Why is suicide Haraam when Allaah ‘hates’ you?
Question
Why is suicide Haraam when Allaah hates you? Wouldn’t it be better to die instead of cause a pain to people around me by living? Can a suicide person be granted Shifa’ah of the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam?
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa-rahmatullaahi wa-barakaatuh.
I am sorry that you are feeling despondent and fed up with life but how do you know that Allah hates you? Why don’t you believe that Allah loves you?
He has made you Muslim and blessed you to be in the Ummah of His Most-Beloved Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam). He has given you the inclination to seek an Islamic ruling on your predicament rather than act on your feelings.
If Allah hated you, why would He give you a brain to think? Why would he give you eyes to see? Why would He give you ears to hear? Why would He create millions of blood vessels and cells in your body to nourish you? There is no limit to His bounties. Do you have an answer for your claims of hate? Why would Allah give brains to someone who would use the brains against Him? How tolerant is Allah!
The bounties and favors of Allah are innumerable. Often we don’t even realize the value of such blessings until they are taken away from us. Allah says:
most surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
(Surah al-Nahl: 18)
Many blessings of Allah are visible and many are invisible. Allah has even appointed angels for our protection. They guard us from so many incidents and are only removed when something is decreed to befall us. Were there to be no security cordon of these angels around us, we would be in serious trouble. These blessings serve to remind us the Allah loves us and how Compassionate He is towards His creation.
Pain and grief are part of this world and we always ask Allah for well-being but life is not perfect nor is it paradise. On the same token, you cannot end your life on the presumption that Allah hates you since there is no proof or basis for this allegation.
On the contrary we know that Allah is more compassionate towards His slaves than a mother is towards her child so why exclude yourself and think these detrimental thoughts?
How do you know that your life won’t turn for the better and everything will become alright? The night doesn’t last forever and eventually gives way to daylight. Allah says:
(Surah Al-Inshirah: 5-6)
Allah knows best how long it is best for you to live and when it is best for you return to Him. So instead of longing for death you should make the following dua:
and when death is better for me according to Your Knowledge, take me unto You.”
Do not think about suicide as it is haram for a number of reasons:
1.) First and foremost because Allah, the King of Kings has made it haram in His Infinite Wisdom and to make something halal that Allah has made haram is not acceptable – in fact its outright rebellion.
2.) Secondly, you are not the owner of your body – nor do you have the right to do with it what you please. By choosing to end your life at a time of your choosing you are committing an oppression on your body. In the terminology of jurisprudence, such a person is labeled a fasiq (evil-doer) even if the oppression he is committing is limited to himself and not to others.
3.) Thirdly, this action is so reprehensible that when Rasulullah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) was brought the body of a man who had committed suicide, he (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) did not lead the Janazah (funeral prayer) for him. This in itself serves a poignant example of the how serious this crime is.
4.) Fourthly, it’s not your decision to leave this world at a time of your choosing. By choosing a time of your death – you are in essence claiming to know better than Allah (Allah forbid) – who is the Most Wise, the All-Knowing, the All-Aware. This decision belongs to your Lord who has given you Paradise in exchange for your life and wealth as is mentioned in a Quranic verse. What a beautiful bargain! Both the purchase (Paradise) and the price of the purchase (your life and your wealth) has been provided by Allah. Then how can you choose when and how to leave?
And Allah knows best.
Ml. Sohail Bengali
Student, Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
