fatwa-is it permissible for a woman who fears that she will be raped commit suicide?

[cat eyes]

:sl:we had a debate here long ago about this subject where few members had given incorrect advice on the subject. the scholar has actually pointed out that theres no two different opinions on this. theres only one opinion

See below



Is it permissible for a woman who fears that she will be raped or one who has been raped to kill herself?
My Muslim friend and I found ourselves in a situation in which we feared for our honour and our lives. I have never been so afraid in my life as I was on that day. I kept reciting Aayat al-Kursiy and praise be to Allah nothing happened. When someone heard what had happened, he said: It is permissible in cases of extreme necessity to commit suicide. If a girl is afraid that she will be raped, the girl should kill herself rather than lose her honour and the honour of her husband and family.
Is suicide in this situation permissible?
I hope that you can tell me what the scholars’ opinion is on that.

Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:

We praise Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, for saving you both from that terrible experience and protecting your honour and your lives. You have to give thanks to Allah your Lord and adhere to obedience to Him, for Allah has honoured you with a great blessing.

Secondly:

Suicide -- which means killing oneself -- is a major sin and it is not permissible for anyone to do it, no matter how difficult the circumstances of the one who wants to commit suicide get and no matter how bad his situation is. The hadeeth is general in application, and it is not permissible to make exceptions to it without a text from the infallible Revelation.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (S) said: “Whoever throws himself down from a mountain and kills himself will be throwing himself down in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever. Whoever drinks poison and kills himself will be sipping it in the in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever. Whoever kills himself with a piece of iron will have that iron in his hand, thrusting it into his belly in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5442) and Muslim (109).

Thirdly:

The woman who is threatened with rape must defend herself from that sinful action, even if it leads to killing that evildoer and criminal.

It must also be understood that if Allah, may He be exalted, decreed that she should fall victim to rape, she is not a zaaniyah (fornicator or adulterer) and the hadd punishment for zina should not be carried out on her. There is no difference of opinion concerning this among the scholars as far as we know.

Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

There is no difference of opinion as far as I know among the scholars of the earlier and later generations concerning the fact that the woman who is forced into zina is not to be subjected to the hadd punishment, if it is true that she was forced and raped.

The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah has pardoned for my ummah mistakes, forgetfulness and what they are forced to do.”

Al-Istidhkaar, 7/551

See also the answer to question number 4017.

Fourthly:

With regard to a woman killing herself because of rape, there are two scenarios:

(i)

where she kills herself before she is raped because she thinks it is most likely that this will happen to her;

(ii)

where she kills herself after being raped, for fear of shame that will befall her or her husband or her family, or all of them.

In both cases it is not permissible for the woman to kill herself, and that is not a legitimate excuse for killing oneself. Rather she has to defend herself with whatever strength she has in the first case and then accept with patience whatever Allah decrees and seek reward for her calamity with her Lord. In the second case, she is not a sinner and is not to be blamed for what has happened to her; rather she has been wronged. But if she kills herself, she will be wronging herself and committing a grave sin.

It says in Fataawa Dar al-Ifta’ al-Masriyyah (2/277):

It is not permissible for her to kill herself in order to escape being forced into zina, because killing herself is an abhorrent crime and Allah does not accept the one who does it and is not pleased with him. In that case she would be no less sinful than one who kills a soul that Allah has forbidden anyone to kill unlawfully. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And do not kill yourselves (nor kill one another). Surely, Allaah is Most Merciful to you”

[al-Nisa’ 4:29].

And the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, as was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): “Whoever kills himself with a piece of iron will have that iron in his hand, thrusting it into his belly in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever. Whoever drinks poison and kills himself will have his poison in his hand, sipping it in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever. Whoever throws himself down from a mountain and kills himself will be throwing himself down in the Fire of Hell for ever and ever.” And it was narrated from Jaabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man killed himself with a broad arrow head and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not offer the funeral prayer for him. Narrated by the group except al-Bukhaari.

End quote.

This is what was stated by Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) in his fatwa. He was asked:

If a Muslim woman is attacked and the aggressors want to commit immoral actions with her, can she kill herself if she is afraid of that?

He replied:

That is not permissible.

Silsilat al-Huda wa’l-Noor, tape no. 451

And Allah knows best.


Islam Q&A

[Masuma]

^ so long! :(

And I think that it is totally haram!

Never give up hope in Allah! Allah can turn the things over in less than a nanosecond! :cry:

[cat eyes]

Of course rape is an awful thing and ive heard women of going through horror practically the rest of there life trying to get over such a thing. we know Allah is all merciful but we should avoid hell by not killing ourselves inshallah and show Allah that we have firm imaan and strenght in stead to fight our attacker.

[cat eyes]

^ so long! :(

And I think that it is totally haram!

Never give up hope in Allah! Allah can turn the things over in less than a nanosecond! :cry:

true sis Allah is our protector

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[Rhubarb Tart]

I knew it knew it knew it!!! I had it right! Why does anyone need a scholar to tell me this? Life is a test and hardship is part of that test...

:)

[CosmicPathos]

Its like saying someone who fears failing a university exam for the first time in history of his family asking that can he commit suicide because failing an exam would bring dishonor to his famous intellectual family.

