Regardless of the reason, suicide is a major sin

7-3-2012 | IslamWeb

Question:

What is the Sharee'ah ruling on a woman who committed suicide before a criminal could rape her?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

 

Regardless of the circumstances or contributing factors, committing suicide is a major sin that a Muslim is not permitted to commit, no matter what the cause may be. This is because suicide is unlawful aggression towards oneself, causing death, while Allaah The Exalted commands that a Muslim should be safeguarded against all harms and forbids killing. Referring to this, Allaah The Exalted Says (what means): {And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allaah is to you ever Merciful. And whoever does that in aggression and injustice - then We will drive him into a Fire. And that, for Allaah, is [always] easy.} [Quran 4: 29-30]

It was also reported on the authority of Thaabit ibn Adh-Dhahhaak that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, warned against committing suicide, saying that  a person who killed himself using an iron bar, would be tortured in Hell with it. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Therefore, even if the woman committed suicide to safeguard her honor, what she did was a major sin. However, we implore Allaah The Almighty to forgive her and have mercy on her.

Allaah Knows best.