Martyrdom in the Modern Middle East

This volume assembles contributions from different academic perspectives (religious and Islamic studies, literary and theatre studies, theology, sociology and history) on modern manifestations of martyrdom in the diverse Middle Eastern religious traditions, including Islam, Christianity, Judaism and the Baha'i-faith. The latter is considered in more detail since it is often not included in comparative studies on the monotheistic religions. An excursus into the farer East composes the contribution on Mahatma Ghandi. The volume considers central sociological, philosophical and theological problems which lie at the heart of the phenomenon of martyrdom, the significance of martyrdom in different conflicts, the competing martyr figures which develop in the course of these conflicts as well as the accompanying representations in art and ritual. Special attention is directed to the transitions of traditional forms of martyr representation and the emergence of a global discourse on martyrdom, which can be noticed both in the dissemination of martyr practices as in the reactions to certain martyr events on a global scale.

Sasha Dehghani/Silvia Horsch
Introduction 7
I. Continuity and Transformation: Martyrdom in the Bahā’ī Faith
Sasha Dehghani (Berlin)
The Birth of a Monotheistic Religion in Modernity.On Jihad and Martyrdom in the Bahā’ī Faith 15
Per-Olof Åkerdahl (Gävle)
Martyrdom and Servanthood in the Bābī and Bahā’ī Faiths. A Struggle to Defend a Cosmic Order 33
Moojan Momen
Between Karbalāʾ and Tabrīz. Contested Martyrdom Narratives 43
II. Witnessing and Sacrifice: Theological and Philosophical
Implications of Martyrdom
Angelika Neuwirth (Berlin)
Sunni and Shiite Passion Stories Revisited. On the Superseding of Sacrifice and Its Eventual Re-Empowerment 59
Joachim Negel (Münster/Marburg)
Martyrium als Zeugnis.
Zur Frage nach der theologischen und politischen Valenz religiöser Zeugenschaft, dargelegt am Beispiel des Martyriums der Trappistenmönche von Tibhirine/Algerien 73
Faysal Devji (Oxford)
Gandhi and the Sovereignty of Death. 91
III. Visual Representations: Ritual, the Arts and New Media
Maryam Palizban (Berlin)
Performing a Massacre.
Murder and Martyrdom in taʿziyih 105
Alice Bombardier (Paris)
The Mystical Notion of the Perfect Man. Discourses of Iranian Revolutionary Painters and the Portrayal of Martyrs 117
Silvia Horsch (Osnabrück)
Making Salvation Visible. Rhetorical and Visual Representations of Martyrs
in Salafī Jihadist Media 141
IV. Political Action and Ideological Discourse
Farhad Khosrokhavar (Paris)
Martyrdom in Light of the Arab Spring 169
Lisa Franke (Leipzig)
The Discursive Construction of Palestinian istishhādiyyāt
within the Frame of Martyrdom 187
Silvia Horsch (Osnabrück)
Global Martyr Practices and Discourses.
Entanglements between East and West 205
Picture Credits 225