Note: This is the seventh of a series of articles written by the Author on various occasions that have bearing on the topics of the book, and hence they have been included in it as appendices.

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Shahadat is generally used in the sense of 'martyrdom', that is to be killed in fighting for a sacred cause, but so far as the Qur'anic usage of the term is concerned, nowhere has it been used in this sense. The Holy Qur’an has used it in the sense of witnessing a sound and proper observation of an object as it really is.

The object may be physical when it is perceivable by the external senses, and it may be mental and spiritual when observed and realized by one's cognitive self. In any case, ‘shahadat' or witnessing is a state or attitude of unshakable realization of a fact. The word 'Shaheed' in verse 69 of chapter 4 has usually been translated by some commentators to mean martyrdom, but a deep study of these two passages will prove beyond doubt that even there it has been used in the sense of witnessing.

وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَٰئِكَ رَفِيقًا

“And whoever obeyeth God and the apostle (Muhammad) these shall be with those God hath bestowed favours upon them; of the prophets, and the truthful and the Witnesses of the righteous on; and excellent are these as companions.” (4:69)

وَإِنَّ مِنْكُمْ لَمَنْ لَيُبَطِّئَنَّ فَإِنْ أَصَابَتْكُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالَ قَدْ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيَّ إِذْ لَمْ أَكُنْ مَعَهُمْ شَهِيدًا

“And verily of you is he who certainly hangeth back: If then a misfortune befalleth you, saith he: God had been gracious unto me, that I was not present with them.” (4:72)

God, the Creator of the universe, is described in the Qur'an as witness (Shaheed) over every being, big or small, concrete or abstract, apparent or hidden. Nothing is hidden from Him, everything is present to Him as it is in itself. He is the witness, witnessing and witnessed. He is the knower, Knowing and the Known:

شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

“God (Himself) witnesses that there is no God but HE, and (so do) the angels and those possessed of knowledge, standing firm for justice; (there is) no God but HE, the Mighty, the Wise.” (3:18)

سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ أَوَلَمْ يَكْفِ بِرَبِّكَ أَنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ

“Soon We will show them our signs in the horizons (of the world), and in their own selves, until He becometh manifest unto them that He is the Truth. Is it not sufficient thy Lord that He is a witness over all things.” (41:53)

أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ فِي مِرْيَةٍ مِنْ لِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ أَلَا إِنَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُحِيطٌ

“(Be it known that) verily they are in doubt about the meeting with their Lord! (Be it known that) verily He encompasseth everything.” (41:54)

In these passages ‘knower’ and ‘knowing’ can be but one and the same, as is the case with every conscious and being. The angels, the intellectual and spiritual beings and entities have been described to be the witness of 1His unity, oneness, omniscience and omnipotence.

Among mankind, the prophet and the vicegerents of God, the spiritual leaders, ‘imam’ have been presented in the Qur'an as the witness of the Truth in the visible and the unseen world:

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا لِتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا وَمَا جَعَلْنَا الْقِبْلَةَ الَّتِي كُنْتَ عَلَيْهَا إِلَّا لِنَعْلَمَ مَنْ يَتَّبِعُ الرَّسُولَ مِمَّنْ يَنْقَلِبُ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ وَإِنْ كَانَتْ لَكَبِيرَةً إِلَّا عَلَى الَّذِينَ هَدَى اللَّهُ وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُضِيعَ إِيمَانَكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ

“Thus, We have appointed you a middle nation, that ye may be witnesses against mankind, and that the messenger may be a witness against you. And We appointed the qiblah which ye formerly observed, only that We might know him who followeth the messenger, from him who turneth on his heels. In truth, it was a hard (test) save for those whom Allah guided. But it was not Allah's purpose that your faith should be in vain, for Allah is Full of Pity, Merciful toward mankind.” (2:143)

وَيَوْمَ نَبْعَثُ فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَجِئْنَا بِكَ شَهِيدًا عَلَىٰ هَٰؤُلَاءِ وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ

