Militants’ Glorification of Suicide Bombings is the Betrayal of Islam

By Iftikhar Hussain Jazib

Allah says in Quran, chapter 4, verse 29: “And do not kill yourselves”, it declares suicide as “haram” in Islam and several Sayings of Holy Prophet (PBUH) have denounced it as a major sin punished by hell fire. The death by Suicide is unlawful in Islam, the rate of incidents of Suicide is very low in Muslim communities, while rest of the world is struggling with this psychiatric problem. In this regard, the glorification of suicide bombings is blatant violation of Islamic teachings, Al-Qaeda, ISIS and TTP are religiously misleading violent ideologies. Al-Dawa, an Iraqi Shia group perpetrated First ever suicide attack involving a Muslim on 15 December, 1981, the target was Iraqi embassy in Lebanon. This attack is also considered the first suicide bombing in the contemporary world. Hezbollah perpetrated suicide attacks in Lebanon, known as 1983 Beirut bombings. Since then, suicide attacks have been a prevalent tactic of terrorism in the different regions of the world.

The psychiatrists suggest that hopeless individuals with complete loss of self-worth commit suicide, likewise, use of suicide bombings is the result of feelings of defeat and desperation among leaders of terrorist outfits. Moreover, some secular resistance movements also conducted suicide attacks and religious motives are not solely liable for violent extremism. As a matter of fact, all the groups that opted suicide attacks were defeated in the wars. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conducted 137 suicide attacks In Sri Lanka. 273 suicide bombers including some women perpetrated these attacks, but LTTE, a secular group was defeated by Sri Lanka in the war. Similarly, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was another secular group to utilise the tactic of suicide attacks in Turkey. It was also defeated in the war. Al-Qaeda is the last terrorist group to exploit the tactic of suicide bombings but its leadership wronged Muslims and Islam by propagating misleading religious ideology to glorify suicide attacks. However, its fate is not different, like all other terrorist movements that opted for suicide bombings, it is also in shambles.

Unfortunately, the first suicide attack in Pakistan took place on 19 November, 1995, Al-Jihad, terrorist group of Dr Ayman Al-Zawahiri, targeted Egyptian embassy in Islamabad. Al-Qaeda started a deadly wave of suicide bombings in Pakistan in 2002, since then, hundreds of suicide attacks had been perpetrated by militant groups inspired by violent extremist ideologies. Al-Qaeda, ISIS, TTP, ISKP and other terrorist outfits have martyred 84 thousand innocent Muslims, women, children, elderly and other vulnerable segments of the society in Pakistan. Ironically, TTP and ISKP propagate false religious justifications of suicide bombings but the victim of these attacks are only Muslims. Moreover, there is a consensus among 4 Sunni jurisprudences, Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi and Hanbali for the last 1400 years of Islamic tradition that suicide is unlawful in Shariah. Hence, terrorist leaders’ promotion of suicide bombings is “Haram” tactics of fear and intimidation for mass murders. Furthermore, the suicide bombings are even the worst form of committing suicide, as the perpetrator would carry the burden of the sins of many Muslims murdered by him in the terrorism.

The glorification of suicide bombings by Al-Qaeda and TTP is betrayal of Islam as Holy Prophet (PBUH) had forbidden a wish for death to protect a Muslim from developing thoughts of suicide. Several Hadiths of Holy Prophet (PBUH) expound that the very method of committing suicide by a man would be his punishment in hell for eternity. Sahih Al-Bukhari, book 71 Hadith 670: narrated Abu Huraira, The Prophet (PBUH) 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.” These sayings prove beyond any doubt that unfortunate suicide bombers will penalise themselves with suicide wests in the hell forever. In Islam, prayer becomes obligation at the age of ten, while fasting reaching the age of puberty whereas, inhuman terrorist leaders have even exploited 9 year old children for terrorist attacks and suicide bombings. Therefore, the deviated leaders of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, TTP and ISKP are indifferent to Islam and its teachings.

The tactic of suicide bombings could not be related with Islam or any other religion as secular militant groups also misused it for terrorism, it is a medical condition of desperation, depression and defeat. Modern medical science treats suicide as a mental ailment in humans and it is finding cure to prevent it. Psychiatrists believe that survival instinct is so strong that humans are intuitive to life threatening situations and they do everything to escape death. On the other hand, complete mess of mind structure lead to suicide attempts. Such behaviour is socially unacceptable, family members, friends and other people tend to help the suicidal person to save his life. Against this backdrop, exploiting a human for suicide bombing could only be a craft of a person with dark psychological mind-set.

Pakistan’s Ulema and Madaris have become very vocal against suicide bombings with a sense of duty towards Islam. Around 6 thousand Muftis have declared terrorism and suicide bombings “Haram” in a unanimous Fatwa, Paigham-e-Pakistan. Recently, COAS General Asim Munir appreciated Islamic scholars for this edict and Ulema also reiterated stance against suicide bombings in a meeting at GHQ Rawalpindi. The youth must consult this edict and they should condemn terrorist leaders and suicide attacks on social media forums in the light of true teachings of Quran-o-Sunnat.

M.Phil international Relations from Quaid-e-Azam University, the writer is a freelance contributor on the issues of violent extremism and militancy. He could be approached on X @radiant_j_007

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The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk News Agency.