For most Americans, the idea of a Muslim martyr can cause quite a bit of anxiety. Some immediately imagine a brown “towel-headed” man with an explosive device duct-taped to his chest, or sewn into his under garments, and a crazed murderous look in his eyes. Unfortunately, this kind of act in the name of Islam, an act that kills both Muslims and non-Muslims indiscriminately, is all too common.
The frustrations many Muslims across the world experience in their (real or imagined) political crises and their desire to affect change are easy prey for those looking to fulfill their own dreams of power and influence, often under the guise of martyrdom. But as we look at the role of Islam in the Green Movement of Iran, we see that an Islamic martyr can be, and has been at different times in history, a champion of justice and human rights.
Looking at photos taken of the streets of Tehran on December 27, 2009, one would think they are viewing images of war: bloodied people on the arms of their comrades limping away from scenes of rising flames, passing dead bodies and debris while men in uniform aim their guns and wield their batons at unruly citizens. It was the Day of Ashura, a holy day for Shi’as to remember the slaying of Imam Husayn in the seventh century and a day when historically no violence has been permitted. It was a day when the Green Movement in various parts of Iran took to the streets and identified themselves with their slain hero and his oppressor with the autocratic Islamic Republic.
The regime has sullied their hands with the blood of protesters before, but to kill and severely injure more people than on any other demonstration and to do so on a national Islamic holiday is an act of hypocrisy that is difficult to spin. So difficult, in fact, that Iran’s deputy police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, has claimed that of the protesters killed, one “fell from a bridge, two others were hit by cars and one other was shot dead by an unknown assailant”.[1] As Roger Cohen states in a recent opinion piece for the New York Times, “the emperor has no clothes”.[2]
Not only has the Ashura demonstrations and those in the following days signaled a crucial turning point for the government, but for the opposition as well. Witnesses report that the protesters fought back, though not as lethally, by setting police property on fire and attacking the Basij with their bare hands.[3] There are also reports of guards who surrendered or refused to open fire and joined the opposition instead.[4] One journalist who spoke to Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty is quoted as saying, “Protesters stood against the repressive forces and plainclothes agents and they demonstrated that they have the ability to confront them and even make them retreat. This is, I think, the new message of the Green movement… I hope that those who are concerned about the country listen to this message and prevent more bloodshed.”[5]
This idea of a community being brought together and even strengthened by the murder of one of its own in the name of a noble cause is one that has had a particular resonance in Iranian history. Persian society is seeped in a tradition of martyrdom as a celebration of life and redemption of the community in both its Islamic and pre-Islamic history. Tragedies culminating in martyrdom were prevalent in the pre-Islamic popular myth and culture as is exemplified in the tenth century Persian epic Shahnameh. The subsequent dominance of Shi’a Islam in the Persian Safavid Empire reinforced these ideas within the culture and continued to hold sway long after the age of empires had passed.
The Day of Ashura is practiced by both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims but has taken on a particular significance in Shi’a tradition. The day is meant to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, a grandson of the Prophet, who was killed at the Battle of Karbala in a bloody dispute over who should succeed the Caliphate. As Shi’ites became a persecuted sect, this day of mourning became an expression of present suffering under oppression. The Shi’a Buyyid dynasty, which ruled over what is now modern day Iran and part of modern day Iraq, popularized Ashura by instituting a public ceremony of commemoration. In his article on martyrdom in Iranian politics, Professor Manochehr Dorraj notes that the celebration of Ashura has also served to functionally instill a sense of Shi’ite identity in the people of Iran and create a sense of communal solidarity.[6]
Though the idea of martyrdom and redemptive suffering was used mostly in an Islamic political context in Iran, secular political movements of the 1960s and 1970s also kept with this tradition. In the days before the Iranian Revolution, these groups were small in number and mostly of a Marxist persuasion. For them, it was the love of the people, rather than love of the divine, that demanded their willingness to sacrifice themselves. These secular populists could never have competed with their Muslim counterparts, for Islam was a more potent symbol for garnering the support of the masses. During the Revolution, clerics like Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Mutahhari used the tradition to mobilize millions against the Shah. The funerals of those who were killed in the demonstrations only served to mobilize even more people, spelling doom for the Shah as the death toll rose. Even after the Revolution, the tradition still served a functional purpose as Iran entered into a bloody war with Iraq. The Islamic Republic even set up a foundation that ensured the families of those martyred would be given financial security and preferential treatment in various areas of society.[7]
One of the many lessons the world can take from the recent Ashura demonstrations is the enduring power of Islamic symbols and traditions in Iranian society today. As it becomes more and more likely that the Islamic Republic will fall, we must accept the possibility that the new regime will still maintain a strong Islamic character and that there may not be anything to fear from that. What is even more encouraging is that within the Green Movement is the possibility of an Islamic politic that does not rely on a hatred of the West and Israel as tools to stay in power and that has grown independently of any foreign influence.
The redemptive quality of martyrdom in social and political contexts is not unique to Islam. In the Christian tradition, Jesus readily submitted Himself to death for the salvation of the world. Many of His disciples would follow his example, including Saint Peter who, according to Catholic history, was sentenced to crucifixion but considered himself unworthy of a death in the likeness of Christ and specifically requested to be crucified upside down. Though, martyrdom is not unique to religion either, as may be seen by the great American Revolutionary rallying cry, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
Martyrdom is one of the many human responses to death, which can seem bereft of any meaning or purpose, and preserve the life of the individual. Given our human inclination to revere the dead and honor their memory, the martyrs of the Green Movement are unlikely to be forgotten anytime soon.
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[6] Manochehr Dorraj “Symbolic and Utilitarian Political Value of a Tradition: Martyrdom in the Iranian Political Culture” The Review of Politics, Cambridge University PressVol. 59, No. 3, (Summer, 1997), pp. 489-521 (503)
[7] Dorraj, 519
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