Algunos apuntes sobre los primeros Shuhada’ Fi Sabil Allah (Mártires en la senda de Dios) en el Islám

Abstract

In Muslim tradition the best of all men is the one who fights fi sabil Allah (in the way of Allah). If he dies in the war, he acquires the condition of shahid (pl. shuhada’, martyr) and he gains automatically Paradise, where seventy two virgins are waiting for him. There are, however, other conditions to obtain martyrdom in Islam. This paper deals with these other conditions. Among them, for example, if a soldier is seriously injured in a battle in the way of Allah. If he loses an arm, a hand, or a leg he becomes a martyr. Another example that we can mention is if the soldier gets an injury in one of his eyes. If he loses the vision in that eye he becomes a shahid. These are examples which are analysed in this paper, for which we have used the major Arabic sources of the early times of Islam. Prophet Muhammad believed that Muslims would eventually engage in naval campaigns to attack, fi sabil Allah, the enemies in the sea. This indeed happened and Muslim armies conquered the islands in the Mediterranean; they attacked Constantinople with a strong fleet which was not successful. They also conquered the Iberian Peninsula as a result of naval campaigns as well