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[quote]Suicide or Predetermined Death By Adil Salahi Q. It is an absolutely true belief that Allah has predetermined the death of every creature, its time, place and how it effected. Keeping this in mind, it follows, as I argued with a friend of mine, that the term "suicide" is incorrect. When a person shoots, stabs or hangs himself it is not his action that kills him. It is Allah that causes him to die. What is your view of my argument? Ans. Allah has predetermined the time and place of everyone's death as well as how and by what means it is effected. Nothing can change what Allah has predetermined unless He Himself chooses to do so. Moreover, Allah has kept the knowledge of the time of death He has appointed for everyone of His creatures totally to Himself. He informs the Angel of Death of such time when He pleases. There are numerous ways of how people meet with their death. Some die in war, others have accidents and still others die of illness. Many die when old age has consumed all their strength. Some die in infancy, some in youth, others in middle age while a fourth group attains a very old age before they die. There is no way any person can tell when or where or how he or she will die. Having said that we have to admit that much in this world takes place as a result of the law of cause and effect. When something falls in water, it gets wet; when we throw a piece of glass on the floor, it breaks; when a certain virus attacks the human body, it produces certain symptoms of illness; when a man is shot in his heart or head, he dies. What we have to understand in this context is that the law of cause and effect operates by Allah's will. It is, therefore, part of what He has determined, or, if you like, predetermined for human life. If we take the example of a napkin getting wet when it is thrown in water, we say that it gets wet by Allah's will. If it is not thrown in water, it remains dry. This also happens by Allah's will. Whether it gets wet or remains dry, therefore, depends on what man does with it. His action is the cause which results in the napkin either getting wet or remaining dry. It is we who choose what to do with the napkin. This applies to everything over which we have a choice. Our freedom of actions is extended over a very wide area indeed. It is because of this freedom of choice which Allah has given us that we are held accountable for what we do. If we could not choose, it would not be just that we should be held responsible for our actions. Allah is the most just of judges. It follows that He will not pass a judgement on us over that in which we have no say. Bearing this in mind, let us ask ourselves; Why has Islam legislated capital punishment for murder? If the victim would have died anyway at this particular time, and if it is Allah's will that he would meet with his death through a gunshot or a stab with a knife or any other weapon used for his murder, then his killer was merely a tool of effecting Allah's will. Why is his action punishable by death? There are several points to be considered here. First, regardless of what may have happened to the victim, the fact that a murderer strikes his victim with whatever weapon he chooses, with the intention of killing him, merits that punishment. By so doing, he commits a crime against the basic rights of life which is enjoyed by every human being. Secondly, his action is the result of personal choice. There is nothing to compel him to take his weapon and strike his victim. That he does of his own accord. Hence, he must be punished. Thirdly the victim's death is the effect of the action of his assailant. This invites the question; What would have happened if the murderer did not do the action which caused the death of his victims? The answer is that we do not know for certain. We live and die by Allah's will. Whether a person lives or dies depends on what Allah has predetermined. It may be that he has predetermined that the victim would live forty years if he is shot by his murderer and he would live for sixty years if he is not. Allah's knowledge, however, is perfect and absolute. He knows before He even creates us what we will do at every moment in time. He does not wait for a man to fire his gun in order to determine that the shot will hit someone and he will die. He knows that before hand. His knowledge, however, is not a dictate. If it was, He would not have held us responsible for what we do. This is in line with the Hadith "The Prophet says: 'He who likes to be granted increase in his income and his life to be prolonged, should maintain good relationship with his kinsfolk." (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and Abu Dawood). How does kindness to one's relatives prolong one's life? It is an increase in what the Angel of Death is informed. Allah may tell him that the life of a particular person is sixty if he severs his relations with his kinsfolk. If he is kind to them, his life will be increased to seventy. Allah knows before hand what this person will do with his kinsfolk. Hence, the increase is real as far as we and the Angel of Death are concerned. The extra ten years in that person's life are dependent on what he does with his relatives. As far as Allah's knowledge is concerned, there is nothing that can be added to it. He knows whether the person will be kind to his relatives, and He knows how long he will live, even before he is born. The case of suicide is the same. If a person shoots himself in his head or his heart, he dies. He is punishable for his action. If he does not hold the gun at his head and fire that shot, he would not die by that bullet. Perhaps he would have died at the same time by some other cause, but it would not be his own doing. It is for this reason that Allah says in a Qudsi Hadith; "My servant has affronted me by taking his own life and I therefore, have banned him from entering heaven." There can be no greater punishment than that. Allah would not have meted out that punishment to anyone unless it is commensurate with the crime. Here the crime is the fact that a person, exercising his freedom of choice, consciously takes steps to end his life. It does not matter whether his life would have ended any way at that particular moment. The fact that he holds a gun to shoot himself or jumps from a very high building, or ties a heavy weight to his legs and jumps into the sea or stabs himself with a sharp weapon is a great crime against Allah's right to give and end life. The Prophet (Pbuh) tells us that a person who kills himself will remain in hell for ever, doing the same act by which he ended his life. Would you imagine that Allah's absolute justice would have required such punishment if that person was only executing Allah's will by killing himself? Usual arguments are based on the technicality of the timing of death, and that the person who killed himself would have died anyway and at that particular moment even if he did not lift a finger to kill himself. That may be true, but it is his action which caused his death. That is Allah's predetermined law. He, however, has taken the step which caused his death and he is, therefore, held responsible for that action which is known in human language as "suicide".[/quote]
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