Islam's philosophy of life and the values that it wants to promote are all based on a particular point of view regarding the life of this world. Islam holds the life of this world as a temporary testing time for humans. For as long as one lives he/she is being tested. The end of this temporary life is not the extinction of man. He shall then open his eyes in another world. That world shall be place of reward and/or punishment for the deeds done in this life. The second life shall not be temporary in nature. The pleasures and pains of the second life shall last forever. In the life of this world, man is being tested with different kinds of situations - good times as well as bad times. The good times that come our way are not necessarily a reward and the hard times that we have to face are not necessarily a punishment. These are all primarily a part of the test. The Qur'an says:

We test you with good and bad, to judge you. Finally, you shall all be returned to Us. (Al-Anbiaa 21: 35)

For all the blessings that one enjoys in the life of this world, he is expected to be grateful to his Creator and to rejoice and proclaim His beneficence and providence. While during all the hard times that come his way, he is expected to be remain steadfast in His obedience, never losing faith in His wisdom and mercy.

The beginning (i.e. the birth) and the end (i.e. the death) of this test for an individual is controlled by the Almighty Himself. He gives life and death to an individual according to His own absolute knowledge and wisdom.

Keeping the above explanation in mind, it should be easy to understand that Islam holds suicide to be haraam (i.e. prohibited). 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. Above all the act of sucide bombing is not an act of bravery but an act of illiteracy and stupidity.

Regards,

I certainly agree with you, but those who justify it do so by stating that they are defending the faith and dying as any soldier may die do the same. Bin Laden, and some other militants, have also used the excuse that, in a democracy, all men and women are the government and the military, thus they may be targeted.

As with any religious text, one can pick and choose out of the Qu'ran that which one wants to use to justify darn near any position.

Shalom,
Vern

Brother for further knowledge about Islam Terrorism and Jihad i would love to refer my all Non-Muslim Brothers and sister as well as Muslims to this Book Written by Dr. Zakir Naik
Read and remove your all misconceptions
http://www.irf.net/islamandterrorism.zip

Thank you brother Israr and welcome to this forum. No doubt, Dr.Zakir is like a candle in the darkness of ignorance and isolation.

You know that at every period of the world history there comes a time when people suffer from misunderstanding and lack of knowledge just as the Quraish(the inhabitants of Makkah) suffered from misunderstanding and lack of knowledge about the Abrahamic Tradition and thought that what ever religious practices they were doing were true part of Abrahamic Tradition because there forefathers and ansastors were doing the same but when Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) came as the last and the final Messenger of God, he not only struggled against the oppression and persecutions at the hands of Quraishis but became an ever lasting light of guidance that not only served the ignorance and injustice of Arabian Penniensula 1400 years ago but will continue to serve till the Day of Judgment.

I am not comparing Dr.Zakir with Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) but what i have seen is that he is the most knowledgable and rational Scholar ever produced by this world.

Thanks