Darul Uloom Trinidad & Tobago

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Mufti Saab,

Can we, as Muslims, perform Janaza Salah for one who has committed suicide?

Wa Alaikum Assalaam,

الجواب و بالله التوفيق

Committing Suicide is a very grave sin in Islam, and it is totally haram for one to do this. It is narrated in a hadith of Sahih Muslim, ‘that a person who committed suicide was brought in front of the Prophet (S.A.S) to perform the Janaza Salah, but the Prophet (S.A.S) refused to do so. The Prophet (S.A.S) however, did not stop the Sahabahs from performing the Janaza.’

Based on this, most Fuqaha (Jurists) and Scholars have stated that the Janaza of such a person will be performed. The Prophet (S.A.S) did not perform the Janaza for this person in order to show disgust for such actions. This is similar to the occasion when he refused to perform Janaza Salah for one who died, and was indebted to others and did not leave anything to pay off the debts.

The belief of the Ahl Sunnah Wal Jamaah is that one who commits a major sin in not an unbeliever. He remains a believer. Hence, a Muslim who commits suicide is still a Muslim and his Janaza will be performed.

The great Scholar, Tahir Bin Abdur Rasheed Al Bukhari writes in his famous compendium of Islamic formal verdicts, Khulasatul Fatawa, ‘ And as for one who commits suicide, he shall be given a bath and Salah (Janaza) will be performed upon him according to Imams Abu Hanifa and Muhammad (A.R). The great Jurist Shamsul A’imma Al Hulwa’i used to given fatawa on this (Khulasatul Fatawa – 25^th Chapter on Janaza). The same has been mentioned in Fatawa Hindiya, with the additional statement, ‘And this is more sound (correct).’ (Fatwa Hindiya Chapter 5 –  Salah upon the deceased – Fatawa Haqqaniya Vol.3, Pg.439, Jamia Darul Uloom Haqqaniya, Akora Khatak, Nawshera, Pakistan, 2002; Kitabul Fatawa, Vol.3, Pg.183, Zam Zam Publishers, Karachi, 2008.).

And Allah Knows Best.

Mufti Waseem Khan.

9/11/15.