Istishhad

Istishhad () is the Arabic word for "martyrdom", "death of a martyr", or (in some contexts) "heroic death". Martyrs are given the honorific ''shaheed''. The word derives from the Semitic root ''shahida'' (), meaning "to witness". Traditionally martyrdom has an exalted place in Islam. Four California Lectures |others=A lecture delivered at Husain Day, held at New York, on Sunday, 25 October 1987 |url=https://www.al-islam.org/four-californian-lectures-sayyid-saeed-akhtar-rizvi/lecture-4-concept-martyrdom-islam |website=Al-Islam.org |date=4 December 2012 |access-date=1 July 2023}}}} It is widely believed among Muslims that the sins of believers who "die in the way of God" will be forgiven by Allah. Shia views on martyrdom have been profoundly influenced by internal Muslim conflicts, notably Husayn ibn Ali's martyrdom at Karbala in 680, shaping it as a central belief and practice.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the term ''istishhad'' has been redefined by Jihadists to emphasize the "heroism" of sacrifice, rather than portraying it as an act of victimization. This concept has evolved into a military and political strategy known among Jihadist groups as "martyrdom operations". although Western media commonly refer to them as suicide attacks. These acts contain "a central ideological pillar and organizational ideal" of waging "active jihad against the perceived enemies of Islam". Sunni Islamist figures such as Hassan Al-Banna viewed martyrdom as a duty incumbent upon every Muslim, urging them to ready themselves for it and to excel in the "art of death". Contemporary Shi'ite perspectives on martyrdom have commonly followed similar paths.

The rise of deaths of Muslims in conflicts spanning regions such as Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Chechnya, Iraq, and Iran has been accompanied by extensive literature glorifying these martyrs' actions. 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". Osama bin Laden referred to Muslims who had been massacred in numerous conflicts as evidence that the world regarded Muslims lives as "cheap" in his "declaration of war" on the United States in 1996. Provided by Wikipedia