Shahid (martyr)
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The shaheed is considered as one that his place in Paradise is promised. That's according to the verse in the Qur'an "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-e-Imran" sura, verse 169).
A woman is considered "shaheeda" (شهيدة) if she died during fulfillment of a religious commandment, but there is an argument among the Muslim sages, if a woman can participate in a war for the religion. Most of them claim that it is not allowed to a woman to participate in war, including war for the religion. During the Intifada, women participated in suicide attacks, but most of them were secular. The leader of Hamas, Ahmed Yasin, who related to the issue, said that a woman is allowed to perform a suicide attack (in his words: action in which she become "shaheeda") only if she did a deadly sin, like defilement of her family's honor. In these circumstances, according to his claim, the act is penance on the sin and gives her the title "shaheeda".
The origin of the term
It is possible that the term is translation of the Greek word "Martyr", that its literal meaning is also "witness", and it is used as parallel term in Christianity to the religious meaning of "shahid". Muslim interpretations to the term opine that the "shahid" testify in his death on his faith, or that the "shahid" die during saying the shahadah (الشهادة - the motto of Islam).The different meanings of the term
The word "shahid" nowadays coincides in the west to attacks performed by Muslim militias and Muslim terror organizations, that because that people of these organizations call their people in this title after their death. With that, in the Muslim culture the term can have non-warring meaning - so for instance, King Abdullah I of Jordan is called shahid, since he was murdered by an assassin while praying in the al-Aqsa mosque. Also pilgrims to Makkah who were killed by an accident in the way get after their death the title "shahid". In the civilian Arab culture the term is used in the meaning of "war slain", and that also the equivalent to the term חלל צה"ל among the Israeli Druses who serve in the IDF.Popular conceptions
The popular interpretation tells that a shahid who goes to Paradise gets 72 virgins as a prize for sacrificing his life for Islam. Recently, intensive use of this interpretation has convinced young Muslims to be used as suicide bombers. Many popular myths were associated with the destiny of the shahid after his death, for instance: that his body does not cool and does not rot. There is even a legend that says that the virgins never menstruate so they are always available to the shahid sexually (Muslims, like Jews, view women as unclean - "Niddah" - during menstruation). Regarding women, if they die unmarried, it is said that they get a bridegroom in Paradise.See also
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