Martyrdom in Islam is different

Cook (see last post) writes:

The classical Muslim framework of martyrology is different from that of other faiths. Although the initial Meccan phases involve some physical violence against Muslims for the sake of Islam, this became nothing more than a historical memory. Overwhelmingly, perhaps because of the very success of the faith, Islam had to seek other conceptions of martyrdom. These have been most obviously filled by those martyrs killed in battle - a category comparatively lacking in other faiths - and to some extent those killed in plagues...The Muslim ideal for a martyr became that person - usually a man - who through his active choice sought out a violent situation ... with pure intentions and was killed as a result of that choice. Ideally his actions expressed courage and defiance of the enemy, loyalty toward Islam and the pure intention to please God, since the acceptable manner of jihad was to 'lift the Word of Allah to the highest' (Qur'an 9:41). p. 30

Uniquely, Christians have Christ of course: a death which is a single and unsurpassable pattern for martyrdom and yet which is not merely a martyrdom.