Question:

Answer:

Suicide is from the greatest sins in the sight of Almighty Allah ta'ala. As believers we must appreciate that our lives and bodies are not our property such that we can do with them whatever we wish. Rather, they are Allah’s property and He has made unlawful killing prohibited. Imam Muslim narrates that Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) said that a person who takes his own life would continue to kill himself in the same manner in the Hell-fire. Thus if he stabbed himself, he would continuously be dying like this in Hell. If he consumed poison he would continue to eat poison in Hell and if he threw himself to his death, then he would continue to fall from a high place.

Every person becomes overwhelmed by calamities and problems sometime in his life, and if these calamities are not viewed in the correct way they can lead to depression, stress and evil thoughts such as suicide. At such time a person must remind themselves again and again that, however bad the situation is that this is totally in the control of Allah ta'ala and He will insha'allah change this for me, as He himself promised: “Very with hardship comes ease, verily with hardship comes ease,” (Sura al-Asr).

Secondly, you should remind yourself that this is a test from Allah ta'ala that will not last a long time and it is to develop a person’s connection with His Creator (through Dua etc.).

Thirdly, one of the reasons why our problems seem so insurmountable is that we fail to remember that however great the problem is that we face the length of the time we will be exposed to it is very short. Even if the problem continued for the extent of one’s entire life, what is that compared to the real life Allah ta'ala will bestow upon the believer, once we die? The next-life is more than a hundred thousand years of untainted bliss; in fact it is without end.

Surely a unpleasant test, and one that does not continue for all the years of our lives, but rather a few of them, should not lead a person to think such evil thoughts. Finally, the best remedy for stress is the Dhikr/Remembrance of Allah ta'ala. Allah ta'ala Himself says: “Verily it is by the remembrance of Allah that hearts find peace,” (13:28). Thus, take out just ten-twenty minutes everyday and sit in a quiet place at home or in the Masjid and simply recite: “Laa ilaaha illallaah” (There is nothing worthy of worship except Allah), repeating it often. May Allah taala relieve you of your problems and protect you from such wrong thoughts, Ameen.

Mufti Mohammed Sajjad

Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab

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The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation.