Brief Comments on Riyaadh al-Saaliheen #55

On suicide bombing

بـسـم الله والحـمـد لله والـصلاة والـسـلام عــلى رسـول الله، وبـعـد

[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen (1/221-223) of Shaikh al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله]

The Shaikh رحمه الله said:

It is allowed for a person to expose himself to danger if there is public interest for the Muslims (as a whole). This young boy indicated to the king on the way he could be killed and that was to take an arrow from his quiver and place it in the bow and say: “In the name of Allaah, the Lord of this young boy.” [1]

Shaikh al-Islaam, Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله, said: “This is because it is Jihaad in the way of Allaah. A whole nation believed, while he did not lose a thing; because he died, and sooner or later everyone is going to die.”

But as for what some of the people do by committing suicide, by carrying the explosives in the midst of the Kuffaar and then detonating it. This is the killing of the self (suicide), and Allaah’s refuge is sought.

And whosoever kills himself will keep on hitting himself in the Hellfire, as has been mentioned in the Hadeeth. [2]

Moreover, this suicide is not in the best interest of Islaam, because if he kills himself and kills along with him 10 or 100 or 200 people, Islaam does not benefit from that, nor does (this action make) the people to accept Islaam, in contrast to the incident of the young boy where a lot of people accepted Islaam. Everyone who was present in that plain had accepted Islaam. But as for killing 10 or 20 or 100 or 200 enemies, by this it is not intended to make the people accept Islaam, rather this action will make the enemies more adamant and entice them to attack and kill the Muslims even more severely, as what the Jews have been doing with the Palestinians. When anyone of the Palestinians kills himself with this explosives and kills along with him 6 or 7, they retaliate by killing 60 or more people. So this does not benefit the Muslims, neither is there any benefit for those who kill themselves with such explosives amongst their (the kuffaar's) ranks.

That is why what you see some of these people doing is (nothing more than) suicide, and we see it as killing a soul without right, and it will the reason for his entering the Fire, and Allaah’s refuge is sought, and the one who does this will not be considered as martyr. But if anyone does this, interpreting it, thinking that it is allowed, we only hope that he will not be held sinful. But as for affirming martyrdom for him, then no, because he did not follow the way for martyrdom; but he might be delivered from the sin because it was an interpretation. And the one who does “Ijtihaad” and was wrong will (still) get a reward.

*******

[1] The complete narration is as follows:

Suhaib رضي الله عنه reported that Allaah's Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “There lived a king before you and he had a (court) magician. As he (the magician) grew old, he said to the king: I have grown old, send some young boy to me so that I should teach him magic. He (the king) sent to him a young boy so that he should train him (in magic). And on his way (to the magician) he (the young boy) found a monk sitting there. He (the young boy) listened to his (the monk's) talk and was impressed by it. It became his habit that on his way to the magician he met the monk and sat there and he came to the magician (late). He (the magician) beat him because of delay. He made a complaint of that to the monk and he said to him: When you feel afraid of the magician, say: Members of my family had detained me. And when you feel afraid of your family you should say: The magician had detained me. It so happened that there came a huge beast (of prey) and it blocked the way of the people, and he (the young boy) said: I will come to know today whether the magician is superior or the monk is superior. He picked up a stone and said: O Allaah, if the affair of the monk is dearer to You than the affair of the magician, cause death to this animal so that the people should be able to move about freely. He threw that stone towards it and killed it and the people began to move about (on the path freely).He (the young boy) then came to that monk and informed him and the monk said: son, today you are superior to me. Your affair has come to a stage where I find that you would be soon put to a trial, and in case you are put to a trial don't give my clue. That young boy began to treat the blind and those suffering from leprosy and he in fact began to cure people from (all kinds) of illness. When a companion of the king who had gone blind heard about him, he came to him with numerous gifts and said: If you cure me all these things collected together here would be yours. Be said: I myself do not cure anyone. It is Allaah Who cures and if you affirm faith in Allaah, I shall also supplicate Allaah to cure you. He affirmed his faith in Allaah and Allaah cured him and he came to the king and sat by his side as he used to sit before. The king said to him: Who restored your eyesight? He said: My Lord. Thereupon he said: It means that your Lord is One besides me. He said: My Lord and your Lord is Allaah, so he (the king) took hold of him and tormented him till he gave a clue of that boy. The young boy was thus summoned and the king said to him: O boy, it has been conveyed to me that you have become so much proficient in your magic that you cure the blind and those suffering from leprosy and you do such and such things. Thereupon he said: I do not cure anyone; it is Allaah Who cures, and he (the king) took hold of him and began to torment him. So he gave a clue of the monk. The monk was thus summoned and it was said to him: You should turn back from your religion. He, however, refused to do so. He (ordered) for a saw to be brought (and when it was done) he (the king) placed it in the middle of his head and tore it into parts till a part fell down. Then the courtier of the king was brought and it was said to him: Turn back from your religion. Arid he refused to do so, and the saw was placed in the midst of his head and it was torn till a part fell down. Then that young boy was brought and it was said to him: Turn back from your religion. He refused to do so and he was handed over to a group of his courtiers. And he 'said to them: Take him to such and such mountain; make him climb up that mountain and when you reach its top (ask him to renounce his faith) but if he refuses to do so, then throw him (down the mountain). So they took him and made him climb up the mountain and he said: O Allaah, save me from them (in any way) You like and the mountain began to quake and they all fell down and that person came walking to the king. The king said to him: What has happened to your companions? He said: Allaah has saved me from them. He again handed him to some of his courtiers and said: Take him and carry him in a small boat and when you reach the middle of the ocean (ask him to renounce) his religion, but if he does not renounce his religion throw him (into the water).So they took him and he said: O Allaah, save me from them and what they want to do. It was quite soon that the boat turned over and they were drowned and he came walking to the king, and the king said to him: What has happened to your companions? He said: Allaah has saved me from them, and he said to the king: You cannot kill me until you do what I ask you to do. And he said: What is that? He said: You should gather people in a plain and hang me by the trunk (of a tree).Then take hold of an arrow from the quiver and say: In the name of Allaah, the Lord of the young boy; then shoot an arrow and if you do that then you would be able to kill me. So he (the king) called the people in an open plain and tied him (the boy) to the trunk of a tree, then he took hold of an arrow from his quiver and then placed the arrow in the bow and then said: In the name of Allaah, the Lord of the young boy; he then shot an arrow and it bit his temple. He (the boy) placed his hands upon the temple where the arrow had bit him and he died and the people said: We affirm our faith in the Lord of this young boy, we affirm our faith in the Lord of this young boy, we affirm our faith in the Lord of this young boy. The courtiers came to the king and it was said to him: Do you see that Allaah has actually done what you aimed at averting. They (the people) have affirmed their faith in the Lord. He (the king) commanded ditches to be dug at important points in the path. When these ditches were dug, and the fire was lit in them it was said (to the people): He who would not turn back from his (boy's) religion would be thrown in the fire or it would be said to them to jump in that. (The people courted death but did not renounce religion) till a woman came with her child and she felt hesitant in jumping into the fire and the child said to her: O mother, endure (this ordeal) for it is the Truth.” [Saheeh Muslim (5331)]

[2] Narrated Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه: The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Whoever purposely throws himself from a mountain and kills himself, will be in the (Hell) Fire falling down into it and abiding therein perpetually forever; and whoever drinks poison and kills himself with it, he will be carrying his poison in his hand and drinking it in the (Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever; and whoever kills himself with an iron weapon, will be carrying that weapon in his hand and stabbing his abdomen with it in the (Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever.” [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree and Saheeh Muslim]