ISA MARTELL introduces the now niche sport which not too long ago made up the fabric of male physical life and culture.
There is something that stirs deep within the soul when a man picks up a sword for the first time. These iconic weapons hold a place of wonderment in our minds and souls and remind us of days long gone, ancient and outdated. However, such weapons also invoke attributes of courage, honor and dignity. You can feel this pump through your heart, as your hand wraps around their hilt. They have weight and balance, becoming an extension of your arm.
It’s as if they silently scream to have a life of their own, calling to their bearer to engage with them. To strike, to cut, to pierce, and deflect. We dance in unison with the blade. Struggling to hold back their power, while they fight to be free from us. It is a delicate balance of give and take. Your life or your death.
Perhaps this is why we name them even, elevating their status as companions alongside us in conquest and adventure. They are as brutal as they are elegant. Sharp as they are sleek. Do not be fooled, they are designed to graphically end your fellow human being.
Buried in their cold spine is the memory of their fiery birth when they were formed from collected scraps and masses of iron. Rough pieces of ore which drifted through space for unknown millennia until they collided with Earth, descending from the heavens in the form of meteorites. An event which Allah reminds us of in the Qur’an (18:96).
Space born particles, smelted. The sword’s essence is primordial, from an eternity vast and unknown. After its baptism in the smelter, it is purer and more refined. It shows its soul to the smith, who understands its language. A wise smith can see how it wants to be shaped and forged. Over glowing coals, with heavy hammers, its beating begins. Hours. Days. Weeks. The finest blades endure the longest punishment in the fire before their temper is quenched. These become the swords that understand their purpose best.
I remember when I held a sword for the first time. It was a low-quality blade from the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. However, to me, like thousands of other young people, it was the greatest weapon I ever held.
I had no knowledge of types of swords, or what makes one better than another. All I knew was that swords looked cool, and holding one was invigorating. At the time, I was also yet to hear about Islam. This was back in the early nineties when I was still in my mid-teens. However something clicked deep within me when I held that sword, which set me to strive on a path that I hoped to walk my entire life, that ultimately being the pursuit of futuwwah.
In the beginning, I was drawn to the concept of Western Chivalry. All our books and entertainment promote this as the standard, the idyllic view of a European knight––the one they force onto us to propagate their morals and ideas, falsely claiming it as their origin. While I don’t like to use the word ‘chivalry’ due to these stereotypes, I use it here in the most general sense. I began to research aspects of this and participate in sword and armored combat groups that were available to me at the time. They were very fun and enjoyable, but the chivalry that I strived to live out was not what their behavior displayed. It was a lot of “role-play.”
They were very brash, cliquish and fake. It turned me off, rather than drawing me to it. It was as if these people would act a certain way to show off or impress people in public, but then did not follow through with what I considered honorable behavior in private. I recognized that this culture was not one that I would fit in with, nor did I necessarily agree with it. It did not feel fulfilling in a spiritual way, and I realized that this is what I was seeking. That is, a deeper fulfillment. Some sort of harmony with the world around me. So, I continued to search this out.
Through the strands of divine fate, Allah guided me to Islam and I accepted the religion in 1997. After converting I persisted in searching for this idea of chivalry that I had and see if it was something which was inside the realm of the religion.
When reading about the early Muslims, I noticed what I was looking for. They were spiritual warriors. They kept a balance between the internal spiritual aspects of the religion and the external martial aspects. Unfortunately, up until a more recent time, when you looked for something like this everything in English was under the context of ‘Sufic Chivalry’. These books addressed esoteric spiritual matters, while completely leaving off anything to do with weapons or fighting in the real world. There weren’t a lot of these books written by Muslims.
In the early 2000’s, I traveled overseas and spent a few weeks in Morocco on vacation. I fell in love with the county, returned there a couple years later and lived there until 2009. The whole time I was there, I would try to search out things to do with swords in my free time. I met a lot of people, but sadly never came across any sort of weapons class, or teacher who specialized in that sort of thing. When I moved back to the United States I learned that a new niche was growing and gaining momentum––historical martial arts, of taking medieval manuscripts and using them to reconstruct swordsmanship.
This was being done in a Western context, but I also found Eastern sources starting to pop up. in 2013 an Iranian researcher named Manouchehr Khorasani published Persian Archery and Swordsmanship, a book about weapon techniques based largely from Safavid era manuscripts. It was very detailed and covered archery, swords, spears, axes, daggers and other weapons, as well as Persian wrestling techniques. It was just what I was looking for. For years I knew that due to the unique shapes of a lot of Middle Eastern weapons, they would for sure have different styles of fighting tailored to those differences. The research in this book backed this idea. I began training with it and never looked back.
For the past ten years, the only sword I have trained with has been a shamshir. I have a full suit of handmade Ottoman armor which I train and fight in. I have been in numerous tournaments around the country, as well as taught seminars based on these weapons. This has recently led to the formation of Bayt Al-Asad, which is a group dedicated to researching medieval weapons, armor, and any related cultural artifacts of the Islamicate, then reconstructing them to the best of our abilities to better connect us with our spiritual heritage.
When it comes to our deen, I feel that this type of activity, though seems strange and niche to many, gives us access to a greater historical context whilst opening the door to deeper understanding of how our ancestors lived. The concept of futuwwah is becoming more popular now and, and an increasing number of great guys are pushing to have our youth learn these things in Muslim communities around the world.
There are a number of aspects that various scholars have classified under futuwwah, ten come from a hadith narrated by Imam Ja’far al-Sādiq (RA). They are truthfulness in speech, loyalty in oaths, fulfilling your trusts, abandoning lying, mercifulness to the orphans, giving to those who ask for help, spending on one who has, generosity to craftsmen and guests, and modesty.
If we strived to live by these traits alone, we would be superior men. This looks like a simple task but no doubt it is difficult to maintain such a demeanor constantly. They need to be cultivated and developed over our lifetime, reflected upon at different stages of life, for as we get older we see the same things from new perspectives.
How does swordsmanship play into this? When we incorporate historical weapons training into our lives as another sport or exercise, we directly connect with our Prophet (SAW), and all previous generations of the Ummah pre-modernity. They carried swords as a fact of life, the way we incessantly carry around our smartphones. They knew what it meant to step up and meet your opponent face to face. You must be a few paces out of arm’s reach to wield such a weapon effectively. Your eyes lock as you test your skills. If this were an actual battlefield, such skills can lead to your death, if they are not as sharp as your blade’s edge. These qualities affected every other facet of their life even outside of combat.
In training, practicing swords are dull and we wear protective gear. Sometimes we train and spar in armor. It is hot and sweaty. When you are not in shape, you struggle to breathe. People sometimes feel claustrophobic in their helmet. You can feel a sense of how nearly invincible you are wearing it.
Sometimes sparks fly off your armor from your opponent’s weapon. You can smell it when it happens. Its full immersion and a developed set of skills. With them we can imagine how it was during battles in history, especially during Ramadan. If you are looking for a new connection to your deen, then I highly suggest finding someone who can lead you down this path as well.
Isa Martell is a swordsman, artist, author, and co-founder of Bayt Al-Assad, a group that researches historical fighting techniques and culture of Muslim countries. You can find him on X @strangermartell, and their patreon: (patreon.com/baytalasad)