Martyr

:''Apart from the religious meaning, Martyr is also a metal band see Martyr (band).'' Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for his or her religion faith. Sometimes, it is for a different "noble cause" - like patriotically dying for a nation's glory in a war. During the early Roman Empire, the independent cities of Asia Minor made efforts to reward benefactors for their services, and to incite further civic generosity by means of public acclamations, eulogistic honorific decrees addressed to the Roman authorities and read out in the public places before an audience. Such commendations are usually referred to in epigraphic sources as ''martyriai''. Christians adopted the phrase for the "testimonies" of the acts and sufferings of the persecuted, who became "martyrs". ==History== ''Martyr'' is from ''martyr'' (earlier ''martys''), the Greek word for "witness". ===In Christianity=== Christian martyrs in the first three centuries A.D. were crucifixion in the same manner as ancient Rome political prisoners or eaten by lions as a circus spectacle. They are recognized as martyrs because they have preferred to die rather than renounce their Christianity faith, usually by making a sacrifice to a pagan deity. The Christian writer Tertullian (200 AD) asserted that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church". With the Constantinian shift and the identification of Christianity with the Roman Empire, the tables were turned and Paganism sometimes became martyrs if they refused Religious conversion#Conversion to Christianity. It didn't take long before Augustine of Hippo authorized the use of force against Heresy or fellow Christians who refused to fall in line with orthodoxy. Intra-Christian persecution and the martyrdom that sometimes went with it became institutionalised in the office of the inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church. Some Christian sects such as Anabaptists and Mormons trace their origins to widespread persecution and martyrdom at the hands of mainstream Christians trying to suppress their break away sects. The Anabaptists have embraced this part of their heritage to such an extent that the book ''Martyrs Mirror'', which describes the deaths of Anabaptist Martyrs in the 16th century and 17th century is still widely owned and read in Mennonite and Amish households (see Anabaptist#Persecutions and migrations for more). The 20th century then saw large numbers of Christians martyred by non-Christians again during the persecutions in the totalitarianism regimes, most markedly in communism Russia between the two World Wars. After the Fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Orthodox Church has recognized large numbers of these so called New Martyrs. Estimates of Christian martyrs in the 21st century are about 450 daily, and 160,000 yearly. See Persecution of Christians for more detail. ===In Islam=== In Arabic, a martyr is termed "shahid" (literally, "witness"). The concept of the ''shahid'' is discussed in the Hadith, the sayings of Muhammad; the term recurs frequently in the Qur'an, but usually with its literal meaning of "witness". The first martyr in Islam was the old woman Sumaya bint Khabbat[http://www.islam-qa.com/QA/6%7CIslamic_history_and_biography(Tareekh_wa_al-Seerah)/Mutafarraqaat_(Miscellaneous)/The_first_female_martyr_in_Islam.10061998.2223.shtml], the first Muslim to die at the hands of the polytheists of Mecca (specifically, Abu Jahl). A famous person widely regarded as a martyr - indeed, an archetypical martyr for the Shia - is Husayn bin Ali, who died at the hands of the forces of the caliph Yazid I at Karbala. The Shia commemorate this event each year at Aashurah. See Persecution of Muslims for more detail. ==Martyrdom today== The term has since been used metaphorically for people killed in a history struggle for some cause, such as Yonatan "Yonni" Netanyahu - the hero of Entebbe, or those whose deaths served to galvanize a particular movement. In the 20th century, many Muslims called suicide bombers belonging to Islamism and Palestinian nationalist groups claim to be "martyrs". Such usage is very controversial and generally has not occurred in the English language media. On the other hand, the Arab language word "shaheed" has been sometimes used since in English it carries no obvious emotional baggage. ==Hero or villain?== The term "martyr" is in some ways semantically interchangeable with "hero" — both are almost always controversial. The phrase "one man's hero is another's criminal" is a simple way of expressing this disparity. Warriors throughout history returning from battle are typically revered for "heroism" and "bravery". In recent history, those that commit criminal acts during war run the risk of military courts martial. In all cultures, war dead are considered to be in some sense "martyrs". This is true of U.S. soldiers killed in foreign military operations — the President of the United States commonly refers to "their sacrifice" as being "for the cause of freedom". The actual word "martyr" is not used, however. Suicide bombers in Palestine (region) are typically hailed as "martyrs" by many Palestinans (the actual percentage is also disputed) due to Islam's prohibition against suicide. ==See also== * Justin Martyr * :Category:Christian martyrs Religious persecution

Martyr

a modern definition of martyr should include the way of using it in everyday speech to suggest that someone is making a big deal out of their own work or suffering, implies criticism. I am removing the following:

This claim is of course but one point of view, and the veracity of such a claim tends to be measured not in the merits, but in terms of the outcomes of conflict. ("History is written by the victor.")

