Suicide refers to self-destruction. The prominent attribute of being suicidal is to intentionally hurt or try to kill oneself, i.e. deliberately cause the ultimate damage to oneself. Researchers say that the clear intention aspect is usually evident, but there are situations when the decision is not made with clarity but rather at the heat of the moment, forgetting oneself, forgetting about close ones, forgetting one’s own wellbeing – ignoring optimistic possibilities of living.
Once I was discussing with some fellow Muslim brothers about how the actions that we do when we are by ourselves can destroy us. Obviously the argument was not based on the physical aspects of destruction but rather on the basis of philosophical concepts, and the cause-and-effect reasoning placed in the book of Allah and the Prophet’s Sunnah. From there, the realization dawned upon me that we are actually demonstrating suicidal tendencies. Despite knowing the awful consequence of those actions, we still do them like we are trying to commit suicide, not of the body, but of something far more valuable- the Soul.
The word suicidal is quite close to the Arabic term Zulm.
Zulm (translated as tyranny or oppression) means to commit an injustice, to treat unfairly, to be unjust, to torment or torture, to transgress either verbally or physically, or to go too far. In short, it means placing something (which can include intangibles such as our strength, our worship, our actions, etc.) in an improper place instead of where it really should be.
Zulm against one’s own nafs (self) is a type of oppression which is the result of two things. Our nafs is tyrannized when we oppress it by: i) disobedience to Allah and ii) wrong against another human being. By doing these, even though it might not be apparent immediately, but in truth we destroy ourselves with zulm imposed upon the nafs.
When one has rebelled against the Creator (by refusing to obey His Orders), he or she will soon thereafter rebel against the creation (refusing to benefit them and causing much harm to people, family and/or society). Whoever allows for this to occur, is simultaneously oppressing the self. Because eventually, all of his actions will impact himself the most, both in this life and in the hereafter. Thus, it is said that “one who rebels against Allah destroys himself”.
To tyrannize the nafs means to ignore the divine commands; it means to live without a conscience, not taking the religious life or the afterlife seriously, and it means deserving the divine punishment that is the result of such actions. It is not the way of the Just, Merciful and Compassionate Allah to tyrannize His own servants. But in His Absolute Justice, He will not spare the servant who has disturbed the harmony among His creations by committing the grave crimes of refusing to obey the One Who Gave Him life, family, health, rizq and innumerable blessings.
There are twenty-nine verses in the Qur’ân concerned with humanity’s self-destruction. The temptation by Satan and the inherent desires of the nafs which preys on human weaknesses, can be understood to be the reasons for oppression of the nafs by the servants themselves. Even the very first people on earth fell into the trap of committing zulm. Adam and Eve, falling into Satan’s trap and eating the forbidden fruit, sought refuge with repentance and prayers:
So he led them on by delusion; and when they tasted the tree, their shameful parts became apparent to them, so they took to stitching upon themselves leaves of the Garden. And their Lord called to them, “Did not I prohibit you from this tree, and say to you, ‘Verily Satan is for you a manifest foe’”? [Quran 7:22]
They said: “Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: If You forgive us not and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be lost.” [Quran 7:23]
The greatest dimension of this self-destruction is that the servants will be confused about who to turn to and they will create gods other than Allah. And those gods may not necessarily be physical deities only. At the head of these false gods is the deification of the human nafs and desires. In addition, people will always be enslaved to fortune, fame, lust and the material world. The Qur’ân tells us, in great detail, about the fate of this type of deviation. In fact, when the Israelites made a god out of the Golden Calf Moses told them: “O my people! Ye have indeed wronged ourselves by your worship of the calf: So turn (in repentance) to your Maker, and slay yourselves (the wrong-doers); that will be better for you in the sight of your Maker.” Then He turned towards you (in forgiveness): For He is Oft- Returning, Most Merciful.”
Throughout the history of humanity, there have been people who gain the the blessings of Allah in life and beyond by believing in the clear miracles brought by the Prophets. But there also have been a large number of those who have destroyed their nafs through zulm. In fact, the Qur’ân indicates that these type of people were present among the descendants of Abraham (PBUH) and Isaac (PBUH).
People’s inability to perceive the divine message or invitation is a type of oppression that destroys them. Unless they refuse to hear, understand, believe and act upon the message of their Creator, Allah SWT does not impose zulm against His servants. Earlier communities that refused to believe what their Prophets were preaching and did not follow what they were taught destroyed themselves, being inflicted with different types of torment. In fact, the tribe of Noah (PBUH) was destroyed by the flood, that of Hud (PBUH) with a violent wind, Salih’s (PBUH) tribe with an earthquake, Abraham’s (PBUH) with flies, Shu’aib’s (PBUH) with fire, and Lot’s (PBUH) people were destroyed by everything being turned upside down.
