Quranic Strategies to Prevent Suicide
This is, of course, different in Muslim societies.
Studies show that suicide attempts that do not lead to death are 20 times more than those that cause death. So, every year some 0.01 percent of the people die due to suicide and some 0.2 percent of the world population make preparations for committing suicide.
In preventing suicide, three measures are very important:
1- Warning people against such an action
2- Taking care of those who have suicide ideation, giving them hope, showing them kindness and treating their despondency.
3- Giving harsh punishments to those who commit suicide
Quranic Strategies
These are what we also find in the Quran as strategies to prevent suicide. God, the Almighty, has warned against committing suicide and considered severe punishment for those who take such a measure.
God says in verses 29 and 30 of Surah An-Nisa: “Believers, do not consume your wealth among yourselves in falsehood, except there be trading by your mutual agreement. And do not kill yourselves. Allah is the Most Merciful to you. God is All-merciful to you. Whoever commits murder out of animosity and injustice will be burnt in hell fire. This is a very easy thing for God to do.”
These verses mention three stages in preventing suicide. Frist, verse 29 says: “Do not kill yourselves”, thus warning against suicide. Then God says: “Allah is the Most Merciful to you”. This is psychological healing for one who thinks about committing suicide because it removes hopelessness and despondency when one realizes that he has God’s mercy.
Next, God says: “… will be burnt in hell fire”, warning of a very severe and deterrent punishment.
So the Quran warns against suicide and offers proper treatment for it. That is why suicide rates are at their lowest in Muslim countries, being less than 0.01 percent.
Dr Jose Manuel and the researcher Alessandra Fleishman, who have conducted studies about the relationship between religion and preventing suicide, have concluded that suicide rates in Muslim countries are close to zero (less than one in 1000) and the reason is that Islam has banned suicide.
