Santità e martirio nell'Islam: Prospettive tradizionali e nuovi orizzonti di senso

Giuseppe Cecere (University of Bologna)

Holiness and martyrdom in Islam: traditional perspectives and new horizons of meaning

Starting from a reflection on the well-known semantic nexus (articulated around the Arabic root ŠHD) between the ideas of "martyrdom" and "witness to the faith" in the Islamic lexicon, an original exploration of the relationship of these notions with that of sanctity (walāya) will be attempted, particularly in the Sunni sphere. Valuing medieval hagiographic sources and new trends in Islamic hermeneutics, the possible implications of this complex interweaving of notions on conceptions and practices of interfaith relations in contemporary societies will be analyzed.