THERE is a consensus among the four Sunni jurisprudences, Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi, and Hanbali, for the last 1400 years of Islamic tradition of knowledge that suicide is unlawful in Shariah, as Allah says in the Quran, chapter 4, verse 29: “And do not kill yourselves.” In numerous sayings, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) denounced suicide as “haram” in Islam, a major sin punishable by hellfire. Unfortunately, the glorification of suicide bombings by Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Taliban is a blatant violation of Islamic teachings. Terrorist leaders’ promotion of suicide attacks is a “Haram” tactic of fear and intimidation, aimed at mass murder. Many renowned Islamic scholars issued “Fatwas,” authentic religious degrees, to refute these violent extremist ideologies, and around 6 thousand muftis have declared suicide bombings “Haram” in a Fatwa, “Paigham-e-Pakistan”. The consensus Fatwa maintains that suicide is unlawful in Shariah and that suicide bombings in all forms and manifestations are punishable by hellfire. All terrorist leaders who train young suicide bombers and facilitate suicide attacks will go to hell for committing a major sin and criminal offense.
The Unanimous Fatwa Recognized muftis from all Islamic sects, including Ahle-e-Hadith, Barelvi, Deobandi, and Shia, have supported Paigham-e-Pakistan. All Islamic religious seminary federations in the country have also ratified it. Thousands of muftis who have dedicated their lives to Islamic learning and teaching have backed it, with Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani and Mufti Muneebur Rehman playing a principal role in its formation. So far, around 6,000 muftis have endorsed it on a national level. Imam-e-Kaaba in the KSA has approved it, and Jamia Al-Azhar in Egypt has also commended it, indicating the acceptance of Paigham-e-Pakistan’s credibility in the Islamic world. It provides comprehensive guidance on the issues of Jihad, terrorism, suicide bombings, enforcement of Shariah, Takfir, and the rights of non-Muslims in Islamic countries.
Paigham-e-Pakistan Fatwa declares suicide bombings unlawful in Quran-o-Sunnat, as the Holy Prophet (PBUH) had forbidden a wish for death to protect a Muslim from developing thoughts of suicide. Several hadiths of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) expound that a man’s very method of committing suicide will be his punishment in hell for eternity. Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book 71, Hadith 670: Narrated by Abu Huraira, The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Whoever purposely throws himself from a mountain and kills himself, will be in the Hell Fire falling down into it and abiding therein perpetually forever; and whoever drinks poison and kills himself with it, he will be carrying his poison in his hand and drinking it in the hellfire wherein he will abide eternally forever; and whoever kills himself with an iron weapon, will be carrying that weapon in his hand and stabbing his abdomen with it in the hellfire wherein he will abide eternally forever.” These statements prove without a doubt that unfortunate suicide bombers will punish themselves with suicide vests in hell forever.
As death by suicide is unlawful in Islam, the rate of suicide incidents is very low in Muslim communities, while the rest of the world is struggling with this psychiatric problem. Suicide bombings, a medical condition of desperation, depression, and defeat, are not associated with Islam or any other religion, and secular militant groups have also misused this tactic for terrorism. Modern medical science treats suicide as a mental ailment in humans, and it is finding cures to prevent it. Psychiatrists believe that survival instinct is so strong that humans are intuitive to life-threatening situations and do everything to escape death. On the other hand, a complete mess of mental structure leads to suicide attempts. Such behavior is socially unacceptable; family members, friends, and other people tend to help the suicidal person save his life. Against this backdrop, exploiting a human for suicide bombing could only be the work of a person with a dark psychological mindset.
The psychiatrists suggest that hopeless individuals with complete loss of self-worth commit suicide; likewise, the use of suicide bombings is the result of feelings of defeat and desperation among leaders of terrorist outfits. Al-Dawa, an Iraqi Shia group, perpetrated its first ever suicide attack involving a Muslim on December 15, 1981. They targeted the Iraqi embassy in Lebanon. Hezbollah perpetrated suicide attacks in Lebanon, known as the 1983 Beirut bombings. Since then, suicide attacks have been a common terrorism tactic in various parts of the world. Regrettably, Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri’s terrorist group, Al-Jihad, launched the first suicide attack in Pakistan on November 19, 1995, targeting the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad. Since 2002, militant groups inspired by violent extremist ideologies have perpetrated hundreds of suicide attacks in Pakistan, initiated by Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda, ISIS, TTP, ISKP, and other terrorist outfits have martyred 84 thousand innocent Muslims, women, children, the elderly, and other vulnerable segments of society in Pakistan.
Ironically, TTP and ISKP propagate false religious justifications for suicide bombings, but the victims of these attacks are only Muslims. Moreover, suicide attacks are even the worst form of committing suicide, as Islamic scholars have declared in the Paigham-e-Pakistan Fatwa.
—The writer is MPhil international Relations from Quaid-i-Azam University.
