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Why are we always quick to label someone as a shaheed? If someone gets killed theses days they automatically made into a shaheed. Shaheed comes from the arabic word to denote a matyre. Someone who dies in defence of a religion or dies while fighting a cause.

These days if someone goes out to do some shopping and gets hit by a bullet and dies, instantly becomes a shaheed.

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Guest Jacfsing2

Why are we always quick to label someone as a shaheed? If someone gets killed theses days they automatically made into a shaheed. Shaheed comes from the arabic word to denote a matyre. Someone who dies in defence of a religion or dies while fighting a cause.

These days if someone goes out to do some shopping and gets hit by a bullet and dies instantly becomes a shaheed.

The reason people do it is to make them feel like people are still being Shaheed for Sikhi. It makes people feel more right.
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Why are we always quick to label someone as a shaheed? If someone gets killed theses days they automatically made into a shaheed. Shaheed comes from the arabic word to denote a matyre. Someone who dies in defence of a religion or dies while fighting a cause.

These days if someone goes out to do some shopping and gets hit by a bullet and dies instantly becomes a shaheed.

I feel the same way. A true shaheed is the one who knows they are going to die and their jeevan is of a high gursikh. I won't call a Mona a shaheed.
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In my Nana's Pind, Talhan, dist. Jalandhar, there is a Guru Ghar that was erected in memory of a bazurg Gursikh who was named a Shaheed after he met with an accident in a well whilst installing a pulley. His name was Baba Nihaal Singh. He was an upstanding Sikh, but to call him a martyr for dying whilst going about his daily profession really is extravagantly silly.

Its not just the term Shaheed that gets thrown around with careless abandon. Mahapurakh, Sant, Giani, Brahmgiani, all of these titles are administered too readily.

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In my Nana's Pind, Talhan, dist. Jalandhar, there is a Guru Ghar that was erected in memory of a bazurg Gursikh who was named a Shaheed after he met with an accident in a well whilst installing a pulley. His name was Baba Nihaal Singh. He was an upstanding Sikh, but to call him a martyr for dying whilst going about his daily profession really is extravagantly silly.

Its not just the term Shaheed that gets thrown around with careless abandon. Mahapurakh, Sant, Giani, Brahmgiani, all of these titles are administered too readily.

I agree 100%
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The title 'Shaheed' should be conferred upon only someone who knowingly and willingly lays down their life for Sikhi, i.e. a conscious decision to embrace a guaranteed death.

When it comes to high-pressure situations such as a protest and a march for a cause, I find the line becomes a bit blurred. In that situation you could argue you're taking your life into your own hands, but equally you don't wish to die, although there's a chance you might. In that situation I honestly don't know what those who lose their lives should be termed as.

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Strictly speaking though, the word 'Shaheed', by very definition, means someone who has laid his life down for Islam. Similar to the way that the ancient greek word for 'witness' was 'maturos' (i.e the origin of our English word 'martyr'), the word Shaheed only meant 'witness' in classical Arabic. It was in one of the hadiths of the Quran that it was first given a new meaning, perhaps borrowing from the Greek example, i.e as someone who dies for Islam.

As for how it reached us, well Arabic penetrated Persian and Persian of course is part and parcel of Punjabi and before you know it we too started using the word. That doesn't, of course, change the actual definition of the word just as we can't just suddenly decide to change the meaning of the word 'bread' just because it suits us. Its too late now of course because the word shaheed is very much a part of our psyche but perhaps a long time yesteryear we should have come up with our own word which specificaly meant a martyr for Sikhi.

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I feel the same way. A true shaheed is the one who knows they are going to die and their jeevan is of a high gursikh. I won't call a Mona a shaheed.

Quite a few monay gave their lives during the Sangarsh, and did more for Sikhi than you, me, or anyone else here. Keeping your kes gives you no right to take away the shaheedi status from them.

I wouldn't consider Bhai Jagjeet Singh a shaheed though, he wasn't even part of the protest, but had be been, it'd be a different story.

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