which comes right after the note about American President saying that American war dead have sacrificed themselves for freedom. It is pretty obvious that this is in fact President's point of view, and there is no need to rub it in here. Also, this is not about the winners or losers writing history. In American historiography American soldiers die for freedom in all wars (or at least they should be). Obviously, in Arab historiography they die for different causes. Both the winners and losers write their histories and write them the way they feel like, except perhaps for the more extreme cases such as the Russians heavily influencing writing of history textbooks for the East European countries or something like that. User:Watcher 01:35, 12 May 2004 (UTC) == Proposed sentences for Removal from "Hero or Villian?" section == The last three sentences at the end of "Hero or Villian?" section seem to be a digression into the discussion of war crimes rather than martyrs and are fairly POV as well: In the West intentional efforts to kill as many civilians as possible are generally considered war crimes, as opposed to the death of civilians that is incidental to accomplishment of other goals, such as destruction of military or industrial infrastructure. Such fine distinctions are generally not made by anti-war and pacifist movements who denounce any death of civilians as war crimes and generally consider war a crime as of itself with essential moral equivalence between the two combatants, even if one of them kills civilians wholesale and other only accidentally. They are also not made by non-Western nations deemed guilty of war crimes under this standard because they would generally seek to establish a moral equivalence between their actions and actions of Western or American militaries. Given that there weren't any objections, I've removed them from the main article User:Mennonot 16:47, 18 Jun 2004 (UTC) == 20th century martyrs == :''Many church historians believe that there were more Christian martyrs in the 20th century than in the first 19 centuries combined.'' Is there any proof to back this statement up? I would like to see who all these martyrs are.--User:Lucky13pjn 01:54, Jul 3, 2004 (UTC) :I second that request for a reference. Surveying all martyrs over the last 19 centuries would be a huge task and perhaps impossible due to lack of documentation. I also wonder what definition of martyr is being used here. :Well, it's been over two months, and since nobody has replied to back up this statement, I am going to remove it until someone can.--User:Lucky13pjn 18:26, Sep 9, 2004 (UTC) I question the following statement, and ask for verification of it. : ''Estimates of Christian martyrs in the 21st century are about 450 daily, and 160,000 yearly.'' If it can't be verified, I think it should be taken out. User:Chrisptx 10:02, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)chrisptx == Martyr Category == Would it be useful to create a martyr category? Does something like this exist already? There's the beginning of a list over at christian martyrs User:Mennonot 22:52, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) :I would say yes. The only problem I see is controversy on the inclusion of some people's articles into the category.--User:Lucky13pjn 23:51, Oct 18, 2004 (UTC) ==In Islam== ''Muslims were subjected to persecution at the hands of the polytheists of Mecca; see Persecution of Muslims for more detail.'' :I'm not sure how this pertains to the section. I've left in "see Persecution of Muslims", but that link and the text doesn't seem to comment on shahid or martyrs. While I have no doubt that Muslims were subjected to persecution, the Hadith addresses the concept of the shahid in an entirely different context. I removed the text because it reads as a non sequitur. I'm willing to admit that I'm wrong, so I would welcome any comment on my edits. - Viriditas I'm not sure which Hadith you're referring to, but I put Sumaya in because, according to the hadiths cited in the page linked to, she was the first shahida (or indeed martyr of either sex) of Islam, at the hands of Abu Jahl. - User:Mustafaa 12:22, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC) Why is thee not a section of martyrs to Christian Intolerance. I mean how many people where slaughtered because of this. I mean Hypatia is one example..how bout the cathar's of southern France, or the salem wittch trials or the native peoples in North america. I think this article needs a section on Martyrs of Christian intolerance to be taken seriously. ==Martyrs of the Spanish Inquisition== I read somewhere that some group of victims of the Spanish Inquisition venerated those dead at its hands, mirroring the veneration of Christian martyrs, even when the pure form of their religion didn't allow this veneration. The problem is that I don't remember if the group was the Crypto-Jews or Moriscos. --User:Error 03:31, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC) == "Shaheed" == It redirects back to martyr. Would the term even be worth a new article? Just a minor thing, but still. Also, is it "shahid" or "shaheed?" User:TaintedMustard 06:31, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC) Definition I think this definition page misses the main concept of MARTYR: That is that the martyr's life HAS BEEN TAKEN because of a refusal to compromise ones actions or belief: - rather than choosing to give ones life to make a moral point. The sacrificial giving of one's life for a cause is rightly not referred to as martyrdom (Matthew 21 May 2005) == Jewish Martyrs/others == There should probably be sections on martyrs from backgrounds than Christian and Muslim, especially Jewish. I couldn't do it, but I think it's desperately needed.

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Words begining with Martyr:

Martyr
Martyr
Martyr69
Martyr69
Martyrdom
Martyrdom_of_Peter
Martyrdom_of_Polycarp
Martyrdom_of_the_26_Saints_of_Japan
Martyrdom_of_the_26_Saints_of_Japan
Martyrdom_operation
Martyrdom_operation
Martyred
Martyrologium
Martyrology
Martyrs
Martyrs
Martyrs
Martyrs'_Memorial
Martyrs'_Shrine
Martyrs_Mirror
Martyrs_of_C�rdoba
Martyrs_of_C�rdoba
Martyrs_of_cordoba
Martyr_(band)