomber that when the bomber detonates it the bomber is certain [yaqin] to die, then the More Correct Position according to us is that it does constitute suicide. This is because the bomber, being also the Maqtul [the one killed], is unquestionably the same Qatil [the immediate/active agent that kills] = Qatil Nafsahu [suicide]."
See also
- Suicide attackSuicide attackA suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
- Child suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflictChild suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflictIn the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian militant groups have recruited minors to attack Israeli targets, both military and civilian, especially during the Second Intifada. In some cases these attacks have been suicidal in nature...
- Female suicide bomberFemale suicide bomberThough the majority of suicide bombers have been male, female suicide bombers have carried out a number of attacks.-History:Female suicide bombers have been employed in several conflicts, by a variety of organizations, against both military and civilian targets.*In Lebanon on April 9, 1985, Sana'a...
- Animal-borne bomb attacksAnimal-borne bomb attacksAnimal-borne bomb attacks are the use of animals as delivery systems for explosives. The explosives are strapped to a pack animal such as a horse, mule or donkey and set off in a crowd.-Afghanistan:...
- List of Hamas suicide attacks
- List of Palestinian Islamic Jihad suicide attacks
- List of Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades suicide attacks
External links
- The Culture of Martyrdom How suicide bombing became not just a means but an end by David BrooksDavid Brooks (journalist)David Brooks is a Canadian-born political and cultural commentator who considers himself a moderate and writes for the New York Times...
in The Atlantic Magazine June 2002 - Defending the Transgressed Fatwa against suicide bombing by Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-AkitiAfifi al-AkitiDato' Dr Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti BA , MA , MSt , DPhil , MSIEPM – also known as Shaykh Afifi – is Fellow in Islamic Studies at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and Islamic Centre Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford, and is a Fellow of Worcester...
- The Logic of Suicide Terrorism by Bruce Hoffman published in The Atlantic Magazine June 2003
- Suicide Bombers Why do they do it, and what does Islam say about their actions?
- The Hijacked Caravan Study refuting suicide bombing in Islam by Ihsanic Intelligence
- ‘The Seekers of Martyrdom Command’: Another State-Inspired Organization of Suicide Attackers in Iran (Official Website Based in U.S. and Germany)
- The Supplication of the Second Secretary General of 'Hezbollah'