Basically, suicide is an act totally forbidden in Islam. Allah says, “And do not cast yourselves into destruction by your own hands.” (ِAl-Baqarah: 195) “And do not kill yourselves, for surely Allah is Compassionate to you.” (An-Nisa’: 29) “And do not take the life which Allah has rendered sacrosanct.” (Al-Isra’: 33)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever willfully falls from a mountain top and thus kills himself, he shall be in hell-fire, ever falling down from on high into the fire for ever; whoever consumes poison and thus kills himself will be doing the same thing to himself in the fire of hell; whoever kills himself with an instrument, he will be continuously piercing his own abdomen with the same in hell-fire for ever.” (Reported by Bukhari and Muslim).
The eminent Muslim scholar and renowned da`iyahSheikh `Abdel Khaliq Hasan Ash-Shareef states: “Suicide is an act totally forbidden in Islam even if it is done by proxy because of facing an embarrassing situation or in order to avoid being caught by an enemy. It is to noted that when one is captured by the enemy, it is not a necessity that he will be killed. He may be ransomed or taken as a war prisoner, and then released or the like. The one who is ordered by someone else to shoot or kill him is totally prohibited from this act. Instead, he must stop this person from committing suicide rather than helping him.”
Having stated this, we would like to stress the fact that Almighty Allah has granted us life and sent us to this world to test our submission to Him. During this test, various conditions come upon a person. Allah Most High says: “Do people think We will leave them saying ‘we believe’ and they will not be tested? Verily we have tested the people in the past so that the truthful are known and the liars are known.” (Al-`Ankabut: 2-3)
Furthermore, Almighty Allah has also promised relief after difficulties, He says: “Verily with every difficulty there is relief.” (Al-Inshrah: 6-7)
The solution to the different frustrations in life is not taking one’s life but to be patient and seek assistance from Allah directly. One should also ask the pious to make du`a’ for one. Taking one’s life is strictly prohibited. Such a person will be continuously punished in the hereafter in the manner he had taken his life. Thus, by escaping from one temporary problem, he puts himself into a permanent problem from which there is no escape.
