In June this year, Karwan e Mohabbat organised a festival in Hyderabad called Rehmat, to celebrate radical love and courageous kindness. Rehmat in Urdu means compassion, kindness, and caring. The people celebrated in this festival contribute to our understanding of these concepts and to our understanding of India. Ahead of, on, and after Independence Day, we look at them in a series. This is the first story. Read the second here, the third here, and the fourth, here.§On April 22, 2025, Syed Adil Hussain Shah, 28, left his home at 8 am, to earn his daily wage by caring for the horses that tourists in the Baisaran Valley would ride. According to his father, when the terrorists opened fire, Adil intervened and said, “These are our guests. Why are you killing them?” When they refused to stop, Adil attempted to snatch one of their guns. In response, he was shot four times, and succumbed to his injuries. Adil laid down his life while trying to save innocent people during the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, in the highlands of Kashmir.What makes a person so selfless that they are ready to give their lives to save others? Adil was responsible for the lives of six people at home. In the moment, he could have easily thought of this fact and not stand up against this brutal injustice. Why did Adil still decide to sacrifice himself?The stories like that of Adil’s martyrdom tells us that being human goes beyond measuring everything in profit and loss terms. Who was Adil as a human? His father Syed Haider Hussain Shah’s name for him literally means “just”. There is no doubt that Adil died for justice. Adil’s father tells me that Adil had a strong sense of right and wrong. He was known to speak out against injustice and wrongdoing, refusing to remain silent when he believed something was unethical or unfair. “When we heard the news that he was martyred in defending the lives of innocent tourists, we immediately knew. Adil would have definitely done this, he was like that,” Haider said.It is this characteristic of Adil’s life that defined his personality. Till the end, he held on to these principles even if at the cost of his life. Saying that a martyr is selfless and therefore does not care about their life as an injustice to the martyr. A martyr does not die because they think that their life isn’t important or that their selflessness will lead to the sacrifice. On the contrary, a martyr thinks that their life is important for the establishment of truth and justice in society.. Interestingly, even Bhagat Singh said the same in Why I Am an Atheist: “I emphasise that I am full of ambition and hope and of full charm of life. But I can renounce all at the time of need, and that is the real sacrifice.” “I am a man and all that affects mankind concerns me.” Here, the minds of Singh and Adil overlap and so do their sacrifices. On martyrdom and societyA human being has three choices. That of standing for the establishment of truth, of working for falsehood and of staying in neither of the two camps and being silent. Naturally, standing for the truth requires a sacrifice for one’s own self, for one’s loved ones, for others, or for a higher purpose than one’s life. The lives of people of this camp are important as they serve a universal purpose of truth and justice, and keep the humanity alive and exists as a deterrent to social evils like injustice, unfairness, ill wills or oppression of the innocents which summarily are the characteristics of the camp standing against the spread of evil. The individuals in the other two camps exist but exist for their own sake or for their near ones, while the people from the camp of truth exist for the existence of humanity. They define characteristics of humanity not only through their life but with their martyrdom. While alive they contribute through their actions and if killed in the way of truth, their memory is immortalised.For Adil’s father, his wife and community, the moment of his martyrdom is a proud one. How can death – that dreaded phenomenon for every human – be a source of pride? His father spoke at the Rehmat festival of how much he loved and missed his eldest son. He also said that he was happy that his son did what he did. “He did this for humanity. This is what his culture, religion and love for his country had taught him,” he said. He added that he misses his son each day but is proud of him.Syed Hyder Shah, father of Syed Adil Hussain, speaks at the festival. Photo: By arrangement.Looked on from their perspective Adil lived and died a Quranic life. In Quran chapter 5, Surah Al-Ma’idah, verse 32, states the immense sanctity of life. As per the verse: “Whoever takes a life, it will be as if they killed all of humanity, and whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity”. The verse links the killing of one life to the killing of all humanity and that of saving one life to saving all humanity, so does Adil’s father, his wife and community and this is what makes them proud. This is why a martyr’s death is sanctified. Adil sacrificed his life consciously for the sake of a sacred cause. His act was beyond the title of hero or reformer, and beyond the comprehension of ordinary minds. The question still lingers, why did Adil not fear death when he saw it approaching? In the time of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (the first of the 12 Shi’i Imam), a person came to him and asked, “What does unpreparedness for death mean? And how can a man be prepared for death?” The Imam replied: “By discharging all duties and obligations, by refraining from all sins and the acts which are prohibited, and by adoption of all moral virtues and good habits. Such a man does not worry whether he himself goes to death or death comes looking for him.” Adil was thus conditioned in such a way that in the situation in which he found himself, he knew what to do and what not to. This is why his father said, and as I have noted above, “Adil would have definitely done this, he was like that”. What do we owe to Adil’s martyrdom? The reaction to martyrdom in human societies is either weeping the loss or celebrating the death for the reasons the martyr laid down their life. However, neither of the two extreme reactions do justice to the cause for which life was lost. While weeping is important, sorrow when unaccompanied by commitments and actions leaves the good cause to die with the martyr. The same is true for celebrating the death of a martyr. It is not that celebration has no role, but again, celebration devoid of commitments and actions for the good cause, turns the sacrifice into a ceremonial representation, fit enough to be recalled only as an inspirational story. This is not the purpose of martyrdom. Adil did his part to save people from injustice and oppression. We have to do our part to save people from injustice and oppression by staying alive. This is how Adil, the martyr, will live and the universal purpose of truth and justice will be realised. Syed Rubeel Haider Zaidi is a researcher associated with Karwan-e-Mohabbat.