Each one of them We seized for his crime: of them, against some We sent a violent tornado (with showers of tones); some were caught by a (mighty) Blast; some We caused the earth to swallow up; and some We drowned (in the waters): It was not Allah Who injured (or oppressed) them; They injured (and oppressed) their own souls. [Quran 29:40]
In the Qur’ân Allah Almighty tells us to wander through the world and investigate the fate of former nations and take lessons from them. It is stated that even though they were mighty, they oppressed their nafs and thus destroyed themselves. Not only were there tribes in the past which destroyed themselves with shirk and disbelief; we are told that even though the Israelites were granted manna and quail from heaven as divine bounties, they still destroyed themselves because they ignored the divine rules.
After informing us of the bad end of those who oppress themselves by denying Allah Almighty’s verses, we are told that the same fate will be visited on those who do not take a lesson by considering the fate of the people from those lands which once stood mighty upon earth but Allah (SWT) great punishment befell due to their ignorance and arrogance, and destroyed them completely.
Allah sent His Prophets to be obeyed. Those servants who do not obey the Prophets are included among those who have destroyed themselves. For such people, Allah has indicated a way out and tells us:
We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed in accordance with Allah’s Will. Had they, when they wronged their souls, come to you and prayed to Allah for forgiveness, and the messenger prayed for their forgiveness, they would have found Allah the Redeemer, Most Merciful. [Quran 4:64]
Those Who Live In A Conflicting Relationship With Allah, Who Transgress His Limits In The Framework Of Social Matters, And Those Who Harm Their Families And Spouses Are People Who, In The Words Of The Qur’ân, Destroy Themselves.
Other ways people oppress their nafs and destroy themselves include pride in what they own, thinking that worldly goods are eternal, and thinking that the Day of Judgment will not arrive.
The expenditure and savings in this worldly life for the disbelievers are for worldly ends and aims, and thus are vain and meaningless. Because the world itself will end and even before that their own lives and accumulations will expire (unless they were expended in accordance with Allah’s Commands). Allah gives comparison of those people to the northerly wind that brings frost to the crops. In the same way that a cold wind can cause the crops to be frozen, thus destroying the wheat, the behavior of such people with their empty expenditure will be in vain, and only result in their own destruction.
We Muslims should not destroy ourselves by only involving in enjoyment of worldly life or by withholding ourselves from expending for the cause of Allah. Our Creator has chosen for us a balance middle way, and no extremes.
(They supplicate:) “If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the thankful.”. But when He saves them, at once they commit injustice upon the earth without right. O mankind, your injustice is only against yourselves, [being merely] the enjoyment of worldly life. Then to Us is your return, and We will inform you of what you used to do. [Quran 10: 22-23]
And spend in the way of Allah and do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction [by refraining]. And do good; indeed, Allah loves the doers of good. [Quran 2:195]
According to the Qur’an, the tendency of people towards self-destruction is considered to be a mortal weakness. In fact, in the Qur’an one of the qualities that will be considered of pious believers who are invited to Heaven is this: when performing a bad action or oppressing their nafs, that is, when demonstrating a weakness that would destroy them, they remember Allah and repent and seek forgiveness.
And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah’s Forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [Quran 4:110]
The queen who came to Solomon (Balqîs) said to her Lord: “My Lord, surely I have wronged myself (by worshipping false gods). But now I submit myself, in Solomon’s company, to God, the Lord of the worlds.” [Quran 27:44]
Thus informing us that she had been saved from destroying herself by accepting the message of Prophet Solomon (AS), Allah the Most Merciful clearly shows us how to deal with that weakness.
Self-destruction is often considered to be a trap set by Satan and the nafs, and the person who is aware of this in their heart will turn to Allah. In fact, when Moses ( PBUH) committed a sin that resulted in the death of a young man, this was perceived as the work of the devil and therefore, thinking that this sin had oppressed his nafs, Moses begged forgiveness from Allah; Allah, al-Ghafoor, forgave him.
