Preface..................................................................1 Terminology.........................................................1 Transliteration.....................................................1 Introduction.............................................................7 Chapter One: Background To Shiism: Martyrdom and Suffering in Islam.....11 Martyrdom In Jihad.................................................11 Jihad In Sufism, The "Greater Striving"............................19 Chapter Two: Martyrdom And Suffering In Shiism..........................23 Background: Muhammad and the Succession............................23 Martyrdom In Shiism................................................26 The Martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali...............................27 Later developments: the Twelfth Imam..........................31 Vicarious suffering in the path of God: Muharram..............34 Meanings of Suffering in Shiism....................................37 Sufferings of the community...................................38 Persian historical suffering.............................39 Persian cultural suffering...............................40 Identification with Husayn to vitalize personal religiosity...43 Intercession through redemptive suffering and martyrdom.......48 Chapter Three: Background to Babism: A Brief Epitome of Babi History....55 From Shiism to Babism..............................................55 Overview of Babi History...........................................59 Chapter Four: Meanings of Martyrdom in Babi Thought.....................77 Parallels with Other Historical Martyrdoms.........................79 Ismael........................................................80 Christ........................................................81 Imam Husayn...................................................83 Imam Husayn in the thought of the Bab....................83 Imam Husayn in the thought of the Babis..................88 Martyrdom as Kerygma: For Conversion and as Proof..................92 Witnessing as Proselytization.................................93 Witnessing as Proof..........................................101 The Intoxicated Martyr............................................108 Babi Jihad: Martyrdom in the Path of the Mahdi....................114 The Bab as Mahdi and Leader of Jihad.........................114 Martyrdom in the Cause of the Mahdi..........................118 Conclusion.............................................................123 Historical Evolution and Continuum Of Themes......................123 Summation of the Meanings of Martyrdom............................125 Conclusion........................................................127 Prospectus........................................................129 Bibliography...........................................................131