Heraclius’ War Propaganda and the Qurʾān’s Promise of Reward for Dying in Battle

Abstract

AbstractIn this article I compare the Qurʾānic promise of reward for those who die in battle with similar concepts found in contemporaneous Byzantine military circles, and specifically, the idea promoted by emperor Heraclius (r. 610-641 CE) that soldiers might obtain the “crown of martyrdom” for dying on the battlefield. This idea has almost no antecedent in late antique society. Previously the martyr had been a passive figure slain by an unfaithful enemy, rather than a soldier engaged in a fight to impose (or to avenge) the true faith. Heraclius’ understanding of military martyrdom was arguably a revolutionary innovation. Since no attempt was made to either canonize or popularize on a large scale this point of Heraclius’ propaganda, the concept of military martyrdom must have been limited to the narrow circle of persons who were actively involved in military activities. For this reason, it is surprising that very similar concepts occur in the Qurʾān – that was composed in the very same historical period. The question that I will ask is whether the ideas expressed in the Qurʾān have any relationship to those promoted by imperial propagandists and, if so, the channel or channels through which this transmission took place.