He entered the city without the knowledge of its inhabitants and found two men fighting each other. One was his follower and the other his enemy. His follower asked him for help. Moses struck his enemy to death, but later said, “It was the work of satan; he is the sworn enemy of the human being and wants to mislead him”. [Quran 28:15]
He said: My Lord! surely I have done harm to myself, so do Thou protect me. So He protected him; surely He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. [Quran 28:16]
Becoming heedless and neglectful of our duty and of the remembrance of Allah and turning away from his message is the worst type of self-destruction.
Be not like those who say, “We hear,” but listen not. Indeed the worst beasts in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb – who do not reason and understand. [Quran 8:21-23]
“And surely, We have created for Hell, many (a people) from the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they understand not, they have eyes with which they see not and they have ears with which they hear not: they are like cattle. Rather, they are even more astray. They indeed, are the heedless ones.” [Quran 7:179]
And who is more oppressive than one who is reminded of the signs of His Lord, but turns away from them forgetting what (deeds) his hands have sent forth. Truly, We have set veils over their hearts lest they should understand it (the Qur’an), and in their ears, deafness. And if you call them to guidance, even then they will never be guided.” [Quran 18:57]
Forgetting one’s own self is the main cause of suicidal acts. Forgetting our Creator will bring us to a state where we forget the wellbeing of ourselves and engage in suicidal acts of the soul that will remain for eternity even after our life and body has turned to nothingness.
And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient. [Quran 59:19]
To persist on doing a sin will result in destruction of our spiritual heart. As proclaimed in a Hadith: When a sin is committed for the first time, a black dot appears on the heart. If the person repents and asks forgiveness from Allah, the stain is removed and the heart shines again. If the person does not repent and he repeats the sin, the stain becomes larger; over time, it becomes so large that it covers all of the heart like a shroud. It is what is mentioned in the following verse in Chapter al-Mutaffifin: “By no means! But on their hearts is the stain of the (ill) which they do!” (al-Mutaffifin, 83/14). The stain referred to in the hadith is mentioned in the verse.
That hadith shows that sins cover the heart like an envelope if they are repeated. Then, it is sealed by Allah as it is mentioned in the verse. That pervasive stain is impressed on the heart. Although it is like erasable ink that is written on a shiny surface of paper at first, it becomes an inerasable, engraved stain afterwards. In other words, it becomes a second nature through habits. It is neither erased nor removed; then, there is no way to faith, nor a cure for disbelief, and the unfortunate person possessing the heart is destined for the ultimate destruction.
Engaging in major sins is self-destructive and a stab upon our imaan, at least for the moment when are doing those. If death catches us in that moment of committing the sin, we will be among the greatest losers.
Narrated Ibn Abbas (RA): The Prophet ( PBUH) said, “When an adulterer commits illegal sexual intercourse, then he is not a believer at the time he is doing it; and when somebody steals, he is not a believer at the time he is stealing.”
Allah Almighty states that among the distinguished servants to whom He gave the Book and yet they ended up destroyed themselves, there is a third group that consists of those who have followed the middle way and with Allah’s permission have progressed with blessings.
Then we caused to inherit the Book those We have chosen of Our servants; and among them is he who wrongs himself, and among them is he who is moderate, and among them is he who is foremost in good deeds by permission of Allah. That [inheritance] is what the great bounty is. [Quran 35:32]
The first of these three groups consists of those who have oppressed their nafs or destroyed themselves; according to the Qur’ân they have a failed in their lives. The treatment for this is to attain the qalb salîm, a sound heart, and be saved from destroying themselves; now they must take Islam seriously and follow the middle way. With effort and striving they can take the lead in every type of good service. Those who take the lead are clear. In the words of the Qur’ân they are “the vanguard (of Islam)- the first of those who forsook (their homes) and of those who gave them aid, and (also) those who follow them in (all) good deeds, well-pleased is Allah with them, as are they with Him.”
In short, every act of disobedience that we do is a means of self-destruction but may vary in magnitude. These verses could be looked at for clarity:
Whoever does a good deed – it is for himself; and whoever does evil – it is against the self. Then to your Lord you will be returned. [Al-Quran 45:15]
And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah’s Forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [Quran 4:110]
And whoever earns sin, he earns it only against himself. And Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise. [Quran 4:111]
The greatest obstacle standing between a person and a sound heart is their self-destruction or the oppression of the nafs, because a sound heart is one that cannot be hurt and cannot hurt.
So brothers and sisters, next time your are doing the discussed act or any disobedience of Allah and his messenger or leading a life just for this world where quran hasn’t enter the heart but may be just on lips for recitation you are doing suicidal acts, but no doubt the blow is fatal. Turn away and seek forgiveness.
