Thoughts on an oft-recurring question: what does the Qur'an say about suicide? And is it always wrong? Here I give my own personal view as well as an indication of the Qur'anic position on this subject.
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This is based on the work of Sam Gerrans' THE QUR'AN: A COMPLETE REVELATION where the Qur'an is exhaustively examined on the basis of the internal Qur'anic evidence rather than on the conflicting and usurping literature called Hadith which was developed some 200 years after the Qur'anic revelation.
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I can give you my personal view: much of my problem with suicide rests with the fact that it assumes that what follows is better than what currently is. I'm not saying there aren't situations where it is valid (say, a commander about to be taken by enemy troops who has important strategic information which would put his comrades at risk if obtained by torture). In that case, a single bullet would be a strategy of war clearly intended to advance his side's interests. But that is entirely different to the majority of suicides, especially in the West: selfish, entitled people whose (unrealistic) expectations are not met by their perception of the facts and who think that "nothing" would be better than what they currently have. But they are assuming "nothing". They have no proof for it. The Qur'an is clear: after death comes eternity. It is the shaytan's whispers which tell people life is not worth living if they can't have such-and-such a thing. I would strongly counsel that eternity should be entered in the sincere fear of God, not in abject fear of the shaytan – one who will deny any connection with those who serve him on the Day of Judgment. Peace, Sam
For that cause we decreed for the children of Isrā’īl that whoso takes a life other than for a life
Or corruption in the earth:
It will be as if he killed mankind altogether
(And whoso gives life:
It will be as if he gave life to mankind altogether.
And our messengers came to them with clear evidence.
Then many of them after that are committers of excess in the earth.)
5:32
And whoso kills a believer intentionally
His reward is Hell
He abiding eternally therein
And God is wroth with him and has cursed him
And prepared for him a tremendous punishment.
(4:93)
