Suicide Bombing in Islam

There are many hadith narrations and Qur'anic verses forbidding suicide, however, there are also some hadith (and one Qur'anic verse related to one of them) which indicate that killing oneself is allowed under certain circumstances. Just like Muslims are forbidden from eating pork, they are allowed to eat it in “certain circumstances”.

The lady who killed herself and went to heaven

The narrators of the chain [of Imam Ahmad's version] are reliable, apart from Abu `Umar al-Dareer (though al-Dhahabi and Abu Hatim al-Razi considered him "truthful", and Ibn Hibban considered "reliable"). A similar hadith is mentioned on IslamQA, fatwa no. 39678 (where it is graded as authentic).

According to Ibn Kathir (and other Mufassirun/Qur'an commentators), as well as Yusuf al-Uyayri, who published a fatwa which used this hadith to justify suicide bombing, Quran 85:11 below is about the incident:

It states that the lady went to gardens beneath which rivers flow (i.e heaven).

Ibn Kathir said about it:

Observations

This hadith indicates that killing yourself is allowed in Islam in certain circumstances.The lady killed herself, which benefited Islam, because many people converted to Islam after being amazed by her actions. Hence, many scholars conclude, killing yourself is ok when it is going to “benefit” Islam, like in this incident.

"The lady was going to be killed anyway"

The Pharaoh did not pass any definite death sentences, in fact it is possible to say the Pharaoh did not want to kill the lady. Ibn Kathir mentions a hadith in his tafsir that the king/pharaoh said about the lady and her people:

So the lady could have saved the life by “pretending” to renounce Islam, which is encouraged in Islam in situations like these (see Qur'an 16:106).

IslamQA also mentions:

At that point the lady could have also saved her life by lying and denying she is Muslim (Quran 16:106). But she chose to die instead.

"Hadith is referring to the pre-Islamic era"

This argument states that the hadith is pre-Islamic and that Islam abrogated all pre-Islamic religions. So, it is argued, these hadith can not be used to make rulings.

Many verses in the Quran, however, relate to the pre-Islamic era, a famous one for example is “On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if anyone killed a person - unless it for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew all mankind “ [Qur'an 5:32]. “Mischief” is understood to mean disbelief, according to Muhammad, his companions and the famous Muffasirun (like Ibn Kathir and al-Suyuti). This verse is related to the time of Adam and Eve, when Cain killed his brother Abel, so Allah sent down this verse. Many other verses and hadith refer to stories of past times and are nonetheless used to derive rulings, especially when clear evidence to the contrary is absent.

For further information of above verse, see: If Anyone Slew a Person

Muhammad also praised the lady that killed herself in the incident by calling it a “beautiful/pleasant fragrance”, without pointing out that such an act would in his Sharia be prohibited, which is something he could have done and did do in other cases. For instance, while Yusuf (Jospeh) has his brothers and parents prostrate to him in the Qur'an, Muhammad is reported to have explicitly stated that such a practice (prostrating to humans or even prophets) would no longer be permissible in his (Muhammad's) time.

"The lady could not renounce Islam, it wasn’t allowed then"

Some apologists have argued that if the lady renounced her faith, she would go to hell. Because pretending to renounce your faith was not allowed then, and they mention the hadith below:

The person who quoted the above hadith did not quote the full hadith in full, which is:

This hadith is indicating how firm the people of the past were in their belief if Allah. There is no mention that the people of the ditch were disallowed to renounce Islam.

Rewards based on intentions, and the boy who contributed to his own killing

Observations

The first hadith indicates that Muslims will be rewarded based on their intentions, including the intentions of an act they carry out, rather than just the act itself. Hence a suicide bomber who blows himself up because of what is considered a good reason in Islam (e.g. to kill enemies of Islam), then according to a straightforward reading of this hadith, he will be rewarded for that as that was his intention first and foremost.

