The Sounds of the Shuhadāʾ: Chants and Chanting in IS Martyrdom Videos

This article addresses the various functions of chants and chanting in the context of jihadi martyrdom. Through the examples of IS martyrdom videos, I will identify three different categories: first, live chanting performed by a collective (ḥudā), second, live chanting performed by a professional nashīd singer (inshād) and third, recorded and post-produced chants (anāshīd). In IS martyrdom videos, these sounds convey ritualistic meanings: Ḥudā ʾ serves as a rite of separation that often takes place at martyrdom ceremonies to mark the transition from a collective of mujahidin to an individual martyrdom seeker (istishhādī), who will soon carry out a martyrdom operation. To complement this rite of passage, anāshīd serve as posthumous rites of incorporation to integrate the deceased in the hereafter through references to Qur ʾ anic verses and hadith excerpts mentioning paradise and the rewards for martyrs therein. Sounds thus help to perpetuate the cycle of jihadi martyrdom by promoting this theologically framed concept.