The Historical Semantics of the Term Shahīd in Early Islam
Keywords:
martyrdom, early Islam, semantic change, shahīd, historical semanticsAbstract
Using a historical-semantic approach, this article examines the conceptual transformation of the term shahīd from the pre-Islamic period to the early Islamic era. The study aims to explain the process through which the meaning of the term shifted from “witness/present person” to the technical referent of “one killed in the cause of God.” The research employs a descriptive-analytical method based on the documentary and library-based collection and analysis of lexical, exegetical, and narrative sources, as well as pre-Islamic texts. The findings indicate that: (1) the fundamental meaning of shahīd in pre-Islamic texts and in certain early Qur’anic usages was “witness/present person”; (2) from the middle of the Prophetic period, particularly in biographical accounts of the Prophet, the statements of the Companions, and certain narrations, the use of shahīd gradually became more referentially specific, and the concept of “a person killed in the cause of God” became established; and (3) this semantic shift was primarily an intra-religious process resulting from socio-intellectual factors, including the experience of jihad, the religious validation of martyrdom, and the expansion of the cultural norm of self-sacrifice, rather than merely the consequence of influence from cultures external to Islam, particularly Christianity. By proposing a framework for analyzing the semantic development of religious terms, the article recommends that future studies employ quantitative methods, such as lexical frequency analysis in historical texts, as well as cross-linguistic analyses.
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