Of course getting raped is much more serious than failing a university exam, but it varies from one person to another on what their definition is regarding "dishonor." Suicide is reprehensible. Allah swt has not even permitted suicide to a person lying on his death bed who is oozing rotten material from his intestines and vomit from his mouth and there is no hope for his cure and when painful and agonizing death is 100% guaranteed and is indeed imminent, how could a person say that suicide is allowed to her just because of a fear of a "possible future rape."

[Rhubarb Tart]

Its like saying someone who fears failing a university exam for the first time in history of his family asking that can he commit suicide because failing an exam would bring dishonor to his famous intellectual family.

Of course getting raped is much more serious than failing a university exam, but it varies from one person to another on what their definition is regarding "dishonor." Suicide is reprehensible. Allah swt has not even permitted suicide to a person lying on his death bed who is oozing rotten material from his intestines and vomit from his mouth and there is no hope for his cure and when painful and agonizing death is 100% guaranteed and is indeed imminent, how could a person say that suicide is allowed to her just because of a fear of a "possible future rape."

Hey, common sense right?

Take a look at this thread: http://www.islamicboard.com/miscella...self-rape.html

Why Sister Cat created the topic.

[Woodrow]

Common Sense should prevail. The question is a no brainer. Suicide is not justified, it is not an option we have. If this was worded "Should a man commit suicide to keep from being murdered?" it would be almost a laughable question.

[titus]

This question reminds me of the Roman story of the rape of Lucretia. The Romans looked upon her as a hero for killing herself after being raped, yet I always thought it showed a weakness of character.

[cat eyes]

people are just looking for any old excuse to find an easy way out as usual.. surprisingly there is a lot of muslims who believe suicide is allowed in this case. there is a lot of corrupted fatwas out there.

ive come across many.

[Predator]

people are just looking for any old excuse to find an easy way out as usual.. .

Speaking of people find old excuse to find an wasy way out , i came across this news today where a woman become man to prevent forced marriage saying It is better to become a man to get rid of sufferrings met by women.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...ow/6127711.cms

This is haram as well as the The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has invoked the curse of Allah, the Almighty, upon "a male who imitates a female or vice versa." This Hadith is about the matters of dress and fashion, but it also explains the importance of gender in Islam. So, if an imitation in outward appearance is counted as a sin, then by Qiyas (analogy), a total change in gender will be even more sinful act .
Every Muslim has to be content with what Allah has decreed for him/her, for He has placed him in a suitable position. He/she does not know what is good for him/her; (being a male) perhaps if he was created female, that would not be good for him, or (being a female) if she was created male, that would be bad for her.

[Rhubarb Tart]

Speaking of people find old excuse to find an wasy way out , i came across this news today where a woman become man to prevent forced marriage saying It is better to become a man to get rid of sufferrings met by women.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...ow/6127711.cms

This is haram as well as the The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has invoked the curse of Allah, the Almighty, upon "a male who imitates a female or vice versa." This Hadith is about the matters of dress and fashion, but it also explains the importance of gender in Islam. So, if an imitation in outward appearance is counted as a sin, then by Qiyas (analogy), a total change in gender will be even more sinful act .
Every Muslim has to be content with what Allah has decreed for him/her, for He has placed him in a suitable position. He/she does not know what is good for him/her; (being a male) perhaps if he was created female, that would not be good for him, or (being a female) if she was created male, that would be bad for her.

What does Islam say about those born as both. And they are people born as both gender. I was just wondering are they allowed to change themselve to one sex?

[cat eyes]

Speaking of people find old excuse to find an wasy way out , i came across this news today where a woman become man to prevent forced marriage saying It is better to become a man to get rid of sufferrings met by women.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/C...ow/6127711.cms

This is haram as well as the The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has invoked the curse of Allah, the Almighty, upon "a male who imitates a female or vice versa." This Hadith is about the matters of dress and fashion, but it also explains the importance of gender in Islam. So, if an imitation in outward appearance is counted as a sin, then by Qiyas (analogy), a total change in gender will be even more sinful act .
Every Muslim has to be content with what Allah has decreed for him/her, for He has placed him in a suitable position. He/she does not know what is good for him/her; (being a male) perhaps if he was created female, that would not be good for him, or (being a female) if she was created male, that would be bad for her.

+o( what the hell is the world coming to, i want to puke. she never heard of a womans refuge before :heated:

Thats such an excuse. she is going to regret it later when that girl friend of hers gets bored and wants a real man

[Predator]

What does Islam say about those born as both. And they are people born as both gender. I was just wondering are they allowed to change themselve to one sex?

A person who has both genders potential in body, so a medical treatment can be sought to unify one gender. In this case it will be a correction, and not a change in the creation of Allah, the Almighty.

http://www.zawaj.com/articles/sex_change_ruling.html

[tigerkhan]

ASM
a girl raped !!!!! its very diificult for me to hear and bear such thing. i am 100000% of this opinion if a girl should find such situation.......kill all the world to safe herself... those with such evil intentions should not leave to live on this earth and would be killed like a dog.