Arabic · noun · Being & Non-Being

Shahadat

शहादत
said sha-haa-DAT
also written: shahadat, shahadah, martyrdom
Meaning

Witnessing, testimony; the realm of the seen as opposed to the unseen; also martyrdom.

Literally: bearing witness; martyrdom

Usage & notes

Bearing witness — both the testimony of faith (the shahadah, "there is no god but God") and the supreme witness of martyrdom, dying in God's cause. Iqbal exalts the martyr's death as the highest affirmation of the self rather than its loss: the shahid who gives his life for truth perfects his khudi and wins immortality, making martyrdom the seal of a life of faith and action.