In January 2011, Egyptian protestors arrived to Tahrir Square wearing stickers reading 'a martyr is available here' to highlight their willingness to die for the revolution. Many Coptic Christians also arrived to their own demonstrations wearing the same sticker. Drawing on a biblical verse 'For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain', they claimed they came ready to die, not only for their nation, but also for their faith. In this article, I examine martyr themes in a popular and Coptic religious song genre known as taratil. Specifically, I explore the ambiguity between dying for one's nation and dying for one's faith as reflected in these religious nationalist anthems. How do song motifs negotiate ambivalences and seemingly contradicting desires to belong to an Egyptian nation and a heavenly afterlife as pious Christians? This article analyses songs of death as modes of political belonging and civic (dis)engagement.
