Wishing for Death During Times of Severe Trials (Fitan)
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
Is it permissible to wish for death during times of severe trials (fitan)?
❖ Answer:
Wishing for death out of mere distress and hardship is disliked (makrūh). However, if there is fear of corruption in one’s religion (dīn), then it may be done with the following prescribed words.
Evidence from Hadith
❀ Sayyidunā Anas ibn Mālik (RA) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
اللهم احيني ما كانت الحياة خيرا لي، وتوفني إذا كانت الوفاة خيرا لي .
“Do not wish for death because of hardship. But if you must wish for it, then say:
O Allah! Keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and take me (in death) when death is better for me.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 5671; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2680)
Scholarly Explanation
The scholars explain:
- Wishing for death due to worldly pain, grief, or difficulty is not correct.
- However, wishing for death due to fear of religious corruption, loss of faith, or being overtaken by fitan is not permissible either.
- The correct approach is to seek Allah’s decree with the above supplication, asking Him for what is best.
Conclusion:- Wishing for death because of worldly hardships is disliked.
- Wishing for death because of widespread corruption or fitan is also not correct.
- The Sunnah is to supplicate with the prophetic duʿā’:
“O Allah! Keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and cause me to die when death is better for me.”
