Question:
I was recently reading an article regarding a lady who has last stage brain cancer and she has decided to take medications that will help her pass away on her desired day without having to suffer and go through the excruciating pain of the cancer. According to Islam, is it allowed for us Muslims to choose a path to forgo such pain and die before we actually go through it thus dying from it? Will it be considered suicide (which is harām) or is this permissible in such a case?
Answer:
In the Name of God, Most Merciful, Most Kind.
Thank you/ Jazāk Allāh Khayr for contacting Mathābah with your question.
May the Almighty bless one and all with health, relief and comfort.
Self inflicted death is not permissible in Islam even in situations such as what you have described.
A believer must resort to all forms of available treatment and medication when one is afflicted with sickness and injury. After adopting all permissible means to overcome sickness and injury, if the pain still remains, the believer knows very well that there are endless rewards from the Almighty for enduring patiently.
“There is no disease [or illness] that God has created, except that He also has created its treatment [and cure].” – (Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī)
Osāmah bin Sharīk (may God be pleased with him) reports, “Some Bedouins asked, “O Messenger of God (peace and blessings upon him) shall we treat our ill [and sickly]?” He replied, “Yes, O slaves of God! Use remedies [and medication], for indeed God has made a cure for every illness except one impediment.” They asked, “O Messenger of God! What do you refer to?” He replied, “Old age.”” – (Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, Musnad Aḥmad)
The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) said,
“Whenever a believer is stricken with a discomfort, an illness, an anxiety, a grief or mental worry or even the pricking of a thorn God expiates his [or her] sins on account of their patience.” – (Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī)
Life is a sacred blessing from the Almighty and a God given trust. It cannot be taken away by anyone, including oneself, as this will constitute suicide and murder, in Islam, which are both forbidden.
“It is the consensus of religious scholars of every persuasion that deliberately killing oneself is a major sin and severely punishable by God. Killing oneself is tantamount to killing another person. Our lives are not our ownership rather life belongs to God.” – (See: Dār Al-Iftā Al-Miṣriyyah)
“Do not kill yourselves [nor kill one another]. Surely, God is Most Merciful to you.” – (Qurʾān 4:29)
“Whoever commits suicide with a weapon will be punished with the same weapon in the hellfire.” The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) said, “A man was inflicted with wounds and he committed suicide, and so God declared, “My slave has caused death on himself hurriedly, so I forbid Paradise for him.” – (Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī)
“Whoever kills themselves with [an instrument of] iron, they will come on the Day of Judgment with the iron in their hands, to continually stab themselves with it, in hellfire, dwelling in that state eternally. Whoever kills themselves with poison, their poison will be in their hands, to continually take it in the hellfire, dwelling in that state eternally.” – (Tirmidhī)
It is worthy to note that despite the consensus of suicide being unlawful in Islam, there are varying opinions amongst jurists regarding the Muslim who commits suicide whether he or she remains a believer or falls out of the fold of Islam.
And Allāh Knows Best.