How do we reconcile the prohibition against wishing for death with the fact that lifespans are predestined and measured?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Indeed, Allah has decreed the lifespans, and the wisdom behind what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned regarding wishing for death.
The Shaykh : Yes. The wisdom is that wishing for death due to a hardship that has befallen one indicates dissatisfaction and a lack of patience. And he does not know; perhaps his remaining is better, either by doing good or by doing evil.
The questioner : He has reached his appointed time.
The Shaykh : Perhaps it has an effect; perhaps this supplication of his is the cause, and Allah may have decreed it in eternity, meaning He decreed his lifespan in eternity based on this cause, which is from the action of the servant. And if he had not done it, perhaps He would not have decreed that for him.
The questioner : We wait for the phrase that occurs.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is necessary, but what makes me know that Allah decreed this? My action is by my choice, and His action is by His choice. Then it indicates a lack of satisfaction with the divine decree and dissatisfaction. For this reason, He said "due to a hardship that has befallen him."
The Shaykh : Yes. The wisdom is that wishing for death due to a hardship that has befallen one indicates dissatisfaction and a lack of patience. And he does not know; perhaps his remaining is better, either by doing good or by doing evil.
The questioner : He has reached his appointed time.
The Shaykh : Perhaps it has an effect; perhaps this supplication of his is the cause, and Allah may have decreed it in eternity, meaning He decreed his lifespan in eternity based on this cause, which is from the action of the servant. And if he had not done it, perhaps He would not have decreed that for him.
The questioner : We wait for the phrase that occurs.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is necessary, but what makes me know that Allah decreed this? My action is by my choice, and His action is by His choice. Then it indicates a lack of satisfaction with the divine decree and dissatisfaction. For this reason, He said "due to a hardship that has befallen him."
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 3967 - 4600 كيف نجمع بين النهي عن تمني الموت وبين أن الآجال مكتوبة مقدرة؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.