No way around it: Suicide is tragic, permanent and painful beyond comprehension. There seem to be more suicides here in my little corner of paradise than should reasonably be expected. Do you get that feeling about your area? God help us all.
Thinking about this has me wondering about suicide in Islam. Is it a “You’re banned from Heaven forever” deal like it used to be for Catholics? Or simply frowned on? Somewhere in between?
The Quran says, “And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.” [Qur`an 4: 29]. Pretty plain right there. Additional verses support this one.
Extra-Quranic teaching says those who kill themselves will be punished in Hell with the implement of their death. One Hadith in particular records, “Whoever kills himself with a piece of iron, that piece of iron will be in his hand and he will be stabbing himself in the stomach with it in the Fire of Hell, forever and ever.” Dang.
Additionally, based on an example from Muhammad, some Muslim teachers think they shouldn’t say the official funeral prayer for those who’ve died by suicide.
Softening this hard line slightly, is the caveat that Allah will not record the evil deeds of people who are insane. Someone lacking control of their faculties to the extent they don’t know what they’re doing when they kill themselves will not be punished.
Interestingly to me, ten out of fifteen of the countries with the lowest suicide rates are predominantly Muslim. (20 of the lowest 30!) You may suppose, as I do, that this reflects significant, shame-based underreporting. A Muslim in the UK wrestles with that here.
And finally this, a recent survey reported that Muslims in the U.S. attempt suicide at twice the rate of Protestants. We might think, “Another indication Islam is broken.” We’d do better to wonder what is going on and how God may have us live and love in such a way that fewer and fewer Muslims and Christians find themselves convinced there are no other options but to end their lives.