III.
Comparisons (What I think are the most significant ones)

A. Passive and Active Martyrdom

In both Christianity and Islam, martyrs play a special role of being the most respected and admired believers. In some branches of Christianity, veneration of martyrs developed where they would be approached for intercession. This is also true in Islam, where Islamic martyrs are thought to be given the privilege of interceding before Allah. In some branches of Islam, certain martyrs have an even extra-ordinary privilege of intercession- Husayn being one of them- who can intercede for much larger groups of people.

These martyrs are held up as being the best examples of how the respective faiths should be lived. But this brings us to the most important difference in their original views of martyrs- the example of enduring ill treatment, as with Christians, or of dying while engaged in battle, as with Muslims.

In Christianity, martyrs are emulated for how well they lived up to Christ's example of not retaliating against their enemies and captors. A Christian martyr is one who, when threatened with physical violence and death, refuses to give up his or her faith. In Christianity's first three centuries, it was an illegal religion according to Roman law. Many times, Christians were brought before the authorities and required to make an act of worship to the Emperor and the Roman gods. When they refused out of their desire to stay true to worshiping only God in Christ, they were often killed. When Christianity was no longer illegal and even became the religion of the Empire, the view that Christian soldiers were martyrs from dying in battle only happened sporadically and much later during the Crusades, more than 400 years after the start of Islam. In other words, the view of martyrdom Islam had from its beginning was a view Christianity only embraced partially and much later than Islam. In fact, today, the dominant view of martyrdom in all branches of Christianity is that martyrs are those who are killed for refusing to give up their faith.

In Islam, the passive view was included in its view of martyrdom, but the more active view is the one that came to be emphasized. And the view even developed in Islamic law that a Muslim was not required to confess his faith in Islam if his life was threatened. A Muslim can lie about their faith according to Islamic law if their life is threatened and it is not considered a shameful departure from the truth. Cowardice in battle is considered shameful, and martyrdom in battle is held up as the epitome of faithfulness for a Muslim.

This brings us to just a word about suicide bombing as martyrdom. In Islamic law, suicide for personal reasons is wrong and considered an enormous sin. However, current Islamic scholars, including the Egyptian Yusuf al-Qaradawi, {Zeidan, 2003 #190} who was welcomed to London a couple of years ago by Ken Livingston, have declared that suicide missions against a declared enemy of Islam are not suicide in the personal sense but are rather death and martyrdom in battle. This is a new development in Islamic law which goes against many centuries of tradition, but it must be said that this does seem to be in agreement with the earliest views of martyrdom found in the Qur'an and the Hadith.

So, as Christians today are more in line with the original view of passive martyrdom as taught and demonstrated by Jesus and His apostles, so also Islamic fundamentalists are acting more in agreement with Islam's original views of active martyrdom as found in the Qur'ān and the example of some of the earliest Muslims.

Passive martyrdom is to die for truth, for refusing to give up your faith, for resisting compromise peacefully, without resorting to violence or physical retaliation.

Active martyrdom is to die while fighting for truth, to die in battle, to die while inflicting violence on those who refuse to accept your view of the truth.

This basic difference of passive and active martyrdom also points to another and more foundational difference between Islam and Christianity. These views of martyrdom point to different views of the nature of God and what kind of devotion pleases Him.

B. What Really Pleases God

According to Jesus in the Bible, God delights in self-sacrificial love. I quoted earlier the verse that says, "For God so loved the world he gave His one and only Son…" We are told in the Bible that because Jesus, as the unique Son of God, died for our sins voluntarily, He is honoured above all creation. Christians are told (Philippians 2:5-11):

The Bible explicitly teaches that Christians should follow Jesus' example in martyrdom. Christians are never told in their Scriptures that they can be martyrs for killing enemies of their faith. In fact, this attitude was condemned repeatedly by Jesus. One of the times is where He prayed for his enemies from the cross itself (Luke 23:34): "Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing." Christians are told to forgive their enemies, not retaliate. One notable recent example is a woman in Turkey last year, who on national television, forgave the men who had killed her husband for helping Muslims and others become Christians.

In the Qur'an and Islam, Allah delights in conquest and victory over the enemies of Islam. Muslims are commanded to actively strive to defeat the enemies of Islam in all forms of Jihad, and martyrs are those who die doing this very thing.

These are very different views of God's character, and I think, different views that are not reconcilable. They are also very different views of what God requires from people. These bring to all of us some particular challenges.