“And on the day when We will raise up in every people from among themselves a witness (upon them) and bring thee, (O’ Our apostle Muhammad) as a witness upon all these; and We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly everything, and a guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit.” (16:89)

وَجَاهِدُوا فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ مِلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَفِي هَٰذَا لِيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ فَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِاللَّهِ هُوَ مَوْلَاكُمْ فَنِعْمَ الْمَوْلَىٰ وَنِعْمَ النَّصِيرُ

“…. The faith of your father, Ibrahim; He (God Himself) named you Muslims before and in this, that the apostle may be a witness over you and ye be a witness over the people; …” (22:78)

The Holy Prophet (S), with the status of being sent by God as the ‘universal grace’ or His Grace for all the worlds, has been described in the Qur'an as the witness over all the witnesses. The leading personalities chosen from among the descendants of Ibrahim, who were the topmost in whatever was good and foremost in submission to the will of God, are presented as witness over mankind and whatever is true, and the prophet be witnessed over them.

Thus, according to the Qur’an ‘shahadat’, is the highest spiritual status bestowed by God on the persons who have attained the state of realization of the Creator and the creatures, and the true relation between them. In short, shahadat is the state of realization of the truth in accordance with the stage of spiritual attainment secured by Godly personalities. This stage of realization and its various degrees depend on the degree of submission to the will of God. The more submissive one is, the higher and greater will be the stage of his realization.

Submission implies sacrifice. It means to give up a limited interest for a higher and greater attainment. It means an effort to give up all that is loved by one, in order to comply with His will:

لَنْ تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّىٰ تُنْفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ وَمَا تُنْفِقُوا مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ

“Never shall ye attain to righteousness until ye give away (in the way of your Lord) of what ye love; and of whatsoever ye give, verily, God knoweth it.” (3:92)

وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ مِسْكِينًا وَيَتِيمًا وَأَسِيرًا

“And (while needing it for themselves) they give away food, out of love for Him, to the poor and the orphan and the captive (saying); ‘we feed you only for God's sake, we intend not of you any recompense; nor (even) thanks (thereof).” (76:8)

It means an effort to purify one's ego-centre, from all that is ungodly so that his ego should become the ground for the manifestation of the divine will and divine attributes. His ego-centre should witness everything in God and God in everything. As the king of all the witnesses, Al-Husayn says, in one of his prayers:

“Oh my Lord: Thou has introduced Thyself to everything; so, there is nothing which does not know Thee, but Thou hast introduced Thyself to me in everything, so I recognize Thee in everything.'

After a few sentences wherein he describes the various stages of his realization, Al-Husayn says;

مَا ذَا وَجَدَ مَنْ فَقَدَكَ رُمَا الَّذِي فَقَدَ مَنْ وَجَدَكَ

“Oh my Lord, what has gained the one who had missed Thee and what has missed the one who has gained Thee”.1

It means that the one who has Him and is in constant communion with Him is having everything with Him: and the one who has everything but is not in communion with Him, he has nothing.

This state of realization depends on the purity of ego-centre, whether he is in this world or the world hereafter, whether he is a child or a grown up, whether he kills or is killed. He is always in the slate of 'shahadat' and in all circumstances he is 'shaheed'. Ibrahim, by proving his readiness to sacrifice Ismail, and Ismail by bis readiness to be sacrificed in the hands of his father, prove that both were in a high state of submission, realization and witnessing.

The Holy Prophet, as the first and the last in the degree of submission to the will of God, is the witness of all witnesses. His ego-centre being purified from all sorts of impurities, be it spiritual or physical, is the seat of the manifestation of the divine will which implies all truth and justice. Next to him are those holy souls who have been termed in the Qur’an as Ahl Al-Bayt and the prophet declared them to be identical with him, and they are in constant touch with the Qur’an in its hidden form which is with God.

All these holy personalities were ‘shaheed', witness ever since their birth and continue to be shaheed here and the life hereafter. But of all these holy persons, Al-Husayn, in the course of his leadership was entrusted by God to give a new interpretation to the terms witness, sacrifice and intercession by a readiness, ever since his birth, to give all that is nearest and dearest to him in the name of Allah and in absolute submission to His will.

