Suicide and immortality in hellfire

No doubt, life and death are two antitheses. None can combine between them nor move himself from one stage to another. Some may say that it is true that man can never step from death to life; a truth we all know and none can dispute it, however, man can step from life to death by committing suicide: whether by shooting himself, or simply by throwing himself from a high building or from a mountaintop, or by drowning himself. My answer to the one who claims thus would be: Why confuse between death and killing? Indeed, the one who kills himself is doomed to abide in hellfire forever, why? Because man has not created his self so why destroys it? Allah, praise and glory be to Him, is the One Who created him, so man together with his body, soul, and life belong to Allah. By committing suicide he surely has wasted what he does not own. Whoever kills someone unintentionally, his recompense is to pay the due blood money. On the other hand, he who premeditatedly kills a person not in retaliation of murder or for spreading mischief on earth, certainly his retribution will be hellfire to abide therein forever. Accordingly, the suicide has intentionally killed himself, therefore torment is justified against him. Allah, praise and glory be to Him, wants us to learn that life with respect to man is preceded by death, which means that man will not begin this worldly life unless he has previously experienced its antithesis, which is death, so as to learn that this life will surely end up at what preceded it before its own course has begun. Thereupon, if it were preceded by death, then death would surely succeed it. There is a great difference between life from our own perspective and the real life. From our perspective, life could be play, amusement, mutual boasting and rivalry regarding wealth and children. That can be our conception of worldly life; therefore we pass this life aiming to fulfill our desires. However, Allah, praise and glory be to Him, has not created the world to us for such play and amusement, but The Almighty made it for a purpose which He willed that it should be fulfilled. Recite the Qur’anic verse in which Allah, glory be to Him, says (what means): “We created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them for a (mere) play Had We intended to take a pastime (i.e. a wife or a son, etc.), We could surely have taken it from Us, if We were going to do (that).” (Al-Anbiyâ’, 21:16-17) Allah, be He highly blessed and exalted, has planned a role to be performed by every living being. Such a role is the purpose of life; even more it is the purpose of the entire creation. If you want to discover the role of anything, you should ask its creator or maker why did he create it? Same as when we ask the manufacturer to first assign the purpose of his machine. For example, the washing machine is designed to facilitate the process of washing for any housewife. This machine has its own system. After assigning its role, the manufacturer, started to design the machine, which could achieve such a role. Afterwards, he determined the technique of its operation in addition to its maintenance, in case of damage. So, if we face any problem that causes it not to function properly, we should refer to the instructions found in the catalogue or the manual designed by the manufacturer to know cause of the damage. But if we decided to repair the machine by ourselves regardless of any instructions given by the manufacturer, surely the machine would be damaged instead of being repaired. The point is, when it comes to human industries (i.e., cars, refrigerators…etc.) we follow the instructions given by the manufacturer, however when trying to reform human life we import other destructive systems regardless of the system set by The Creator of mankind, who is the Best Knower of what He has created. We lay aside the Divine Law claiming that we are more capable of reforming our lives than Almighty Allah. Allah, be He highly blessed and exalted, illustrates that meaning to us through the noble Qur’anic verse saying (which means): “And when it is said to them: ‘Make not mischief on the earth,’ they say: ‘We are only peacemakers.’ Verily! They are the ones who make mischief, but they perceive not.” (Al-Baqarah, 2:11-12) In brief, we summarize what we have detailed by saying that Allah, praise and glory be to Him, has created man to be immortal. Every breathing soul since Adam (peace be upon him) till the Day of Resurrection, is given immortality by Allah, either in paradise to enjoy great pleasure and luxury, or in hellfire to be tormented. Man is to remain immortal; none in this world will die without being resurrected, and none will be resurrected without Judgment, and none will receive Judgment without being admitted either into paradise or to be cast into hellfire. Allah, praise and glory be to Him, has made death the first stages of life. We all came to life after death in the immaterial existence, thus moving from death to life; a process that only Allah, praise and glory be to Him, is capable of. He is the sole Creator of life and death, and only Allah has the power to resurrect those who are in the graves. No power in this world, implicit or explicit, individual or collective, can transfer man from death to life, or can stop his journey from life to death. Mankind and all the creatures in the universe are incapable to grant life or inhibit death. Life and death are two antitheses. He, who is in life, surely is not dead and he, who is in death, is surely not alive. Each has his rules and his own world. We have also illustrated that there is death and there is killing, and how each of them differs from the other. Afterwards, we have discussed the purpose of creating this world, and the reason why Allah, praise and glory be to Him, has created it. We asserted the fact that the maker of a thing is the only one who can fulfill the aim of his manufacture. But man believes that he can assign himself a purpose other than the one he has been created for, under the pretext of reforming earth, while he is corrupting it. But why has Allah created worldly life? That is what we shall discuss in detail in the next chapter, if Allah wills.

Chapter five