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Martyrdom in Islam/Christiantiy/Judaism

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Submitted By shahabnawaz
Words 1700
Pages 7
The word martyr incites many reactions in our world today, Martyrs and Martyrdom is automatically related to violence and killing in the minds of many in the general population. The word martyr stems from a Greek word and means “witness”. It was a word that was used in legal matters but soon the meaning was extended to individuals who “by their death witnessed their belief in their respective faiths”. Being a martyr has many different meanings and does not always mean killing yourself in the name of god but rather it is a peaceful journey the individual takes by himself. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all have their own versions of martyrs and martyrdom. These three religions often share many similar characteristics and they do have similar ideas of martyrdom but they also do have stout differences. This paper will ponder what martyrdom means to each religion and the differences between martyrs among the Abrahamic religions. Out of the three Abrahamic religions, martyrs are least prominent amongst the Jews. In the Jewish religion a martyr is associated with “Kiddush Hashem”. As said by Huseyin Cicek “Everyone who lives according to Kiddush Hashem is witnessing, and is a witness of, the one and true God. Every religious Jew has to live according to Kiddush Hashem, if he or she seeks salvation, because life is a gift from God. The only way of honoring God is Kiddush Hashem”. Cicek states that every religious Jew has to live according to the Kiddush Hashem, if this is so then every Jew that practices their religion is a Martyr. According to Rabbinic Judaism voluntary death is not permitted but fighting the enemies of Judaism is permitted. Rabbinic Judaism allows Jews to fight for their religion in a war but it does not allow suicide in the name of god. A martyr according to Rabbinic Judaism is a person who dies following the rules of the Torah.

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