The terms Shahada, Shaheed, and Shuhada’a have no synonyms in other languages. They are purely Islamic concepts that did not exist before Islam, just like the term Wilaya.

Sayyed Abbas Noureddine

The purpose of Jihad is martyrdom (Shahada), the individual as well as the society’s Shahada. The society’s Shahada lies in its becoming evidence to other societies of the values and significations it includes, at which Allah the Glorious and Exalted argues other societies with on Judgment Day. As for the individual’s Shahada, it has a more superior significance, as it is mostly accompanied with willful death, and it indicates witnessing the Face of Allah the Glorious and Exalted.

This term Shahada has no synonym in other languages, as the Shaheed (the one who witnesses or observes), Shuhada’a, (the witnesses) and Shahada (the act of witnessing or observing) are purely Islamic concepts that did not exist before Islam, just like the term Wilaya (Guardianship). One of the sayings of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) states that the martyr has seven characteristics, he lists them then says: … he observes the Face of Allah the Glorious.

Observing the Face of Allah refers to observing the revelations of His names and the divine qualities, because the face of something is what he appears by. Therefore the Shaheed is he who observes the reflection of righteousness on the creatures and the existence at all levels. This is the face of the Ever-living and Eternal, in other words, the glorious and honorable, and this is what includes His names of glory and names of beauty. The Shaheed reaches a rank known as the rank of revelations of the Names and Qualities, or the rank of monotheism, that is the unification of Allah’s Names and Qualities; and that is the true purpose behind man’s existence.

Man was created to reach the level at which he observes the face of Allah, and reach the rank of unification of Allah’s Names and Qualities, or what is referred to as recognizing Allah the Glorious and Exalted. This certain recognition is the destined knowledge for Man, that ultimately leads him to deny his own ego and dissolve in Allah’s will.

The Face of Allah the Glorious and Exalted is an indication to eternity {All that is on earth will perish; but will abide (forever) the Face of thy lord, the Glorious and honorable} -Ar-Rahman (the Beneficient): 26-27- and everything else is an indication to limited existence. Therefore, when it is said that the Shaheed observes the Face of Allah, this means that he witnesses eternity and becomes immortal, and Allah indicates this in the verse: {Think not of those who are slain in Allah’s way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord} - Aal-Imran: 169 -.

When the Shaheed reaches this rank, he is destined with eternal existence, in which he never dies, and that is because he chose death with his own free will and desire. He excels by that over other creatures and humans, as he does not witness the after-death stages, neither does he transfer from his natural being. This is another reference to observing the Face of Allah the Glorious and Exalted, as the Shaheed exists with the existence of Allah without being exposed to any kind of extinction, absence, shock, or obliteration, or all those figures that oppose existence.

The secret of that is clear for those who cogitate about the facts related to this rank. It is known that the only barrier that prevents witnessing the Glorious, Exalted Right is the barrier of selfishness and self-centeredness, and all the other barriers fall under this major one.

The Shaheed is that who willingly seeks to remove this barrier when he goes into that field that requires him to sacrifice and get rid of this existence with his own free will, based on Allah’s desire and his obedience to Him; and this is a basic condition, for without it, that would be similar to suicide, which is a great sin.

There are people who reach the rank of Shahada without being killed, by performing the work of Shuhada’a, as their movement from the beginning till the end is the movement of a Shaheed who was killed for the sake of Allah, but with one difference is that he was not disconnected from nature. It is similar to that person who crosses all the phases of Jihad and all the attachments with selfish desires, and reaches the rank of Shahada, thus becoming a Shaheed. However, because the possibility of retracting from this path always exists, it is required that one gets killed for the sake of Allah, because he would consider it a relief and a victory and it would be appeasing to know that his life was concluded with Shahada.

The Prince of Believers Ali bin Abi Taleb, who was one of the victorious and Shuhada’a throughout his life, yet, he did not say: “By the Lord of the Kaaba, I have succeeded” except after he was killed with a sword for the sake of Allah, and that is after he was confident that his life was concluded with it.

 

Translated by: Sara Taha