The Questioner:

Noble Shaykh, we hear in some of the places of jihād from those who advocate for certain operations related to jihād some of which are referred to as suicide operations wherein an individual carries explosives with him or attaches them to himself before plunging himself into the ranks of the enemy in order to detonate the explosives attached to his body which makes him the first to die even before them. So can an analogy be made between this action and the servant concerning whom Allah ﷻ is pleased with since he fights without armour?

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn:

Without armour?

The Questioner:

Yes he fights without armour.

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn:

These suicide missions in which an individual goes to the enemy after having strapped onto himself explosives in order to detonate them and thus become the first to die as a result of it is unlawful. And the one who does so has killed himself, and the matter of him killing himself is clear; he strapped explosives onto himself and detonated it and then died. And it has been authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ that whoever kills himself with something will be punished with it in the Hellfire perpetually. However, if this person did so out of ignorance, thinking that this action was from requirements of jihād, then Allah ﷻ will not punish him for his sin because he misconstrued things.

As for the one who knows this, then he is considered to have killed himself. And certainly some people have cited for us regarding this issue, the action of al-Barā ibn Mālik during the military expedition of Banī Hanīfah in which he commanded his companions to hoist him up and throw him over the door, the door of al-Hawtah, so that he could open the door for them. And this without a doubt involves subjecting one’s self to a very dangerous situation. It is said that al-Barā ibn Mālik was confident in himself that he would be successful and that he had a chance even if it were only a one percent chance to succeed. However, the one who blindly follows as it relates to these explosives which we know with certainty that he will be the first to be killed by them, then for this individual there is no possibility that he will survive; not one in a hundred or one in a thousand. So it is not correct to use an analogy to compare these two affairs. Sure, for a person who is brave and courageous and who knows himself, he can plunge himself into multitudes of enemies and burst through their lines since success in doing so is possible. So based upon this, citing this story as an example doesn’t apply because there is a difference between the one who knows he will die and the one who has the chance of surviving.