Martyrdom in Islam is a major theme, although one cannot say that it is a dominant one. In the end, several issues have most probably contributed to the comparatively recessive nature of the theme. One of those issues would have to be that Muhammad, the apostle and founder of the faith, was not personally a martyr. Although as a result of the absolute nature of the message of Islam vis-à-vis Arabian paganism that Muhammad preached he suffered in various ways, this suffering does not stand out within the context of his society nor in comparison to the martyrs of other faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, etc.) or even in comparison to later Muslim martyrs. Muhammad's experience is a normative one for all Muslims – both Sunni and Shiʿite – and therefore perhaps his example is also a normative one with regard to martyrdom. None of the other major prophets or messengers of Islam, with the exception of John the Baptist, is said to have been martyred, and there are virtually no martyrdom narratives in the Qurʾan (other than the problematic one of the Ashab al-ukhdud, the Companions of the Pit, in sura 85:1–8 discussed in Chapter 2).