Of late, more young people are increasingly taking their own lives in the twin cities Hyderabad and Secunderabad. It’s turning out to be a serious social malady because, since the beginning of the year 2014 during the short span of 75 days, 108 people ended their own lives for various reasons.
It was revealed through a survey that men and women resort to suicide on petty issues. In an incident a son-in-law ended his life just because his father-in-law had slapped him in a fit of rage. Cases of women committing suicide after being admonished or assaulted by husbands for not cooking delicious food have also come to the fore. Some youth committed suicide due to losses in business while others opted to commit suicide because of harassment by either police, relatives or financers.
Financial crunch, domestic violence, conflicts between husband and wife, failure in love, childlessness, etc. are some factors that drive people to take such extreme steps.
Although Islam utterly forbids suicide, the evil has engulfed the Muslim society too. The Prophet said, “He who commits suicide by throttling shall keep on throttling himself in the Hell Fire (forever) and he who commits suicide by stabbing himself shall keep on stabbing himself in the Hell-Fire.” (Sahih Bukhari 2.446, 2.445)
Imams of masjids can create awareness among the public regarding the issue during Friday sermons.
Abu Aimal