SUICIDE

An Islamic Perspective

ONE of the websites gives the following information about the most common reasons for suicide. A sense of burden—Would my loved ones be better off without me?; a sense of emotional pain—There is so much suffering in my life; escaping negative feelings— Is death the answer to ending this pain?; altered social world—Is death the answer to my troublesome social relationships?; and hopelessness—Is there evidence that life is going to get any better?

Suicide is held illegal in all religions and legal systems of the world. There is a teaching of the Prophet of Islam according to which one who committed suicide would have to face eternal Hell. A Companion of the Prophet narrated the following incident:

Discovery of God and conviction that He is the All-powerful and that He has a plan for us will remove all kinds of hopelessness from us. In this vast universe, it is God who is man's support.

“We were accompanying the Prophet in a ghazwa (battle). Along with us was person named Quzman who had already embraced the faith. During the battle he suffered a serious injury. People began to praise him before the Prophet for the bravery he had exhibited. But the Prophet said “He is surely one of the people of Hell”. The Companions were taken aback by the Prophet’s words, so he asked them to go and investigate the matter. It was then learnt that Quzman had indeed been severely injured during the battle and when he could not bear the pain any longer, he killed himself with his own weapon (Quzman’s case was that of suicide). When the Prophet was told about this, he uttered these words: “God is great and I bear witness that I am His messenger”.

After knowing what Islam has to say about committing suicide, it is very important to understand that if one were to prevent people from committing such an act one should have an alternative to present to them; a rational explanation to pain, emotional distress, helplessness, failure, and a hope for the better world, so that they can face the challenge and not think of ending their life as a solution.

The creation plan provided by Islam gives an explanation to why we face these challenges in this world. In the Quran God says:

We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives, and crops. Give good news to those who endure with fortitude. (2: 155)

We are born into this world. We spend our short lives here. The journey of our life in this world passes through different and varied experiences. Because of these experiences, consciously or otherwise people begin to think that this present world is for us the real world. Any loss or failure or problems in this world to such a person will appear as final and fatal.

Islam preaches that this world is an examination ground where we are being tested for our eligibility for God’s perfect world of Paradise, where there is no failure, loss, sorrow or evil; in fact it is a perfect and eternal world which we all long for. God commands us to face the challenges of this world with courage and patience. The role of patience in the examination of life is that it keeps us steadfast under any and every circumstance. It prevents us from deviating from the right path and going astray. We will find creative solutions to the problems and not hide from them. We will not opt for either negativity or extreme steps of ending our precious life.

The role of patience in the examination of life, is that it keeps us steadfast under any and every circumstance. It prevents us from deviating from the right path and going astray. We will find creative solutions to the problems and not hide from them.

Discovery of God and conviction that He is the All-powerful and that He has a plan for us will remove all kinds of hopelessness from us. In this vast universe, it is God who is man’s support. It is He alone who can help us cross this river of life and lead us to the shore.

Each one of us repeatedly goes through experiences that lead us to realize our severe limitations. Very often, we do not get what we want. Every now and then, situations arise in our lives that compel us to feel completely helpless. In addition to this fear of loss, sickness, accident, old age and death tell us that we are utterly dependent on a force that is infinitely greater than us, and that without the help of this infinitely superior power, we simply cannot face the challenges of life successfully and will easily fall into despair and hopelessness.

Apart from the promise of the perfect world of Paradise, to those who endure with fortitude the difficulties of the life in this world, the Kind and Merciful God has further promised to help us in many ways to face our life here.

The promise of God's forgiveness for those who repent will help a person make a new beginning, even after committing the biggest of mistakes. Power of resilience, presence of continuous opportunities, learning from mistakes and moving on with better plans, support from families and friends to cope with the situation, strength from prayer and supplication, qualities of determination to succeed after failure, to try and try again are all innate in human nature. All these are the support and comfort to those who want to overcome the hurdles in their journey of life.

The above factors should enable us to want to live every moment of our life fully, rather than giving us even for a moment, a thought for ending our life.