Long ago I once had a discussion with a fellow muslim about how I believed it is not appropriate for a muslim to wish to die a martyr in this modern age. He disagreed with me citing every muslim must have the desire to die a martyr as it's the greatest death for muslims. Now this was around the time the Syrian revolution was taking it's roots (well before ISIS) and many muslims were talking about fighting oppressors and such. This anyway didn't change my mind and I continued to believe it was stupid for someone to wish to die in a battle in this modern age as we have enough nut jobs terrorists blowing themselves up claiming to die a martyr. Since then the whole notion of havaing a desire to die a martyr to be a proper muslim never sat well with my pacifist mind.
Lately I started watching the show Ertugul (I know, it was on Netflix and didn't take me long to get hooked on it!). One thing that sood out in the show was how willing the muslims were to fight the disbelievers and die a martyr in that cause. It made me think how much of muslim literature is infact very violent. Muslim poets and writers never shied away from talking at lengths about warriors and the many battles they fought in and the many disbelievers they slayed in their battles. This is not unique to Islam, most societies around the world have always celebrated their brave warriors. Even cartoon shows such as Attack on Titan and even Adventure Time celebrates warriors who fought and slayed for justice. Watching Ertugul bought to me new light to the concept of having a deep desire to die a martyr. As I teleported myself in my head, to be one of the brave Alps fighting the Crusader armies wanting to destroy Islam, I too wished to die a martyr like those brave fighters who fought and died in the way of Allah!
Thn the other day I was listening to a lecture by a muslim professor who was describing one of the stories of Rumi in his Masnavi that involved a battle. He mentioned how classical Islamic literature has plenty of violence in it but does such violence have place in an age where we can distroy the world many times over with the modern weapons of mass destruction we posess? This is where it finally clicked for me. While it made sense to go to battle and die honorably back in a time where most battles with fought with swords and arrows, no such honor exists in modern warfare where someone sitting thousands of miles away, in another country can press a button on his desk while eating a sandwich to completely decimate a tiny village on the other side of the world.
So what does it means today to have a desire to die a martyr then? In my understanding it makes no sense for muslims today to have a desire to waste themselves on a battlefield but there are many other ways to die a martyr. In this modern age the best way to die a martyr is to be able to die while upholding the path of Allah (swt), the path of truth and justice without resorting to violence, despite how much resistance the world puts up against you. I believe this desire to die for the sake of upholding Allah's (swt) and His Prophet's (saws) message on this earth is what every muslim must have. If you can die saying you haven't compromised on your deen for the sake of this world, then that is the best death one can wish for in this modern age. You may not be called a martyr but it's better than most who call themselves martyrs these days.
[link] [comments]
from Islam http://bit.ly/2UJIZKO
Post A Comment:
0 comments so far,add yours