Al-Husayn and those who were with him did not become shaheed after being killed in the battlefield of Karbala, but they and the ladies - headed by Al-Husayn's sister, Zainab - all were shaheed in the sense that they have been in complete realization of all the sufferings and sacrifices that were awaiting them.

Many a time Al-Husayn used to declare, “God has willed that I would be killed, and my sisters, wives and daughters be taken as captives: we are pleased with whatever pleases God. Whatever pleases Him, pleases us; and in this sacrifice of our dearest and nearest lays the ultimate salvation of mankind.”

The prophet Nuh made his ark to save a few at the destruction of others, Al-Husayn preferred destruction of his ark of life and of the chosen few - who were dearest and nearest to him - in order to save the whole mankind from the final destruction. Being in the highest stage of realization, Al-Husayn and his companions, male and female, young and old, welcomed all the heart-rending, immeasurable sufferings.

The true sense of shahadat as manifested by Al-Husayn proves that not only those who took active part in those sufferings had attained the stage of shahadat but even those who die in the love of this holy house, or those whose heart will be moved by witnessing or hearing the scenes of martyrdom of Al-Husayn and his companions and those who commemorate it by shedding a few tears will secure the stage of shahadat and enjoy the ultimate salvation and secure salvation for others too.

And this is called the right of intercession, which the Qur'an gives to those who are the real witness of the truth:

وَلَا يَمْلِكُ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ الشَّفَاعَةَ إِلَّا مَنْ شَهِدَ بِالْحَقِّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ

“Of those whom people invoke, besides God, none possesses the right of intercession, save those who have stood as witness to the truth as they have realized it.” (43:86)

Here is an extract from the sermon delivered by Al-Husayn when he was leaving Mecca for Iraq:

“All praise is God's; His will is final; there is no power or might but His and by Him. His grace and blessings and peace be on His Holy Prophet. Death for the children of Adam is nothing but like an ornament round the neck of a bride. My love and longings to join the company of my predecessors is as vehement as the love and longings of Ya’qub to meet his son Yusuf.

A place has been chosen (by God) for my martyrdom, towards which I am proceeding. I am seeing my body cut into pieces by the wolves of the desert at the place between Navawees and Karbala. There is no escape from what is decreed by the 'divine pen.' We, the members of the holy house, are pleased with whatever pleases God. His pleasure is ours. We tolerate His ordeals, and He pays us in full the rewards awaiting the forebearers. Nothing detaches us from the Holy Prophet. Our attachment to him is so great that it places us with him in the sublime and highest stage of life hereafter and God will make him (the Holy Prophet) rejoice our being with him and God shall fulfil His promise with us. Whosoever is ready to lay down his life for us in order to come in communion with God, let him accompany us. I am proceeding next morning.”

These few words will prove undoubtedly how clear was the scene of Karbala before Al-Husayn and his companions and how he desired to acquaint his companions with the aim and object of his movement, which was a covenant with God undertaken by him since his birth. Not only Al-Husayn was witnessing the trials and sufferings awaiting him, even his sister Zainab was also fully acquainted with the tragedy which they had to bear in order to save Islam from being ruined.

She told her nephew Ali Ibn Al-Husayn, “After the martyrdom of Al-Husayn, the enemy thought that by their ruthless and inhuman action they would succeed in destroying our cause but as have been told by my father Ali (‘a) and grandfather the Holy Prophet, the tragedy will result in nothing but the destruction of the enemy and the revival of our cause. This place where Al-Husayn's body is left unburied will become the everlasting centre of attraction for the faithful to visit and pay their homage to the great sacrifice (Dhabh al-‘Adheem) offered to God by the house or the Holy Prophet”.

And a great thinker had paid his homage with these words, “If others have the honour of being martyred, martyrdom is honoured by having Al-Husayn martyred”.

• 1. Bihar Al-Anwar, vol. 98, p. 220.