In the third hadith, we see that Allah was miraculously protecting the boy from being killed, hence it was impossible to kill him. But the boy told the King the one special way that he would be killed, a way in which Allah would not protect him. Hence he contributed to his own killing. This is considered suicide in the context, because the boy killed himself by telling the king how to kill him, otherwise it was impossible for the King to kill him as Allah was protecting the boy. We see that the intention of the boy was to get himself killed for the benefit of Islam, as after he died the people supposedly converted to Islam, as with the above story of the maidservant of the Pharaoh's family

Ibn Taymiyyah said about the incident:

"The boy didn't kill himself"

Some apologists claim that the boy didn’t kill himself, though this appears to be difficult to maintain. Surely a suicide bomber who presses a trigger doesn't die by their own hands, but rather dies of the shrapnel or energy they cause to be emitted, though this is still deemed suicide (the same may be said of jumping off of tall structures - where the ground and gravity are responsible - and hanging oneself - where the fault lies with the rope).

In this context, the boy gave the king information about the only possible way to kill him (all other ways the king tried would not work as Allah would protect the boy). The information he gave is equivalent to that if a suicide bomber presses the button to blow himself up, or places a phone call which triggers a bomb. For when the boy told the king how to kill him, he was guaranteed to die, the boy even said “You cannot kill me until you do what I ask you to do”. So he very well knew that the information he gave was guaranteed to get him killed. Just like if bomber presses the button its guaranteed to kill him.

Muslims will not be punished for mistaken interpretation

Observations

If killing oneself is categorically forbidden in Islam, the suicide bombers who carry out the act clearly don’t believe or think that. Hence, it appears, if suicide bombing was actually forbidden, according to this report, the Muslim who carried out the act would not be punished because he made a mistake/judgmental error, and Allah will “overlook” this type of mistake.

Further Evidence

• There was a story about a man who rushed into the enemy by himself and got killed. Some people with a companion while this hadith was being narrated connected this story with the Quran verse “make not your own hands contribute to your destruction“ Quran 2:195,. The companion corrected them stating that what the verse means by destruction is “abandoning Jihad” and that "the destruction refers to staying with our families and estates and abandoning Jihad." and not killing oneself for the sake of battle.

• Sahih Bukhari 9:87:111 says Muhammad intended to kill himself by jumping off a mountain

• According to Sahih Muslim 20:4631 Muhammad said “I love that I should be killed in the way of Allah; then I should be brought back to life and be killed again in His way..."

• A man asks Muhammad "which of men is the best?" Muhammad replies that it is the man who is always ready for battle and flies into it "seeking death at places where it can be expected." Sahih Muslim 20:4655

• Muhammad said: “Surely, the gates of Paradise are under the shadows of the swords." After hearing that martyrdom leads to paradise, a young man pulls his sword and breaks the sheath (indicating that he has no intention of returning) then flings himself into battle until he is killed. Sahih Muslim 20:4681

• Qur'an 9:111 says that believers are those who “kill and are killed”
  Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and kill and are killed
  

  Quran 9:111

• Khalid ibn Walid (a companion of Muhammad) said:
  Submit to Islam and be safe. Or agree to the payment of the Jizya, and you and your people will be under our protection, else you will have only yourself to blame for the consequences, for I bring the men who desire death as ardently as you desire life.^[1]
  

  Tabari and History of the World, Volume IV Book XII, p.463

• Abu Bakr as Siddiqi (a companion of Muhammad) said:
  You [Khosru and his people] should convert to Islam, and then you will be safe, for if you don't, you should know that I have come to you with an army of men that love death, as you love life.^[2]
  

  Tabari

While some are against it, many leading scholars such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi and influential apologists Zakir Naik^[3] maintain that suicide bombing is permitted in Islam.

Below is a fatwa issued by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, discussing the reasons why it is permissible for women to participate in "Martyr Operations" (e.g. suicide bombings).

Here is another excerpt taken from a longer fatwa (15 pages in length) by Muslim scholar Sheikh al-Uyayri, explaining in depth why suicide bombings and killing of civilians (including Muslims) via the use of them as "human shields" is permissible in Islam.

Shaykh Gibril Haddad of SunniPath.com and LivingIslam.com said about the hadith of the man who rushed into the enemy by himself seeking death (an act that was praised), regarding “Suicide Warfare”