Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

The word qatl al-nafs means self-murder, denoting suicide in classical Islamic literature. Another word intihar means cutting of the throat is common in modern Arabic speech. There is only one phrase in the Koran relevant to the subject of suicide: "O you who believe! Do not devour your wealth in the wrong way, rather only through trade mutually agreed to, and do not kill yourselves" (4:29). The phrase wa-la taqtulu anfusakum (do not kill yourselves) coincides with the Arabic term for suicide (qatl an-nafs).

The prophetic tradition frequently, clearly and absolutely prohibits suicide. He said, "Whosoever shall kill himself shall suffer in the fire of hell" (Bukhari, 8:984) and "shall be excluded from heaven for ever" (Ibid., 8:182). It is also related that the Prophet refused the funeral rites to a suicide (Abu Daud, 2:98), and also told the people not to pray over a man who had killed himself by cutting his throat with a sharp blade.

Suicides by reason of financial failure, loss of honour or of loved one and the civil and domestic disputes occur daily in the world. It is committed by firing, drowning into the water or poisoning oneself