Title: Is Suicide not a Grave Sin? Question: According to news reports, many young Muslim suicide bombers believe that they are martyrs and will go to Paradise. My understanding is that suicide is forbidden to Muslims. So where does this idea come from? William G. Madsen Answer: It is correct that Islam forbids taking human life, including one's own life. Under normal circumstances, 'suicide' is a clear indication of one's lack of reliance on God's wisdom, mercy and knowledge. Taking one's life is, under normal circumstances, an act of desperation, where man loses all hope in God and succumbs to the pain and injury that he may have faced. It is because of such reasons that I have written in my earlier response to a related question [1] : Suicide implies lack of trust in God and a lack of faith in His benevolence, mercy, love, wisdom and knowledge. In effect, suicide implies an overall lack of faith in God. When a person commits suicide, he practically declares that he does not believe that God knows about his sufferings, and even if God has knowledge of his sufferings, He does not care enough to relieve him of these sufferings. He practically declares that God has unjustly inflicted pain upon him, which he is not willing to bear. He practically declares that he does not have faith, confidence and trust in the mercy and wisdom of God, as he does not have confidence that God will end his pain in time, and therefore he has to end his sufferings himself (by taking his own life). Thus, in effect, suicide - in most of the cases - is a clear sign of negation of the faith of a person in his Merciful, Omniscient and Wise Creator and is therefore prohibited in Islam. However, there can be circumstances in which a suicidal thought or action may not actually amount to the refutation of one's faith in God. In fact, there can be circumstances where a person decides upon taking his life, as a show of his unshakable trust and faith in God [2] . Such instances, because they do not entail the abhorrence entailed in the normal cases of suicide are seen by some Muslim scholars as not entailing the grave 'sin' entailed in the normal cases of suicide. Keeping the foregoing explanation in perspective, one can see that it is not merely the act of suicide, which renders it a 'sin'. On the contrary, it is, in fact, the spirit entailed in the act, which makes it an extremely condemnable act. As for the psyche of young Muslims, which you have referred to, had such a psyche been developed in the light of the directives of the Qur'an, it could not only have developed positive, but, in fact, commendable qualities among the new generation of the Muslims. However, tragic as it is, the referred Muslim psyche is based on a completely incorrect interpretation of Islam. What makes this psyche condemnable is that it is based on the complete brainwashing of the new generation of the standards of morality justice and 'goodness' and enflaming their emotions of hate. Over years, the Muslims have been instilled with the idea that they are constantly in a state of war, even though their states have not declared such a war, against the western world. This psyche of war has, in turn, implanted the idea that western targets - whether military or civilian - should be treated as battlegrounds. It is primarily because of the propagation of this tragic and completely upside-down picture of the Islamic concept of Jihad, which has ultimately resulted in the idea that such suicide missions - even if they are carried-out against unarmed and unprepared civilians - are a ticket to paradise. Would that they had considered the possibility that they may have to meet God in a state, where rather than being entered into the eternal bliss of paradise as martyrs in the way of God, they are held accountable for the innocent lives that they had taken. Regards, Moiz Amjad September 21, 2001 [1] Reference is to a question titled: ' Regarding Suicide '. [2] As, for instance, while in a state of (declared) war, a person attempts a suicide mission to destroy the enemy's ammunition camp.