Surety of Belief

Verily the Believers are those who believe in Allaah and His Messenger without harbouring any doubt and they strive with their wealth and persons in Allaah’s path. These are the truthful. (Soorah al Hujuraat 49:15) The second condition for true Eemaan mentioned in the verse is absence of doubt. The belief in Allaah and His Apostle has to be firm and unshakeable for it to benefit one who claims to possess it in this life and in the next.

Elsewhere in the Qur’aan Allaah has warned the Muslims in severe terms against unstable and wavering Eemaan, saying,

 “Verily, those who believe then disbelieve, believe again and then disbelieve and then increase in disbelief will not be forgiven by Allaah nor will he guide them to the path.” (Soorah an-Nisaa 4:137)

There is no valid reason for leaving Islaam after entering, except if one entered for reasons other than belief in its principles, for Allaah has made two promises which clearly demonstrate the greatness of divine justice and mercy in exchange for the stability of Eemaan and patience in the face of adversity. First, he said that

“Allaah does not burden any soul with more than it can bear.” (Soorah al- Baqarah 2:286).

This statement contains the foundation of divine justice. Each soul is tested according to its ability and its own particular circumstances.  A test which is beyond the human soul’s ability would be, of necessity, unjust because failure is guaranteed. Judgement and punishment based on such a test would consequently be totally unfair.

Hence, suicide is totally forbidden in Islaam because the one who commits it is, in fact, saying that he or she was unjustly burdened by Allaah with a situation which was beyond their ability to withstand. Secondly, Allaah not only said,

“Surely with every difficulty comes ease” (Soorah al-Inshiraah 94:6),

but He also repeated the statement for special emphasis, word for word, in the verse following it. This is a divine promise of mercy, wherein, Allaah clearly states that He would never continuously burden an individual. There will always be a time of ease following all periods of hardships, therefore, man is enjoined to have Sabr (patience) at all times.