shahid

Shahid, also spelled shaheed, is an Islamic term of Arabic-origin meaning "martyr", used by Muslims for mujahideen who die while fighting in the way of Allah. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); the latter sense acquires wider usage in the hadith. The term is also used in some non-Muslim communities whose cultures were influenced by Islamic persianate empires, such as amongst Hindus and Sikhs in India.

The term is commonly used as a posthumous title for those who are considered to have accepted or even consciously sought out their own death in order to bear witness to their beliefs. Like the English-language word martyr, in the 20th century, the word shahid came to have both religious and non-religious connotations, and has often been used to describe those who died for non-religious ideological causes.