"In recent times Islamic martyrdom has become associated with suicide missions conducted by extremists. However, as David Cook demonstrates, this type of martyrdom is very different from the classical definition, which condemned suicide and stipulated that anyone who died as a believer could be considered a martyr. Ideas about martyrdom have evolved to suit prevailing circumstances, and it is the evolution of these different interpretations that Cook charts in this history of the role of suffering and people's willingness to die as a testimony to their faith."--Jacket.