Symposium explores war,
religion, Islamic martyrdom
A insiting Hebrew Union College professor's discussion of
the rise in Muslim 'bombers' is part of a four-year project
BY THOMAS MUNRO
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
The mutual demonization of one
another by Israelis and Palestinians is
fueling martyrdom in the Middle East,
Hebrew Union College professor
Reuven Firestone said in an address
Sunday evening.
The talk, entitled “Martyrdom or
Suicide? Islamic T-adition and the Case
of Modern Muslim ‘Bombers,’” was
the opening address in the latest mod
ule of the “Militant Word and Martial
Metaphor Symposium.” This sympo
sium is part of “Struggling for God,” a
four-year project of symposiums ex
ploring religion and war, conceived
and directed by Timothy Gianotti, as
sistant professor of religious studies.
Firestone began his talk by praising
the “Struggling for God” series for its
balance between academic viability
and public, personal relevance. He
called it “a very difficult walk to walk. ”
Firestone, a professor of medieval
Judaism and Islam and author of “Ji
had: The Origin of Holy War in Islam,”
tackled some of the most difficult is
sues in the most delicate of debates.
“My object is to take a dispassion
ate approach to a passionate prob
lem,” he said.
Firestone traced the term “martyr”
to its source in the persecution of ear
ly Christians. Arising from the Greek
for “witness,” the word refers to an
individual killed for declaring his Or
thodox Christian faith. He then
described parallel terms in the Jewish
and Islamic faiths.
All three faiths forbid suicide; but to
varying degrees, they have all at vari
ous times condoned either martyrdom
or what Firestone calls “homicidal sui
cide.” As a Jewish and Christian exam
ple of homicidal suicide, he offers the
biblical story of Samson, who in a final
act, considered by the faithful to have
been heroic, killed 3,000 Philistines by
pulling the temple of Dagon down
upon himself.
The particular problem of the Mus
lim martyr proves to be as vexing from
an academic point of view as it is po
litically. While both the Quran and the
hadith, or sayings of the prophet, ex
plicitly forbid suicide, both also praise
martyrdom. They treat martyrdom as
a method “of purchasing or trade” for
a place in heaven, said Firestone.
Whether the living bombs of Pales
tine are martyrs or sinners turns on the
question of the killing of noncombat
ants. Firestone said the Islamic injunc
tion against the killing of non-combat
ants is strong enough that
contemporary events may “mark a
change for Islam.”
Firestone attributes this change to
an increasing treatment of the apoca
lypse described in Christianity, Islam
and Judaism as an ongoing reality
rather than a metaphor. This has led
to the “personification of ultimate
evil in our mundane, (worldly) ene
mies,” he said.
According to Firestone, this apoca
lyptic worldview encourages a disre
gard for tradition and rules because
these human concepts will disappear
with the end of the world. The killing
of the demonized other becomes less
an earthly murder and more a tran
scendent spiritual act. Hence, Palestini
ans and Israelis continue to kill one an
other despite, rather than because of,
the injunctions of their faiths.
In comments after the talk, Fire
stone struck an optimistic tone in his
discussion of the hopes for peace in
the Middle East after the death of Yass
er Arafat, long-time leader of the Pales
tine Liberation Organization and the
Palestinian Authority.
“There will be a small window. The
overwhelming mass in the center can
be moved in one way or the other. If
the U.S. and Israel can show they are
not ‘diabolical,’” then positive change
might be possible, Firestone said.
The symposium continued Monday
morning with a panel discussion and
closed that night with a talk entitled,
“The Crown of Immortality: Toward a
Redescription of Christian Martyr
dom,” by Arthur Droge, professor of
New Testament and early Christian lit
erature at the University of California
at San Diego.
Religious studies professor Gianotti
described the value of his lecture series
after the Sunday event, which drew
more than 150 students, staff and visi
tors. “This is a moment when these
kinds of scholarly discussions are par
ticularly timely,” he said.
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