When Faith Is Hijacked |
Life is a sacred trust bestowed upon man only once, and in Islamic belief, it is neither accidental nor ownerless. It is granted by Allah Almighty with a purpose and a moral framework. When this life is lived in obedience to Allah and in the footsteps of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), it brings dignity, balance, and inner peace in this world and eternal success in the hereafter. The Qur’an leaves no ambiguity regarding the sanctity of life. Allah commands, “Do not kill yourselves; surely Allah is Most Merciful to you” (Surah An-Nisa, 4:29). This divine injunction alone is sufficient to declare suicide, in all its forms, unlawful in Islam.
The gravity of taking an innocent life is further emphasised in Surah Al-Ma’idah, where Allah declares that killing one person unjustly is akin to killing all of humanity, while saving one life is equivalent to saving all mankind (5:32). In this moral universe, suicide attacks stand as a double crime; self-destruction coupled with the killing of innocents. The Hadith literature reinforces this prohibition with unmistakable clarity. In Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) warned that a person who kills himself will face severe punishment in the hereafter, repeating the act eternally as a consequence of defying divine decree. Such narrations leave no theological space for those who attempt to glorify suicide under the guise of martyrdom.
Islam draws a sharp and........