Notes: (1) All diacritics have been removed. Remarks made on transliteration and examples given in the preface will thus make little sense. (2) Where the original thesis contained Arabic, Persian, or Greek, I have had to remove these. The resulting lacunae are indicated by "[non-ascii script]." (3) Some footnotes, especially in the later chapters, also contain commentary which might be of interest. See also my background paper Martyrdom in Jihad . -J.W.

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