FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
SUICIDE—AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE
MAN’S physical existence and his life are not, in reality, his personal property. These are a trust bestowed by God Almighty. Life is a great boon that acts as foundation for all of the other blessings and boons that accompany life. Therefore, Islam has commanded human beings to protect life and promote the welfare of human body. Islam binds every member of the society to protect life at all costs, and to make it beneficial to oneself as well as to society at large.
God is the Lord of life and death. Islam states that murdering an individual is akin to murdering the entire humanity.
(…) Whoever killed a human being—except as a punishment for murder or for spreading corruption in the land—shall be regarded as having killed all humankind. (5: 32)
Similarly, taking one’s own life and putting it in jeopardy is likewise an act disliked by God.
Do not cast yourselves into destruction by your own hands. (2: 195) Commentators say that this verse also includes those who commit suicide.
In another verse, the Quran says:
Do not kill one another, for God is most merciful to you. If anyone does
these things through transgression and injustice, We shall cast him into
the Fire; and that is easy for God. (4: 29-30)
Noted Islamic scholar and acclaimed commentator of the Quran, Fakhr
al-Din al-Razi (d. AD 1210) writes under these verses:
The verse addresses those who kill someone wrongfully and those
who commit suicide. This verse is proof that people are commanded to
refrain from committing suicide.
The corpus of Hadith (record of sayings and deeds of the Prophet
Muhammad) contains many examples where the Prophet of God
unambiguously instructed the people to refrain from committing
suicide:
'Your body has a right over you and your eyes
too have a right over you'.
Islam has commanded human beings to protect life and promote the welfare of human body. Islam binds every member of the society to protect life at all costs, and to make it beneficial to oneself as well as to society at large.
This saying quite clearly directs people to protect their body, life and all organs of the body, and it also exhorts one to fulfill their rights, namely to take care of them. Reading such directives, how could it be possible that Islam would make allowance for committing violent acts such as bomb blasts and suicide attacks? How could Islam, the religion of peace and universal brotherhood, sanction taking the precious lives of citizens through heinous acts of violence?
Quite the contrary, the Prophet of Islam says
about those who commit suicide that they will
enter the raging fire of Hell and abide there
forever. Thus, they would incur unrelenting and unending painful
punishment. Many Hadith narrations are cited here to bring home this
point:
“If a person jumps from a mountain so as to kill himself, he will enter
Hell and abide there forever, and he will keep tumbling down in it. If a
person consumes poison to kill himself, Hell will be his eternal abode,
and the poison he consumed will be constantly with him which he will
consume. If a person kills himself with a metal weapon, he will be given
the same weapon in Hell with which he will keep stabbing himself in
the stomach, and he will abide there forever.”
A Companion of the Prophet, Abu Hurairah, reports that the Prophet of Islam said, “If a person chews something in order to kill himself, he shall be forced in Hell to keep chewing the same substance. Similarly, if a person kills himself by falling into a pit, he shall be compelled to plunge into the pit forever. And if a person kills himself by hanging, he shall be punished to continuously hang himself in Hell.”
Another Companion of the Prophet, Thabit bin Dhahak, reports that the Prophet of Islam said, “Whoever commits suicide through something, he will be punished by the same thing in the blazing fire of Hell, and there will be no end to it.
Prof. Farida Khanam
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Wise planning is one in which
considerations other than
your emotions have been
taken into account.