MULTICULTURAL AND MULTIFAITH PERSPECTIVE ON SUICIDES: SUICIDE AND ISLAM

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MULTICULTURAL AND MULTIFAITH PERSPECTIVE ON
SUICIDESSUICIDE AND ISLAM

• Dr Mahmood Chandia
• Senior Lecturer, Programme Leader
• Islamic Studies

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Explanatory models for low rates of suicide in
adherents of Islam

• Concept of Suicide within Islamic Thought
• Context
• Epistemology (Sacred Word Sacred Tradition
  Legal Thought Analysis)
• Concept of Life within Islamic Thought
• Conclusion

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Suicide and Islam The Context

• The theme of suicide is conventionally expressed
  via two distinct phraseologies in classical
  Islamic literature. These can be located either
  within the sacred texts or within legal thought
  manuals. The two phraseologies are qatl-al-nafs
  (lit. self-murder) and intihar (lit. cutting of
  the throat). (Quran, 429 Ibn Kathir, 1987
  Esposito, 2005)

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Epistemology Sacred Word

• The Quran and exegetical commentaries are free of
  explicit thematic reference to suicide.
• The Quran does contain verses where the construct
  term qatl-nafs appears.
• In such verses, the context of the verses
  determines, in both classical and modern
  understandings that they do not refer to the act
  of suicide. (Ibn Kathir, 1987 Ali, 1989)

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Epistemology Sacred Tradition

• The collections of Prophetic traditions
  explicitly and in unequivocal terms not only
  proscribe suicide but condemn the perpetrator of
  such an act to eternal retribution in the form of
  incessant repetitions of the act and the anguish
  of the mode of suicide.
• In fact, the Prophetic traditions not only
  prohibit suicide but also explicitly deter from
  wishing for death. (Muslim, Iman)

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Epistemology Legal Thought

• The theme of suicide is barely referred to within
  legal manuals. Its discussion is either
  restricted to extractive rulings on personal or
  social law e.g. funeral prayers or periphery
  mention under inheritance and marriage.
  (Hamilton, 1989)

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Epistemology Analysis

• The low rate of suicide in Muslim communities can
  perhaps best be understood with an understanding
  of the concept of life in Islam within the same
  matrix of the epistemology of Islamic Thought
  (i.e. Quran, Prophetic Traditions and Legal
  thought).

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Low rate of suicide in Muslim communities
conclusion

• This is perhaps best understood with an
  understanding of the concept of life in Islam
  within the matrix of the epistemology of Islamic
  Thought.
• Quran does emphasises the sanctity of life and
  provides instructive guidance on the value of
  life and fulfilling the human role in this world
  whilst maintaining stability, patience and
  steadfastness in all circumstances. (Q. 1733
  Ali, 1989)

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Conclusion

• The concept of suicide in Islam is closely
  intertwined with the concept of life in Islam.
  And, of course, Islamic Thought establishes that
  it is the Creator who has absolute power over
  human life and concerns. Violating this
  understanding entails not only committing a sin
  but also eternal damnation.

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Conclusion

• The collective understanding from scripture and
  legal thought asserts that the idea of suicide in
  Islam is extremely condemnable whilst
  preservation of life is virtuously commendable.
• Adherence to the normative structures of
  collectivism i.e. collective goals, non-egoistic
  behaviour, familial society, cohesive
  communities, etc. The latter is an important
  aspect of the evaluation of low suicide rates.
  (Durkheim, 1972)

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• Thank You

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Bibliography

• Ali, A. Y, (1989) The Holy Quran Text,
  Translation and Meaning, Maryland, U.S.A. pp.
  193-194.
• Durkheim, E. (1972) Selected Writings, Cambridge
  University Press, pp. 108-115
• Esposito, J.L. (2005) Islam The Straight Path,
  O.U.P., Oxford, pp.256-258.
• Hamilton, C., (1989) The Hedaya Commentary on
  the Islamic Laws, Karachi, pp.71-184.