Martyrdom in Islam and Contemporary Jihadism. The example of Abū Muhammad al-Maqdisī and the problem of suicide operations

Document from the year 2017 in the subject Orientalism / Sinology - Islamic Studies, grade: 1,3, University of Tubingen (Abteilung für Orient- und Islamwissenschaft), course: Jihad and Jihadism in Historical Context, language: English, abstract: This paper analyses the concept of martyrdom in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It gives a brief overview of the respective traditions and then jumps to present-day Jihadism and martyrdom in the context of violent Jihad. Thus the phenomenon of suicide operations is dealt with in historical and political perspective, not ignoring the theological-ethical discussion among Muslim and Islamist scholars. Who is a martyr? That is the question this paper is concerned with.