Martyrdom…A Culture of Life

Local Editor The sacrosanctity of martyrdom is inarguable when it is for the sake of a just cause. It is a choice that goes way beyond the material existence to reach utmost nobility and altruism. Martyrs preferred to fall than to live dishonored. They chose sacrifice so that the rest of us shall live in dignity. They are people who believed in their cause, and hence sacrificed themselves for it. The thought of death did not fright them. They nay continued to struggle till the end. Their strife is part of the culture of an eternal life. Nonetheless, shallow mischievous people did not spare the fine culture of martyrdom from their scold. They saw it as a culture of death that terminates life. They shrugged off the very meaning of it, that is, had it not been for martyrdom, there would have been no meaning for existence. Why is this noble and fine act targeted? Can any victory be scored if it weren't for the culture of martyrdom and resistance in any society? Martyrdom, a Bridge for a Better Life The Holy Quran and holy books spoke of martyrdom and its importance. They promised martyrs the higher degree of paradise. Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc member Ali Fayyad gives a lowdown on martyrdom. "It is self-sacrifice for the sake of God, the nation, or public interests. It is God's selection of men, upon whom He bestowed His very blessing to sacrifice themselves;" he says. "It is a high rank where martyrs would be next to Al-Awliyaa (true and sincere believers); it is also a high level of morals and patriotism," he adds. For his part, the Secretary General of the Communist Party, Khaled Hdadeh, points out that martyrdom is not an aim per se, but rather a fact that occurs during strife and struggle for the sake of a social or national cause. "Martyrdom is an event that can take place, since fighters-in their fight for liberation-know very well that they can fall in the battle," he says, adding that fighters do not fear to fall for the sake of their cause. Hdadeh also corroborates that martyrdom turns from being a goal per se into a bridge for a better life, whether for the fighter himself, or for the coming generations. "This is when martyrdom becomes part of the culture of life and of events fighters encounter, of which they are aware fearlessly," he says. Furthermore, Nationalist poet Ghassan Matar says that martyrdom is when men sacrifice their life and blood for the sake of a major cause they consider as fateful ad decisive. He depicts those fighters as life messengers because with their blood they sacrifice, they grant others a dignified life. "In a nutshell, [martyrdom] is giving with no limits." "Martyrdom is sacrificing for the sake of what is most sacred," Nassif Azzi from the Free Patriotic Movement says. "It is choosing to die for what we believe in, for what we see as the noblest aim. Everyone who dies for the sake of a just cause or principle is a martyr," he says. The Culture of Martyrdom, a Preamble for the Culture of Life This noble cause was not saved the retardation bids which attempted to tamper with is sacrosanctity. Some saw it as a culture of death rather than a culture of life. Some even disregarded that martyrdom is the only way to recuperate human dignity. History actually abounds with experiences only proving [the efficacy] of this weapon. MP Ali Fayyad wonders at depicting the culture of martyrdom as the culture of death. He sees that the death of a martyr constitutes a life for others. He even says that martyrdom is not death per se but rather a sort of rising above the essence of life. "The upshot of martyrdom helps protect the society," he argues. Martyrdom has nothing to do with the so-called culture of death. Azzi says that the culture of death is the language of criminals and oppressors, while the culture of martyrdom aims at struggling for the sake of justice and peace. "Aren't we all eventually people who fight for their right to their land and dignity?" he wonders. "What we have experienced for the past years blurred all images and stripped things from their meaning," he says, pointing out at the atrocity of this political investment of martyrdom and daily exploitation in politics. For his part, Hdadeh goes way beyond the depiction of a martyrdom culture. He insists that such a culture is called the culture of resistance. According to him, it is part of the culture of life and beauty and not of death. He says that he who calls not to fight for fear of martyrdom indeed calls to support occupation and spreading retardation, nay to the culture of death. Hdadeh relates how fighters used to go to the battle with joy, knowing they might die for the sake of their cause. "We are a party which the civil war has cost hundreds of martyrs, also hundreds were martyred and injured while thousands of detainees remain in the enemy's prisons in order to liberate the land," he says. "Martyrdom is a price we pay during our struggle. We consider it as part of the change process for the sake of joy, the joy of liberation or the joy of democratic change," he maintains. Martyrs don't die; they are alive. The Holy Quran says so. Hence, there is no room for death in the culture of martyrdom. Poet Matar stresses that death doesn't end the life of believers but that their life rather starts with death. All monotheistic religions promised paradise to people if they were good and satisfied God. "Depicting martyrdom as the culture of death only shows the primitive understanding of the Jihad culture. The culture of death is the culture of humiliation and surrender. But to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of our nation and major causes is the culture of life par excellence," he underlines. "It is not important if our bodies fall. What is important is to have our souls rising," he corroborates. "Bodies can die but souls continue to affect others on their path towards dignity and justice," he says. "Did Imam Hussein fall because he loved to die or because he refused a life of humiliation and servility? Was Jesus killed because he loved to die or because he sought to sacrifice his blood for the sake of humankind?" "Just as usual, when they like to tamper with a salient cause, they try to lower themselves to silly material levels; they do not see all the nobility, the light, the decency, the beauty and the values behind martyrdom," he underlines. No Resistance, No Room for Victory History abounds with experiences that relate how dignity and rights were recuperated, with martyrdom being the most powerful key. Not a single people would have gained back what had been stripped from them if it weren't for the resistance. And Lebanon is just the best example. Fayyad says that all nations and civilizations had been through challenges relevant to their existence, sovereignty, and dignity, and that they had no choice but martyrdom for the sake of the cause or the nation. "It is hard to imagine that nations can protect themselves without being ready for sacrifice or martyrdom. This is an issue that is not only restricted to the religious meaning of martyrdom, but to a general humanitarian question which nations and peoples have experienced." Within this context, he rakes up the experience of Hizbullah, noting the importance of having considered martyrdom as the mainstay to succeeding in scoring achievements. Echoing Fayyad, poet Matar says that all peoples who have been colonized and whose lands have been occupied resorted to the resistance. He adds that only submissive people believe that with politics and diplomacy, they can achieve victory. "Experiences have proven that, ever since the beginning of the world, namely in Lebanon and Palestine, neither land can be liberated nor enemy can be evicted had it not been for ultimate giving and the blood sating the land." "Victory cannot be scored if blood was not sacrificed for the sake of the cause we believe in," he utters. Just like Matar, Hdadeh sees that struggling peoples had to pay the price of liberation. For his part, Azzi maintains that martyrdom is an act of belief in the land and dignity, in God and Man, in the construction evolution of peoples. He even stresses that martyrdom for the sake of the Right must be completed by sacrificing its own body in order that the humanity of humankind is achieved.Source: al-Intiqad, translated and edited by moqawama.org **By Fatima Salameh

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